Will anyone seriously challenge the Patrick School girls’?
Will the Linden boys’ win the county as the top seed this time?
Those questions and more will begin to be answered once the boys’ and girls’ basketball Union County tournaments continue with quarterfinal round play this weekend.
The girls’ quarterfinals are Friday (Feb. 17) night at Rahway and Johnson and the boys’ quarterfinals are Saturday (Feb. 18) at Rahway during the day and at Johnson at night.
Here’s a look at the girls’ matchups:
At Johnson it will be 12th-seeded Union Catholic vs. fourth-seeded Roselle Catholic followed by ninth-seeded Rahway vs. top-seeded Patrick School.
Union Catholic, with a county-best 10-game winning streak, has not advanced to the semifinals in some time. The last time the Vikings reached the final was in 2005, which was for the fifth time in a row and the fourth straight year they lost in it.
Roselle Catholic has reached the final five times since 2009, winning it four times since then. The Lions are on a seven-game winning streak.
This will be the first meeting between Union Catholic and Roselle Catholic this season.
Union Catholic is coming off a thrilling 55-54 double-overtime victory over fifth-seeded and defending champion Cranford in Tuesday night’s first round. Senior Andrya Robinson paced all scorers with a 28-point effort.
In Roselle Catholic’s 67-33 home win over 13th-seeded Summit, sophomore frontcourt standout Taniya Hanner produced a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Patrick School and Rahway clashed on Feb. 11 in Rahway, with Patrick School coming out on top by a 48-37 count. Rahway’s Wil’Lisha Jackson led all scorers with 18 points, while Qadashah Hoppie paced Patrick School with 17.
Rahway, which previously lost twice in two tries to Johnson in Union County Conference-Mountain Division action, won at eighth-seeded Johnson 82-75 in the first round.
At Rahway it will be 11th-seeded Kent Place vs. third-seeded Westfield followed by 10th-seeded Governor Livingston vs. second-seeded New Providence.
After having a five-game winning streak snapped when it fell at Oak Knoll 43-32 in a conference-crossover game Feb. 2, Kent Place came back to win at sixth-seeded Oak Knoll 38-33 in Tuesday’s first-round action. Eleanor Alix scored 13 points and Maggie Russell 11 for Kent Place in its UCT victory, with Kent Place winning the fourth quarter 16-8.
Shannon Devitt and Danielle Rinaldi each poured in 15 points for Westfield, with the Blue Devils outscoring Dayton 15-6 in the final eight minutes.
Westfield and Kent Place will be meeting for the first time this season.
New Providence, sparked by UPenn-bound senior Katie Kinum and GL, led by senior 1,000 point scorer Lindsay Gerrato, have met once before this season. New Providence came out on top by a 62-33 score in Berkeley Heights on Jan. 22.
GL snapped a five-game losing streak by winning at seventh-seeded Union 33-31 Wednesday. GL previously lost at Union 46-36 in a Feb. 4 conference-crossover.
GIRLS’ QUARTERFINALS
Friday, Feb. 16
At Johnson
TOP SIDE OF BRACKET:
12-Union Catholic vs. 4-Roselle Catholic, 6 p.m.
9-Rahway vs. 1-Patrick School, 7:30 p.m.
At Rahway
BOTTOM SIDE OF BRACKET:
11-Kent Place vs. 3-Westfield, 6 p.m.
10-Gov. Livingston vs. 2-New Providence, 7:30 p.m.
Records through games played Feb. 15:
Union Catholic (17-4) – county-best 10-game winning streak
Roselle Catholic (17-5) – has won 7 in a row
Rahway (13-0)
Patrick School (21-2) – most wins in county, has not lost to a county team
Kent Place (14-2)
Westfield (15-4)
Gov. Livingston (10-11)
New Providence (18-4) – has won 8 of last 9
Saturday’s boys’ quarterfinals begin at Rahway with eighth-seeded Union facing top-seeded Linden at 12:30 p.m., followed by fifth-seeded Union Catholic vs. fourth-seeded St. Mary’s, Elizabeth at 2 p.m.
Linden won at Union 63-45 in a Jan. 10 conference-crossover.
Union upset top-seeded Roselle Catholic in the 2013 quarterfinals at Johnson, with Roselle Catholic then never losing again and going all the way to winning the Tournament of Champions for the first time.
St. Mary’s swept Union Catholic in UCC-Mountain Division play this season, winning first by the score of 49-40 at home on Jan. 12 and then 57-41 in Scotch Plains on Feb. 7.
St. Mary’s won the Mountain Division perfect at 6-0.
The quarterfinals will continue Saturday night at Johnson, with 10th-seeded Rahway taking on second-seeded Patrick School first at 5:30 p.m., followed by sixth-seeded Scotch Plains vs. third-seeded Roselle Catholic at 7 p.m.
