SOMERVILLE, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Immaculata High School again to take in the final game from the second week of action in the fall league there. As mentioned previously, there are 18 teams competing in this league including five from the Greater Middlesex Conference.
This league involves teams from five different counties including Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, and Somerset. Due to scheduling conflicts with work, the site wasn’t able to see any of the GMC teams in action. However, thanks to Chris Fox, we were able to get the results from all the games as well as the updated standings.
On this night, the site saw a game involving teams from the Colonial Valley Conference. In the matchup, it was a battle of bragging rights for West Windsor and Plainsboro as the Knights of West Windsor-Plainsboro North were taking on the Pirates of West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The Pirates, which were dominated by Montgomery in their season opener on September 27th, played much better, but it wasn’t enough as the Knights went on a 17-2 tear to start the second half for a 36-23 lead, and then after an 8-0 run by the Pirates, put the game away with a 14-6 run for a 50-37 edge en route to a 56-44 victory.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North Defeats Crosstown Rival West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 56-44
It was the site’s second visit to Immaculata High School this fall. Prior to that, Greg Machos had not be out to IHS since December 1987 when South Plainfield scrimmaged the Spartans. Back then, Immaculata had the likes of Mike Parenti, who is one of the all time leading scorers at the school with 1,363 points before graduating in 1988. The site saw a good chunk of this game as it arrived with 7:55 to go in the first half and West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the lead by four, 15-11. The Pirates won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship over Freehold Township last season thanks to the likes of Austin Witter. The 6’8″ forward led the Pirates to a 24-4 record overall including a 13-1 mark in the CVC. WWPS reached the Championship Game of the Mercer County Tournament before losing to the likes of former South Plainfield standout, Dontae Johnson and Pennington (58-43).
Witter graduated along with four others. However, with those five players went much if not all the size of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North team. Four players on that squad including Witter were 6’4″ or taller. After no scoring for nearly two minutes, West Windsor-Plainsboro South netted two free throws that closed the gap to two at 15-13 with 6:04 to play in the first half. Neither team scored for over a minute and a half until the Knights got on the board with a pass underneath for a fake and a layup to take a 17-13 lead at the 4:27 mark. Less than 45 seconds later, WWPS was back at the line to make one of two for a 17-14 Knights lead with 3:45 to go in the half.
The Pirates, which outscored the Knights by an 8-4 margin over the final 7:55 of the first half, crept closer when they got a rebound to spring a fast break, which resulted in a foul on a layup attempt. The scoring opportunity produced one of two from the foul line for a 17-15 West Windsor-Plainsboro North lead. WWPN then got its final two points of the first half by making both ends of the bonus for a 19-15 lead with 1:42 to play in the first half. Rallying to tie at the intermission, the Pirates responded with the final four points of the period including a layin at the 1:13 mark, and a jumper from the left wing with 42 seconds to go. West Windsor-Plainsboro South, which defeated Sayreville in overtime in the CJ Group IV Semifinals last year, had a chance to go ahead right before the half ended, but missed a pair of free throws.
The Pirates started the half with the first points on a field goal for a 21-19 lead, but then West Windsor-Plainsboro North reeled off the next four including two offensive rebounds for a putback, and another score underneath to start the game deciding tear, and take a 23-21 lead. Following a WWPS timeout with 19:07 to go in the contest, the Knights spent the next 3:01 putting the game in their control with a three pointer, and several fast break buckets to highlight a 13-0 spurt after the Pirates had tied the game for a 36-23 lead with 16:06 to go. West Windsor-Plainsboro South then called for a 30 second timeout, and following the stoppage, responded with eight straight points to make it a game again at 36-31.
In a span of just 1:47, the Pirates netted a jumper, swiped two steals for layups, and converted another Knight turnover on an offensive rebound and follow to trim the deficit to only five with 14:19 remaining. Unfortunately though, West Windsor-Plainsboro South would not get any closer. Over the next 9:12, West Windsor-Plainsboro North scored 14 of the next 20 points to push the lead back to double digits at 50-37 with 5:07 left. Capping the run was a nice pivot and spin in the pain for a layin. From there, the Pirates edged the Knights by a 7-6 margin, but it wasn’t enough as West Windsor-Plainsboro North won the contest, 56-44. With the victory, the Knights even their record at .500 (1-1) while the Pirates remain winless at 0-2.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Windsor-Plainsboro North (1-1) | 19 | 37 | 56 |
| West Windsor-Plainsboro South (0-2) | 19 | 25 | 44 |
This coming Sunday night, GMC Hoops will be back over at Immaculata High School to finally catch some GMC teams in action. First, St. Joseph’s will be playing Bridgewater at 7:15 PM, and then Monroe will be battling the host school, Immaculata at 8:15 PM.