The Rutgers Prep girls basketball team with its 2022 Somerset County Tournament trophy, their second in a row, and fifth in the last 7 tourneys. (Photo: Justin Sontupe)
There was little surprise at the Somerset County Tournament seeding meeting Monday night at Immaculata High School in Somerville, where the boys’ and girls’ coaches both went with Rutgers Prep as the top seed, and Gill St. Bernard’s at No. 2.
The third and fourth seeds for the girls are Watchung Hills and Hillsborough, while the boys’ third and fourth seeds are Immaculata and Hillsborough.
On the girls’ side, Prep has been dominant for several years now, and just made it 26 straight weeks – out of 26 – atop the Central Jersey Sports Radio/Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.
On the boys’ side, the Argonauts split with Gill; the Knights won 67-65 on a buzzer-beating three by Nick Losada 67-65 in Gladstone January fifth, then the Argos won 64-43 in Somerset in the January 24th rematch.
Below are the matchups for both tournaments, projecting ahead to the semifinals. Seeds 1 through 4 get double byes to the quarterfinals in both tournaments, while the 5 through 9 seeds get byes to the second round on the girls’ side, and 5 through ten skip ahead on the boys’ side. The girls’ tournament is down to 15 teams this year with North Plainfield leaving for the GMC, while the Canucks departure leaves the boys with just 14 teams.
The opening round for both is this Thursday. The second round is February 11th, quarterfinals are on the 14th, and the semis are on the 16th, all at higher seeds. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the semifinals, with live play-by-play TBA. We’ll also broadcast the girls’ and boys’ finals live on Saturday, February 18th.
Somerset County Girls’ Bracket:
- #13 Bridgewater-Raritan at #12 Immaculata, winner at #5 Franklin, winner at #4 Hillsborough
- #15 Montgomery at #10 Somerville, winner at #7 Pingry, winner at #2 Gill St. Bernard’s
- #8 Ridge and #9 Bound Brook both get first round byes, winner plays at #1 Rutgers Prep
- #14 Manville at #11 Bernards, winner at #6 Mount St. Mary, winner at #3 Watchung Hills
Somerset County Boys’ Bracket:
- #13 Bernards at #12 Somerville, winner at #5 Franklin, winner at #4 Hillsborough
- #14 Manville at #11 Bridgewate-Ratritan, winner at #6 Ridge, winner at #3 Immaculata
- #8 Bound Brook and #9 Montgomery both get first round byes, winner at #1 Rutgers Prep
- #7 Watchung Hills and #10 Pingry both get first-round byes, winner at #2 Gill St. Bernard’s