A Look at 2015 GMCT Preliminary Round Match-Ups

Eight Games Set for Wednesday After Snow Forced Cancellations Tuesday

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Wednesday evening, eight games will take place in the preliminary round of the 2015 Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.  These games were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but were all cancelled due to the latest in a series of winter storms that have plagued the Garden State since January 24th.  GMC Hoops plans on covering two of the games.  First the site will be at J.P. Stevens in North Edison to see the 15th seeded Hawks host neighborhood rival, Bishop Ahr.  Then, we’ll head on over to Sayreville to see the remainder of the clash between the 14th seeded Bombers and 19th seeded Spotswood.  Let’s take a look at the eight games:

#24 Metuchen at #9 Woodbridge–The Metuchen Bulldogs are coming off a play-in round win over 25th seeded Middlesex (57-48) on Saturday in Metuchen.  Artie Flaherty scored 30 points to lead the Bulldogs in the win.  It was the third time this season that Metuchen defeated Middlesex.  All three games were decided by single digits though with this most recent Bulldogs win being by the largest margin.  Meanwhile, Woodbridge had a bye until this round.  Both teams have played J.F. Kennedy and New Brunswick.  Woodbridge defeated Kennedy in double overtime several weeks ago (67-58) while Metuchen has lost to Kennedy twice including a 58-50 loss back on January 21st covered by GMC Hoops.  In that game though, Metuchen trailed 50-35 with about 3 minutes to play before going on a 12-0 run to pull within three with about a minute to play.  Woodbridge comfortably defeated New Brunswick twice while Metuchen edged New Brunswick at the buzzer in a consolation game of the Connor McCadden Bulldog Tournament over the holidays.  Metuchen is led by Flaherty Jr., Tom Chalker, and Evan Collier while Danny Flaherty, Matt Volpe, and Shae Norris also contribute.  Woodbridge is led by seniors Zaire Robinson and Zahneer Shuler while sophomores Quassim Glover and Keshaun Henry are solid contributors and Charles Cole is a force down low with his length and leaping ability.  Prediction:  Woodbridge wins, 67-54.

#23 South River at #10 North Brunswick–The South River Rams are coming off a solid play-in round victory over Gold Division rival, South Amboy, a team that they split with in their two regular season games.  Sean Darrar, who is now in second place on the SRHS scoring list, pumped in a game high 42 points in the 72-54 victory over the 26th seeded Guvs.  Both of these teams do not have a common opponent, but North Brunswick defeated Bishop Ahr in a crossover this season.  The Trojans defeated Spotswood twice including last Thursday to get third place in the GMC Blue, and Spotswood rolled past South River (96-60) on January 24th.  The Rams are led by Darrar, Zach Torres, and Antonio Martinez while Mario Nigro, Patrick Genthe, Cyrus Byrd, and Maurice Lawrence also contribute.  North Brunswick moved up to the GMC Red this year, and took some lumps, but have two wins over 4th seeded South Brunswick this season including a 25 point victory at SBHS the last time the two teams met.  The Raiders are led by L.J. Williams, who recently scored 25 points to lead NBTHS past Old Bridge on Senior Night.  Other contributors for North Brunswick include:  Kishan Patel, Pranay Bhandare, Eric Slade, Soloman Gayle, Francis Omowole, and Austin Alfonso.  Keep in mind, the winner of last year’s play-in round match-up between South River and South Amboy won this round en route to a berth in the GMCT Elite Eight.  Prediction:  North Brunswick wins, 75-50

#22 J.F. Kennedy at #11 Old Bridge–The Mustangs of J.F. Kennedy are coming off a play-in round victory at home over 27th seeded New Brunswick.   In that game, Kush Patel scored 6 of his 12 points including a dunk in the fourth quarter to lead the Mustangs to a 50-32 victory.  The game was actually tied at 23-23 late in the third quarter before Kennedy pulled away with a 25-2 outburst for a 48-25 lead late in the game.  Old Bridge had a bye to the preliminary round, and lost its last time out to North Brunswick on the road.  Both of these teams have a common opponent in Bishop Ahr.  JFK lost to the Trojans twice, but by single digits.  Old Bridge was taken to overtime by Ahr, but managed to come away with a  57-54 victory.  Kennedy is led by seniors Joe Duffy and Stepp Ozigebe while Terrance Young, Kush Patel, Lendell Parker, Andrew Allen, Kobie Wells, and Pete Obertan also contribute.  Old Bridge is led by a solid group of juniors including Connor Romano, Stephen Strom, Luis Cruz, and C.J. Santoro.  Seniors Dante Whipple and Emerick Sawyer as well as sophomores Kyle Parris and Will Osvald also contribute.  The Knights are 4-4 at home while Kennedy is 4-8 on the road.  OBHS is 4-1 in crossover games while Kennedy is 0-2.  Prediction:  Old Bridge wins, 60-50.

