Three or Four Competitive Games on Tap for Tuesday in GMCT
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—On Thursday afternoon, play resumes in the 2022 Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball Tournament with games again at the higher seeded teams. Now, we are down to the final 16 teams in this year’s field. So, far there have been no surprises with 15 of the 16 games played thus far won by the higher seeded team.
The top eight seeds get their first and hopefully not last taste of tournament action on Thursday. There are probably three of four of these first round games that could be quite competitive. Before we begin our preview of today’s First Round or Round of 16, let’s take a look back at the 2022 GMCT Preliminary Round that took place on Tuesday:
A Look Back: 2022 GMCT Preliminary Round Results
- #9 Piscataway 69—#24 Perth Amboy Tech 38
- #17 Perth Amboy 62—#16 Middlesex 60
- #10 South River 59—#23 Highland Park 42
- #15 Spotswood 61—#18 New Brunswick 54
- #12 J.P. Stevens 45—#21 North Brunswick 37
- #13 Old Bridge 60—#20 Woodbridge 42
- #14 Sayreville 68—#19 Metuchen 51
GMC Hoops covered at least portions of 3 of the 8 GMCT Preliminary Round Games. Articles of those games have been posted to the blog and one on the 2022 GMCT Girls First Round game between 6th seeded Middlesex and 11th seeded South River will be posted either later today or tomorrow.
Like the Play-In Round before it, the 2022 GMCT Boys Preliminary Round went pretty much as expected, or chalk like bracketologists would like to say. The only game that could be considered a surprise was 17th seeded Perth Amboy’s 62-60 victory over 16th seeded Middlesex on a last second tip in. However, Amboy did play Monroe tough twice while the Falcons soundly defeated the Jays on February 3rd in Middlesex. The Blue Jays also got swept during the season by GMC Blue rival and 23rd seeded Highland Park
Speaking of the Owls, they came to play in their Preliminary Round contest versus 10th seeded South River. Highland Park trailed 17-13 after one, and 28-24 at the half before succumbing to a 10-0 Rams blitz to open the 3rd period for a 38-24 South River lead. Although the Owls managed to get the deficit down to 9 at 41-32 late in the third, they were unable to recover as the Rams led by as many as 20 before winning 59-42 to advance.
In the game between 13th seeded Old Bridge and 20th seeded Woodbridge, the Barrons gave it a battle in the first half of this contest between teams with similar records. However, after Woodbridge opened the 2nd with a 6-0 run to take a 16-12 lead, the Knights took over with a 16-1 tear over about four minutes to take a 28-17 lead, and then outscored the Barrons by a 17-7 margin in the third to go up 45-29 heading into the fourth. Led by Ryan Witte and Jayden St. Rose, who both had a game high 17 points, OBHS led by as many as 23 in the fourth before winning 60-42.
Finally, in the last game of the GMC Hoops Route 18 tripleheader coverage of the 2022 GMCT Preliminary Round, 11th seeded East Brunswick got a bit of a fight from a determined 22nd seeded Wardlaw-Hartridge school before rallying in the third to pull within 52-44 heading into the final period. The Bears, who had four players score in double figures led by junior Mike Mikulka with 23 points, opened the fourth with a 7-0 run for a 15 point lead, and Wardlaw couldn’t get closer than 11 twice after that in a 70-57 EB victory.
There were two other close games in the Preliminary Round including 15th seeded Spotswood’s 61-54 win over 18th seeded New Brunswick, which gave the GMC Red its only crossover loss of the round, and 12th seeded J.P. Stevens 45-37 victory over 21st seeded North Brunswick in North Edison.
Now, let’s move ahead to Tuesday’s schedule in the 2022 GMCT Preliminary Round. Game times range from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. If you’re hoping for a 7:00 PM start with these games, you’re in luck since there are two such games in this round.
