Tag: Carteret

September 4, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 1

Opening Week is behind us, it’s Week One where everyone gets into the act in high school football, and it’s time to talk about it with Marcus Borden!

Mike and Marcus look back at the week gone by, including a big win for Old Bridge down at the Battle of the Beach over Cedar Creek, Arique Fleming’s masterful performance for Elizabeth in a rivalry game win over Linden, and then peek ahead to this week’s games, including those Coach Borden will see: Somerville at Cranford on Friday night, and Bernards at Hillside on Saturday.

Also on the show, we discuss other key games in the BCC, Montgomery adding longtime founding coach Zoran Milich’s name to Cougar Stadium, and our new feature, the “Speedster of the Week” presented by Higgins Speed Lab, with the Week 0 winner being Summit’s Alex Schwark.

Click below to listen to the Week One edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

August 18, 2025August 19, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden’s 2025 Camp Caravan: Quad scrimmage with Carteret, North Brunswick and Rahway at Colonia High School

Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden kicked off Week Two of his 2025 Big Central Camp Caravan with a visit to a quad scrimmage at Colonia, which also featured Carteret, North Brunswick and Rahway.

Below is a list of teams, players and coaches from the August 18, 2025 quad scrimmage at Colonia:

Carteret: Head Coach Kevin Freeman, senior Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert (RB/TE/LB) and junior Nick Gomm (TE/MLB)

Colonia: Head Coach Tom Roarty, seniors Rynal “RJ” Wortman (WR/DB), Julien Jones (LB/ATH), and George Simpson (RB/SS), junior Dylan Chiera (QB)

North Brunswick: Head Coach Mike Cipot, seniors Zach Cipot (QB/LB), Reddrick Robinson (OL/DL), and Ruhan Sriram (OL/DL), junior Sal Fama-Linn (WR/DB)

Rahway: Head Coach Brian Russo, seniors Andrew Avent (RB/LB), Ryan Gourdet (OL/DL), Syncier Toussaint (WR/DB) and Ziare Fields (WR/DB), juniors Jalen Eastman (TE/DE), Jaquan Robinson (QB), Jyvon Cooper (RB/LB/ATH) and Triston Driscal (WR/DB)

August 18, 2025August 17, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

2025 Big Central Preview: United Gold Division

Here’s how challenging the Big Central Conference’s United Gold Division was in 2024:

Cranford finished with the best overall record at 7-3. Summit beat them in the regular season and swept four games to win the division, but the Cougars got them back in the opening round of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Hillside – which went 5-5 – narrowly beat Carteret 7-0, while Cranford edged them by ten.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood should be improved in its second-year under head coach Shawn Johnson, who’s knowledgeable about his players from his years coaching youth football, and the Comets have a new coach, too, in six-year NFL veteran Isa Abdul-Kuddus.

It all should make for an interesting 2025 in the United Gold.

Click below to hear our preview of the United Gold Division from Big Central Conference Media Day:

June 29, 2025July 3, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Plenty of room to grow in United Gold Division for defending champ Summit and others in one of the best top-to-bottom divisions

The 2024 football season for the Big Central’s United Gold Division was on overall solid good one.

While the league had a few winless or one- or two-win teams, nobody won fewer than three games in the United Gold – with Scotch Plains-Fanwood going 3-7 – while the rest had relatively solid or better campaigns. As a whole, the division was 26-25, for a .510 win percentage, one of just five out of the 12 BCC groupings to win more games than they lost, in total.

While Summit won the United Gold, going 4-0 against the Raiders, Carteret, Hillside and Cranford, they finished 5-4, while the Cougars had he best overall record at 7-3. Hillside went 5-5, and one more win would have gotten the Ramblers to .500 on the year.

And there should be some good parity again in 2025.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the United Gold Division teams – in alphabetical order – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge. Please note game dates and times may be changed without notice as the season approaches. Division games marked with an asterisk (*).