#21 Edison at #12 Monroe–Both of these teams have played in each twice during the regular season in GMC White play.  The Eagles biggest win of the season came at the hands of the Falcons thanks to a fourth quarter rally capped by a game winning basket by Justin Turner.  Last year, the Falcons were upset in this round by Cinderella South Amboy.  The Eagles are coming off a play-in round victory over 28th seeded Wardlaw at the Eagle’s nest on Saturday.  Brandon Radd led the winners with a game high 17 points including three treys.  Three other Edison players scored in double figures including:  Ish Treadwell and Juston Payne, who each had 12, and Al Newcombe, who scored 10.  Monroe won its last time out at New Brunswick on Thursday as Matt Cocorikis led the Falcons with a game high 22 points in a 64-53 victory.  The Eagles starting five consists of Radd, Payne, Newcombe, Treadwell, Newcombe, and John Zanfordino while Turner, a sophomore also contributes. Monroe is led by Cocorikis and Tyler Salzer while Rico Viani, David Okoh, Eddie Pinto, and Jared Simmons also contribute.  Prediction:  Monroe wins, 59-51

#20 Dunellen at #13 Piscataway–The Destroyers are coming off a play-in round victory over Gold Division rival, East Brunswick Tech (66-52). Dunellen had just beaten the Tigers two days earlier in a regular season clash (60-30).  Senior David Johnson led the Destroyers in both wins with 18 on Thursday and 26 on Saturday as he continues to close in on the all time scoring mark held by Tim Connery (1,271 points).  Dan Russomanno added 13 in the win on Thursday and 16 in the victory on Saturday.  Piscataway last played on Tuesday of last week at East Brunswick, and the Chiefs lost.  P-Way is only 3-15, but they have victories over North Brunswick and Sayreville.  Both of those wins were at home.  The Chiefs had only three wins going into its final couple weeks of the season last year, and were seeded 18th before putting together a nice run that included a preliminary round win at 15th seeded Perth Amboy.  Piscataway is led by Donzell Cunningham, who has been a bright spot.  Also contributing are:  Dashaun Best-Crossen, D’Ondre Dent, Nazir James, Danny Haus, and Terrell Christopher.  Besides Johnson and Russomanno, Dunellen gets contributions from Tyquan Fowler, Jordan Jones, Nyzaire Jordan, Anthony Buccino, and Yianni Garris.  One thing to watch out for is the foul situation.  If Dunellen is able to get into the bonus early, P-Way could have some trouble.  The Destroyers are a very good foul shooting team.  Piscataway also can’t afford to get off to a bad start, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  Prediction:  Piscataway wins, 65-52.

#19 Spotswood at #14 Sayreville–It is a bit surprising to see Spotswood so far down in the seeding, but 6 losses in the past 11 games as well as two defeats to Bishop Ahr landed the Chargers in fourth place in the GMC Blue, and on the outside looking in when the seeding took place on Friday.  However, if Spotswood puts together a couple more wins, they will be in the quarterfinals for the third straight year.  Sayreville still has Holy Cross bound Jehyve Floyd standing in the Chargers way.  The Bombers, which reached the semifinals for the first time since 2010 last year, have had their share of ups and downs with upset losses to South Plainfield and Piscataway coupled with a buzzer beating loss on the road at Woodbridge.  The Chargers are coming off a play-in round victory over 30th seeded Timothy Christian on Saturday (65-31).  Eric Dadika had 21 points in the victory while Marlon Hart contributed with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Sayreville had a bye in the tourney on Saturday, but took advantage of that by playing in the Tri-State Hoopfest at Roselle Catholic against Rumson-Fair Haven.  The Bombers fell to the Bulldogs 61-53.  Spotswood is led by Dadika, Hart, and Matt Ciaccio while Andrew Fuzesi, Eugene Anderson, Oliver Jiminez, J.T. Vento, and Chris Pina also contribute.  Sayreville is led by Floyd and Mike Valentin while Zach Alessi, Jayson DeMild, Jahsim Floyd, and Justin Santos also contribute.  These two teams last met in the GMCT back in 2007 when Sayreville rolled past Spotswood behind Kofi Genfi and Ricky Harding, 68-42 in the preliminary round.  This year’s contest should be much closer.  A win for either of these teams will provide a big boost going into the GMCT Round of 16.  Prediction:  Sayreville wins, 66-63.

