Good morning everyone. Since there hasn’t been any posts to the blog so far this New Year, I thought I would post something to get the ball rolling. There were some things I forgot to mention in my first column of the 2007-08 season.
Thoughts On What’s Happened So Far
I had a section of the column devoted to some thoughts on what’s happened so far this 2007-08 season. Well, I forgot to discuss Woodbridge’s upset over Colonia. I was quite surprised by this one to be honest. While I thought that the GMC White was going to be tougher than it was last year, I still felt that the Patriots were head and shoulders above the rest, and teams 2 through 8 were going to beat up on each other. Although Colonia lost 6’7″ forward, Kevin Edmonds, it still had a lot coming back including Brandon Hall, and talented group of juniors led by J.J. D’Amico, Nnamdi Usuwa, and Mike Nweme. Jeff Mentzel the other senior on the roster besides Hall, also showed improvement over the summer.
With that said, there are also some things to keep in mind. First and foremost, this is a rivalry game. For Woodbridge, it is their GMCT Championship. Take for instance last season when these two teams met at WHS. The Barrons took Colonia into overtime before losing. In addition, as I stated previously during the fall, Woodbridge is going to be better. While the varsity was going through a difficult season with a 1-21 mark, the JV did quite well going 13-8 overall, and earning the ninth seed in the 2007 East Brunswick JV Tournament. The Junior Barrons would lose to eighth seeded East Brunswick, but they were good last season. I happened to see Woodbridge’s JV in action last January against Sayreville, and after the Junior Bombers had their way with them in the first half, the Junior Barrons rallied in the second half, and had the lead with seconds to go in regulation when the bench was called for a technical for too much celebration.
During the fall at the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic in Plainfield, the Barrons finished seventh overall with a 4-6 record, and lost in its first round playoff game, but competed quite well against solid teams such as Watchung Hills, Hunterdon Central, and Roselle. With players such as Anthony Graham, Kirk Zambrana, Richie Ng, and Tim Weber returning along with Gerard Bullock and Blair Dolphin moving up from JV and reserve status, the Barrons are a much better team. On top of that, when you go 1-21 the year before, there is now where else to go, but up. The confidence from a win like this could do wonders for Woodbridge.
GMC Non-Conference Record
As I mentioned in the column, the GMC as of January 4th was a combined 40-34 versus non-conference competition. I have broken that down by Division, and here’s how it stacks up. Three of the four divisions are above .500 with the GMC Gold only a game under. The Blue Division has the best record against other conferences at 11-8 for a winning percentage of .579. The GMC White is next at 10-8 for a .556 winning percentage followed by the Red Division with a 12-10 mark for a .545 winning percentage. The Gold Division is 7-8 for a winning percentage of .467. Some notable wins: Piscataway over Immaculata (47-32) and Seton Hall Prep (53-43), J.P. Stevens over Scotch Plains (49-41), Bishop Ahr over Roselle Catholic (68-51), Sayreville over Hightstown (49-47), Cardinal McCarrick over Snyder (74-56) and Hillside (72-62), South Brunswick over Franklin (50-41), Metuchen over previously unbeaten Seacaucus (65-50), Colonia over Moore Catholic (59-46), and St. Joseph’s over Ridge (49-44) and Moore Catholic (44-38).
Well that’s all for now. Have to get ready for the games today at St. Joseph’s versus Colonia.