Girls basketball rankings: GMC and area UCC preseason Top 10
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (22-4) – The Greater Middlesex Conference and GMC Red Division champion Trojans fell to Camden Catholic in the quarterfinals of the Non-Public A South Tournament. Jessica Cooper heads the list of returning standouts.
2022-23 Greater Middlesex Conference team-by-team girls basketball preview
2. South Brunswick (19-8) – The Vikings, who made a Cinderella run as the No. 7 seed in the GMC tournament, going all the way to the final last year, returns a nice group of talented upperclassmen, including Meher Vig, who led the squad in scoring last season.
Girls basketball players to watch in 2022-23 in Central Jersey
3. Colonia (25-5) – The White Division-champion Patriots are coming off a trip to the South Group 3 final, and although life gets a little more difficult in the Red Division this year, Colonia brings back several key players, including first-team junior All-Area pick Taylor Derkack and senior Mattison Chiera.
4. Monroe (18-6) – The Falcons advanced to the Central Group 4 semifinals last year, where they fell to eventual-champ and state Group 3 finalist Jackson Memorial by just two points. Now, with a nice group coming back, led by Katie Louro, Monroe should be in good shape for another deep run.
5. Old Bridge (13-9) – The Knights enjoyed a solid season, but couldn’t find much traction in the postseason. They return four varsity starters including a trio of four-year letterwinners, including third-team All-Area pick Abby Jazmin.
6. East Brunswick (17-9) – The Bears did lose some key performers to graduation, but return 7 of 9 letter winners, including three named Motusesky. Expect East Brunswick to be in a group of several teams looking to vie for position behind St. Thomas in the GMC.
7. North Brunswick (16-10) – The Raiders checked out in overtime in the second round of the state tournament a year ago, but with several standouts back, including two-time first-team All-Area honoree and 1,000-point scorer Niyell McCargo.
8. Woodbridge (15-9) –The Barrons wrote one of the best turnaround stories of last season, turning a three-win campaign the year prior into 15 victories last year. While losing Bailey Timinski to graduation will hurt, a nice group led by Aviva Palms will keep Woodbridge among the contenders in the White Division.
9. Middlesex (21-5) – The Blue Division champion Blue Jays have moved up in the world, elevated into the White Division, which is challenging enough even if they hadn’t graduated all three members of their starting front court. Neyse Aguilar heads the list of returners after a third-team All-Area season a year ago.
10. South River (17-10)– The Rams are coming off their ninth straight winning season, and while they remain among the favorite in the Blue Division, having lost last season’s Player of the Year in Tiffany Fischer and her 1,400-plus career points, things certainly figure to be more of a challenge.
Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at CNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball GMC and area UCC preseason Top 10
