Big wins keep division, tournament top-seed races interesting in GMC, Somerset County

We’re just three weeks away from the seeding meetings in both the Greater Middlesex Conference and Somerset County, and things sure are getting intriguing on the boys’ side.

Hillsborough’s second win this season over Gill St. Bernard’s essentially killed the Knights’ shot at the Number One seed in Somerset County, now with three division losses, and the Raiders having beaten them twice. And in the GMC, Colonia’s win over St. Thomas Aquinas might have cost the Trojans – three-time defending champs – their shot at the top spot.

Somerset County

In the Delaware Division of the Skyland Conference, both Hillsborough and Rutgers Prep are 4-0, while Gill and Immaculata are behind them, each with three division losses already. The division will come down to Hillsborough and Rutgers Prep.

They will meet twice more this season, but Gill and Prep won’t meet again until after the Somerset County Tournament is seeded. 

The first meeting between the Raiders and Argonauts is slated for later this month in Hillsborough, on Tuesday the 23rd, and we’ve now added that to our Central Jersey Sports Radio broadcast schedule. Tip-off is at 7:00; pregame at 6:40. The second meeting is on Thursday, February 1, at Prep.

A sweep would give that team the division, a split makes it interesting.

But we can’t talk about this race without talking about Montgomery. The Couagrs are 8-1 heading into a 6:30 game Sunday night against Scotch Plains-Fanwood at the Investors Bank Scholarship Games, then plays Carteret on Martin Luther King Day. They are 3-0 against Somerset County teams this far, but will play many more down the stretch. That includes a January 30th matchup against Rutgers Prep. They host Hillsborough on Saturday, January 3rd, right before the Monday SCT seeding. 

Our thinking is: A sweep by Hillsborough or Rutgers Prep of the other would give that team a leg up at the very least for the top seed in the SCT. A split would tend to favor Montgomery, which could beat both of them and claim the top seed. Other scenarios could make it a real tough call for the coaches in that seeding room.

Greater Middlesex Conference

Heading into the weekend, it’s St. Joseph-Metuchen with a sizable lead in the GMC Red. They are 7-0 in divisional play, with Colonia behind them at 5-1. Monroe and St. Thomas Aquinas are both a half game back, both 5-2.

But the Falcons haven’t played much against the top of the schedule yet. They beat Colonia 43-42 back on December 19th, and have yet to play St. Thomas Aquinas. They meet the Trojans this coming Tuesday, and again two weeks later on the 30th. And they host the Patriots January 18th.

Here’s also an example of where the GMC’s pilot program – now in its second season – could come back to bite the schools that aren’t playing all divisional opponents (see: Aquinas and Joe’s) twice: Monroe has two losses, and would be a longshot to get back in the race. 

They did beat Aquinas by 15, so playing them once might help them, but they lost to St. Joe’s by seven, and won’t get another crack at them. Colonia, on the other hand – the only public in the division playing Joe’s and Aquinas twice each – has a win over the Trojans and a loss to the Falcons, but has another chance at both, so they could sweep Aquinas and earn a split with Joe’s. They might still need some help, but it’s a hope to cling to that Monroe can’t.

One important thing to note: only the first matchup between teams counts toward the standings. So if Colonia beats Joe’s, for example, and they both end up with one loss, Joe’s would officially have zero losses, since the second matchup with the Patriots “doesn’t count.” I

It could, however, be considered in any other tiebreaker, but would be considered as a win over a quality opponent, as any out-of-divisoln game would be.