Thursday has several key matchups across the state, but none bigger than our first game below.
Wheelie Good Pierogi Union County Game Of The Week
(GSBR Coverage)
It doesn't get much better than this. An "Old Nieghborhood" battle between two storied programs with long histories and large fanbases. The Dunn Center will be the hottest spot in New Jersey basketball this evening as Linden travels up St. George Avenue to take on their biggest rival.
Linden may well be the most complete public school program in the state at the moment and will look to senior guard Nas Robinson to lead the way but has a plethora of scoring and defending options at their disposal, including promising 6'6" sophomore Jekhi Burnam and rugged 6'3" forward Hashim Nadir. Their X-Factor this evening lies in 6'5" senior Elijah Butler. If Butler has a big game on the boards, Linden could pull away from their rivals.
Elizabeth's guard play will have to be at its best to hold serve and they will lean heavily on 6'4" senior London Carson's experience in big games to provide leadership this evening. Junior Cam McRae and sophomore Kareem Anthony Jr will be tasked with locking down the Linden backcourt on defense and moving the ball offensively. On the glass, 6'4" senior Chris Clark and 6'5" junior JoJo Torres will have to be active at both ends. Freshman Jayden Johnson will get his first taste of the rivalry this evening and could be an x-factor in the backcourt for the Minutemen.
#14 East Orange(6-1) vs Newark Central(5-1), 7PM
JD Core Training North Jersey Game Of The Day
EO is coming off a hard fought win against Red Bank Catholic, having pulled away in the fourth quarter. 6'3" senior Gavin Jones has been fantastic for the Jaguars in big games and he'll have to have his second key night in three days this evening against Central.
Central has had a hot start to the season and 5'10" sophomore guard Mejwad Dixon has been continued to improve on his freshman year with several big scoring outputs.
Can the Central guards handle EO's deep backcourt? That's the big question in this game.
Gill St. Bernards(7-1) vs #16 Rutgers Prep(4-3), 7PM
GSB has rattled off 7 in a row since an opening night loss to Hillsborough(49-48), including a win over Trenton Catholic to start the week. Jakub Malecki led them with 14&11 in that win. This week will be GSB's biggest test since opening night and a good barometer for Mergin Sina to know where they're at, as they have College Achieve coming up after this one.
Rutgers Prep coach Matt Bloom has his young team taking on all comers--They've already played 3 teams in the ReportIt Top 25 and a fourth(Archbishop Ryan of Philly) who has played a brutal national schedule to start their year. They're battled tested and that could play into their hands here this evening. Freshman guard Jacob Canton has been fantastic and classmate Andrew Kretkowski has shown flashes of the future.
Other Games To Watch
Cherry Hill East(5-5) vs Lenape(6-2), 3:45PM
Ridgewood(8-1) vs Hackensack(4-3), 4:15PM
Cherokee(6-2) vs Rancocas Valley(5-3), 6PM
Irvington(4-3) vs Newark Tech(4-2), 7PM
Immaculata(3-3) vs Hillsborough(7-1), 7PM
Bishop Eustace(5-3) vs #13 Camden Eastside(5-1), 7PM