Carteret Ramblers (4-6, 1-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach: Kevin Freeman (18-13, 4th season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: at Perth Amboy (6p)
Week 2: Cranford*
Week 3: Summit*
Week 4: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood*
Week 5: New Brunswick
Week 6: at Hillside* (Sat, 1p)
Week 7: Linden
Week 8: at Bernards

True to form at Carteret, the Ramblers were more of a run-first team in 2024, but they will lose talented senior Jakir Thomas and his 1,311 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns from last season. The only likely returnee at quarterback is Al-Naiquan Boseman, a sophomore who threw one pass in 2024. A few receivers should be back, though, including rising senior Jeremiah Arrington, who caught six balls last year for 134 yards. A number of underclassmen contributed on defense last season, with junior Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert (2 sacks, 9 TFLs, 1 forced fumble/recovery) and Anthony Bilbao (2 sacks, 2 TFLs) making their marks. The Ramblers will look to start things out with a fourth straight win in their rivalry game with Perth Amboy after a Week Zero bye.

Cranford Cougars (7-3, 3-1, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Erik Rosenmeier (136-68, 21st season)

Week 0: Bernards
Week 1: at Somerville (6:30p)
Week 2: at Carteret*
Week 3: South Plainfield
Week 4: Summit*
Week 5: Rahway
Week 6: Scotch Plains-Fanwood*
Week 7: at Colonia (6p)
Week 8: at Hillside* (Sat, 1p)

The bad news is the Cougars’ starting QB Tyler Veltre (937 pass yards, 4 TD) and top receiver Luciano Firoenza (265 yards, 0 TD) are gone, but Cranford didn’t really throw the ball much either. And while three of their top four runningbacks are gone to graduation, Gabe Worrell – who lead the team with 805 rushing yards and ten touchdowns – is back, and he’s just a junior. But he’s a nice piece to build around, as sophomore Aidan Capizzi is the only returning QB to throw a pass. The defense will see some changes, however, after a senior-heavy unit in 2024. But let’s not forget, Cranford went 7-3 in 2024, and there’s a reason Erik Rosenmeier is the dean of Union County coaches, with only two other Big Central mentors at their current schools longer: Rich Marchesi of South River entering year 29, and Dan Higgins at Piscataway going into his 22nd season.

Hillside Comets (5-5, 2-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Isa-Abdul Quddus (1st season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: Bernards (Sat, 1p)
Week 2: at Summit* (Sat, 1p)
Week 3: Scotch Plains-Fanwood (Sat, 1p)
Week 4: at Somerville (6:30p)
Week 5: at Roselle (Sat, 2p)
Week 6: Carteret* (Sat, 1p)
Week 7: at Voorhees (Sat, 1p)
Week 8: Cranford* (Sat, 1p)

It’s sort of a coach swap here, as Barris Grant left to take the Union coaching job, while Isa-Abdul Quddus – a former standout for the Farmers who played in the NFL – now takes the reins at Hillside. Senior Justin Ashford – who only threw three passes last year – should get the top crack at the starting QB job after the graduation of thousand-yard passer Zion Risher, who also tossed 12 touchdown passes. Top back Mitchell Jenkins rushed for 938 yards and 11 TDs as a sophomore, and with the Robinsons – Kamari (40 catches, 419 yards, 6 TDs) and Quaron (25 catches, 319 yards, 1 TD) coming off solid junior campaigns, Quddus will have a lot to work with on offense. The defense has expected returnees like DL Uyi Igiehon (1 sack, 1 TFL) and LB Ian Shillingford (1 sack, 9 TFLs) and defensive back Shakeam Gatweeod (2 forced fumbles, 2 INT, 1 blocked kick) back.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders (3-7, 0-4, 5th place in ’24)
Head Coach: Shawn Johnson (3-7, 2nd season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: Rahway
Week 2: New Brunswick
Week 3: at Hillside* (Sat, 1p)
Week 4: Carteret*
Week 5: JFK
Week 6: at Cranford*
Week 7: at Perth Amboy
Week 8: at Summit (Sat, 1p)

The Raiders have struggled the last several years, and with three coaches in three years, consistency has been the issue. Austin Holman stepped down in the middle of the 2022 season, replaced by interim Bobby Swerchek, who coached the team for 2023 but left after the season to take over for Phlip McGuane at Middlesex, who left after a cancer diagnosis and just took over for Dave DeNapoli, who retired at Dunellen. Got all that?

Last year’s team never stuck together back-to-back wins, beating New Brunswick, JFK and Perth Amboy, and they haven’t beaten a team that finished with a winning record since 2021, when they upset Woodbridge, 34-33. Last year’s was a senior-laden club, other than returning junior QB Callum Fynes, who was 3-12 for 17 yards and one interception in four games. The defense was somewhat young – few juniors, but a mix of seniors and sophomores – and they should be more experienced this year, even if they went through baptism by fire in ’24.

Summit Hilltoppers (5-4, 4-0, United Gold champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Kevin Kostibos (82-38, 13th season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: at Montgomery
Week 2: Hillside* (sat, 1p)
Week 3: at Carteret*
Week 4: at Cranford*
Week 5: Somerville (Sat, 1p)
Week 6: Bernards (Sat, 1p)
Week 7: at Woodbridge
Week 8: Scotch Plains-Fanwood* (Sat, 1p)

Oscar Marx is a solid receiver the Hilltoppers will lose to graduation, along with his 23 catches and six touchdowns, but many others are back on offense, including rising senior QB Cole Sabol, who was 43 yards show of a thousand last year, but more impressively, threw ten touchdowns and just one pick last season. Their top two runningbacks are expected to return in junior Gavin Schnall (472 yards, 2 TD), and senior Alex Schqark (434 yards, 7 TD), as are the next two on the list. And a good number of players return on defense, including LB Matt McKeever, who had three sacks and five TFLs last season as a sophomore, while Junior Connor Gawronski had the team’s lone INT last year. This year’s D could be even better.

May 27, 2025May 27, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Top-seed Colonia cruises in opening round N2, G3 playoffs, while Carteret, South Plainfield, Somerville all advance

After getting knocked out of the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament in the first round of what was a wild playoff – where none of the top four seeds reached the semifinals – Colonia rebounded with a blowout win as the top seed in the North 2, Group 3 NJSIAA playoffs, which opened Tuesday for public schools across the state.

Just like Montgomery in Central 4, there was a 12/5 upset here, as Carteret knocked off North Plainfield, while higher seeds South Plainfield and Somerville also picked up wins. Here’s a recap of the section’s first day of action

(1) Colonia 16, (16) Lincoln 0 (5 inn.): The Patriots (21-4) – who last week became the first 20-game winner in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area – came alive at the plate, pounding out a dozen hits and taking advantage of six errors by Lincoln, which hails from Jersey City. Nine different players drove in runs, as Tyler Chiola knocked in three and Dylan Chiera and Colin Kroner each plated two for Colonia, which led 1-0 after one but scored 13 runs in the second to bury the Lions, batting around twice, sending 18 men to the plate. As usual, the pitching was solid, as Chiera, Kroner and Ryan Totin combined on a five-inning no-hitter, with Kroner getting the win. The Patriots will host 8-seed Middletown North on Thursday.

Listen to Colonia coach Mike Scialfo talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Patriots’ opening round playoff win.

(12) Carteret 3, (5) North Plainfield 1: The Ramblers (10-13) – last year’s GMC Invitational winners – found themselves down 1-0 after one, but rallied for three in the fifth to beat the Canucks (14-8) for the second time in three meetings this season. North Plainfield got on the board with a two-out RBI triple by Jake Zotollo in the first, Carteret took the lead in the fifth on a two-run error by the Canucks second-baseman with Miles Ferreiras at the plate, adding an insurance run later in the fram with a Drexler Rodriguez bases loaded walk that scored Eric Thompson. Luis Hernandez went the distance, allowing just one unearned run on two hits, striking out five. The Ramblers will visit fourth-seed North Hunterdon Thursday.

