Timothy Christian Faces Off Against South Amboy To Give Gold A Spot In GMCT Elite Eight For First Time Since 2008
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Tuesday was a day of surprises in the GMC. Â Not only were their a couple upsets in the tournament, but also one in regular season play as well. Â Two of the three upsets involved Gold Division teams as 24th seeded South Amboy defeated 9th seeded Monroe (45-41) in the GMCT Preliminary Round, and Timothy Christian traveled to J.F. Kennedy for a tune-up game, and defeated the Mustangs, 52-39.
Now, eighth seeded TCS will face the 24th seeded Guvs on Thursday night at home with a chance to make history. Â With a victory over South Amboy in the GMCT Round of 16, Timothy Christian will reach its first ever GMCT Elite Eight in school history. Â Prior to this season, the Tigers, which joined the conference back in the 2010-11 season, had never won a division title, and seeded higher than 15th in the GMCT. Â A win by either Timothy Christian or South Amboy on Thursday night will secure the GMC Gold’s first berth in the GMCT since 2008, and only the second since 1999.
Speaking of South Amboy, a win for the Guvs on Thursday night would put them in the GMCT Quarterfinals for the first time since 2008 when they defeated 9th seeded Monroe in the Round of 16, and lost to top seeded and crosstown rival, Cardinal McCarrick in the Elite Eight at Middlesex County College. Â On top of that, the Governors would become the lowest seeded team ever to reach Super Sunday at MCC. Â Entering this season’s GMCT, the lowest seed ever to reach the quarterfinals was 15th seeded Old Bridge (7-17) in 2007. Â In that season, the Knights upset then second seeded St. Joseph’s in the Round of 16, and then lost to South Plainfield in the Elite Eight.
These two teams managed to meet twice during the regular season despite the snow. Timothy Christian won both times by four points including a 49-45 decision on January 13th at TCS, and a 50-46 victory at South Amboy on January 24th. Prior to losing to Dunellen last week, Timothy Christian had not lost yet in 2014. The Tigers had lost four of their first five games thanks to two tough crossover losses to Bishop Ahr (60-55) on December 20th, and Metuchen (63-47) on December 23rd, and two losses in their holiday tournament at Cairn University in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, South Amboy has also lost only five games this season with four of them being decided by four points or less including one in overtime. Four of the defeats have also come from within the Gold Division.
Prior to 2007, the lowest seed to reach the GMCT Elite Eight was Perth Amboy, which actually reached the semifinals in 1998. Â The 14th seeded Panthers, which were led by Ralph Lora, who later played at Kean University, defeated 3rd seeded North Brunswick and 6th seeded St. Peter’s before losing to second seeded Colonia in the Final Four. Â South Amboy’s head coach, Lenny Reyes, is no stranger to pulling off victories with a 20 something seeded squad. Â Back in 2004, Reyes led 25th seeded Metuchen to an upset of 8th seeded and Gold Division champion, Piscataway Tech in the GMCT Preliminary Round. Â Players on that team included Marqus Blakely, who went on to play college hoops at Vermont, and now plays professionally in the Philippines, Kevin Rush, and Lamar Nichols.
There has been quite a bit of chatter on twitter about the GMC Gold not getting their due this season. Â Many in the TCS camp felt that the Tigers deserved a higher seed than the 8th seed they received in the GMCT Seeding meeting last Friday. Â However, Timothy Christian’s coaching staff and some in the media were quick to point out that Gold Division teams must prove themselves night in and night out during the season. Â Besides TCS and South Amboy, the Gold has also been represented well by South River and Dunellen. Â Despite losing key pieces from last year’s teams, the Rams and Destroyers have still managed to overachieve somewhat, and come away with double digit win seasons. Â After Thursday night though, the division as a whole will have something to be very proud of: Â A rare berth at GMCT’s Super Sunday at MCC.