GMCT Girls’ Quarterfinal Roundup: Top three seeds and North Plainfield advance to semis

Some wins were easier than others, but the top three seeds on the girls’ side of the GMC Tournament advanced with quarterfinal wins Saturday at Spotswood High School, while 13-seed North Plainfield also made it to the semis in a rare 12/13 game.

The semifinals will be at Monroe High School on Tuesday at 5 and 7 pm, and Central Jersey Sports Radio will have full coverage with previews next week, and a live broadcast of the doubleheader with Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebeneau calling the action. Bookmark this link to listen live. Coverage presented by “King James” at the George Street Playhouse in Downtown New Brunswick.

Here are roundups of Saturday’s games in the GMC Tournament Quarterfinals:

(1) St. Thomas Aquinas 88, (9) Carteret 23: The Trojans (20-6) will be playing for a sixth straight trip to the finals, and a chance to win their sixth straight full conference tourney, after dispatching of the Ramblers (16-7) in Saturday’s finale. Trista Whitney led St. Thomas with a double-double of 15 points and ten rebounds, while Leah Crosby also had a double-double of 14 points and ten boards. The Trojans – who allowed 12 points in the first quarter and just ten the entire remaining 24 minutes of the game – will face 13-seed North Plainfield (8-16), which will be playing for a chance to get to its first-ever GMC Tournament final, in just its third year in the league. They beat the Canucks just eleven days ago in a GMC crossover, 82-23.

(13) North Plainfield 69, (12) Old Bridge 35: The Canucks (8-16) got 22 points from star Layla Gutierrez in a game they controlled nearly wire-to-wire, up 19-9 after one quarter, and 34-11 at the half after a second quarter in which they allowed the Knights (11-3) just three points. Jordyn Patrick added 15 for North Plainfield, while Adriana Misciagna led Old Bridge with 12 in defeat. North now takes on top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (20-6) in Tuesday’s semifinals.

(3) Middlesex 60, (11) Piscataway 50: Jess Devine went off for 31 points for the Blue Jays (19-6), who led 12-5 after one by only 20-19 at the half. The Chiefs (11-10) kept it close, down just four heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored Piscataway 29-17 over the final eight minutes, led by Jess Devine’s 31 points, which tied a season high and was just three points shy of matching her career high. Included was Devine going 13-of-14 from the foul line, while Mallory Gianchiglia went 10-of-13 from the stripe, finishing with 15 points as well as six rebounds. Taylor Lawrence had seven point and ten boards. Sarae Croley-Battle led Piscataway with 15 in defeat. The Blue Jays will play second-seed Monroe (16-7) in the opening semifinal game Tuesday.

(2) Monroe 32, (10) Edison 31 (OT): We’ll have more details on this game as it becomes available.