Vikings Pull Away From Old Bridge, 61-35

South Brunswick senior forward, Harmehar Chhabra puts up a shot in the closing seconds of the first quarter against Old Bridge in the 2023 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 opening round on Tuesday evening in Monmouth Junction. The Vikings defeated the Knights, 61-35 to advance.

South Brunswick Ends Game on 25-6 Surge to Advance to CJ Group 4 Elite Eight

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ – Following the South Brunswick’s girls basketball triumph in the opening round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 Tournament, the SBHS varsity boys team took the floor.  After taking top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas to the limit in the 2023 GMCT Championship this past Friday night, South Brunswick was looking to take the momentum gained from its conference tourney run, and put something together in the CJ Group 4 State Tourney.

First test for the now second ranked Vikings in the latest GMC Hoops Top Ten was Old Bridge, currently ranked 10th in the poll as well.  The 11th seeded Knights lost to North Brunswick in the first round of the GMCT after defeating 22nd seeded Metuchen in the Preliminary Round.  Old Bridge and South Brunswick played twice during the regular season with the Vikings winning both times.  Would the third time be the charm for the Knights?

For a while, it looked like an upset seemed possible.  Although South Brunswick had several runs over the first three periods, Old Bridge found a way to hang around and stay in it.  Then, the Knights seemed to make a move with a 7-1 rally late in the third. 

Highlighting the run was freshman Jaylen Jones, who ignited the spurt with a three from the left wing, and then picked up a loose ball and converted it into a layup.  Junior forward Ehi Odion capped the run with another layup in transition to put Old Bridge within seven at 36-29 with 1:06 remaining in the third.

Unfortunately, the Knights were unable to get any closer as South Brunswick ended the game on a 25-6 surge over the final 9:06 to pull away for a 61-35 victory.  Leading the way again were seniors Kalani Antoine and Harmehar Chhabra.  In addition, junior Daniel Swirad continues to put together a fine post season run.  Antoine poured in a game high 21 points while also collecting 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.  

Chhabra scored only 10 points, but handed out 9 of his team’s 13 assists, and grabbed 7 boards.  However, Swirad stole the show with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds along with a block as he is becoming a very viable third option for South Brunswick at the most important time of the season.  Over the last eight games, Swirad has averaged 14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest including a career high of 23 points along with 7 boards in a 67-55 win at Robbinsville on February 7th.

South Brunswick had 12 players see action in the contest.  Many of the reserves got into the game during the fourth quarter as the Vikings built an insurmountable lead.  Senior forward, John Rappoccio, who has also been instrumental this post-season for the Vikes, added 5 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal.  Arshvir Singh, who has played solid defense against some of the top players in the GMC down the stretch, chipped in with 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Nitish Raj (3 points on a trey in the fourth quarter) and Om Patel (2 points and a rebound) rounded out the SBHS scoring.  The Muniz brothers, Bruce (4 rebounds and a steal) and Jayden (a rebound, assist, and a steal), Logan Rodgers (an assist), and Ayush Sankaran also saw action in the contest for the Vikes.  Senior guard, Adam Scire led Old Bridge in a losing cause with a team high 8 points.  Sophomore Krish Patel added 7 points while Jones and Odin each chipped in with 5.

Senior Ryan Witte played in his final game for Old Bridge, and scored 4 points on two field goals.  Witte, one of the toughest and hard working competitors in the GMC, finished his career with 564 points.  Freshman Mike Kvas and sophomore Danny Singleton Jr., rounded out the Old Bridge scoring with 4 and 2 points respectively.  Sophomore Noah Balbuena and freshman, Christian Appe also played for the Knights, but didn’t score.

The Vikings outscored Old Bridge in three of the four periods including the third and the fourth quarters by a combined margin of 34-16.  The second period ended in a 10-10 tie as SBHS took a 27-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.  Both teams had 7 different players score in the game, but South Brunswick had three in double figures for a combined 48 points while Old Bridge had none.

The Knights held a 12-9 advantage in points scored from long distance, but the Vikings enjoyed a decisive 46-22 edge in points scored within the arc, and a 6-1 edge in points from the foul line.  As a team, South Brunswick also collected 38 rebounds, 13 assists, 6 steals, and a block.  The game was a bit of a back and forth affair early on before the Vikings scored the 9 of the last 11 points of the frame for a 17-9 lead.  

