The top four teams didn’t move in the Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings, but the bottom half got shuffled this week after two wins by unranked teams over ranked opponents, namely Immaculata and St. Joseph-Metuchen.
The Spartans knocked off previous No. 6 Bound Brook Saturday, 75-53, while the Falcons stunned Rutgers Prep in Somerset, 73-61, behind 33 points from Josh Ingram.
These are the final rankings until the season is over.
St. Thomas Aquinas (20-2) remained No. 1 after a 1-1 week in which they beat Colonia, 49-48, for their second win over the Patriots this season. They lost Saturday to the Patrick School, 68-52.
Rutgers Prep (14-7) held at No. 2, dropping their only game of the week to St. Joe’s. The Argonauts are likely to earn the No. 1 seed in the Somerset County Tournament, which will be seeded tonight in Somerville. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have the seeds as soon as they come out.
Gill St. Bernard’s (15-5) had a 2-0 week, with wins out-of-league against Linden and Arts.
Colonia (16-6) held serve in fourth, despite the loss to Aquinas. The Patriots also beat Union Tuesday, but lost to Ewing Saturday.
The rest all moved around, starting with South Plainfield. The Tigers (19-3) moved up two spots to No. 5 on the strength of a 3-0 week, that included just one win over a GMC team, New Brunswick on Thursday, as well as victories over Rahway and Oratory Prep.
Ridge (15-4) checks in at No. 6 after a 2-0 week highlighted by a 66-53 win over previous No. 5 South River, handing the Rams (20-2) just their second loss of the season.
Immaculata (16-4, unranked last week) checks in seventh after a mammoth 75-53 win over Bound Brook on Saturday. The Spartans had a 3-0 week, also picking up wins over Pingry and Warren Hills.
North Brunswick (19-3) held in 8th on after a three-win week against the GMC, over Old Bridge, Woodbridge and North Plainfield.
South River (20-2) checks in at No. 9, dropping four spots after the loss to Ridge. They picked up league wins during the week over JFK and Carteret.
Tied for tenth are Bound Brook (16-3) and St. Joseph-Metuchen (12-8). The Crusaders had wins over Newark Vocational and Dayton before the loss to Immaculata, while the Falcons lost to Linden Tuesday in the Investors Bank Challenge at AL Johnson in Clark before knocking off Rutgers Prep.
Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings for Week 8:
