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.
