Wednesday’s semifinals in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament boys’ bracket are all set, with four teams punching their ticket with wins at Middlesex County College in Edison on Super Bowl Sunday.
Perhaps the most notable was South River. The third-seeded Rams (23-2) made it to their first county semifinals since they won the Middlesex County Tournament in 1979, prior to the formation of the GMC in 1986. It was a repeat win for the Rams that year, who also won in 1978.
They beat 6th-seed North Brunswick (20-4) by a score of 80-58 behind a team-high 20 points from senior Laz Rodriguez.
CLICK HERE for an individual game story on that game with coverage by Mike Pavlichko.
The Rams will play seventh-seed South Brunswick, which upset 2-seed Colonia 63-43. The Vikings (16-5) got 20 points from Kalani Antoine in the win, and were in control virtually wire-to-wire, getting out to an 18-6 lead after one quarter that they extended to 28-14 by the half, holding Colonia (17-8) to single-digit scoring in both of the first two quarters.
Click below to hear postgame comments from head coach Joe Hoehman:
In the other bracket, fourth-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen (15-9) got by 5th-seed South Plainfield (20-5) 60-42, without Josh Ingram scoring a ton of points. He finished with a pedestrian 16, but Anthony Williams stepped up to play lead scorer with 22 for the Falcons. Now they will get a third meeting with St. Thomas Aquinas, where they will meet in the second GMCT semifinal Wednesday night.
Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joe’s head coach Jan Cocozzielo
In the final of the four games Sunday, top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (22-3) won 62-47 over eighth-seed Piscataway (11-15). The Chiefs hung tough, trailing by just nine at the half, 38-29, and the Trojans were plagued by turnovers throughout, yet found a way to win.
Click below for postgame comments from St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Bob Turco:
All in all it sets up Wednesday’s semifinals at Monroe High School at 5 and 7 pm, which can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will bring you all the live play-by-play. Click here to listen on Wednesday night.
Game one will feature South River and South Brunswick, while game two will feature St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Joseph-Metuchen.