SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Wednesday, GMC Hoops took a break from the trail, but there were still five games on the schedule, which were all divisional matchups. Perth Amboy Tech took a break from Gold Division play while Spotswood got a bye from GMC Blue action. First, we’ll take a look at the Blue, which had all three of its games decided by eight points or less.
Bishop Ahr remained undefeated despite being tested once again. The Trojans improved to 6-0 in the division, and 7-1 overall with a 70-66 win at J.F. Kennedy. The Mustangs got solid efforts from the trio of Joe Marciano (27 points), Rasheed Howard (10 points) and Daishon Robinson (10 points), which combined for 71 percent of the team offense, and got additional scoring from Nick Spoganetz (9 points) and A.J. Pichalski (8 points), but it wasn’t enough as Bishop Ahr had eight players get into the box score including four in double figures. Rob Gomulka and Darius Griffin tied for team high with 16 points while Manny Kroggmann added 12 and Pat Widdoss chipped in with 11.
In another game from the Blue, Middlesex had an ten point lead entering the fourth quarter, and withstood a 20-13 rally by South River to win, 54-51. The victory ended a two game slide for the Jays in divisional play while South River dropped to 1-5 in division, and 5-6 overall with its second straight loss. The Blue Jays had only four players score, but they all registered double figures as Terrell Mayers led the way with a game high 21 points. John Santoro added 13 points for the winners while Shawn Fenton had a team high 18 points for the Rams and Brandon Walsh chipped in with 12. Finally Metuchen defeated Highland Park by a score of 52-44 as Mike Crusco led the way with 14 points while Nick Callas chipped in with 12.
With tonight’s action, there is more separation in the Blue. South River, J.F. Kennedy, and Highland Park are all starting to show that they’re a step behind the rest of the division despite being more competitive. Nevertheless, all three teams are still within .500 overall. Ahr continues to win despite getting another close call on the road while both Middlesex and Metuchen improved to .500 in divisional play with victories. The Bulldogs have now won three of its last four in the Blue after starting out 0-2. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays snapped a two game losing streak with the victory. Both the Dawgs and the Jays are 6-3 overall on the season, and each has begun to live up to the potential the site gave it at the beginning of the season.
Moving on to the Gold, Dunellen stayed out in front at 4-0 in divisional play with a hard fought 53-50 decision at home over Piscataway Tech. The Raiders continue to play tough despite its 1-7 record. Although they are 0-4 in the division, three of their losses have been by a combined total of 12 points. Meanwhile, three of the Destroyers victories have come by a combined total of five points including two wins by a point. I’ve talked about the White and Blue Divisions being the most competitive in the conference, but the Gold has been quite tough top to bottom despite being down overall with respect to the other divisions and other years.
Dunellen broke away from an 11-11 first quarter tie with a 17-7 showing in the second for a 28-18 halftime lead. However, Piscataway Tech responded with a 29-18 surge to take a 47-46 lead in the fourth before giving way to a 7-3 spurt by the Destroyers to close out the win. Jonard Hall led DHS with a game high 19 points while Jeff Puckett chipped in with 12. The Raiders had four of its five players that got into the books score in double figures led by Tafari Kerr, who had a team high 16 points. In the other game in the Gold, South Amboy improved to .500 overall, and more importantly, kept pace with Dunellen thanks to a 55-47 victory over East Brunswick Tech. Joe Charmello scored a game high 23 points including six three pointers for the winners while Homer James had 13 points in the loss. The defeat was the third straight for E.B. Tech, which was 4-1 early last week.