Bears teams in thick of Red Division races
Monroe boys and other locals playing well early on
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Old Bridge’s Chris Ronnelly looks to score during a recent game against Piscataway in Old Bridge.

It’s shaping up like another tremendous basketball season at East Brunswick High School.

Both the Bears’ boys and girls teams are off to fast starts and are in the midst of serious runs at Red Division titles.

East Brunswick’s boys improved to 8-2 overall with a 63-60 win over Perth Amboy on Tuesday. The Bears seemed poised to be upset before Mike Wagenblast connected on a pair of free throws to tie the game with just 15 seconds remaining, allowing the Bears to secure the win in overtime.

While Wagenblast led the way with his 15 points, Andrew Golcewski added 12 and John Byrne chipped in with 10. However, it was the Bears’ inability to slow the Panthers’ Lemond McGibboney, who finished with 26 points, including five three-pointers, that allowed Perth Amboy to put a scare into the Braves.

The win left the Bears tied with St. Joseph’s atop the Red Division with a 4-0 divisional record. Those two teams will square off tonight in a game that will decide the front-runner in the division.

RICH GRAESSLE Monroe players fight for a rebound during a game in Edison against the Eagles on Saturday.

St. Joe’s knocked off South Brunswick last Thursday, 57-56, to hand the Vikings their second divisional loss of the year. However, the Vikings used a late rally to make things interesting, serving a reminder that they, too, will be a force in divisional play over the second half of the regular season.

In order for the Bears to beat the Falcons tonight, they must find a way to slow down Sean Baptiste, one of the GMC’s most prolific scorers. It will certainly take a better defensive effort than what they displayed on Tuesday against Perth Amboy.

As for the East Brunswick girls, they are also in the midst of a tense divisional race, battling with undefeated and top-ranked South Brunswick, as well as Piscataway, for the top spot.

The Bears staked their claim for the top spot with a stunning 61-60 upset of the then top-ranked Chiefs last Thursday. Unfortunately, that win came two days after a 63-53 loss to South Brunswick, giving the Vikings the early edge in the division race.

But the win over Piscataway, in which the Bears (7-2) used an inspired fourth-quarter effort to outscore the Chiefs 27-18 down the stretch, allowed the Bears to remain in the thick of things coming into this week’s action.

Laura Petriello led the way for the Bears in the win, scoring 17 points, while Jessica Campbell added 15 and Breanna DeFalco chipped in with 12.

Stay tuned to this three-way race, as it promises to go down to the wire this season.

The East Brunswick teams are not the only local squads chasing down division titles at this point.

The Monroe High School boys have been playing some of the best basketball since day one this winter, and continue to stake their claim as one of the top teams in the GMC.

The Falcons improved to 9-1 with a 64-50 win over South Plainfield on Tuesday, led by A.J. Rudowitz’s 17 points and Mark Gulick’s 13. The win left Monroe 3-1 in the White Division, just one game behind division-leading New Brunswick (8-1, 5-0), the fourth-ranked team in the GMC.

The Falcons, who host Woodbridge tonight and will travel to Bishop Ahr on Saturday, will get their first crack at New Brunswick next Saturday, in what will be one of the most anticipated games in recent memory for the Monroe basketball community.

The Sayreville boys are also playing well in White Division play, improving to 4-3 with a 65-57 win over Woodbridge on Tuesday. Sayreville, who was led by Larry Pokrya’s 28-point effort in the come-from-behind win, is now 3-1 in division play and also remains in the hunt for the division crown.

The Bombers will be at Carteret tonight and have an important game looming on Monday against another White Division contender, Colonia (7-2, 4-1).

The White Division race looks like another one that will go down to the wire this season.

Down in the Blue Division, Metuchen has emerged as the team to beat after racing out to a perfect 8-0 start. In the middle of the pack is the Spotswood Chargers, who improved to 4-3 on Monday with a 52-41 win over John F. Kennedy. Justin Carlson led the way with 15 points for the Chargers, who will look to climb up the division ladder with games next week against Bishop Ahr (Tuesday), Middlesex (Thursday) and Metuchen (Saturday).

The Old Bridge boys have struggled a bit out of the gates, playing to a 3-6 mark, but will look to right the ship tonight against another struggling team from Edison, and Saturday against Immaculata.

South River’s boys are in a similar boat, playing to a 2-8 record early on, but looking to add to that win total tomorrow night against JFK.

The only local girls team sporting a winning record at this point, other than South River, is the Spotswood girls, who fell to 4-3 on Monday with a 62-55 loss to JFK. The Chargers overcame a slow start to tie the game after three quarters, but were unable to seal the deal down the stretch as the Mustangs closed the game on a 10-3 run.

Spotswood, which finds itself beside South River in the middle of the Blue Division pack, had another tough test scheduled for last night against Mother Seton, and will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Bishop Ahr.

Among the local girls teams struggling early on are an Old Bridge team that has been beset with a series of injuries en route to a 2-7 start, while the Sayreville team has had a tough time navigating its way though its Red Division schedule, playing to a 2-5 mark.

Monroe’s girls have also had a tough time thus far, playing to a 1-7 start.