SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The fourth day of state tournament action is completed, and one GMC team advanced in two different state tourneys. The GMC went 0-3 against non-conference opponents. South Brunswick is the only team from the Greater Middlesex Conference to move on thanks to a thrilling last second victory in overtime over rival East Brunswick. It was the fourth time that the two schools had met this season, and the third meeting at SBHS. The Vikings won all three contest at SBHS, and by a combined margin of 8 points. The Vikes joined South River and St. Joseph’s as the only remaining teams from the GMC still in state tourney play. Below are capsules from the four contests involving GMC schools from the fourth day of state playoff action:
Central Jersey Group 2 State Playoffs
#8 Spotswood at #1 Bordentown–After defeating Delran in the opening round, the 8th seeded Chargers traveled down to Burlington County to face another team from the BCSL in top seeded and defending CJ Group 2 champion, Bordentown. The Scotties jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead, and after Spotswood narrowed the deficit to 28-23 at the half, they put together a 40-28 showing over the last two periods to pull away for a 69-51 victory. Both teams had six different players scored and had three score in double figures. The two teams also combined to connect on 11 threes with Spotswood holding a 21-12 edge in points scored from beyond the arc. However, Bordentown had a 17-6 edge in points scored at the charity stripe and a 40-24 edge in points scored from within the arc. Myron Gordon led all scorers with a game high 22 points for the Scotties while teammates Manny Ansong and Darnill Brown added 16 and 12 points respectively. Eric Dadika led the way in defeat for Spotswood with 17 points to finish his career with 1,191 while Marlon Hart added 12 to end his career with 1,182 points. Andrew Fuzesi chipped in with 11. With the victory, Bordentown improved to 24-4 on the year, and advanced to play 5th seeded Willingboro in the sectional semifinals on Saturday. Spotswood finished its season at 22-6.
Central Jersey Group 4 State Playoffs
#9 Sayreville at #1 Hunterdon Central–In the first of two games covered by GMC Hoops on Thursday, Sayreville traveled out to Flemington to take on Hunterdon Central in a Central Jersey Group 4 Quarterfinal. The Bombers jumped out to a 16-14 lead with about two minutes remaining in the first quarter, and then added a couple more scores for a 20-14 lead before the top seeded Red Devils rallied back with five unanswered points including a Colin McNeil layup and a Cole Hanntz three pointer from the left corner to close the gap to 20-19. Hunterdon Central then opened the second with another score for a 21-20 lead before both teams swapped leads several times. Hunterdon Central went ahead again at 27-26 with a layup at the 4:46 mark before Sayreville called for time. Following the timeout, the Devils got another score for a 29-26 lead before the Bombers responded with four consecutive points including a straight on jumper by Zach Alessi at the 2:49 mark for a 30-29 lead. Hunterdon Central then closed the half with the final four points including a transition layup by Hanntz off a steal and assist by Tucker Richardson with 53.3 seconds remaining in the half for a 33-30 lead. The Red Devils then opened up the second half on a 10-0 run including another three by Hanntz and layups by McNeil and Richardson for a 43-30 lead at the 6:36 mark. To its credit, Sayreville didn’t quit. Instead, the Bombers battled back within five thanks to a 22-14 rally highlighted by two threes by Elijah Clark and a trey from reserve Mike Gray to narrow the deficit to 57-52 with a minute left in the third. Sayreville stayed within five for the next several minutes as it exchanged scores with Hunterdon Central including a layup by Ryan O’Leary with 5:28 remaining for a 61-56 Red Devils lead. However, despite a three by O’Leary at the 4:30 mark, Hunterdon Central began to pull away. Sayreville’s Jahsim Floyd then fouled out with 1:26 to play and the Bombers trailing 71-64. From there, Hunterdon Central went to the line and outscored Sayreville, 10-7 to wrap up the 81-71 victory. With the win, Hunterdon Central improved to 24-4 on the season and advanced to the sectional semifinals on Saturday, where it will host 4th seeded Freehold Township. Sayreville finished its season at 18-10.
