Group I Preview

Before I preview the state basketball tournament in Group I, I just wanted to say I went 2-2 predicting games in the GMC Tournament the other day. Cardinal McCarrick wound up pulling the 6 over 3 upset as they defeated East Brunswick 64-62 as time expired on a layup on freshman Marques Townes. I actually uploaded the clip to YouTube so you can see it there. I did get the middle 2 games right at St. Joe's defeated Perth Amboy 72-62 and Bishop Ahr beat JFK 69-57. Piscataway won the last game over South Brunswick 52-43. So the semifinals are #1 Piscataway vs. #5 Bishop Ahr and #2 St. Joe's vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick. Groups I and III do not start play until next Tuesday, but up until Sunday I'll preview with a group a day and since these are the smallest schools, we'll start from here. I'll categorize the teams in 4 different ways--the favorites, the dark horses, the long shots, no shot. Keep in mind this is for the entire group, next week I'll give my individual game predictions which will talk about the 4 sections a little more.


The Favorites

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-None

Central, Group I-Point Pleasant Beach, Asbury Park, New Egypt

South, Group I-Pitman, Paulsboro, Penns Grove


The Darkhorses

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-Hoboken, Newark University

Central, Group I-Florence, Burlington City

South, Group I-Salem, Woodbury, Lindenwold


Long Shots

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-Bloomfield Tech, New Providence, Dayton, Weequahic, Newark Vocational

Central, Group I-Bound Brook

South, Group I-None


No Shot

North I, Group I-I use a website which gives "high school spreads" for games and there are 18 teams in Group I higher than the top team here. This section has no chance for a group title. The teams are Wood-Ridge, Verona, Cresskill, Wallington, Saddle Brook, Bogota, Park Ridge, Emerson Boro, Palisades Park, Becton, Midland Park, Leonia, Sussex Tech, West Caldwell Tech, Ridgefield, and Hasbrouck Heights.

North II, Group I-Dunellen, North 13th Street Vo-Tech, Weehawken, North Arlington, Roselle Park, Whippany Park, Glen Ridge, Secaucus, Arts

Central, Group I-Piscataway Tech, South Hunterdon, East Brunswick Tech, Academy Charter, Metuchen, South River, Keyport, Perth Amboy Tech, Highland Park, Palmyra

South, Group I-Gloucester City, Audubon, Haddon Township, Camden Charter, Schalick, Wildwood, Clayton, Maple Shade, Glassboro, Gateway

Just letting everyone know I spent the last hour and a half typing or so previewing the 6 favorites and of course, it had trouble saving so when I left the page thinking it had automatically saved. It took me back to just this. I will be back tomorrow with more elaborate previews of the other Groups.