Season Opener Will Feature Freshmen, JV, and Varsity Tripleheader Between East Brunswick and North Brunswick
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–With the start of the 2015-16 school year just a little more than a couple weeks away, the countdown for the Greater Middlesex Conference high school basketball season is creeping closer. So, it is time to start thinking about the season a little bit, and the season opener. Last year, GMC Hoops opened the season with a Freshmen, JV, and Varsity tripleheader between St. Joseph’s and South Brunswick.
This year, the site has decided to stay within the Red Division with a fierce neighborhood rivalry. On Friday, December 18th, GMC Hoops will be in East Brunswick to see the Bears take on North Brunswick in an opening day Freshmen, JV, and Varsity tripleheader. These two teams were in the GMC Hoops Top Ten for the entire season last year, and in the Top Five for a good portion of the year as well. Both teams bring back a good deal of talent although EB wasn’t hit as hard by graduation this past June.
East Brunswick returns three top players in Matt Ross, Mike Vick, and Addis Ralph. The Bears also have a good supporting cast returning with the likes of Justin Sewnarine, Jesse Perel, Mike Brizuela, Ezra Levitt, Dante Ralph, Joe Sampson, and Tom Pappas. The Bears also have a solid group of sophomores led by Eric Schneider, Brandon Rosenthal, and Nas Zubiru. EB’s incoming sophomore were runners up in the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney this past February. East Brunswick has reached the GMCT Final Four in each of the last four years.
Meanwhile, North Brunswick lost a ton from graduation including L.J. Williams, Eric Slade, Kishan Patel, and Soloman Gayle, but still have Pranay Bhandare, Francis Omowole, and Basit Khan returning along with newcomers such as Adryan Salazar, and a solid group of sophomores led by Maneet Batra, Jordan Salisbury, and Mwanza Fitzpatrick that won the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney. North Brunswick has made it to the GMCT Elite Eight in 4 of the last 6 seasons. The Raiders are looking to overachieve despite having to compete in the GMC Red for a second year.
Both of these schools have put in plenty of work this off-season. Both EB and North Brunswick played at the East Brunswick Team Camp in June while the Bears competed at the Bridgewater Summer League and North Brunswick finished third at the MSC Summer League.