Six Teams from Conference Left with Two Playing Each Other on Friday
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–After three days of rough wintry weather to begin the month of March, and hamper state tourney play, action is set to resume in many of the state tournaments on Friday. Â Six teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference remain after a tough first three days of tourney play that has seen the GMC go 7-14 against non-conference foes. Â Adding that together with the late season swoon against teams outside Middlesex County, the conference is now 83-87.
Of the six teams remaining from the GMC, two of them: Â Colonia and Perth Amboy Tech are top seeds, Piscataway Tech is a two seed, Cardinal McCarrick is a three seed, St. Joseph’s is the defending T of C champion, and South River reached the semifinals of CJ Group I last year. Â The GMC’s best chance appears to be in CJ Group I with three teams still in the hunt in Amboy Tech, South River, and P-Way Tech, but the Patriots and Rams play each other on Friday afternoon in one of the section’s quarterfinal round games. Â However, all six teams have a shot to at least reach their respective section’s Final Four. Â Keep in mind, the last time that no GMC team won at least a sectional title was in 2011. Â Let’s take a look at who is left:
Central Jersey Group I
As briefly mentioned earlier, Perth Amboy Tech, Piscataway Tech, and South River are the GMC teams still remaining in the field. Â Amboy Tech rolled past Academy Charter and P-Way Tech easily defeated Keyport while South River rallied from behind to defeat Asbury Park. Â
South River, the ninth seed, travels up to top seeded Amboy Tech today in one of the four quarterfinal games. Â The Rams and Patriots are familiar foes since they played each other twice during the regular season in Gold Division play with Amboy Tech winning easily both times. Â Sean Darrar of South River and Jordan Little of Perth Amboy Tech are two of the GMC’s six 1,000 point scorers this year and Little also has over 1,000 rebounds for his career as well.
The winner of this game will give the GMC, a team in the semifinal round in one of the sectional brackets. Â However, the winner of South River-Amboy Tech will have a tough road to go since the winner of Florence of Burlington County and Shore Regional lay in the way. Â The Flashes have been a perennial contender in Group I while Shore Regional reached the final last year before losing to Point Pleasant Beach. Â On the other side of the bracket, Piscataway Tech has two of three choice schools in its way: Â South Hunterdon in Friday’s quarterfinal round, and then the winner of Point Beach and Bound Brook looming in the semis.
The last time South River won a sectional title was in 1991. Â The last time Amboy Tech won a sectional title was in 1993 when the team was known as the Tradesmen, and reached the T of C led by the likes of big man, Ferdinand Williams. Â Piscataway Tech won the section back in 2003, and reached the final in 2004 before losing to Keyport. Â Amboy Tech’s last Final Four berth was in 2003 when it lost to runner-up Manville while South River has reached the semis twice in the last 10 years: Â 2005 and last season.
North Jersey Section 2 Group III
Colonia is the only remaining GMC school in this field, but it has one big advantage, and that is the fact that it is the top seed, and as long as it keeps winning, it will have the home court. Â On Wednesday, Colonia opened up state tourney play with a 60-39 victory over 16th seeded West Morris Central. Â Potential obstacles in the way of the Patriots besides Passaic Valley in Friday’s quarterfinal, the winner of Newark Eastside and Newark Westside in the semis, Mendham, and Chatham.
Newark Eastside, the defending Group III champion, and last year’s TOC runner-up to St. Joseph’s, is the five seed, and will have to travel to Newark Westside to take on the Roughriders in another sectional quarterfinal. Â The Roughriders might be familiar to Colonia fans since they were the team that knocked the Patriots out of the 2006 N2 Group III state tourney in the semifinals at Colonia. Â It was the last game coached by long time head coach, Ken Pace, who is now principal at CHS.
Mendham is a team that has been a thorn in Colonia’s side in the past. Â The Patriots have played the Minutemen a couple times in past year’s in this tourney including a win in the 2011 N2 Group III tourney. Â In that season’s sectional final, Mendham lost in an epic game against Plainfield that went three overtimes. Â Mendham is also on a roll with 7 straight wins including the Morris County Tournament Championship over the section’s two seed, Chatham. Â Mendham also defeated J.F. Kennedy in the semifinal round of the 2014 J.P. Flynn Tournament over the holidays.
Non-Public A South
St. Joseph’s is the only GMC team remaining in this field, but they have a shot to make a very good run, especially if Bree Tyree is able to play at 100 percent. Â Tyree had been battling issues with his ankle since a February 14th loss to Union Catholic at the Metro Classic played at Kean University. Â The junior sensation dealt with the injury throughout the GMC tournament, most notably in the quarterfinals against Woodbridge and the championship game against Colonia. Â
Joes rolled past Bishop Eustace in the opening round of the tournament to give head coach, Dave Turco his 400th win, and the school it’s 9th appearance in the quarterfinals over the last 10 years. Â It was the third time in four years that the Falcons defeated the Crusaders in the state tournament. Â Ironically, the Falcons, the fourth seed in the tournament, will have to get through Union Catholic, the 5th seed in the quarterfinals on Friday evening. Â If they do that, then they have to either travel out to South Jersey to take on top seeded St. Augustine’s of Richland, or host 8th seeded Notre Dame, and Turco’s brother and former Monroe head coach, Bob Turco, in the sectional semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket are 2nd seeded Camden Catholic and 3rd seeded CBA. Â The Falcons and the Colts have had a fierce rivalry over the years, but Joes has won 2 of the last 3 meetings between the schools in state tourney play. Â This field is always loaded, but Joes is the three time defending sectional champion, and with a healthy Tyree along with Branislav Vujadinovic, and Marcus Ashamole, who has picked up his level of play over the past month, the Falcons can’t be counted out.
Non-Public B South
Like St. Joseph’s in Non-Public A South, the Eagles of Cardinal McCarrick have a loaded field to get through in order to put a banner on the wall. Â The Eagles have also struggled as of late with all of its losses coming in just the past three weeks of the season including a stunner to 14th seeded Sayreville in the GMCT Round of 16 on February 19th.
However, McCarrick has beaten some very good teams outside of conference this year including CBA and Marist. Â The Eagles also played Rutgers Prep and Red Bank in recent weeks so they should be fairly battle tested. Â The Eagles will have to go through a Wildwood Catholic team in the sectional quarterfinals on Saturday that has always been difficult to beat in the state playoffs. Â The Eagles have had their season ended by Wildwood Catholic on several occasions including 2004 and 2006, but did beat the Crusaders in the Non-Public B South Championship Game in 2003 to give Joe Lewis his first sectional title.
If the Eagles get past Wildwood Catholic, they will have to go through either Marist again or Trenton Catholic. Â Since the Eagles defeated the Royal Knights on January 11th in South Amboy, the Hudson County school has added former Roselle Catholic standout, Asante Gist to its roster. Â Trenton Catholic has also been a thorn in the Eagles side with wins in sectional finals back in 2009 and 2010 while McCarrick defeated the Iron Mikes in the 2003 and 2011 sectional semifinals. Â Top seeded Roselle Catholic looms on the other side of the bracket.
GMC Hoops will be out at Amboy Tech to see the top seeded Patriots host South River in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament on Friday afternoon.