(3) South Plainfield 15, (14) Rahway 0 (5 inn.): The Tigers struck early in this one, getting eight in the bottom of the first and three more in the second of a mercy rule win. Kevin Penny was 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, while Dan Kapsch, Jack Jones each had a pair of RBIs as South Plainfield took advantage of seven Rahway (5-16) miscues in the field. Mike Castagna pitched three innings and gave up just one hit, striking out five en route to the win. The Tigers will host six-seed Cranford Thursday.

(7) Somerville 3, (10) Payne Tech 1: The Pioneers (14-10) survived a seventh-inning scare to hold on for the win against the Lions (13-8) after taking a 3-0 lead into the final inning. The first two runs came in the home half of the first, with Jordan Snow scoring from third on a pickoff play gone awry at second, the Chris Banos’ hitting a sacrifice fly to center. Another sac fly by Joe Anglim in the fourth made it 3-0. In the seventh, with two on and two out, Payne Tech got its lone run on a passed ball, but Dalton Carman got the final out via strikeout to end it. Michael Meyers got the win, allowing just four hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight. Somerville will face two-seed Millburn on the road Thurday.

NORTH JERSEY, SECTION 2, GROUP 3 QUARTERFINALS
THURSDAY SCHEDULE:

(8) Middletown North at (1) Colonia
(12) Carteret at (4) North Hunterdon
(6) Cranford at (3) South Plainfield
(7) Somerville at (2) Millburn

May 9, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

GMC Jim Muldowney Tournament Play-In Round Preview: Four games on tap Saturday

With the Greater Middlesex Conference seeding the Jim Muldowney Championship and Ray Cipperly Invitational on Friday – with Woodbridge getting the overall top seed – the Championship tourney will get underway Saturday with the play-in round, while the Invitational will kick off on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at the four Saturday games in the Championship bracket, including a look ahead to who’s next. Scroll to the end for the first round Invitational matchups.

(17) South Brunswick (3-15) at (16) South River (12-5), 12 pm: This is the type of game that’s impossible to pick, a double-digit team from the Blue Division against a Red Division team with just three overall wins, and one in its own division. The Red has been competitive just about from top-to-bottom, with six of the eight teams cracking the ten-win mark, and besides South Brunswick, Monroe has eight victories. So, it’s tough to tell. Couple that with the fact that the Rams have one of the top pitchers in the league in Julius Rosado, who will be playing not far away at Rutgers next Spring. Does Mike Lepore throw him Saturday, since you have to win that game to advance? Does he save him for Monday’s first round against top-seed and GMC Red champion Woodbridge – in which he would give the South River a fighting chance – but risk not getting a win Saturday, leaving him on the table? Or does he start him, cap him at 50 pitches, allowing him to only take one-day rest, leaving him with 90 against the Barrons? Rosado has only thrown 90 or more pitches once this year, in a 4-3 win over JP Stevens on April 23rd, and he hasn’t thrown more than 25 in four appearances since. Maybe this is what they’ve been saving him for? The Vikings have struggled at the plate, hitting just .227 on the season, and only Timothy Christian (21) has scored fewer runs that South Brunswick, which has 49, as does North Brunswick (2-13). The winner travels to face the Barrons Monday.

(19) JFK (9-8) at (14) North Plainfield (10-5), 12 pm: Here’s two teams more on a par with each other in an all-Blue Division matchup. And this one could be a toss-up. Kennedy gotten some good pitching, but little run support. The workloads have gone to junior Myles Ulaky (1.83 ERA) and Grant Lorentzen, who has allowed just one earned run, four overall, all season in 36 1/3 innings pitched for a barely-noticeable 0.19 ERA. North Plainfield is on its first losing streak of the year – just two games – showing how solid a season they’ve had. The Canucks have gotten decent pitching – with a team ERA of just 2.23 – but they’re hitting just .204 on the year, with no single player batting better than .300 on the season. The winner goes to GMC White champ and third-seed St. Thomas Aquinas Monday.

