South River upset of St. Joe’s could send shockwaves into the GMC Tournament seeding meeting, still over a month away

There were no injuries or COVID cases to speak of, no long layoffs to deal with. St. Joseph-Metuchen may still be trying to gel, but South River just flat out beat them Monday with a good game plan that was well executed.

The upshot? South River now is 6-0 after beating Henry Hudson Wednesday afternoon and Keansburg Thursday in the Titan Holiday Tournament, while the Falcons having two tough losses before the New Year. And the effect on the GMC Tournament seeding meeting – which isn’t until February third – could be profound.

At the top, no matter how the rest of the year plays out, St. Joe’s already has a loss to Colonia on the board, albeit a triple-overtime defeat. The Falcons still must visit the Patriots this year, with the rematch coming on January 19th. That’s just two nights after another big one, when St. Thomas Aquinas visits Metuchen on the 17th, in a game we’ll have live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Right now, the Trojans and Colonia would appear to have the inside track on the Red Division title. They’ll face each other January 12th, in a game we’ll also broadcast live on CJSR, with the rematch scheduled for February second in Colonia. (We’ll have the girls’ matchup between those schools in Edison that night, another discussion for another story.)

But even if the three teams end up in a tie, barring any other upsets, the South River loss will sting the Falcons.

For those who’ve never been to a GMC Tournament seeding meeting before, here’s how it works: Each division winner – Red, White, Blue and Gold – is put into play, and the committee takes nominations for the top seed. If there is more than one, the group debates, and then votes.

But ties are broken before the seeding is done. So if St. Joe’s, Colonia and Aquinas are all tied and “Co-Champs,” that tie must be broken by the committee. They don’t pick from those three teams against the other division winners. Only one team from a division can be considered at a time. So, they’ll look at how all three did against the division – who’s got better wins, and better losses – then they’ll look at how they did against teams on the board. Should South River win the GMC Blue – a good likelihood right now – that loss would have to come into consideration.

The Falcons also play one other non-divisional opponent this season: South Plainfield from the White, which is is 4-0 against GMC opponents so far, next Tuesday in Metuchen. The Tigers might be licking their chops, and if they beat Scotch Plains-Fanwood today in the Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament, they’ll be 6-0 heading into that one.

Aquinas does not play an out-of-division GMC opponents the rest of the year, while Colonia beat Woodbridge of the White in the Eric LeGrand Holiday Jubilee Thursday.

One would figure that the GMC Red will probably get at least the top three seeds in the tournament. But could South River make a jump over South Plainfield? Or even over St. Joe’s if they slip up again the rest of the year? What if the Rams go undefeated? How much consideration will the committee give to a Blue Division team beating one from the Red? There are plenty of hypotheticals. But having that win on the resume could be huge.

There’s a lot of basketball to play, but it’s already getting interesting in the GMC, and we haven’t even seen the ball drop yet in Times Square.

Who’s ready for 2023?