It’s all chalk for girls’ basketball teams in GMC Tournament’s first round, as top eight seeds advance

They may have been their first games in this year’s GMC Tournament – as the teams with the double byes do – but all eight won their “First Round” games in the round of 16 Wednesday, with very few of them actually close.

In fact, only 8th-seed Middlesex won by single digits, just edging out nine-seed Old Bridge at home, 36-35. Otherwise, the closest margins of victory weren’t even close to single digits. That includes third-seed Piscataway winning by 17 and seventh-seed Monroe winning by 18.

One other game was decided by 20, three others by 30, capped by top-seed and six-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas winning by 44 over 16th-seed Sayreville.

With the first round down, the girls’ tournament moves to the quarterfinals on Saturday, which are no longer being held at a neutral site as in the past. Those games will be hosted by the higher seeds.

Scroll down for recaps of all eight Wednesday night first round girls’ GMC Tournament games, followed by Saturday’s matchups and time, if known. (Some teams may be waiting to see how their boys’ teams do, as that could affect start times if both are hosting.)

(1) St. Thomas Aquinas 83, (16) Sayreville 39: This one was over early, as the Trojans (19-5) hit the gas from the opening tip and had a 40-7 lead after one quarter over the Bombers (17-5). The second half was played with a running clock, as it started with Aquinas up 35 at the break, 63-28. Balanced scoring was the name of the game for six-time defending champion STA, as Lauryn Downing – back in the lineup after sitting out for a couple of weeks with a tricky ankle – and Kayla Navarro each had 16, while Trista Whitney and Jordan Barnes each had 14, and Liana Lopena added 11. Natalia Glazewski of Sayreville was the game’s leading scorer with 22 and 12 rebounds, her 13th double-double of the season, and sixth straight.

(8) Middlesex 36, (9) Old Bridge 35: The Blue Jays led 25-17 at the half, and found their lead cut to two after a low-scoring fourth that went 8-2 in the Knights’ favor, but they could never quite get over the hump. Middlesex (14-8) got 16 points from Kaylee Devine, who hit four of her team’s eight threes in the game, while Taylor Lawrence chipped in with 15 rebounds, just one shy of tying a career high she’s hit on three other occasions, and twice this year; it was her ninth double-figure rebound on the season. Kaira Panjabi was the leading scorer for Old Bridge (9-13), scoring nine, including a pair of treys.

(5) Spotswood 58, (12) South Plainfield 25: The Chargers (14-9) held the Tigers (8-17) to just four first quarter points, and only six more in the second period, to take a commanding 34-10 lead into the second half, as they more than doubled up South Plainfield. Kayla Lewandowski led Spotswood with 19, while Gabrielle Hill added 16, in her first full game as a member of the thousand-point club. Jiselle Lennon was high scorer for the Tigers, leading with 12 in the losing effort.

(4) Colonia 67, (13) JP Stevens 34: Three players scored in double figures for the Patriots (18-2), as they push to get back to the GMC final for the first time in two seasons, having made back-to-back appearances in 2023 and 2024. Ivana Gidado led with 17, while Ariana Sosa added 12 and Hailey Conklin scored 11; Nashaelah Hooker grabbed 14 rebounds, her 19th double-figure rebound game out of 20 played. Colonia led 53-34 heading into the fourth, then went for the jugular, keeping the Hawks entirely off the scoreboard in the final eight minutes. Aliyah Manley led JP Stevens (9-12) with 14 points and eight rebounds.

(3) Piscataway 69, (19) Metuchen 52: The Chiefs (13-7) got a double-double from Alyssa Iduh – 14 points and 15 rebounds, her 14th double-double of the season – in a game they controlled mostly from start to finish. Victoria Zaniecki had an all-around game to keep the Bulldogs (10-11) in it, going for a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds, plus three assists and five steals to lead Metuchen. Piscataway led by eleven at the half, and the game never got much closer. Caelyn Cook also had 14 for Piscataway.

(6) Woodbridge 67, (11) Edison 47: The Barrons (16-6) got a monster double-double from Angel Smith, who scored 17 points, but had an eye-popping 23 rebounds, a new career high for the four-year varsity player, and her first time topping 20 in a game. Laila Stanford also recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Edison’s Angelisa Kearns was the game’s top scorer, putting in 22, 18 of them coming on six buckets from beyond the arc.

(7) Monroe 61, (10) North Plainfield 43: The Falcons (9-10) took the lead for good in the second quarter, buoyed by back-to-back crowd-pleasing threes from Vynavi Mokkala, then put the game out of reach in the third with a 19-3 third quarter. Kiera Longo led Monroe with 22, while Mia Marabuto added 14, including a 45-foot triple from just shy of half court at the buzzer to end the third. Layla Gutierrez scored 20 – including five triples – for North Plainfield (5-16) two nights after dropping 50 in a preliminary round win against New Brunswick. Click here for a full game story, complete with postgame reaction from Longo and head coach Brian Hinz, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen.

(2) East Brunswick 68, (18) North Brunswick 30: The Bears (19-4) got 17 points from Ava Catanho and ten each from Zoey Alexio and Sophia Tannura as they got out to a hot start, holding the Raiders to just two first quarter points, and led 31-2 just eight minutes in, and 49-8 at the half, in another game played with a running clock the entire second half. Ava Krzywdinski added ten assists, while 12 of the 13 East Brunswick players that got in the game scored. North Brunswick dropped to 5-19 with the loss.

GIRLS’ GMC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS – SATURDAY, FEB. 14

(8) Middlesex at (1) St. Thomas Aquinas, noon
(5) Spotswood at (4) Colonia, noon
(6) Woodbridge at (3) Piscataway, 11:30 am
(7) Monroe at (2) East Brunswick, 2 pm