The NJSIAA won’t seed the state tournament until Wednesday, but Watchung Hills and Colonia are expected to get top seeds in the upcoming boys’ basketball state tournament, per the NJ.com power point standings as of late Saturday night.
Saturday was the final day for games to count toward power point calculations.
On the girls’ side, 31 public schools from the GMC and Somerset County appear to have qualified, along with ten non-publics.
For the boys, 26 public schools from the GMC and Somerset County look to be in, while eight non-publics made it.
Watchung Hills (16-4) is in first-place in the NJ.com power point standings for North 2, Group 4, with 390 points, ahead of second-place Westfield with 376. In North 2, Group 3, Colonia (17-3) is first with 374 points, with South Plainfield right behind at 367.
In Central Group 2, Bound Brook (16-1) finished second, unofficially, with 389 points, 23 ahead of South River (16-4). The Gill St. Bernard’s boys (13-6, 403 points) might have finished second, had it not lost to St. Thomas Aquinas Saturday night in a huge clash; they were 12 points behind Saddle River Day (15-4, 415) and finished third. Aquinas (22-1, 472) looks to be a two-seed, but likely would have been anyway. They finished 26 points ahead of Rutgers Prep (18-1, 446).
On the girls’ side, it doesn’t appear any teams from the GMC or Somerset County will earn top seeds. Monroe (14-3, 374) got as high as third in Central Jersey Group 4. Colonia (20-2, 382) – on the heels of its first ever division title – finished 39 points behind Ewing (16-1, 421). Woodbridge Academy (15-3, 303) was 30 behind New Egypt (13-1, 333) and finished second in Central Jersey Group 1. Franklin (14-3, 373) finished in second, well behind Westfield (14-3, 438).
Rutgers Prep (17-1) finished an unofficial close second behind Wildwood Catholic (17-1), traiing by just two points, 428-426. Sunday’s game for the Lady Argonauts against state No. 1 St. John Vianney is after the cutoff, and won’t count toward the power point calculations.
All numbers referenced above are unofficial. The NJSIAA will seed the tournament this Wednesday, February 15th. The state tournament begins Monday, February 28th and culminates with the last-ever Tournament of Champions, with the finals set for March 20th. The NJSIAA voted late last year to eliminate the TOC in all sports after the 2021-22 school year.