Not only did the snow melt last week, so did the hopes of three highly seeded boys basketball teams as the winter sports season came to an unexpected conclusion.

Spotswood High School’s Allen Kuiper draws a foul from St. Joseph High School’s Bobby O’Grady as he goes up for a shot during the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament played Feb. 24 at South Brunswick High School. St. Joe’s prevailed in the game, 49-38, and went on to win the GMC tournament title. JEFF GRANIT staff Monroe and East Brunswick, seeded first and third respectively in Central Jersey Group IV, and Spotswood, seeded second in Central Jersey Group II, succumbed on their home courts to lower seeded opponents in second-round games on March 4.

Eighth-seeded Colts Neck, 71-63, in a game that featured numerous stretches when the Cougars sprinted to double-digit leads but allowed Monroe to draw even, vanquished the top-seeded Falcons.

In the end, Monroe’s uncharacteristic penchant to turn over the ball led to its demise, which ended an otherwise outstanding season. The Falcons finished with a school record 25 wins against five losses and also made it to the GMC Tournament championship game, bowing to St. Joseph of Metuchen. Monroe says goodbye to one of their most accomplished class of seniors, including Ken Pace, Tim Brix, Blake Bascom and Zach Batchelor.

Spotswood saw its season end with a 52-51 loss to seventh-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven. The game was similar to the Monroe-Colts Neck affair in that the teams traded leads throughout the contest. It was a matter of who scored last and the verdict went to the Monmouth County visitors. Spotswood finishes the year with a 19-6 mark and graduates a number of key players, including Cody Pace, Tyler Osofsky, Mike Liming, James and Tom Pareti, and Allen Kuiper.

East Brunswick’s 61-51 loss to North Brunswick may have appeared to be an upset, considering the visiting Raiders’ 11th seed. However, an early-season match-up ended in just a two-point win for the Bears, 63-61, a strong tip off that these two opponents were equally matched.

North Brunswick forged to an 18-point lead at the outset and the margin proved too much for the host team to overcome. The Raiders, with their win, moved on to the semifinals where they posted another surprising upset win, 70-67, over Marlboro, on Saturday. They played in the sectional final Tuesday night at Montgomery.

Thus brings the season to the end for East Brunswick, which finished 20-5 but don’t shed tears for the Bears. Despite losing a number of seniors, including Mauro Tucci, Kevin Lantz, Anthony Gudzak, Kevin McHenry, Mike Weber and Miles Colmon, East Brunswick is loaded with depth, which ensures the Bears will continue to win.

Among those who return with a wealth of experience are juniors Carl Thomore, Anthony Guisti and John Genco, sophomores Joe Ross and Mike Summerer, and freshman Robert Ukawuba.

“We’re just getting over the disappointment of the North Brunswick loss,” said Bears coach Bo Henning. “The way things shaked out, with our third seed, we would have had four home games through the finals with Monroe and Trenton bowing out. However, give credit to North Brunswick. They played well and we played with a deer-in-theheadlights mentality.

“With our young kids, they know now the states isn’t just another basketball game and won’t let that happen again,” Henning continued. “With the guys we have coming back, we should be a more mature team next year.”

Henning maintains his lineup will be more clearcut than this past season. His roster was loaded with an abundance of talented players who could have started for many other teams, but decisions were made about playing time so younger members could get on the court.

“I made a point of thanking the team because of how unselfish the players were,” Henning said. “The kids put the team first by accepting their roles. In this day, you sometimes don’t see that attitude. It was refreshing.”