First, C.O., your point is well-taken. I do blog about the SCT far more than the other county tournaments for two reasons.
1) It is the furthest along -- we already know the final.
2) No matter who wins, it is local vs. local for us. That can't be said for the Hunterdon/Warren, Middlesex or Union County Tournaments.
Second, for all of you who are picking Somerset County first-team and Somerset County Player of the Year on my blog, the debate is great. I read it, and I love it. But don't forget the Courier News is All-Area. My first team could -- and likely will -- have players from Hunterdon, Middlesex and/or Union counties. Same could be said for my Player of the Year. The Star Ledger breaks it down by county.
Enough of that.
Wednesday is a monster tournament day for girls basketball. I promise to be very very busy. As requested, here are my predictions, starting with Tuesday's UCT semifinal.
Wesfield 50, Elizabeth 39: Too much Erin Miller. Too much Diana Venezia, who is becoming an inside force as a freshman. Too much under-control ball-handling by Gabby O'Leary. All of it will take Elizabeth out of its game.
Wednesday:
UCT semifinal
Scotch Plains-Fanwood 58, Linden 46: SPF has taken both regular-season meetings and I expect more of the same. Forwards Jackie Law and Kaylin Jaichon gave Linden trouble when the teams met earlier this month and -- again -- I expect more of the same.
Prep B final
Rutgers Prep 62, Gill St. Bernard's 50: This is a chance for Gill St. Bernard's to get that staple victory needed to solidify a 19-3 season. If the Knights don't get it -- and I don't think they will -- they still have far exceeded all expectations this season. Rutgers Prep pretty much owns the Prep B final, anyway. Maybe they should rename it the "Rutgers Prep B final." Bad joke.
GMCT semifinals
South Plainfield 62, Perth Amboy 60: This is an upset. Everyone is expecting to see Perth Amboy play Piscataway in the final, but veteran-laden South Plainfield is tough. The Tigers beat up South Brunswick twice this season, and are winners of 12 straight games. Perth Amboy's size could South Plainfield trouble, but one thing I've always liked about this team is that every girl plays with strength and speed well beyond what you would expect from her size. The fighters win a nailbiter.
Piscataway 66, New Brunswick 59: Piscataway needed a wake-up call and got one in the third round against North Brunswick. Now the defending champion appears destined for its third straight trip to the finals. New Brunswick has the ability to stay with almost anybody and I think this game will be close, but staying with Piscataway is easier than beating Piscataway.
Hunterdon/Warren semifinals:
Voorhees 51, Belvidere 33: The closest quarterfinal is this tournament was decided by 17 points. I've said before, this really could be a three-team tournament between Voorhees, North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central, where the top seed gets a bye into the final against the semifinal winner. It's hard to say who will be Voorhees' top player in the game. It seems to be someone new every game, but one thing is for sure: Voorhees will do what it does best -- win.
Hunterdon Central 49, North Hunterdon 45: As you can see, I'm very close to picking North Hunterdon in this game. The Lions win against Immaculata last week was very impressive and I'll take it as a sign that this team is clicking at the right time. I've been kind of surprised by North's up-and-down play this season, but a bi-county championship and upsets of its top two rivals would be a storybook ending. I can definitely see it happening, but Central is one team not usually prone to upsets. The Red Devils always play good defense, understand the emotion that goes into rivalry games and -- most importantly -- read my paper and probably my blog. They probably want the extra motivation of me picking against them. Sorry girls.
That's a lot of picks by someone not very good at picking games. I'd be happy with 5-2.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
You tell em Ryan...no Union player is going first team though...Miller is a lock for 2nd team, and SPF will get a spot on 2nd/3rd...Hunterdon doesn't have an individual capable of first team, though Voorhees has at least one who'll get considered for 2nd team...Piscataway and South Plainfield have Jenkins as a lock on 1st team, with Patrick, Santiago, and Houston as locks among your top 15... My pre-post-season picks for you:
Carr, Jenkins, Kopecki, Kutch, & Melone on 1st team
Bernstein, Miller, Patrick, Santiago, & Zazzali on 2nd team
Bay, Houston, Jones, Laub, & Zigarelli on 3rd team
Player of Year - Carr, Jenkins and Melone are main candidates.
Carr and Jenkins are the best players, but Melone has an outside chance if Immaculata wins SCT. Two players mentioned have help, with Bay knocking down 3s like crazy to give Lindsey more room, and Patrick scoring her 1000th point the other night. Carr puts up crazy numbers (not just points) every night when every defense is geared to stop just her apparently, but her opponents aren't as solid as the big schools. It's nice to have some discussion/debate, and each of the big-name players seem to respect each other, at least in the press!
I'd basically switch entirely your second and third teams.
Each of the first team players listed above has a shot at Player of the Year. Each has been a leader on her team, including ppg but just as importantly, inspiring better play among her teammates with assists, steals and rebounds. There are still games to be played...let's see how they do as I think it's a close call right now.
Also, Miller and Patrick are candidates. The player who leads their teams in the big games to come should be final candidates,,all are great players, let's see who can make the clutch shots and lead their teams...leadership should be key ingredient when picking player of the year, they all have great stats but you shouldn't only compare stats because of team make-up (maybe they have a key rebounder or key shotmaker) and also strength of schedule can skew that (ie. Laub/Carr are bound to have great stats because they don't frequently go up against top defenders like the others do).
Post a Comment