Amboy Tech-Calvary Christian Match-Up Looks to be Most Competitive
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—After a year’s hiatus, the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament returns in 2022 with a full round of play-in games to kick things off. With the additions of Calvary Christian and Somerset Tech in recent years, we have a 32 team field with all the teams participating this season. This will be the first ever play-in round featuring eight contests, but only one or two look to be the most competitive.
Perhaps the most competitive contest will be between #24th seeded Perth Amboy Tech and 25th seeded Calvary Christian while the game between 23rd seeded Highland Park and 26th seeded South Amboy appears to be the next most competitive. The match-up of 21st seeded North Brunswick and 28th seeded J.F. Kennedy could also be interesting if the Mustangs bring their A game.
However, in a season that saw numerous blowouts in both divisional and crossover play, expect most of the contests to be one sided, and many if not all of the higher seeded teams winning on Saturday. Let’s take a look at the schedule:
2022 GMCT Play-In Round Schedule
#25 Calvary Christian at #24 Perth Amboy Tech, 10:00 AM
#27 Carteret at #22 Wardlaw-Hartridge, 11:00 AM
#32 Dunellen at #17 Perth Amboy, 11:30 AM
#26 South Amboy at #23 Highland Park, 11:30 AM
#31 Somerset Tech at #18 New Brunswick, 11:30 AM
#28 J.F. Kennedy at #21 North Brunswick, 12:00 PM
#29 East Brunswick Tech at #20 Woodbridge, 2:30 PM
#30 Piscataway Tech at #19 Metuchen, 3:00 PM
GMC Hoops will be providing some coverage of most of the games today. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get around to 5 or 6 of these contests. Now let’s look at each of the match-ups a little more closely.
#25 Calvary Christian at #24 Perth Amboy Tech, 10:00 AM
Both of these teams are Gold Division rivals, and fairly evenly matched. The two teams have already played each other twice with Amboy Tech winning both including the most recent contest in Perth Amboy on January 24th (50-34). However, if the Lions are on their game with star player Jack Zink playing in top form and others like Isaiah Jones, Lucas Durkin, Timothy Cranga, and Eli Fahmy all doing their thing, this one could go down to the wire. The Patriots are led by Chanel Herrera, Adrian Pena, Jonas Ramos, and Julius Bonilla, and coached by former Cardinal McCarrick standout, Donnie Reid.
#27 Carteret at #22 Wardlaw-Hartridge, 11:00 AM
These two teams actually scheduled to play each other next Thursday at 4:30 PM in North Edison so they are getting together a little earlier. With Carteret not playing last year, the Ramblers have been in rebuilding mode. Carteret played one of Wardlaw’s Gold Division opponents in East Brunswick Tech on Thursday, and lost 47-42 as the Tigers rallied from behind. The Rams defeated EB Tech twice easily. Key players to watch for Wardlaw are Mehkai Huey, Evan Benson, Jordan Severino, Xavier Hinds, Gyrord Gregoire, and Harrison Kilpatrick. The Ramblers are led by junior forward, C.G. Opara, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding.
#32 Dunellen at #17 Perth Amboy, 11:30 AM
Dunellen has not won a conference game all season while Perth Amboy has not won at all since January 11th when it shocked East Brunswick at home. So, you would figure something has to give here. It will most likely give for the Panthers with the likes of Lorenzo Perez, Kevin Clemons, and Mehki Denny leading the way. The Destroyers are led by the likes of senior center Ben Hernandez and junior Eric Green.
#26 South Amboy at #23 Highland Park, 11:30 AM
This contest could be a competitive one since South Amboy has been playing better as of late while Highland Park is missing their 6’6” big man Daniel Starcevic. The Owls are a much different team without him, but still managed to knock off Middlesex for a second time without him in the line-up. Brandon Gasiewski, Anthony Vella, Josiah Floyd, and Jianny Caraballo lead the Guvs attack with junior guard Gasiewski being one of the top scorers in the GMC this year.
#31 Somerset Tech at #18 New Brunswick, 11:30 AM
The Jaguars of Somerset Tech, which joined the GMC a year ago, are playing in their first ever GMCT. The Jags of the GMC Gold played well against Academy of Urban Leadership from Perth Amboy on Wednesday afternoon before losing 71-64. However, this New Brunswick team, which is coming off a non-conference win over North Plainfield on Thursday (62-48) competes in the very tough and competitive Red Division so their win-loss record is deceptive, and will be a tall order. Led by the likes of seniors Josiah Brown and Deon Jackson, the Zebras scored 50 points in just a half during an 86-73 victory over Roselle on Martin Luther King Day, and also recently defeated J.P. Stevens.
#28 J.F. Kennedy at #21 North Brunswick, 12:00 PM
These two teams have already met twice this season in the GMC White with North Brunswick winning comfortably in both. Kennedy only had three players return including just one starter (Donovan Claiborne) from a year ago. North Brunswick was hit hard by graduation as well. In addition, the Raiders lost out on football standout, Marquis Perry, who decided to get an early jump on track season by going out for Winter Track. Nevertheless, North Brunswick has more talent back with veterans Ian Morris, Frank Garbolino, and Tim Bolaji as well as newcomers Jurmire Jones and freshman Tommy Koroma.
#29 East Brunswick Tech at #20 Woodbridge, 2:30 PM
East Brunswick Tech is coming off its biggest win of the season on Thursday when it came from behind to defeat Carteret (47-42) in East Brunswick. However, Woodbridge, led by Micah Eason, Jayce Green, Kendall Pala, Nick Hilenski, and Jake Serrano, have already defeated Carteret handily twice in GMC White play this season. The Barrons under first year head coach, Jonathan Toczynski are an improving squad. EB Tech, which is also led by a first year head coach in Matt O’Brien is led by the likes of junior Scott Pede, sophomore Estevan Atanacio, and senior Juan Hernandez.
#30 Piscataway Tech at #19 Metuchen, 3:00 PM
Piscataway Tech played respectably in its 43-36 GMC Gold loss at South Amboy on Monday. However, the Raiders, which only have two key players from last year returning in reserves Jonnan Vargas and Isaiah Shepard split with both East Brunswick Tech and Somerset Tech in a rebuilding year for head coach Lenny Reyes. Metuchen, which also lost 4 starters from last year’s Haley Pod Championship Team, still has plenty of firepower with 1,000 point scorer Dominic Schiappa and fellow senior Max Cohn. The Bulldogs also defeated East Brunswick Tech (80-40) handily on January 31st in the Dawg Pound.