Keying the run again was Swirad and Chhabra with the latter’s court vision and playmaking helping to build the former’s confidence as a solid contributor.  Chhabra’s ability to find Swirad over the entire GMCT run continued into the first round of the states.  Highlighting the run was a score by Swirad off an inbounds play, where Chhabra got the ball from Singh in the paint, dribbled to his left and dished a perfect dime to a cutting Swirad for a layup and a 6-2 Viking lead at the 5:03 mark of the first.

Chhabra got on the board himself when he took a pass from Jayden Muniz in transition on the left wing, and finished with a layup to make the score 15-9 and force Old Bridge to call a timeout at the 1:34 mark of the first.  Trailing by eight to start the second period, Old Bridge climbed back into the contest with a 10-7 run over the majority of the frame to pull within three at 24-19 at the 2:02 mark of the 2nd.  Sparking the rally was Odion, who knocked down a trey on the left side of the arc, and then Scire added a trey of his own from the left side of the arc as well.

However, South Brunswick didn’t let Old Bridge get any closer as Antoine got into the act with a pull-up jumper from the foul line in the waning moments of the half to help put the home team back up by eight going into the intermission.  Then, the Vikes picked up right where it left off as they opened the second half with 8 of the first 11 points including a Swirad layup from the right low block off another great feed by Chhabra for a 35-22 advantage at the 3:22 mark of the third.

Old Bridge would battle back though.  Jones sparked the Knights 7-1 rally late in the third with a three pointer from the left wing at the 2:24 mark after Witte got the ball on the right wing, dribbled toward the foul line and kicked out to the freshman for the open shot.  Jones then scored again on a layup after the Knights pressure produced a loose ball opportunity that the youngster then converted.  Odion then capped the run with a layup off a pass by Singleton at the 1:06 mark for the 36-29 South Brunswick lead.

The Vikings would regain control for good though by scoring the last 6 points of the third including two buckets by Antoine for a 42-29 advantage going into the final stanza.  South Brunswick then put the foot on the accelerator in the fourth as Antoine produced a rare four point play, and later scored in transition.  Swirad added a putback off a missed three attempt by Antoine, and Chhabra scored in transition and then added another bucket down the stretch on a baseline drive from the right side.

With the victory, South Brunswick improved to 18-6 overall and advanced to the CJ Group 4 Quarterfinals for the third straight year.  The Vikings will face a familiar foe in the Elite Eight in arch rival North Brunswick.  The 3rd seeded Raiders improved to 21-6 overall on the season with a 55-54 squeaker of a win over 14th seeded Princeton.  The Raiders and Vikings faced off early in the season during the holidays in the annual Brunswick Classic.  North Brunswick defeated South Brunswick 65-60 in that game on December 29th in North Brunswick.

Both teams also recently played then 3rd seeded South River in the 2023 GMCT.  The Raiders lost to the Rams, 80-58 in the Elite Eight while the Vikings shut down the Rams in the second half to emerge victorious in the semifinals, 53-41.  Old Bridge was also a common opponent for both squads with the Raiders defeating the Knights twice including in the GMCT’s Round of 16 while South Brunswick has now defeated the Knights three times.

North Brunswick also played East Brunswick in the first round of the Brunswick Classic and won, 66-56 on December 27th while South Brunswick swept the season series from the Bears including a 55-42 victory on Senior Day in Monmouth Junction.  The Raiders managed to edge Princeton as sophomore Tommy Koroma found Brandon McCain (17 points and 11 rebounds) for a layup with 7 seconds to play in regulation.  McCain also won a game in similar fashion earlier this season against Franklin in a non-conference contest in North Brunswick on December 21st.

The winner of the game will face either 7th seeded Marlboro or 2nd seeded Freehold Township in the sectional semifinals on Saturday, February 25th.  If Marlboro upsets Freehold Township, the North Brunswick-South Brunswick winner will get a home game.  Otherwise, the victor will have to travel down to Eton-Adelphi Road in Freehold Township.   South Brunswick has faced Marlboro in each of the last two CJ Group 4 state tourneys.  The Vikings defeated the Mustangs on a last second layup by then sophomore Yathin Vemula in 2020, and then top seeded Marlboro defeated the Vikings in the semifinals a year ago.