Fourth Seeded Vikings Advance to Face Hightstown in CJ Group 4 Quarterfinals
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ—After falling short of top ranked and second seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (63-52) in the 2020 GMCT Boys Championship Game at Middlesex County College several days earlier, South Brunswick returned to action with a home game in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 4 State Tournament.
The fourth seeded Vikings hosted 13th seeded Jackson Memorial of Ocean County and the Shore Conference. South Brunswick got off to an explosive start in the first period by taking a 25-17 lead, and then after the Jaguars closed the gap to six at 36-30 at the intermission with a 13-11 showing in the second, the Vikes outscored the visitors by a 27-13 margin to take a 63-43 third quarter lead en route to a 82-61 victory.
Seven different players got into the scorebook for the Vikings led by 1,000 point scorer, Devin Strickland, who poured in a game high 23 points. Fellow senior, Justin Carbone added 16 points while junior Ty Murchison chipped in with 13. The supporting cast trio of Yathin Vemula (9 points), Ahkil Edekar (9 points), and Andrew Tesser (8 points) combined for 26 points while Alex Strange rounded out South Brunswick’s scoring with two points.
Jackson Memorial also had seven different players score led by Nick Colon, who had a team high 16 points. Keith Adame contributed with 13 points while Sean Slusak added 10. Jason Woods (7 points), Ryan Mahala (5 points), Matt Mahala (4 points), and Billy Petrina (4 points) rounded out the Jaguars scoring. South Brunswick got rolling early as Strickland opened the game with a score, and Vemula capped the 11-8 opening with a quick transition score at the 5:01 mark of the first period.
The Jags then responded with a 9-5 run to take a one point lead before the Vikes ended the frame on a 9-0 run including a putback by Strickland before the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter with a 25-17 lead. Jackson Memorial then scored 13 of the next 22 points over much of the second period before Carbone got a much needed score on a drive down the right lane with 1.5 seconds to play in the first half for the six point, 36-30 advantage at the break.
The third quarter would turn out to be the decisive portion of the contest with SBHS outscoring Jackson Memorial by a two to one margin in the frame. South Brunswick opened the frame by scoring 8 of the first 12 points over a span of 2:49 capped by a Murchison layup at the 5:11 mark for a 44-34 Vikings lead. The Vikes continued their pivotal onslaught by scoring 17 of the next 23 points over a 3:40 span including back to back threes by Carbone and Tesser, and a steal for a dunk by Strickland that drove the SBHS crowd into a frenzy with the home team now up 61-40 with 1:31 remaining in the third.
South Brunswick took a 63-43 lead into the fourth after Murchison scored on a layup from the right side in the waning moments of the third. The Vikings then scored 10 of the first 18 points of the fourth including a conventional three point play by Carbone for a 73-51 lead with 3:51 left in the game. The Jaguars then closed out the game with a 10-9 run to wrap up the scoring in the 82-61 South Brunswick victory.
With the win, the fourth seeded Vikings improved to 22-5 overall on the season, and advanced to the 2020 NJSIAA Central Jersey Quarterfinals against fifth seeded Hightstown on March 5th at SBHS. The Rams, which defeated Andrew Turco led Monroe, the 12th seed in the tournament, 65-57, hosted South Brunswick earlier in the season on December 23rd, and knocked off the Vikes, 67-50. Hightstown, which is now 21-6 overall, is 4-1 against GMC teams with wins not only over South Brunswick and Monroe, but also Piscataway and J.F. Kennedy while only losing to Colonia.