Rahway, which won at Westfield 73-48 in second-round play, has not faced Patrick School this season.
Scotch Plains, having its best season in some time, has not played Roselle Catholic this year.
Rahway presently leads Scotch Plains by one game – 9-1 to 8-2 – in the UCC’s Valley Division standings.
BOYS’ QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, Feb. 18
At Rahway
TOP SIDE OF BRACKET:
8-Union vs. 1-Linden, 12:30 p.m.
5-Union Catholic vs. 4-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth, 2 p.m.
At Johnson
BOTTOM SIDE OF BRACKET:
10-Rahway vs. 2-Patrick School, 5:30 p.m.
6-Scotch Plains vs. 3-Roselle Catholic, 7 p.m.
Records through games played Feb. 15:
Union (12-10) – has won 5 in a row
Linden (17-3)
Union Catholic (14-9) – has won 4 in a row
St. Mary’s, Elizabeth (17-5) – has won 4 in a row
Rahway (17-2) – county-best 10-game winning streak
Patrick School (19-4)
Scotch Plains (20-3)
Roselle Catholic (12-9)
NOTES: The boys’ semifinals are scheduled to be played at Kean University on Tuesday night, but no site has been named yet for Wednesday’s girls’ semifinal doubleheader.
81ST ANNUAL BOYS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
SEEDS: 1-Linden. 2-Patrick School. 3-Roselle Catholic.
4-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth. 5-Union Catholic. 6-Scotch Plains.
7-Westfield. 8-Union. 9-Johnson. 10-Rahway. 11-Plainfield.
12-Elizabeth. 13-Summit. 14-Roselle. 15-Hillside. 16-Cranford.
17-Gov. Livingston. 18-New Providence. 19-Oratory Prep. 20-Dayton.
21-Koinonia Academy.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Friday, Feb. 10
Dayton 68, Koinonia 50
FIRST ROUND
Friday, Feb. 10
Union 65, Gov. Livingston 31
Westfield 68, New Providence 63
Saturday, Feb. 11
Plainfield 38, Roselle 35
Elizabeth 51, Summit 43
Rahway 64, Hillside 51
Cranford 57, Johnson 55
Scotch Plains 53, Oratory Prep 45
Monday, Feb. 13
Union Catholic 63, Dayton 47
SECOND ROUND
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Union Catholic 62, Elizabeth 50
Scotch Plains 47, Plainfield 41
Rahway 73, Westfield 48
Union 76, Cranford 55
QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, Feb. 18
At Rahway
TOP SIDE OF BRACKET:
8-Union vs. 1-Linden, 12:30 p.m.
5-Union Catholic vs. 4-St. Mary’s, 2 p.m.
At Johnson
BOTTOM SIDE OF BRACKET:
10-Rahway vs. 2-Patrick School, 5:30 p.m.
6-Scotch Plains vs. 3-Roselle Catholic, 7 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, Feb. 21
At Kean University
6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
FINALS
Saturday, Feb. 25
At Kean University
JV: 4 p.m.
Varsity: 6 p.m.
* * *
42ND ANNUAL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
SEEDS: 1-Patrick School, 2-New Providence. 3-Westfield.
4-Roselle Catholic. 5-Cranford. 6-Oak Knoll. 7-Union. 8-Johnson.
9-Rahway. 10-Gov. Livingston. 11-Kent Place. 12-Union Catholic.
13-Summit. 14-Dayton. 15-Linden. 16-Scotch Plains.
17-Brearley. 18-Plainfield. 19-Elizabeth. 20-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth.
21-Hillside. 22-Benedictine.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Friday, Feb. 10
Scotch Plains 53, Brearley 35
Linden 52, Plainfield 42
Summit 69, St. Mary’s, Elizabeth 39
Dayton 67, Elizabeth 24
Saturday, Feb. 11
Union Catholic 49, Hillside 13
Monday, Feb. 13
Kent Place 56, Benedictine 21
FIRST ROUND
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Rahway 82, Johnson 75
Patrick School 59, Scotch Plains 20
Union Catholic 55, Cranford 54
Roselle Catholic 67, Summit 33
New Providence 60, Linden 27
Kent Place 38, Oak Knoll 33
Westfield 40, Dayton 32
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Gov. Livingston 33, Union 31
QUARTERFINALS
Friday, Feb. 16
At Johnson
TOP SIDE OF BRACKET:
12-Union Catholic vs. 4-Roselle Catholic, 6 p.m.
9-Rahway vs. 1-Patrick School, 7:30 p.m.
At Rahway
BOTTOM SIDE OF BRACKET:
11-Kent Place vs. 3-Westfield, 6 p.m.
10-GL vs. 2-New Providence, 7:30 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Doubleheader, TBA
6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
FINALS
Friday, Feb. 24
At Kean University
JV: 6 p.m.
Varsity: 7:30 p.m.