On Sunday, February 17, 2013, Super Sunday
in the Greater Middlesex Conference takes
place with the GMCT Elite Eight playing
at the Physical Education Center on the Edison campus of Middlesex County
College.
Top seeded East Brunswick and second seeded
St. Joseph's are heavy favorites to reach the Championship Game on Friday
night. The Bears are looking to reach the final for the first time since 1996
when they won it all. The Falcons are looking for the 4-peat something that
hasn't been done in MCT/GMCT play since the great Perth Amboy teams of the
early to mid-70s. However, there are teams such as third seeded North Brunswick,
fourth seeded Woodbridge, and fifth seeded Carteret, seventh seeded Spotswood,
ninth seeded Sayreville, and 11th seeded Old Bridge, which will all try to
have something to say about that.
Like last year, we have a couple party crashers
as ninth seeded Sayreville and 11th seeded Old Bridge won their Round of 16
matchups on the road against higher seeded teams. However, both have been
in the GMC Hoops Top Ten at some point during the season if not for the entire
length of it. Sayreville has been a hot team as of late with 7 wins in its
last 8 games. Meanwhile, Old Bridge has gotten back on track after falling
to Piscataway Tech, Piscataway, East Brunswick, and St. Joe's recently. The
Knights are healthy again with Tyler Drews back in top form after an ankle
injury, and they also have a third option with the added scoring of Chris
Conrad. team.
Sayreville is making its first appearance in
the GMCT Elite Eight since losing to Monroe in overtime in the 2010 GMCT Semifinals.
Old Bridge, which had reached the quarterfinals in 5 of 6 years under the
guidance of Rocky Knowles from 2002 to 2007, is making its first appearance
in the GMCT Elite Eight in six seasons. Meanwhile, Carteret, the fifth seed,
is making its first appearance in the Elite Eight since falling to second
seeded Piscataway in the 2008 quarterfinals.
East Brunswick enters the quarterfinal round
undefeated in GMC play, and with only two losses (20-2) on the season. The
Bears started the season with 15 straight wins before losing to St. Anthony's
a few weeks ago. St. Joseph's has only lost two in the GMC, and both came
at the hands of arch rival, EB in division play. The Falcons also have losses
to DeSoto of Texas and the Patrick School outside of conference to post an
18-4 record. North Brunswick started the year as the fourth ranked team in
some polls, but after defeating South Brunswick in the Brunswick Challenge
holiday tournament, and going undefeated in GMC White play, the Raiders earned
the third seed.
Woodbridge is one of the great stories of this
2012-13 season. The Barrons have had their first winning season since 1988-89,
reached the Elite Eight for the first time since then, have the most wins
in three decades, and finished second in the GMC White behind North Brunswick.
The Barrons only two losses in division play came at the hands of the Raiders.
Woodbridge enters GMCT Super Sunday at 20-3 while North Brunswick comes in
at 18-3. Fifth seeded Carteret, which had almost as good a season as last
year, enters the day at 18-6 while seventh seeded Spotswood enters the day
at 18-5. All Eight teams in the quarterfinals have at least 14 wins with six
of those teams having 18 wins or more.
So far in this tournament, the Red and White
Divisions have dominated. Six teams are either from the GMC Red or the GMC
White. Each Division has three teams in the Elite Eight with the Red Division
having East Brunswick, St. Joseph's, and Old Bridge while the White Division
has North Brunswick, Woodbridge, and Sayreville. Division records in crossover
games in this tournament so far, the White is 5-2, the Red is 5-2, the Blue
is 4-5, and the Gold is 0-4. As a result, the Red Division is well ahead in
the latest GMC Hoops Conference Cup
Standings.
North Brunswick returns to the GMCT Elite Eight
for the third time in the last four years. The Raiders have won the GMC White
three years in a row. Prior to 2010, The Raiders had not been in the GMCT
Quarterfinals since 1998. Spotswood is making its second GMCT Elite Eight
trip in four years. The Chargers, which finished second in the GMC Blue, earned
the trip by defeating Piscataway Tech for the third time this season. The
last time Spotswood made it to the Elite Eight, it upset East Brunswick to
make its first ever GMCT Final Four appearance in 2010. East Brunswick is
making its fourth straight trip to the Elite Eight. The Bears reached the
semifinals last year for the first time since 2001. EB has made six trips
to the GMCT Quarterfinals in the past eight years.
St. Joseph's, the defending champion, has gotten
this far in the tournament 14 times in the last 17 seasons. The Falcons have
reached the Elite Eight in seven of the eight years Dave Turco has coached
at the school. Carteret is making its 7th ever trip to the GMCT Elite Eight.
The Ramblers have not reached the GMCT Final Four though since winning it
all in 2002. All four of the matchups feature teams that have not played each
other this season. Through last year, the GMC White won five GMCT
crowns while the Red Division has won five, and the Blue Division has
won three.
