South Brunswick’s Harmehar Chhabra headed to Stevens in Hoboken.
Senior Forward Helped Lead South Brunswick to GMCT and CJ Group IV Finals
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ – Earlier this spring, GMC Hoops learned via social media that senior forward, Harmehar Chhabra is headed to Stevens to continue his academic and athletic career. Chhabra’s solid all-around game was a key ingredient in South Brunswick’s post-season run. His playmaking ability complimented the scoring ability of fellow senior Kalani Antoine and the improvement of junior forward Daniel Swirad.
The result was the South Brunswick boys basketball conference and state tournament push that rivaled the one in 2020. Three years ago, the Vikings reached the 2020 GMCT Boys Championship before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas and then defeated Marlboro on a buzzer-beater to win the 2020 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 crown. Chhabra, who was a freshman on that 2019-20 Vikings squad, grew both physically and intellectually during the past several years. The growth made Chhabra a tremendous asset.
Only playing in 25 games over his first two years in high school, Chhabra blossomed over his final two seasons. Over the last 53 games of his career, Chhabra connected on 233 total field goals including 22 threes. He also made 113 free throws for a total of 635 points. In addition, Chhabra collected 413 rebounds, 174 assists, 85 blocks, and 62 steals. In percentage terms, Chhabra compiled 96.1% of his scoring, 93.9% of his rebounding, 97.8% of his assists, 96.6% of his blocked shots, and 95.3% of his steals over the last two years.
This past season, Chhabra played in all 27 of South Brunswick’s games. He connected on 124 total field goals including four treys, and 133 free throws for 344 total points. In addition, Chhabra collected 226 boards, 127 assists, 47 blocks, and 29 steals. Chhabra averaged 12.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game. He picked up 9 double-doubles this past season. Seven double-doubles in points and rebounds and two in points and assists.
Chhabra scored in double figures on 22 occasions this past season. He also recorded double-digit rebounds eight times, and double-digit assists twice. Chhabra scored 20 points or more on three occasions in 2022-23. One of those 20-point performances came against South River in a 53-41 GMCT Semifinal victory. One of his four three-pointers came capped an 18-6 first quarter versus Colonia during a 63-43 win in the GMCT Quarterfinals.
After starting the season at 4-4 following a 58-55 loss at St. Joseph’s on January 5th, South Brunswick won 16 of its last 19 games. Two of the three losses were by a combined total of 5 points. The Vikings held their foes to 53.3 points per game in those three defeats too. Five of South Brunswick’s losses were decided by five points or less. The Vikings avenged three of those losses by defeating Colonia in the GMCT Elite Eight and North Brunswick (72-46) in the Central Jersey Group 4 Quarterfinals.
Through it all, Chhabra was right in the middle of all of it. In those last 19 games of the 2022-23 season, Chhabra averaged 13.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.1 steals per contest. His play as a facilitator was huge, especially during both conference and state tournament runs. In the eight playoff games, Chhabra dished out 51 assists or an average of 6.4 assists per game. Keep in mind that top-seeded Trenton’s stellar defense didn’t allow Chhabra to collect any assists in the CJ Group 4 final.
One of the beneficiaries of Chhabra’s unselfish play was Swirad. Entering his junior year, Swirad only scored 29 points in his high school career. On top of that, Swirad only scored in double figures three times before February 1st. From that point on, Swirad scored in double digits on 8 occasions including a career-high of 23 in a 67-55 win over Robbinsville on February 7th. Swirad, who now has 285 points for his career scored 50.8% of those points in just the last 11 games of the 2022-23 season.
Chhabra’s play also complemented Vikings’ leading scorer, Kalani Antoine very well. Antoine scored 520 points during the course of the 2022-23 season and became the school’s seventh 1,000-point scorer. Antoine scored in double figures win every game this season except one. He scored in double digits in each of the last 11 games. In those 11 games, Antoine scored at least 20 points on 6 occasions, and over 30 twice.
In his four years at South Brunswick, Chhabra played in 78 games. According to stats kept at NJ.com, Chhabra made 241 total field goals including 24 threes and 133 free throws for 661 career points. Chhabra also collected 440 rebounds, 178 assists, 88 blocks, and 65 steals. He averaged 8.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 0.8 steals per contest. Chhabra collected 12 double-doubles. He scored double-figure points in 38 of his games. Chhabra collected double-digit rebounds in 14 contests.
Chhabra scored a career-high 22 points in a 63-54 victory at Monroe on January 14th. The following game, Chhabra scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 17 boards in a 58-46 win over Piscataway on January 17th. In the back-to-back wins over Monroe and Piscataway, Chhabra averaged 21.0 points and 15.5 rebounds per game. He also handed out a career-high 12 assists in a 67-55 victory at Robbinsville on February 7th.
During Chhabra’s four-year varsity career with the Vikings, South Brunswick compiled an overall record of 74-25 including a 39-14 mark in GMC Red play. The Vikes also played in two sectional championships (2020 and 2023) and won one (2020). SBHS reached three sectional semifinals (2020, 2022, and 2023). South Brunswick played in two GMCT Finals and reached two GMCT Final Fours and the Jay Williams-Karl Anthony Towns Pod (2021).
Chhabra will be joining a Stevens men’s basketball program that is one of the most competitive among New Jersey’s NCAA D3 schools. This past season, the Ducks were only 13-14, but still 9-7 in MAC Freedom Conference play. Last year, Stevens finished 17-9 overall including a 12-4 mark in conference. The Ducks went on to win the MAC Freedom Conference post-season tournament and won a first-round NCAA tourney game.
Several years ago, Stevens compiled a 23-5 overall record including a 12-2 record in conference. The Ducks also won the 2020 conference post-season tourney and played in an NCAA opening-round game. Prior to the 2019-20 season, Stevens had competed in the Empire 8 conference against the likes of Utica, Ithaca, and Elmira. The Ducks went 16-10 overall including a 9-7 mark in conference play in its final year in the Empire 8 back in 2018-19.
Recent players from the GMC that went on to play at Stevens include Matt Crowley (St. Joseph’s and Westfield), Sashank Sindhia (Monroe), Jake Krantz (East Brunswick), and Jack Engel (South Brunswick). At the end of the season, Chhabra participated in the 2023 GMC Senior All-Star Game at Middlesex College. He made 6 total field goals including three treys for 15 points while collecting 6 rebounds and 3 assists to help Team White to a 123-111 victory. Congratulations Harmehar! Best of luck to you at the next level.