A Look Ahead: 2022 GMCT First Round Schedule
- #11 East Brunswick at #6 Edison, 5:30 PM
- #10 South River at #7 South Plainfield, 5:30 PM
- #12 J.P. Stevens at #5 South Brunswick, 5:30 PM
- #14 Sayreville at #3 Colonia, 6:00 PM
- #9 Piscataway at #8 Timothy Christian, 6:00 PM
- #17 Perth Amboy at #1 St. Thomas Aquinas, 6:00 PM
- #13 Old Bridge at #4 Monroe, 7:00 PM
- #15 Spotswood at #2 St. Joseph’s, 7:00 PM
GMC Hoops will be providing some coverage of GMCT First Round Games between 11th seeded East Brunswick and 6th seeded Edison and 13th seeded Old Bridge and 4th seeded Monroe. In addition, GMC Hoops plans to travel over to Perth Amboy to take in the Championship Game of the 2022 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament between top seeded St. Joseph’s and 3rd seeded St. Thomas Aquinas at 4:00 PM.
Now, we are going to go into some detail for every game in this round. Keep in mind that 4 of the 8 GMCT First Round games on Tuesday are crossover contests, meaning that the game is between schools from divisions in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Counting the games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, here are how each of the divisions have performed in crossovers this season:
- Red Division: 15-8
- Blue Division: 15-12
- White Division: 10-10
- Gold Division: 5-15
The Red Division went 5-1 in its crossover games played in the 2022 GMCT Preliminary Round on Tuesday. The GMC White and GMC Blue both went 1-2 while the GMC Gold went 0-2. Now, there are four other games involving teams that have already played each other twice in division during the season. Let’s review how those match-ups went:
#10 South River at #7 South Plainfield—Split—Rams won 63-56 on opening day (December 17th) and Tigers won 74-41 on January 14th. Both teams won on their home floor. South Plainfield also trailed 49-23 entering the fourth quarter in the first meeting. The Tigers swept the season series last year en route to a de-facto division title, and had beaten the Rams four straight times before losing on opening day.
#12 J.P. Stevens at #5 South Brunswick—Split—Hawks won season opener 44-40 in North Edison on December 17th while the Vikings won 70-51 in Monmouth Junction on January 20th. Both teams won on their home floor. The Vikings had won five straight since January 24, 2019 before losing at Stevens on opening day.
#14 Sayreville at #3 Colonia—The Patriots won both games including an 88-40 victory at the Bomb Shelter on December 23rd, and a 79-50 win in Colonia on January 25th. The Pats and Bombers didn’t play last year, but Colonia has won the last three in the series since Sayreville’s upset win at Colonia on January 28, 2020.
#13 Old Bridge at #4 Monroe—Falcons swept the season series between the two schools with a 59-44 victory in Monroe on December 23rd and a closer 56-50 win on the road in Old Bridge on January 25th. Counting last year’s 55-52 win at MTHS last season, the Falcons have won the last 6 games in this series dating back to their NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 Quarterfinal win at Old Bridge (52-50) on February 27, 2019.
Let’s take a look at the capsules for Thursday’s games:
#11 East Brunswick at #6 Edison, 5:30 PM
This could be one of the closest games of the day with Edison defeating Piscataway and South Plainfield, two teams that defeated EB during the course of the season. However, the Bears split with P-Way, and only lost to South Plainfield by 10 on December 23rd in East Brunswick. While the Eagles defeated the Tigers in the Cotoia Holiday Tourney, SP also upset Edison twice during the summer including the Championship Game of the 2021 Rahway Summer League.
#10 South River at #7 South Plainfield, 5:30 PM
For one of these teams, a berth in the GMCT Elite Eight for the first time in at least 15 years awaits. South Plainfield last was in the GMCT Quarterfinals in 2007 when it defeated 15th seeded Old Bridge for its fourth Final Four berth in five seasons dating back to the 2002-03 season. Meanwhile, South River has not been to the Elite Eight since Deon Jackson and Donny Smutko led the Rams there in 1991. Were the Rams thinking ahead to today’s game with the Tigers during its contest against Highland Park? Can the Tigers repeat their dominance in a 74-41 victory over the Rams on January 14th? Which team will be able to stop the other’s top scorer? Key questions these teams will need to answer today.
