SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–There were nine games on the Greater Middlesex Conference varsity schedule on Thursday. In addition, there was a freshmen and JV game added to the GMC Hoops docket as the site saw a Freshmen, JV, and Varsity tripleheader. First and foremost, a special thanks goes to St. Joe’s athletic director, Jerry Smith, Piscataway Freshmen coach, Brian Tuskan, and P-Way assistant coach, Dennis Wells for providing roster information on the freshmen and JV teams for both the Falcons and the Chiefs. I always enjoy covering the freshmen and JV games since it gives me an opportunity to see upcoming players as well as gives young readers a reason to check out the site. You can read details on the St. Joe’s-Green victory over P-Way as well as the Junior Chiefs win over the Junior Falcons in the Piscataway and St. Joseph’s Hoops sections of the blog.
In the varsity game between the Chiefs and Falcons, it was no contest. Top ranked St. Joseph’s lived up to its billing with a dominant 83-39 victory over ninth ranked P-Way. The Falcons went 35 of 50 from the floor including 8 of 15 from the three point range while limiting the Chiefs to just 15 o 57 shooting in the win. Sophomore Quenton DeCosey was sensational with a game high 29 points on 12 of 14 shooting including 4 of 6 three point attempts. He also pulled down 9 rebounds in the victory. Andrew Morgan chipped in with 12 points while Steve Rennard added 11 points in the win. Piscataway was led by senior forward Wayne Newsome and sophomore guard, Tajae Sharpe, who each had 7 points in the loss. Read details on the victory in the blog.
In other action, WCTC featured a contest between Sayreville and North Brunswick, which according to the play-by-play, nobody wanted to win. The Raiders eventually got the victory though with a 68-59 decision over the Bombers. Sophomore guard, Dion Rogers bested DeCosey for top performance of the night with 32 points including 26 in the first half. Rogers connected on eight field goals, four threes, and four free throws while junior Tait Pirkle got on track again with 16 points on three field goals, two treys, and four free throws. The Raiders took an eleven point lead at the break, and led by as many as 13 in the second half. Three Sayreville players scored in double figures including Dave Milewski (14 points), Mark Keir (13 points), and Tarif Jackson (12 points).
Looking at the rest of the White and Red Division games on Thursday, there weren’t a lot of close ones. Of the six divisional games that were reported in (still awaiting the result of the contest between Old Bridge and Perth Amboy), only one was decided by single digits (Sayreville-North Brunswick), and even that contest had a margin in double figures at one point. The other five contests were decided by at least 18 points. Third ranked East Brunswick kept pace with St. Joseph’s thanks to a 62-26 decision over South Brunswick. In the Bears victory over the Vikings, EB continued to show great depth and balance as 13 different players scored including junior John Genco, who had a team high 12 points.
Woodbridge got its second win of the season as it rolled past winless J.P. Stevens by a score of 50-25. Keith Hughes turned in another double-double effort with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Hughes, who turned in a 28 point and 10 rebound performance against Perth Amboy last week, connected on three field goals, four threes, and a foul shot while fellow sophomore, Kyle Anderson added 10 points on two field goals and two threes. The Barrons outscored the Hawks in three of the four periods including the first and second when they took a 26-9 halftime lead. New Brunswick continued to roll as it defeated South Plainfield at SPHS by a score of 56-38. The Zebras, which have now won six straight, and seven of eight since starting the season at 0-3, got 15 points from both junior Jaquan Cook and sophomore Milton Pittman while Fuquan Rogers added 13. Cook has scored in double figures in every game NBHS has played so far this season.
Cardinal McCarrick got back on track after losing at Monroe on Tuesday night with a 57-38 victory at home over Colonia. The Patriots, which defeated North Brunswick (64-32) on Tuesday night, had a two game winning streak snapped. Senior guard, Craig Thomas led the way with a game high 16 points while sophomore Dana Raysor added 14 points in the victory. Jeremy Cruz also chipped in with 8 for the winners, which improved to 8-3 overall, and 4-3 in the GMC White. One thing to pick up from all of these results on Thursday is how many talented sophomores there are in the GMC this year.
In the six games that were just mentioned, four sophomores either tied or had sole possession of game high honors while another was second in the game scoring. There’s a lot to be excited about over the next two years in the GMC, and we still have yet to finish this season! There are also a number of talented freshmen in the conference this year as well. Moving on to our lone crossover game, break up the Edison Eagles! After starting the season at 0-6, EHS has won three of its last four including two straight. The latest victory, a 48-44 decision on the road at South Amboy. Now, while it was a Gold Division opponent, the Eagles, which took some hits with several players transferring in the off-season, could use another victory. Greg Grippo, yet another sophomore, tied Yamir Caroo for team high with 15 points while the Eagles outscored the Guvs at the line by a 13-6 margin. Joe Charmello had a game high of 18 points while teammate Dustin DeVoe chipped in with 11.
Rounding out the day was two non-conference games involving GMC teams. The conference went 1-1 in those two games as Middlesex pulled out a hard fought win on the road against South Hunterdon (62-59) to improve to 7-3 overall while Dunellen fell on the road at Keansburg (57-45). Terrell Mayers is starting to live up to his potential by coming up with his second straight 20 plus point, and 10 plus rebound performance. Mayers, a senior forward, connected on 10 field goals and 4 foul shots for a game high 24 points along with 13 rebounds while Adam Wells chipped in with 15 and Avery Barnes added 12. John Santoro also contributed with 9 points for the winners. Meanwhile, Dunellen got a 22 point, 12 rebound effort from senior forward, Jonard Hall, but it wasn’t enough as Keansburg closed the game with a 15-5 spurt to pull away from a two point lead for the win.
The GMC remains ten games over .500 against non-conference foes with a 35-25 overall record although Middlesex’s victory gave the conference its seventh win in the past nine games against Skyland Conference foes after starting out 0-4. Dunellen’s loss was only the third suffered by the GMC against Shore Conference competition this year.