#18 Bishop Ahr at #15 J.P. Stevens–Both of these teams did not play in the GMCT play-in round on Saturday.  Bishop Ahr last played on Thursday while Stevens last played on Tuesday.  The Hawks have been a bit of a surprise this season, but going back to last year, they have played very competitively.  Veterans Nick Dooley, Francois Ballou, and Alex Corrigan have been bolstered by talent coming up from last year’s JV squad that defeated top seeded Montgomery and lost a tough one to St. Joseph’s in the quarterfinals of the EB/GMC JV Tourney.  Mike Lionikis and Mike Katims are among those newcomers.  The Hawks have scored a couple nice wins with upsets of both Old Bridge and Woodbridge at home.  Stevens also defeated South Plainfield 2 out of 3 times although the Tigers won the last time out on Senior Night at JPS.  Bishop Ahr had only two victories and no victories in 2015 prior to January 14th.  However, the Trojans began to turn things around with an overtime loss to Old Bridge at home.  Since then, the BGA has won 6 of its last 9 including two wins over Spotswood, and ended up finishing third in the GMC Blue at 7-5.  The Hawks are 10-11 overall including a 6-8 mark in the GMC White.  The key to this game will be which team dictates the tempo.  Ahr likes to play more methodically.  The Trojans run their sets, and work the ball around well.  If they can stay disciplined, and run their sets, the Trojans will make this a game.  Bishop Ahr is led by Tom Weiler while Anthony Abano, Pat Astarita, Kevin Krolick, Harry Gelpke, Eddie Hayes, and Sean Kudelka also contribute.  Stevens is led by Dooley, Corrigan, and Ballou with contributions from Lionikis, Katims, Chris Chukwuneke, and Rishav Ghosh.  Prediction:  J.P. Stevens wins, 55-49.

#17 Piscataway Tech at #16 South Plainfield–These two teams played each other back on January 9th with the Tigers winning (78-71).  South Plainfield has gotten itself back on track with three straight wins recently including a victory over Stevens and a win at Calvary Christian on Saturday (79-56).  The Tigers have scored some victories over quality teams including P-Way Tech, Dunellen, Stevens, and Sayreville.  Piscataway Tech’s only game in the GMC outside of Gold Division play was against SPHS.  The Raiders finished 13-3 in division with all three losses coming at the hands of 8th seeded Perth Amboy Tech (split) and Dunellen (DHS sweep).  Piscataway Tech last played on Wednesday with a tough loss at Dunellen (56-52).  In that game, the Raiders trailed 47-32 early in the fourth before putting together a 17-4 tear to close to within two with under a minute to go.  P-Way Tech is led by Aziz Austin, Letrell West, and Kyle Wider while Ali Austin, Marc Fychok, Frank Howard, German Pimetel, and Hussein Hussein also contribute.  South Plainfield is led by Lamont Williams, Devon Dabel, Jordan Hankerson while Jason Lee, Jason Worthem, and Kevin Jacobs also contribute.  Something to consider here for this game:  South Plainfield is 2-10 at home this year including a loss to New Brunswick, which was the Zebras only win to date in 2014-15.  Prediction:  Piscataway Tech wins, 67-66.

Again, GMC Hoops is going to try and cover two of these games on Wednesday:  First, the site will be at J.P. Stevens to see the 15th seeded Hawks host 18th seeded Bishop Ahr, and then head over to Sayreville to see the 14th seeded Bombers host the 19th seeded Spotswood Chargers.  Also, Listen to GMC Hoops give some thoughts to Korbid Thompson during his North Brunswick-South River preview on King James Radio on Wednesday afternoon.