GMC Tournament moves to Preliminary Round Tuesday night, with snow in forecast late; girls’ matchups set for Wednesday’s round of 16

The Greater Middlesex Conference may dodge a bullet – or more accurately, a snowflake Tuesday night when the boys get into the GMC Tournament preliminary round.

No issues for the girls Monday evening, with nice dry conditions out. Scroll down further to see first round matchups and capsules.

But first, here’s a look at Tuesday evening’s preliminary round action in the GMC Tournament, followed by Wednesday night’s GMC girls’ first round, the round of 16. Game times are per greatermiddlesexconference.org.

GMC TOURNAMENT – PRELIMINARY ROUND (BOYS):

• (17) South Brunswick (6-16) at (16) Monroe (6-16), 5 pm
• (25) JFK (7-11) at (9) East Brunswick (12-10), 6 pm
• (21) North Plainfield (11-11) at (12) Dunellen (15-5), 6 pm
• (20) Spotswood (14-8) at (13) Perth Amboy (11-10), 5:30 pm
• (19) Piscataway Magnet (17-5) at (14) Metuchen (16-6), 4:30 pm
• (22) South River (11-9) at (11) Middlesex (15-6), 6 pm
• (26) Perth Amboy Magnet (10-8) at (10) Timothy Christian (12-7), 5 pm
• (18) Edison (12-9) at (15) North Brunswick (8-14), 4 pm

GMC TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND (GIRLS):

• (16) North Brunswick (8-13) at (1) St. Thomas Aquinas (18-6), 5:30 pm: The Trojans have won their GMC Red Division games by an average of 40-plus points per game, and their last loss to a GMC team came on January 20th, 2022, a 55-41 road loss at Monroe. Their last home loss came March 5, 2021, in the COVID-shortened season, when the Falcons topped them to win the GMC’s top postseason pod, the Somogyi Family Pod. Don’t expect much to change.
• (9) Carteret (15-6) at (8) Calvary Christian (18-1), 4:15 pm: Calvary beat the Ramblers on January 31st in one of the lowest-scoring games of the year, 24-20, but their only loss this year came to Timothy Christian, which is 8-14 in the same division as Carteret. Call it a toss-up.
• (12) Old Bridge (10-12) at (5) East Brunswick (12-10), 5:30 pm: The Bears have swept Old Bridge each of the last two years and won five straight in the series. East Brunswick won this year’s matchups by 21 and 23 points, but many games in the GMC Red have been competitive, and this one should be, too.
• (13) North Plainfield (6-16) at (4) Spotswood (17-6), 6:30 pm: Not a lot of history between these teams, with the Canucks winning their only meeting in the last 15 years back in February of last year, 62-27. But North Plainfield was also 18-7 last season, a 12-win swing so far. This should be a good one as well.
• (14) Colonia (6-17) at (3) Middlesex (17-6), 5:30 pm: Since 2012, these teams have only met three times. Middlesex won a tight one in 2021, while Colonia won the next two. But this is a different Patriots team without stars Mattie Chiera and Taylor Derkcack. Despite the record, it could be a competitive game.
• (11) Piscataway (10-9) at (6) South Brunswick (11-10), 5:30 pm: South Brunswick swept both games this season, winning 51-43 on January 4th, and 71-61 just three weeks later. Expect another tight one between these two, with the Vikings having a bit more of a veteran edge.
• (10) Edison (14-9) at (7) Metuchen (18-3), 6 pm: This will be their second meeting this year, as Edison pulled out a 54-42 win before the holidays. Both are solid clubs and this one also should by highly competitive.
• (15) South Plainfield (14-8) at (2) Monroe (14-7), 4 pm: Throw out the seeds here. Monroe hasn’t lost in five meetings dating back to 2016, but the last couple have been close. They two played in the Monroe Holiday Tournament, and it was a 49-39 win for the Falcons, but only a five-point game at the half.