EDISON, NJ–With play completed at the MCC Summer League for almost a week now, GMC Hoops wanted to take some time to look back at what transpired in the league this summer. The site has been covering this league since its initial season back in 2000-01. Out of all the leagues GMC Hoops has covered through the years, the MCC league has been covered the longest. There were 14 teams in the league including ten from the Greater Middlesex Conference if you count the latest addition in Timothy Christian. Eight teams made the playoffs. Four from the GMC, two from the Shore Conference, one from the Skyland Conference, and one from the Union County Conference.
All four non-conference teams qualified for the playoffs, and had a combined record of 29-14. The four GMC schools that qualified ended up with a combined record of 31-12. East Brunswick earned the top seed in the post-season tourney by completing the regular season with an unblemished 9-0 mark. However, the Bears, which were the defending champions, fell to South River, a team it defeated in the finals last summer, in the opening round to finish at 9-1. J.P. Stevens ended the regular season at 6-3 with two of those losses coming in the second week when the varsity squad played at the East Brunswick team camp. The Hawks also lost to South Hunterdon late in the regular season.
However, Stevens put together a solid run through the playoffs with three straight wins including an opening round victory over Perth Amboy Tech, a 50-37 victory over South River in the semifinals, and a 37-32 win over Keyport in the Championship. Winning this league was a positive step for a Hawks team that is going into year two of rebuliding after two seasons where they posted a combined record of 38-15 with the likes of Kenny Bland, Myles Reuben, Nick Pol, and Tahir Swinton. Veterans Mike Reuben and Victor Quan, two reserves on the 2008-09 Hawk squad that went 18-9, lead the team. Reuben earned MVP honors while Quan made several key plays in the victory over Keyport. Marvin Crawford and Brandon Ahmed also play prominently on the squad while Pete Prontinicki will be looking to come back from injury this upcoming winter.
For the second straight year, the South River Rams reached the Final Four of this summer league. The Rams got in as the eighth seed after getting to the Championship game last season. South River was hitting all their shots in the opening round against top seeded East Brunswick, and that propelled them to the semifinals. However, the hot shooting didn’t last as the Rams only went 15 of 45 from the floor including 3 of 21 from three point range against J.P. Stevens. In all fairness to the Rams though, it was the first game of the summer that Nick Boyler, Tim Huff, and Craig Huff all played in after going through the summer baseball season. Xavier Foster and Gavin Campbell struggled though, especially from beyond the arc.
South River played well in a number of games at MCC. First, they opened the season by defeating Timothy Christian in the final seconds. Then, they only lost by one to South Hunterdon (40-39) late in the season on July 6th. They also lost to playoff contenders J.P. Stevens, Keyport, and Roselle Park. Coupled with the play at the Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League, the Rams are off to a good start en route to their first season in the GMC Gold. With a good nucleus returning such as Foster, Campbell, Boyler, Larry Smith, Tyler Harris, Tim and Craig Huff, the Rams are solid contenders for GMC Gold Honors. One of the teams that they will be competing against will be Perth Amboy Tech.
The Patriots had a good summer with a 7-2 mark in the regular season to earn the fourth seed in the playoffs. However, Amboy Tech stumbled in the first round to eventual champion, J.P. Stevens. The Pats have perhaps the best two players in the GMC Gold with Rashad Adams and Malcolm Batts, but they will need to have a solid supporting cast to contribute if they are to overtake South River. The Pats three losses in the league were to teams (East Brunswick, Keyport, and J.P. Stevens) that had a combined record of 28-6. The Pats did beat Gold Division rivals: East Brunswick Tech, South Amboy, Timothy Christian as well as playoff teams such as Keansburg and Roselle Park.
The other six GMC teams that competed at MCC did not make the playoffs including: Monroe, Bishop Ahr, East Brunswick Tech, Sayreville, South Amboy, and Timothy Christian. The squads from Monroe, Bishop Ahr, and Sayreville were mostly JV although occasionally some varsity players did compete such as the case when Monroe and Roselle Park went at it in a very close game that was played on June 29th. That leaves us with East Brunswick Tech, South Amboy, and Timothy Christian. All of these teams will be in the revamped GMC Gold in 2010-11. The Tigers were only 2-7 on the summer, but have some good players returning including Rob Brown, Mike Hardy, Quincy Ross, and Dequan Calimese. They played competitively against the likes of playoff teams such as Amboy Tech (lost 51-39) and Keansburg (lost 21-14). Expect the Tigers to be chasing the likes of South River, Amboy Tech, and Dunellen though.
South Amboy went 1-8 with a victory over Timothy Christian late in the summer. The Guvs lost standout Joe Charmello to graduation, and the likes of role players such as Christian Geant, Dan O’Connor, Luke O’Connor, Tim Simko, and Matt Reagan. But have Dustin DeVoe, Michael Zammit as well as some good youngsters coming in. South Amboy is also working hard to build a solid foundation at the lower levels with teams in each of the three divisions over at the Raritan Bay Summer League. The Guvs are looking to Zammit to fill the void left behind by Charmello. South Amboy may go through some short term pain, but the future does look bright. Timothy Christian’s first year in the Gold will be an interesting one.
The Tigers always had a good turnout of players when they played at MCC. Timothy Christian will be a newcomer to the GMC along with fellow former Patriot Conference member, Wardlaw. TCS has done well against the GMC, particularly the Gold Division in recent years. However, at MCC this summer, the Tigers struggled with a 1-8 mark including tough close losses to South River (42-40), South Amboy (36-34), and Sayreville (42-39). However, if it had won those three games, Timothy Christian may have been able to qualify for the playoffs. So, the Tigers will still not be an easy out in the GMC Gold