South River and North Brunswick square off in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals at Middlesex County College in Edison on February 12, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
On the strength of a 24-2 first quarter, third-seed South River won its GMC Tournament quarterfinal game Sunday at Middlesex County College in Edison over 6th-seed North Brunswick, 80-58, to clinch its first trip to the county tournament semifinals since 1979, before the Greater Middlesex Conference was even a thing.
The Rams won the Middlesex County Tournament in 1978 and 1979. Sunday’s game also was their first trip to the quarterfinals since 1991.
The first quarter saw everyone get into the action for South River 23-2). Laz Rodriguez had seven points en route to a team-high 20 points, and also added seven blocks. Jeremy Grospe – who scored 12 – had two of his four three-pointers in the game. Roman Santos had five and Alex Grospe four in the first eight minutes as well.
North Brunswick (20-4) got a game-high 33 from Alani Ajigbotosho, who had three treys in the mix, as the teams combined for 15 made baskets from beyond the arc.
South River moves on to the 5:00 pm semifinal Wednesday night in Monroe against the winner of No. 2 seed Colonia (17-7) and No. 7 seed South Brunswick (15-5). Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast both games of the semifinal doubleheader, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe calling all the action. Click here to listen on Tuesday night.
Click below to hear postgame reaction from South River, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: