GMC Boys Basketball Realignment For 2014-15

June 25, 2014 Greg Machos Amboy Tech Hoops, Cardinal McCarrick Hoops, Carteret Hoops, Colonia Hoops, Dunellen Hoops, East Brunswick Hoops, Edison Hoops, Highland Park Hoops, J.F. Kennedy Hoops, J.P. Stevens Hoops, Metuchen Hoops, Middlesex Hoops, Monroe Hoops, New Brunswick Hoops, North Brunswick Hoops, Old Bridge Hoops, Perth Amboy Hoops, Piscataway Hoops, Piscataway Tech Hoops, Sayreville Hoops, South Amboy Hoops, South Brunswick Hoops, South Plainfield Hoops, South River Hoops, Spotswood Hoops, St. Joseph's Hoops, St. Thomas Aquinas Hoops, Timothy Christian Hoops, Wardlaw Hoops, Woodbridge Hoops 0

North Brunswick Moves Up To Red; Colonia Drops Down To White; McCarrick Falls To Blue; 9 Teams In Gold

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Recently, GMC Hoops has learned that the Greater Middlesex Conference is realigning for the next two seasons in boys basketball.  This latest round of realignment reveals significant changes in all four divisions.  The first noticeable change is in the number of teams in each division.  The past two years, GMC boys basketball had a division alignment that consisted of 7 teams in the Red, 8 teams in the White, 9 teams in the Blue, and 7 teams in the Gold.

For this coming school year and the following year (2015-16), there will still be 7 teams in the Red and 8 teams in the White, but now there will be 7 teams in the Blue, and 9 in the Gold.  The nine teams in the Gold is the most teams ever in that division.  Looking more closely at each division, the changes are the following:  North Brunswick moves up to the Red from the White while Colonia drops from the Red to the White.  South Plainfield moves up from the Blue to the White while Cardinal McCarrick drops from the White to the Blue.  Finally, Piscataway Vo-Tech returns to the Gold along with Highland Park.

With all that said, this is how the divisions shape up for the next two years in Greater Middlesex Conference boys basketball:

Red Division

  • East Brunswick
  • North Brunswick
  • Old Bridge
  • Perth Amboy
  • Piscataway
  • South Brunswick
  • St. Joseph’s

White Division

  • Colonia
  • Edison
  • J.P. Stevens
  • Monroe
  • New Brunswick
  • Sayreville
  • South Plainfield
  • Woodbridge

Blue Division

  • Bishop Ahr
  • Cardinal McCarrick
  • Carteret
  • J.F. Kennedy
  • Metuchen
  • Middlesex
  • Spotswood

Gold Division

  • Dunellen
  • East Brunswick Tech
  • Highland Park
  • Perth Amboy Tech
  • Piscataway Tech
  • South Amboy
  • South River
  • Timothy Christian
  • Wardlaw-Hartridge

Some Thoughts:  First the Red Division.  Moving North Brunswick up to the Red is a good move.  The Raiders had dominated the White for three seasons until Sayreville won the title this year.  North Brunswick still ended up second this past season.  NBTHS has just about everyone returning, including top players Eric Slade, Kishan Patel, and Pranay Bhandare, and has had solid JV and freshmen teams in recent years.  Most importantly though, North Brunswick is a Group IV school while Colonia had been the only Group III in the Red.  

Moving over to the White Division, Colonia returns to its old home of the White after being in the Red since the 2010-11 season.  The Patriots had been a Group IV school for the 2008-09 season, but has been Group III pretty much since then.  Playing the likes of St. Joseph’s and East Brunswick along with big schools like P-Way, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, and South Brunswick, had helped put the Patriots behind the eight ball at the start of each of the previous three seasons.  

This year was the only time that Colonia got off to a good start, and ultimately finished on a good note with its first trip to the GMCT Semifinals since 2008, and a berth in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III semifinals.  With most everyone returning including Chase Barneys and J.J. Corbett, Colonia will immediately be a contender to win the White in 2014-15.  After being in the Blue the past two seasons, South Plainfield will return to the White.  The Tigers may not be ready for the jump back considering that they are losing the likes of Chris Mathis, Malik Cisson, and Roemello Monroe among others from a team that only went 6-18 this past season.

Looking at the Blue Division, Cardinal McCarrick returns to the Blue Division where it dominated from the 2002-03 season to 2007-08 when the Eagles appeared in three GMCT Championship Games, and won two titles.  The only year that McCarrick didn’t win the division was in 2005-06 when Metuchen defeated the Eagles twice en route to its first division championship since 1987, and first GMCT finals appearance since 1988.  With a new coach in former St. Anthony’s assistant, Ben Gamble, taking the reins at Cardy Mac, the Eagles will be looking to get back to their winning ways after two years of transition and struggle following the retirement of long time head coach, Joe Lewis.  

Finally, the Gold Division looks like a very crowded field for the next two years.  However, that will be the great thing.  Piscataway Tech and Highland Park will bring added competition to the division, which has always been maligned.  The Raiders had won back to back titles in 2011 and 2012 before moving up to the Blue two seasons ago.  Highland Park needed to move down.  It was a change long overdue for an Owls program that has struggled over the past decade.  Highland Park has only enjoyed one .500 or above season, and that was in the 2005-06 campaign, or Mike Burwell’s sophomore year when the Owls qualified for the CJ Group I tourney, and defeated Academy Charter in the opening round.  HPHS was in the Gold when the GMC was formed in 1985-86 season.

Having the Raiders and Owls moving down to the Gold will further enhance the quality of play in the division.  It will also help teams from the division that qualify for the states thanks to a better overall strength of schedule.  Starting with the additions of Timothy Christian and Wardlaw as well as South River moving down in 2010-11, play in the GMC Gold has improved dramatically.  Proof of that was South Amboy and Timothy Christian’s overtime thriller in the GMCT Round of 16.  The Guvs also defeated Monroe in the preliminary round.  South River made its deepest run in the CJ Group I state tournament since 2004-05, and Dunellen scrapped and battled for much of the season despite losing a ton to graduation from its very successful 2012-13 season.  Add to that a Perth Amboy Tech squad with big man Jordan Little returning, a Wardlaw team that has the likes of John Pohopin, Mike Newman, and Nick Palko coming back.