SKILLMAN, NJ–On Thursday night, play concluded at the first annual Montgomery Team Camp at the new Montgomery High School. The host school ended up with the best record at the team camp with a 7-1 mark while Monroe, the lone representative from the Greater Middlesex Conference, ended up 5-1 after losing in the nightcap on Wednesday to Franklin (74-68), and not playing on Thursday. In the Falcons place, Hillsborough brought in a squad (they also had a team playing up at the Linden Team Camp).
Both Franklin and Bridgewater finished tied for third at 5-3 while Watchung Hills rallied on the final day to get two wins to end up at .500 (4-4). Hunterdon Central was 3-1 after the first two days of the camp, but then lost its final four games to finish at 3-5. Tied with the Red Devils for fifth place were Hopewell Valley, Princeton, and Somerville. Princeton had started the camp at 0-4, but won three of its last four contests to finish in the four way tie for fifth at 3-5. West Windsor-Plainsboro South replicated its efforts over the first two days by losing three of four over the final two days to end up 2-6. Hillsborough lost its only two games of the camp.
By far, Monroe was the most prolific scoring team at the camp. The Purple Birds averaged 68 points per game over the six games that they played. However, the Falcons were uncharacteristically porous on defense as they gave up nearly 58 points per contests over the same six games. Only West Windsor-Plainsboro South gave up as many points. Meanwhile, Montgomery, which only averaged 50 points per game during the week, just yielded 39.4 per contest, the best in the camp. Watchung Hills and Hopewell Valley were next in points allowed by giving up just under 49 points per game. Both the Warriors and Bulldogs were the two lowest scoring teams that played all four days.
Five of the 11 teams that ultimately played in this camp scored more points than they gave up. However, the point differential between 10 of the 11 teams was between nearly +11 points per game and -8 points per game. In other words, the games were quite competitive in the camp. Over the four days, there were 22 games decided by less than 10 points. On Wednesday, when GMC Hoops was at the camp to cover some of the action, eight of the ten games were decided by single digits including a double overtime doozy between Skyland Conference Delaware East Division rivals, Bridgewater and Watchung Hills, which was won by the Panthers (63-59).