(18) Carteret (8-8) at (15) Perth Amboy (4-10), 12 pm: Is the fact that the Panthers have just four wins in the white and the Ramblers eight wins in the Blue an equalizer? Sometimes, when comparing teams from different divisions, the GMC seeding committee considers what one team might do in the other division. Add in that this is a classic rivalry – their all-time football series having been the longest running in Middlesex County – and this should be a good one. Perth Amboy comes in strong. After a 3-10 start, the Panthers have won three straight: two over North Brunswick and one over South Brunswick. They scored just 12 runs on that eight game skid, but have scored an average of ten over the last three games, hitting .337 in that span. And it doesn’t matter the opponent, baseball people know hitting is contagious. Yet, the Ramblers will be a tougher opponent. Winners of five of their last seven, Carteret is hitting a healthy .283 and led by senior Eric Thompson, batting .370, while Joneil Martinez has knocked in a team-best 12 runs and is hitting .345 on the year. The winner goes to No. 2 South Plainfield Monday.

(20) South Amboy (5-11) at (13) Metuchen (13-6), 2 pm: It’s an all-Blue Division matchup between the sixth-place Governors and the pennant-winning Bulldogs. South Amboy is hitting .278 as a team, led by senior Benjamin Smith, batting .434, tied for a team-high in RBIs with Jeremy Vasquez, who also has five of the Guvs’ seven home runs. Pitching has been an issue, with a team ERA just over six, and no single pitcher lower than a 4.43 ERA. Metuchen is an interesting story. They were 11-2 before May first, but have lost four of their last five and three straight, although two of those losses came to Red Division foes in Edison (a 4-3 loss) and Monroe (a 7-2 defeat). Metuchen is the beat-hitting team of the eight in the play-in round (as well as the highest-seeded, so maybe they should be?) and has just a 2.62 team ERA, with a number of options to choose from on a staff that doesn’t have a single senior and is dominated by juniors. The winner gets four-seed East Brunswick on the road Monday.

GMC RAY CIPPERLY INVITATIONAL – 1st ROUND
TUESDAY, MAY 13

(9) Highland Park (3-13) at (8) Piscataway Magnet (8-8), 4 pm (Winner at (1) JP Stevens on Thursday)
(11) Timothy Christian (0-11) at (6) Dunellen (12-6), 4 pm (Winner at (3) East Brunswick Magnet on Thursday)
(10) Perth Amboy Magnet (3-11) at (7) Somerset Tech (7-6), 4 om (Winner at (2) North Brunswick on Thursday)

May 3, 2025May 3, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Power Points Analysis: South, North Plainfield and Colonia still bunched up at the top of North 2, Group 3 standings

We’re exactly two weeks from the NJSIAA cutoff for the state playoffs – May 17th – and teams across the area continue to jockey for position in the standings. Here’s a closer look beyond the numbers at where teams stand and what their chances are, based on NJ.com’s official standings as of games played on May 2nd. For a full explanation of the new power point formula, click here.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3: The same three teams that headed up this section last week are exactly where we left them standings-wise, but the lead is a little slimmer now. South Plainfield (12-5, 22.028) is first, while neighboring North Plainfield (10-4, 21.477) is second and Colonia (11-3, 21.038) is third. That’s 0.99 points separating the three, whereas last week the margin between them was a shade under four. All three are going to have to keep winning these final two weeks, and all would seem to have a shot at the top overall seed, plus the fourth-place team, Millburn, which is just 7-8, but has 20.778 power points.

