It’s musical chairs in GMC basketball, as teams move to new divisions on boys’ and girls’ sides

After a two-year scheduling cycle with large divisions – some as big as nine teams – the Greater Middlesex Conference has its new alignments for the next two years in girls’ and boys’ basketball, with the biggest changes on the boys’ side.

Now with 33 teams playing boys’ basketball in the GMC, the league added a Silver Division at the bottom – as it’s done in other sports, including baseball – to lessen the extremes from the top to the bottom in each division. Overall, 17 boys’ teams moved around, while ten of the 34 girls’ schools got shuffled.

Blue and Gold see most movement in boys’ hoops…

More than two thirds of the Red Division stayed in tact, with Colonia, Monroe, Old Bridge, Piscataway, South Brunswick and St. Thomas Aquinas remaining. East Brunswick (14-14) moved down one to the White along with South Brunswick (6-18), while JP Stevens (8-14) moved down two notches to the Blue.

In the White Division, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Plainfield and Woodbridge stayed put. Edison (7-17), New Brunswick (6-17) and North Plainfield (8-17) moved down to the Blue.

Five of the nine teams in the GMC Blue moved down. While most from the Red and White that moved down were in the bottom third of the division, a mix of Blue teams got shuffled. Defending champion Spotswood (20-7) goes down to the Gold, along with third-place Middlesex (13-14), South River (13-14) and Metuchen (12-14), while Wardlaw-Hartridge (3-22) goes down two divisions to the Silver.

GMC Gold Champion Calvary Christian (19-7) is the only Gold Division team to remain, joined by the five from the Blue that moved down. Everyone else moves to the new Silver, along with Wardlaw-Hartridge coming down from the Blue.

Here are the 2024-25 Divisional Alignments for GMC Boys’ Basketball:

• Red Division (6): Colonia, Monroe, Old Bridge, Piscataway, St. Joseph-Metuchen, St. Thomas Aquinas
• White Division (7): East Brunswick, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Brunswick, South Plainfield, Woodbridge
• Blue Division (6): Carteret, Edison, JP Stevens, New Brunswick, North Plainfield, Timothy Christian
• Gold Division (6): Calvary Christian, JFK, Metuchen, Middlesex, South River, Spotswood
• Silver Division (8): Dunellen, East Brunswick Magnet, Highland Park, Perth Amboy Magnet, Piscataway Magnet, Somerset Tech, South Amboy, Wardlaw-Hartridge

Fewer changes on the girls’ side…

Virtually the entire Red Division stayed in tact, with only last-place North Brunswick (5-21) moving down to the White. North Plainfield (18-7) takes the Raiders’ place in the Red, even though they were the second-place team, keeping first-place JP Stevens (20-6) in the same division with Edison. The two bottom teams in the division – JFK (4-18) and Sayreville (1-24) move down to the Blue.

GMC Blue champion Spotswood (21-6) moved up to the White as well, leaving Carteret, Highland Park, Metuchen and South River behind along with JFK and Sayreville coming down from the White. The bottom three teams – Calvary Christian (6-11), New Brunswick (4-16) and Somerset Tech (1-17) move down to the Gold.

And most of the Gold stays the way it is, plus the three new additions, while second-place Dunellen (18-9) and third-place Timothy Christian (15-9) move on up to the Gold. Division winner Wardlaw-Hartridge (15-4) stays behind with Mother Seton, South Amboy and the Middlesex County Magnet schools (East Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Piscataway and Woodbridge).

Here are the 2024-2025 Divisional Alignments for GMC Girls’ Basketball:

• Red Division (8): Colonia, East Brunswick, Monroe, North Plainfield, Old Bridge, Piscataway, South Brunswick, St. Thomas Aquinas
• White Division (8): Edison, JP Stevens, Middlesex, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, South Plainfield, Spotswood, Woodbridge
• Blue Division (8): Carteret, Dunellen, Highland Park, JFK, Metuchen, Sayreville, South River, Timothy Christian
• Gold Division (10): Calvary Christian, East Brunswick Magnet, Mother Seton, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy Magnet, Piscataway Magnet, Somerset Tech, South Amboy, Wardlaw-Hartridge, Woodbridge Magnet