#6 East Brunswick at #3 South Brunswick–It will most likely go down as the GMC Hoops Game of the Year. Two teams that were evenly matched managed to top two other memorable games at South Brunswick High School earlier this year with an even better one. The two teams dueled it out for not only four quarters, but also an overtime period before the game was decided. The game was also full of clutch shots on both sides. Mike Ugarte sank to clutch threes in the third quarter to help South Brunswick rally from a 29-20 halftime deficit. Danesh Thirukmaran sank an NBA range three in the second half and then connected on a trey in overtime to give South Brunswick a 59-56 lead. Addis Ralph then connected on a three pointer that had a kind bounce with under a minute to go in overtime to tie the score at 61-61. Eric Savage made the biggest shot of all though by connected on a pull-up jumper from the foul line with time running out in the extra session to give South Brunswick the 63-61 win as fans poured out on to the court at SBHS to join in the celebration. Neither team led by more than nine points. There was also a bit of controversy in this one. East Brunswick led 50-46 with under three minutes to play when Savage was fouled on a drive. He then made both ends of the bonus and on the second made free throw, a foul was called on EB again. Savage then stepped to the line and made another pair of foul shots to tie the game at 50-50. The game continued to go back and forth as Savage scored on a layup with 16 seconds to play to tie things up at 56-56. Then, after a jump ball going to the Vikings on an alternate possession, Savage took an inbounds pass from Chris James at half court, and put up a shot that hit back iron as time ran out. The two teams played three times at South Brunswick with the Vikings winning each time by a combined total of just 8 points. On January 26th, the Vikes rallied from a 54-45 deficit with 1:26 to play to pull out a 57-56 victory. Then, in the 2016 GMCT Semifinals at SBHS, South Brunswick rallied from a 45-41 deficit with a 9-0 spurt to finish the game for a 50-45 victory and its first GMCT finals berth since 1993. The only game of the four won by EB was on February 11th in East Brunswick by the score of 81-68. The game was a wild up and down affair that saw the Bears turn a 29-19 early second quarter deficit into a 59-36 lead with a 40-7 surge over a 10 minute span. East Brunswick’s big three of Matt Ross (21 points), Addis Ralph (19 points), and Mike Vick (17 points) combined to score 57 of the Bears’ 61 points. Only one other player, Justin Sewnarine, scored for EB with 4 points. South Brunswick had more balance with six different players scoring including the trio of Savage (22 points), Jaier Garrett (16 points), and Ugarte (15 points), who combined to score 53 of the Vikes 63 points. With the victory, South Brunswick improved to 22-4 on the season, and advanced to the sectional semifinals on Saturday to face Colts Neck at 2:00 PM. East Brunswick completed its season at 18-9.
#5 Old Bridge at #4 Freehold Township–Freehold Township, which reached the Championship Game of the 2015 Central Jersey Group 4 State Tourney a year ago before losing to Hillsborough, outscored Old Bridge in every quarter including a 20-11 showing in the first period and an 11-4 effort in the second to take a 31-15 lead at the intermission. The Patriots cruised from there to a 69-45 victory. Seven different players scored for Freehold Township including three in double figures. Two of those players scored 20 or more points as Nick Facendo led the way for the winners with a double-double of 24 points and 10 assists. Stephen Staklinski also had a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards. John Carroll had a double-double as well with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Connor Romano led the way in defeat for the Knights with 19 points to finish his career with 1,004 points. He was the 9th player in the GMC to reach 1,000 for his career this season. C.J. Santoro chipped in with 11. Old Bridge enjoyed an 18-9 edge in points scored from long distance, but Freehold Township enjoyed a 20-11 edge in points scored at the charity stripe, and a 40-16 edge in points scored within the arc. With the victory, Freehold Township improved to 19-9 overall and advanced to the semifinals on Saturday to take on Hunterdon Central. Old Bridge concluded its season at 18-9.