#12 J.P. Stevens at #5 South Brunswick, 5:30 PM
The Hawks pulled off the biggest upset of opening day when it upended then 4th ranked South Brunswick (44-40) at home on December 17th. The win catapulted JPS to a tremendous start with 7 victories in their first 8 games that also included a 66-64 win at Monroe on January 6th. Since then, Stevens leveled off with 8 losses in their previous 10 contest before winning their last two. Meanwhile, the Vikings have gotten back on track with 14 wins in their last 20 games including wins over Monroe and Trenton Central. Eli Peters is back on the line-up for the Hawks, which helped in the win over North Brunswick.
#14 Sayreville at #3 Colonia, 6:00 PM
The third seeded Colonia Patriots debut in the 2022 GMCT on Thursday night when it hosts 14th seeded Sayreville in the third meeting between the two schools this year. Colonia, which was recently awarded the top seed in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Tournament, will be tough to beat with the likes of Billy Anderson and Saivon Pressley playing well. The Bombers, which lost the previous two contests against the Patriots, will need to keep the game low scoring and close in order to have a shot. However, keep in mind, Sayreville head coach, John Wojcik pulled off an upset in 2015 when his then 14th seeded Bombers knocked off 3rd seeded Cardinal McCarrick in that year’s GMCT First Round.
#9 Piscataway at #8 Timothy Christian, 6:00 PM
The last time these two teams faced each other was in the 2020 GMCT Preliminary Round when the then 13th seeded Chiefs defeated the 20th seeded Tigers (71-63). It was the first time the two schools actually faced each other since TCS pulled off a huge upset in the 2013-14 when it knocked off the Chiefs (50-39) at home on January 25th. This time may be a tall order for the Tigers although they are playing at home. Piscataway split with J.P. Stevens and lost two close ones to Monroe. Both the Hawks and Falcons defeated TCS by double digits early in the season.
#17 Perth Amboy at #1 St. Thomas Aquinas, 6:00 PM
The last time the Panthers traveled to play the Trojans in North Edison was two seasons ago. Although Aquinas won the game on the court convincingly, Perth Amboy was eventually awarded the win due to a forfeit resulting from scheduling issues with St. Thomas Aquinas. There are no scheduling problems this time as STA is the top seed, comes into the contest at 22-1, and on its way to the best season in school history. On top of that, Seton Hall commit Jaquan Harris recently saw action, scored 11 points in a 96-64 win versus Sayreville on February 8th in North Edison, and could return during the tournament.
#13 Old Bridge at #4 Monroe, 7:00 PM
The last time the Knights and Falcons got together, Old Bridge made a game of it before losing at home, 56-50 on January 25th. Old Bridge had a relatively young and inexperienced squad that had to take some lumps early with the likes of Ryan Witte out of the lineup. In addition, these two schools have developed quite a rivalry in recent years although Monroe has won the last six dating back to late February 2019. It is also senior night in Monroe, so this contest will be played with a bit of emotion.
#15 Spotswood at #2 St. Joseph’s, 7:00 PM
The last time the Chargers played the Falcons was in the 2016 GMCT Quarterfinals in New Brunswick when the Falcons, led by Bree Tyree and Tyus Battle, defeated the 8th seeded Chargers (69-37). As a matter of fact, this will be the fourth time in the past 12 years that the two schools have played each other in the GMCT. The other two previous times were in the 2010 GMCT Semifinals and the 2013 GMCT Quarterfinals. Joes won both contests 48-38 in 2010 and 85-43 in 2013. The latter of the two saw the trio of Marques Townes, Wade Baldwin, and Karl Anthony Towns put on a dunk show with 8 slams. This game should be closer than the last two meetings in 2013 and 2014, but this Joes team can score a lot of points, especially at Maglio Gymnasium.