With the basketball season heating up, area teams are in a position to make a run at postseason play, if not Greater Middlesex Conference division titles.
In the GMC Red Division, St. Joseph High School’s boys, despite an early-season loss to East Brunswick, are still in good shape in controlling its destiny. The Falcons are 3-1 in conference play, a half-game behind Piscataway, which is 4-1. Overall, St. Joe’s is 7-1.
This is a big week for the Falcons: they hosted Piscataway last night (Jan. 13) with first place on the line, and they will welcome South Brunswick (5-3) on Thursday.
St. Joe’s gets its rematch with East Brunswick at home on Jan. 25. The Bears are 6-2 in GMC play, having lost to Piscataway and South Brunswick. Next month the Falcons are at Piscataway (Feb. 3) and at South Brunswick (Feb. 8). John P. Stevens is 1-6 in GMC play and overall. Over in the White Division, Cardinal McCarrick is 3-1 and trails North Brunswick, which is 5-1. The teams will face each other for the first time on Jan. 18 in SouthAmboy. North Brunswick will host Cardinal McCarrick on Feb. 10.
Cardinal McCarrick is on a six-game winning streak and is 6-1 on the season.
Edison is 0-7 overall and 0-6 in division play.
In the Blue Division, Bishop Ahr is in the hunt with a 2-1 division record (3-4 overall). JFK Iselin is also 2-1 in division play, and Carteret is 4-2. The Trojans were to have played JFK on Saturday, but the game was postponed by the snowstorm.
Bishop Ahr, which lost to Carteret the first time around, will meet the Ramblers in Edison on Jan. 28 and will host JFK on Feb. 2.
Metuchen is right there as well, with a 2-2 division mark and 3-3 overall. Metuchen will host Carteret tonight.
The Bulldogs’ division losses have been to Bishop Ahr and Woodbridge.
In the White Division, Wardlaw-Hartridge is 3-5 overall and 2-4 in division games.
As far as the girls go, Cardinal McCarrick and BishopAhr are in a three-way race with North Brunswick in the White Division. North Brunswick is 5-0 and McCarrick is 4-0 while Bishop Ahr is 2-1, with its loss coming to McCarrick.
Cardinal McCarrick will play North Brunswick on Jan. 18 on the road, with the rematch being the final game of the regular season on Feb. 10 in South Amboy.
The Eagles will play BishopAhr in Edison on Jan. 20.
Bishop Ahr plays North Brunswick for the first time tonight at home and will play them again at North Brunswick on Feb. 8.
In the Red Division, the Edison girls are 6-1 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Eagles trail 5-1 Piscataway and 5-0 Woodbridge, which handed them their lone loss (44-40 in Edison).
Edison travels to Woodbridge on Jan. 18 and will host Piscataway on Feb. 3.
In the Gold Division, Wardlaw-Hartridge is 2-1 (5-3 overall). Dunellen (4-0) and Timothy Christian (2-0) are the undefeated teams. The Rams are scheduled to host Dunellen (which handed them their lone division loss) on Jan. 19.
Metuchen is 4-3 in the Blue Division.
The GMC tournament begins with the play-in round on Feb. 12. First-round action begins on Feb. 15.
The deadline for teams to be .500 or better in order to qualify for the NJSIAA tournament is Feb. 5. The state tournament begins Feb. 28.