Edison girls basketball lost in the first round of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) tournament, and they now sit at a 9–16 record.
Coming into the GMC tournament at a 8–14 record, the girls knew they would need to improve their play to make a run in the tournament. The preliminary round pitted the Eagles against Perth Amboy on Monday, February 5. The girls were coming into the game confident, as just a week before, they had defeated Perth Amboy 50–32.
The preliminary round was almost a replica of their game a week ago. The girls played lockdown defense and won convincingly, 49–32.
Ghelsey Go ’24 continued her incredible season by scoring a team-high fourteen points, along with six rebounds. Hira Velasquez ‘24 scored a career high of thirteen points, while chipping in six rebounds. Olivia Smart ‘25 had a great game on the glass, grabbing a game high of ten rebounds. This marks her tenth game of getting double digit rebounds this season. Smart was also active in playmaking efforts, dishing a game high five assists.
The Lady Eagles played great defense against Perth Amboy as well. Izabella Pardo ‘26 of Perth Amboy shined with twenty points, but the rest of their team combined for a mere ten points. Kiara Mckay ‘27 was crucial for the Eagles’ defense, putting up a career high of five steals. Smart was also active defensively, getting two blocks and two steals.
The girls were able to pass well, getting fifteen assists compared to Perth Amboy’s three. This big difference in the playmaking game was important for the final result of the game. The girls also outrebounded Perth Amboy with twenty-six rebounds to their twenty. With this outstanding rebounding, the girls gave themselves many crucial second chances in points.
The Eagles were looking to continue their dominant start to the GMC tournament against St. Thomas Aquinas on February 8. This was the first round match of the tournament, as their game against Perth Amboy was a preliminary game.
St. Thomas Aquinas claimed victory with a final score of 85–53, surpassing the Lady Eagles. Much of the loss is attributed to the first three quarters, where Edison was tremendously outscored, trailing 80–32 as they headed into the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, the Eagles went on a nice 21–5 run, but it was too late to change the result of the game.
Go had a dominant game, scoring a game-high twenty-six points. She also drilled five three-point field goals, a career high. Go also chipped in defensively with a team-high three steals.
The Eagles had trouble on the defensive front of the game for the first three quarters. Gianna Chuffo ‘25 of St. Thomas was able to showcase her prowess in scoring and playmaking, scoring twenty-two points and dishing out ten assists. Her double-double was complemented by a double-double from her teammate Leah Kearney ‘27, who had eleven points and ten rebounds.
The Eagles were outplayed in almost all facets of the game. St. Thomas Aquinas showed why they were undefeated in conference play (13–0). The Eagles scored six three-point field goals compared to thirteen for St. Thomas, twenty rebounds compared to thirty-seven for St. Thomas, and six steals compared to nineteen for St. Thomas.
Despite this early end in the GMC tournament, the girls have had good moments this season. Edison started the season strong with a dominant win against Sayreville, ending with a score of 69-23. Smart led the effort with 19 points and was closely followed by Go with 17 points. The rebounding game was led by Edison’s Ade Shittu ‘24 with 12 rebounds, her career high.
Edison faced off against Sayreville again later in the season. This was Edison’s best win of the season as the score read 71-21 in favor of Edison. Go proved her consistency, scoring 16 points, the game high. Go and Alex Teal ’27 tied for the most rebounds at 10 rebounds each.
Go has proven that she is one of the best players in the entire conference, highlighted by her astonishing performances against Iselin Kennedy; she scored 37 points against them on January 27 and 29 points against them on January 6.
“As a young team, it was expected to have some ups and downs throughout the season. I was really proud of how the team competed and stayed together as a group,” said Head Coach Mr. Frank Eckert. “Senior Ghelsey Go concluded her basketball career with 1,310 points (third all time at Edison) and also received the award of GMC All Conference and first team All Division. Olivia Smart received GMC second team All Division in the county.”
Season statistics can be found on NJ.com