One of the big developments here is that JFK made a big jump this week, despite just going 2-2 since our last update. Now 8-5 (17.754), the Mustangs jumped from seventh to fifth place, and while they’re a tinge more than three points out of the top four, they’d have to go on some kind of win streak to crack that group. And yet, they’re actually closer to falling out of the top eight than they are to making the top four. That’s because Somerville (7-6, 16.193) is about 1.6 points away, and still in ninth. They have a good shot to make the top eight if they finish strong.

The other big mover is Carteret, which soared from eleventh to seventh place this week, again, even on just a 2-2 week. The Ramblers are 7-9 with 16.46 points, but still could fall back to the bottom eight, so they also might need to finish strong to stay there.

March 24, 2025March 21, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Defending state Group 4 champs Bridgewater-Raritan will start season with No. 1 Ranking in Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten

As the 2025 high school baseball season gets underway across New Jersey, with a handful opening up later this weekend and this weekend – we’ll have Spotswood vs. South Amboy on the air Saturday morning for our season-opening broadcast at 11 am – it’ll be a familiar face at the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.

Defending Group 4 state champions Bridgewater-Raritan opens the preseason rankings at No. 1. The Panthers went 30-3 last season, winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, the Somerset County Tournament, and the North 2, Group 4 title, the latter en route to the Group 4 state trophy.

Coming in second is Old Bridge, which went 20-9 last year and won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

Third in the preseason is South Plainfield. At 22-6-1 last season, the Tigers won the GMC Red Division, but lost in the finals to Old Bridge.

Starting the year in fourth will be Immaculata, which was 17-9 last year and has bolstered its pitching coming off its Skyland Conference Raritan Division title a year ago.

Ridge (21-9) checks in at five, after a 21-9 year and a trip to last season’s Somerset County Tournament finals, where they fell to Bridgewater-Raritan.

Monroe is fifth, a year after finishing 16-10 and making the Central Jersey Group 4 finals. They’re followed by two GMC White Division teams in Woodbridge – 17-10 last year and division champs – then Colonia (19-7).

The last two spots go to teams that could make moves with a number of key players back. Spotswood starts the year at No. 9 after a 19-4-2 season and a Blue Division Championship, while Carteret finishes the list at ten, coming off an 18-7 campaign and a GMC Invitational Tournament Championship.

Below is the full preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Baseball Top Ten:

February 26, 2025February 28, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Opening Night NJSIAA roundup: Top-seeded Colonia boys win, Dunellen wins all-GMC Silver matchup over Highland Park

On the opening night of the NJSIAA state basketball tournament, the top-seeded Colonia boys were winners, along with nine other teams, five on the girls’ side, five on the boys.

One of the highlights was a 61-58 win for fifth-seed Dunellen over 12th-seed Highland Park in an all-GMC Silver Division state tourney matchup in Central Jersey Group 1. It was the Destroyer’s third win this season over the Owls, the other two coming early in the season.

Jamael Davis led Dunellen (16-9) with 21 points, while Ryan Hutchins added 16 and Danny Watts scored 10. Now, the Destroyers move to Saturday’s sectional quarterfinal round against fourth-seed Manville (18-8), a team they lost to 62-61 in the championship game of their own Mike Shello Holiday Tournament back on December 28th. The Mustangs – CJ1 finalists last year – were 60-53 winners over 13-seed Shore Regional Wednesday night, behind 32 points from Edryn Morales. It was his third game of the season topping 30 points, and he’s now done it in back-to-back games after scoring 31 last Thursday in a 72-71 loss to Spotswood.

Click below to hear Dunellen coach Matt Cianfrone talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Destroyers’ opening-round playoff win, and their quarterfinal matchup against Manville:

Dunellen’s win also was its first in the playoffs since they went to the Central Jersey Group 1 final in 2020, where they lost to University out of Newark.

Here are all the results from Wednesday night’s first round action in Groups 1 and 3, in sections involving CJSR-area teams. Check back later for scores of games not yet reported.

BOYS’ RESULTS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(1) Colonia def. (16) Cranford, 61-42
(9) Cliffside Park def. (8) Warren Hills, 52-47
(12) Millburn def. (5) Somerville, 61-54
(4) Chatham def. (13) Lincoln, 59-48
(3) Payne Tech def. (14) Nutley, 91-48
(11) Orange def. (6) South Plainfield, 69-63
(10 Summit) def. (7) Rahway, 63-49
(2) Mendham def. (15) Randolph, 50-22

Central Jersey Group 1
(1) Thrive Charter def. (16) College Achieve Central, 79-32
(8) Bound Brook def. (9) Piscataway Magnet, 68-63
(5) Dunellen def. (12) Highland Park, 61-58
(4) Manville def. (13) Shore, 60-53
(3) Pt. Pleasant Beach def. (14) South Hunterdon, 63-34
(6) Henry Hudson def. (11) Florence, 63-49
(10 New Providence def. (7) Keyport, 66-58
(2) Middlesex def. (15) Perth Amboy Magnet, 58-51

GIRLS’ RESULTS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(1) Chatham def. (16) Orange, 71-29
(9) South Plainfield def. (8) Payne Tech, 57-48
(5) Randolph def. (12) North Plainfield, 66-49
(4) Mendham def. (13) North Hunterdon, 59-28
(6) Cranford def. (11) Millburn, 52-33
(7) Carteret def. (10) Nutley, 40-33
(2) Somerville def. (15) Colonia, 52-30

Central Jersey Group 1
(1) New Providence def. (16) STEMCivics, 85-33
(9) Pt. Pleasant Beach at (8) Keansburg, 48-34
(5) Shore Regional def. (12) Highland Park, 78-32
(4) Middlesex def. (13) South Amboy, 39-8
(3) Bound Brook def. (14) Florence, 53-24
(6) Roselle Park def. (11) Brearley, 58-44
(7) Dayton def. (10) Manville, 65-41
(2) Thrive Charter def. (15) Woodbridge Magnet, 75-14

Here are matchups for the next round, which will be played on Saturday:

BOYS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(9) Cliffside Park at (1) Colonia
(12) Millburn at (4) Chatham
(11) Orange at (3) Payne Tech
(10) Summit at (2) Mendham

Central Jersey Group 1
(8) Bound Brook at (1) Thrive Charter
(5) Dunellen at (4) Manville
(6) Henry Hudson at (3) Point Pleasant Beach
(10) New Providence at (2) Middlesex

GIRLS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(9) South Plainfield at (1) Chatham
(5) Randolph at (4) Mendham
(6) Cranford at (3) Summit
(7) Carteret at (2) Somerville

Central Jersey Group 3
(9) Pt. Pleasant Beach at (1) New Providence
(5) Shore Regional at (4) Middlesex
(6) Roselle Park at (3) Bound Brook
(7) Dayton at (2) Thrive Charter

February 12, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex’s Devine cracks 2,000 point mark, Francisco sets Monroe scoring record, and five of eight lower seeds win in GMCT First Round

The Greater Middlesex Conference basketball tournament has its girls’ quarterfinals set, as the three top seeds – St. Thomas Aquinas, Monroe and Middlesex, in order – were the only higher seeds to win in round of 16 action on Wednesday night.

We’ve got recaps on all eight games, followed by the schedule for this Saturday’s GMCT girls’ quarterfinals, which will be held at Spotswood High School.

WEDNESDAY GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ RESULTS – 1ST ROUND:

(1) St. Thomas Aquinas def. (16) North Brunswick, 94-42: Trista Whitney scored 17 points to lead the Trojans (19-6) into the GMC Tournament quarterfinals for the eleventh straight time, the longest such active streak in the county. Kayla Navarro added 14, Lauryn Downing chipped in 13, and Jordan Barnes scored 11 in the win. St. Thomas came out of the game hot, taking a 28-2 lead after one quarter of play. The Raiders fell to 8-14 with the loss. Aquinas will play 9th-seed Carteret (16-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
(9) Carteret def. (8) Calvary Christian, 54-29: Anilah Diggs and Jahaysia Ledesman each scored 15 points, while Ivanni Villegas added 13 for the the Ramblers (16-6). It was a tight one at the half, with Calvary up 18-15, but Carteret exploded in the second half, outscoring their opponent 23-11 in the third, and holding them scoreless in the fourth. Next up, the Ramblers play top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (19-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
(12) Old Bridge def. (5) East Brunswick, 47-45: The Knights – who’d lost twice this season to the Bears by 23 the first time, and 21 in the rematch – found the third time was the charm. Old Bridge (11-12) led 25-18 at the half, but gave up the lead in the third quarter, trailing 36-32 heading into the final eight minutes, but they stormed back and hung on for the win over the Bears (12-11). Scroll down to the end of this section to hear Knights’ head coach Alec Alspach talk about the win. Old Bridge will face 13-seed North Plainfield (7-16) Saturday – which they split with this season – in the quarterfinals at Spotswood.
(13) North Plainfield def. (4) Spotswood, 46-44: The Canucks (7-16) pulled off the late upset in Spotswood (17-7) for their second straight win after losing eight-in-a-row heading into the GMC Tournament. Jordyn Patrick led with 15 points for North Plainfield, while the Chargers’ Gabrielle Hill tied her for game-high honors with 15 in defeat. North trailed 33-27 heading into the fourth, and still by six with 40-seconds to go, but hit shots down the stretch to come up with a win earns the Canucks a trip right back to Spotswood Saturday for the quarterfinals, where they’ll face 12-seed Old Bridge (11-12).
(3) Middlesex def. (14) Colonia, 46-42: Jess Devine scored 22 points and passed the 2,000 point mark for her career early in the win for the Blue Jays (18-6). She now has 2,021 points for all-time. Hailey Conklin had 12 in defeat for Colonia (6-18), which hung in there, down by only eight heading into the fourth quarter. The win puts Middlesex up against 11-seed Piscataway (11-9) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
(11) Piscataway def. (6) South Brunswick, 49-45: The Chiefs (11-9) avenged two earlier defeats this season at the hands of South Brunswick (11-11) thanks to 14 points from Caelyn Cook, and a mammoth game on the boards for Alyssa Iduh, who had 22 rebounds. Avery Jenne had 16 for the Vikings in defeat. Piscataway had to rally from a 22-13 halftime deficit, and did so with a big third quarter, nearly doubling up South Brunswick, 25-13 to take a 38-35 lead into the fourth quarter. The Chiefs will play third-seed Middlesex (18-6) at Spotswood in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
(10) Edison def. (7) Metuchen, 47-36: Three players for the Eagles (15-9) scored in double figures, led by Susan Oshinski with 11, while Carmela Arana and Olivia Smart added ten apiece. Edison led the Bulldogs (18-4) most of the way, including 22-16 at the half. The Eagles move on to play second-seed Monroe (15-7) Saturday in the quarterfinals at Spotswood.
(2) Monroe def. (15) South Plainfield, 46-36: Senior Evangelina Francisco’s 18 points helped make her the all-time leading scorer in girls’ history at the school, giving her 1,203 in her career, passing Madison Carey, who played from 2017 through 2020 and finished with 1,195. The Falcons (15-7) had a slim two-point halftime lead, and led by three after three, but pulled away in the fourth, holding the Tigers (14-9) to just five points. Monroe will take on Edison in Saturday’s semifinals at Spotswood.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Alex Alspach talk about the Knights’ win over East Brunswick in the GMC Tournament first round:

SATURDAY GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

Note that while the girls’ times are set, boys’ game times may not follow the same pattern in the bracket as the girls. GMC Tournament Co-Director Mike DelAversano says boys’ times will be adjusted so that any boys’ and girls’ teams from the same school wouldn’t play at the same time at different sites. The girls’ quarterfinals will be at Spotswood, with the boys at Piscataway. We’ll have Saturday’s boys’ schedule as soon as we get it from tournament officials.