Tag: GMCT

by Mike Pavlichko

Recap: No big upsets in GMC Tournament’s play-in round, as 8 boys’ teams, 7 girls’ squads advance

The 2026 Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament for basketball tipped off on Saturday, a day after the seeding meeting, with 15 teams advancing to next week’s preliminary rounds, which will be held on Monday for the girls, and Tuesday for the boys, all at higher seeds.

Scroll through for scores and recaps, as well as a look at the schedule in the next round, and who each winner will face. Not all times for the preliminary round have been announced, as they are set by the host schools.

2026 GIRLS’ GMCT PLAY-IN ROUND:

  • (25) South Amboy 32, (24) Piscataway Magnet 30: The Governors (15-5) built an early lead and led 21-10 at the half, then held off the Raiders the rest of the way. Valerie Figueroa led South Amboy with 11, including three treys.
  • (21) South River 54, (28) Wardlaw-Hartridge 23: The Rams (18-5) cruised to a 28-10 halftime lead and never looked back, led by 20 points from Gianna Castellano, and a double-double of 14 points and ten rebounds from Arianna Perez.
  • (20) Highland Park 56, (29) East Brunswick Magnet 25: Valentina Kambitsis led all scorers with 19 for the Owls (7-15), who controlled from start to finish, and held the Tigers to single-digit scoring in each quarter. Dallas Kimball added 14 rebounds for Highland Park.
  • (19) Metuchen 47, (30) Dunellen 30: The Bulldogs (9-10) got a game-high 19 points from Grace Vanleeuwen and 11 steals from Lucie Pallota in a solid defensive effort.
  • (22) JFK 53, (27) Calvary Christian 37: Sanai Trotman had a game-high 22 points for JFK (6-18), which pulled the upset over Calvary Christian, while Kayra Bilgili added 12, all from downtown.
  • (26) New Brunswick 34, (23) Mother Seton 33: In a low-scoring first-half, the Zebras (11-9) trailed 17-8 at halftime, but roared back on the strength on an 11-3 third quarter, and outscored the Setters by two in the final period for the one-point victory.
  • (18) North Brunswick 69, (31) Woodbridge Magnet 8: The Raiders (4-18) never allowed more than four points in a quarter, and shutout Woodbridge Magnet in the final eight minutes for the running-clock win.Amani Carty scored 25 points in the win, while Milan Bourne added ten.

PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE – MONDAY, FEB. 9

  • (17) Perth Amboy (10-7) at (16) Sayreville (16-4), winner at (1) St. Thomas Aquinas
  • (25) South Amboy (15-5) at (9) Old Bridge (8-12), winner at (8) Middlesex
  • (21) South River (18-5) at (12) South Plainfield (7-16), winner at (5) Spotswood
  • (20) Highland Park (7-15) at (13) JP Stevens (8-11), winner at (4) Colonia
  • (19) Metuchen (9-10) at (14) South Brunswick (2-19), winner at (3) Piscataway
  • (22) JFK (6-18) at (11) Edison (6-15), 5 pm, winner at (6) Woodbridge
  • (26) New Brunswick (11-9) at (10) North Plainfield (4-15), winner at (7) Monroe
  • (18) North Brunswick (18) at (15) Carteret (13-8), winner at (2) East Brunswick

2026 BOYS’ GMCT PLAY-IN ROUND:

  • (17) Monroe 72, (32) Wardlaw-Hartridge 40: The Falcons (5-16) controlled nearly from start to finish, up 10-9 after one and 26-15 at the half, pulling away in the second half.
  • (24) Timothy Christian 74, (25) Dunellen 47: The Tigers (3-17) had two 20-plus point scorers, while Nathanael Sleman hitting for a quasi triple-double: 22 points, 14 from the foul line, and 11 rebounds; he was 14-of-22 at the line. Julian Piniero added 24, including seven three-pointers.
  • (21) JP Stevens 53, (28) Perth Amboy Magnet 21: Pratyush Udupa had 17 to lead all scorers in the game as the Hawks (10-12) played solid defense throughout, holding the Patriots to single digits in three of the four quarters in the game. Rupert Yu and Toshwan Biswas added eight each in the win.
  • (20) JFK 68, (29) East Brunswick Magnet 56: The Mustangs had to rally in this one; down six after one, they cut it to four by the half, but trailed by seven in the third before a outscoring the Tigers 21-2 in the final eight minutes for a 12-point win. Kennedy (11-12) got a game-high 26 points from Grant Lorentzen, who went 6-of-8 from the foul line, while Omari Hill added 14 and went 5-of-6 at the stripe.
  • (19) Carteret 76, (30) South River 21: The Ramblers (9-13) ran away early, leading 46-14 at the half, holding the Rams to just seven points in each of the first two quarters, shutting them out entirely in the third. Qorey Carter led the way with 22 points and three treys, while Aaron Price added ten and six rebounds.
  • (22) Edison 76, (27) New Brunswick 48: The Eagles (10-11) led by three after one but a strong two middle quarters – outscoring the Zebras 43-23 – were the difference. Vibert Reynolds scored 20 for Edison to lead all scorers, while Ray Tavarez added 17 and Dheeraj Samparaboyina added 16.
  • (26) Highland Park 53, (23) North Brunswick, 38: The Raiders (6-16) got 14 points from Angel Rodriguez as they led nearly wire-to-wire. They held the Owls to just four fourth-quarter points.
  • (18) North Plainfield 70, (31) Calvary Christian 59: The Canucks improved to 12-11 and over .500 for just the second time this season with the win.

PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE – TUESDAY, FEB. 10

  • (17) Monroe (5-16) at (16) South Amboy (14-5), winner at (1) St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • (24) Timothy Christian (3-17) at (9) Metuchen (19-2), winner at (8) Old Bridge
  • (21) JP Stevens (10-12) at (12) Piscataway Magnet (17-4), winner at (5) St. Thomas Aquinas
  • (20) JFK (11-12) at (13) Middlesex (14-7), winner at (4) East Brunswick
  • (19) Carteret (9-13) at (14) South Brunswick (12-8), winner at (3) Colonia
  • (22) Edison (10-11) at (11) Woodbridge (5-14), winner at (6) South Plainfield
  • (26) Highland Park (6-16) at (10) Perth Amboy (20-4), winner at (7) Sayreville
  • (18) North Plainfield (12-11) at (15) Spotswood (13-9), winner at (2) Piscataway
by Mike Pavlichko

St. Joseph-Metuchen walks-off JP Stevens 10-0 on ten-run rule in GMCT play-in round

Matthew Ferber went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, two walks and three runs batted in, while Bobby Christensen knocked in two more, as 14th-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen won its opening game of the GMC Tournament.

The Falcons, who won the GMCT last year for the second time in three years, have struggled this season with a young ballclub, but they were able to blank 19th-seed JP Stevens at home 10-0 Saturday in a mercy rule-shortened victory in the play-in round.

The win was just the fourth of the year for the Falcons (4-15), while JP Stevens falls to 5-13.

Next up, St. Joe’s travels to a familiar place, Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge, where they’ll face the third-seeded Knights on Monday at 4 pm. The Falcons faced Old Bridge early in the season, losing both matchups, 4-0 on May 6th, and 5-0 on May 8th, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Click below to hear St. Joseph head coach Mike Murray talk about the Falcons’ win:

by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex blanks Metuchen, 7-0, to advance to GMCT Round of 16 at Blue champ Spotswood

Freshman Dylan Ianiero tossed a four-hit shutout, and the bats took care of the rest in a 7-0 win for 13-seed Middlesex over 20th-seed Metuchen Saturday afternoon in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament play-in round.

Ianiero went the distance throwing just 96 pitches, scattering four hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Middlesex got two runs in the bottom of the first, then added three in the third to take a 5-0 lead, before plating the final two runs in the sixth. Another freshman, Luke Jones, went 1-for-3 with a two-run double and 3 RBIs, and had a stolen base for the Blue Jays.

Middlesex will go on to visit fourth-seed Spotswood Monday in the GMCT’s first-round, with first pitch set for 4 pm at “The Swamp.”

The Blue Jays (6-12) have won four straight against Spotswood, but those games came in 2021 and 2022; the teams have not faced each other the last two years. Spotswood last beat Middlesex pre-COVID, a 2-1 win for the Chargers in April 2019.

Click below to hear Middlesex head coach Justin Nastasi talk about the win:

by Mike Pavlichko

Late rally sparks Perth Amboy upset of East Brunswick in GMCT play-round; top-seed South Plainfield awaits Panthers Monday

A three-run rally in the top of the seventh gave 17th-seed Perth Amboy a big win Saturday in the GMC tournament play-in round over East Brunswick.

Playing “up” against a GMC Red Division opponent, the Panthers broke a 5-5 tie in the final inning and knocked off the 16th-seeded Bears Saturday afternoon. In a tight game throughout, the teams were tied at 1-1 after four innings, and 5-5 at the end of the fifth.

In the seventh, Perth Amboy broke out for three runs. They got a leadoff double and a walk, setting the table for North Plainfield transfer Chris Aracena’s two-run single to break the tie. He later came around to score on a passed ball, making it 8-5.

And yet, it got interesting in the bottom of the seventh. Panther senior captain Sebastian Aponte came in to close the game out, and got the first two outs. But then East Brunswick got one man on via error, and drew two walks. With the bases loaded, Aponte came up huge: he notched a strikeout to end the game.

Perth Amboy (5-11) snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory, while East Brunswick drops to 5-11 on the season.

The win puts Amboy in the tourney’s Round of 16, where they’ll face another opponent out of the Red Division, top-seed South Plainfield, 4 pm Monday in the first round.

Perth Amboy has lost six straight against South Plainfield, dating back to their meeting in the 2018 GMC Tournament title game. The Panthers were the 12-seed that year, while the Tigers were the 14-seed, the second-lowest seed ever to win the GMCT. Amboy’s last win over South came the season prior, a 15-8 road win in the GMC Tournament preliminary round.

Click below to hear Perth Amboy head coach Damon Clark talk about the win: