GMC Tourney shifts quarterfinal dates, adds new homes this year at Piscataway, Spotswood

For decades now, the Greater Middlesex Conference has played its basketball tournament quarterfinals – boys and girls – at Middlesex County College in Edison. ”Make it to Middlesex” was the mantra of many teams hoping to get to the round of eight in the event.

But just as the GMC stepped away from holding its championship doubleheader at Rutgers several years ago – a casualty of increased costs – the league is moving its quarterfinal rounds to other high schools this season.

League President Mike Pede says it’s not the college’s fault; the cost of them hosting the event has increased, and that just gets passed on to the GMC.

Spotswood will host the 2024 GMC Tournament girls’ quarterfinals while Piscataway hosts the boys’ side.

But there’s one more new twist here: both quarterfinal rounds will be played on Saturday, February 10th, to avoid a conflict with Super Bowl Sunday. That happened last year, a result of the NJSIAA revamping it season calendars. 

Game times – typically 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm – may be different this year as well, as Pede says times may be staggered so that if any school has both their boys’ and girls’ teams in the quarters, they won’t be playing at the same time in different locations.

The semifinals and championship doubleheader again will be at Monroe Township High School, which has hosted for the last several years. The girls’ semis are Tuesday, February 13th with the boys on Wednesday, Valentines Day; game times are 5 and 7 pm. Then, it’s the same time for the finals on Friday, the 16th. The girls open it up at 5 pm, with the boys’ final at 7 pm.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with GMC President Mike Pede about the move: