The Ridge basketball team takes a team photo after knocking off No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen 70-60 in the Whitey Dukiet All-American Holiday Classic in Basking Ridge on December 29, 2023. (Source: @Ridgegameday on Twitter)
With only one team in the Week Two Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten losing more than once over the holiday break, there’s very little change to the Week Three boys’ basketball rankings, with St. Thomas Aquinas remaining atop the list.
In fact, the top eight teams stayed in exactly the same place this week, while the bottom two dropped out. Previous No. 9 Piscataway (4-3) lost a pair of games this past week to Immaculata and Morristown, while previous No. 10 South Plainfield split at their own Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament, losing to Edison 61-49, abut beating JFK, 68-31.
They were replaced by Ridge (5-1) and Sayreville (6-2), respectively. The Red Devils scored a big win in the final of their own Whitey Dukiet All-Star Holiday Classic, a 70-60 upset of No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen, the only one of the top eight teams to lose to an unranked Central Jersey Sports Radio-area team. The Bombers played at the Huskies Holiday Classic, beating host Matawan by 15 in the opener and blowing past Old Bridge by 22. They then lost to Holmdel in the finale, 77-61.
St. Thomas Aquinas (7-1) – which held at No. 1 – actually took its first loss of the season at the Boardwalk Classic on New Year’s Eve, falling 81-54 to Middle Township. Earlier in the week, the Trojans ran their record to 7-0 with a pair of victories over East New York Family Academy (NY) and Thurgood Marshall Academy (NY) at the Vikings Invitational.
St. Joseph-Metuchen (5-1) fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in their holiday tournament final against Ridge, after beating Morris Knolls, 84-54, in their opener, but stayed at No. 2 with the team behind them – Rutgers Prep – staying put, splitting a pair with a loss to Archbishop Ryan , 75-56, on Friday, then a win in the Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University over Camden Eastside, 83-69.
Holding in fourth is Colonia (4-3) which picked up a pair of wins in their own LeGrand Tournament over Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Union City, before falling by three to Westfield, 48-45. The Patriots’ three losses this season have come by a grand total of six points, with the loss to the Blue Devils their largest margin of defeat in the early season.
At No. 5 again is Hillsborough. The Raiders swept the Oratory Holiday Tournament, beating Morristown-Beard 57-27, then edging their hosts, 49-48 in the finale.
Also with a holiday week sweep was Gill St. Bernard’s (6-1), which won all three in its Knights Holiday Tournament, over Pope John, Bernards, and Norman Thomas (NY).
Holding in seventh is Watchung Hills, which dropped the opener of the Cougar Classic at Chatham, 54-50 to the hosts, but came back to pick up wins over New Providence and Cranford.
Eighth place is still Montgomery (6-0), the only unbeaten team left in the entire Skyland Conference, and one of just two in the CJSR coverage area (Calvary Christian is the other at 4-0). The Cougars crushed both opponents in their preset matchup Cougar Holiday Classic, topping North Hunterdon, 72-39, then Bridgewater-Raritan 88-46 in the finale. It was the most points for Monty against a Somerset County opponent under head coach Kris Grundy, who took over in 2005-06.
Below is the full Week Three Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten:
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