The race to a top seed: What does Rutgers Prep’s win over Gill St. Bernard’s mean for SCT seeding?

A year ago, Gill St. Bernard’s won its first meeting with Rutgers Prep in what’s called a “waw.” That’s Mergin Sina-speak for a “war,” which is what every battle between the two schools seems to be lately, year-in, year-out.

Prep won the rematch by more and got the top seed in the 2023 Somerset County Tournament, where they met again, and the Argonauts prevailed in a thriller, right down to the wire.

Neither team had lost to a public school in Somerset County in two years, since March of 2021, when Watchung Hills beat Gill in the semis and Prep in the finals of the COVID-year Skyland Conference “Blue Pod.”

But Hillsborough opened 2023-24 with a bang, knocking off the Knights at home, in its first year “up” in the Delaware Division.

Now, all of a sudden, Gill has two division losses, and may have played itself out of the running for a top seed in the 2024 SCT. At best, they’re going to need some help.

The main reason is Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep won’t face each other again before the seeding meeting on Monday, February 5th. They rematch the next night in Somerset. And while that will be a huge game for playoff power points, it can’t factor into the county seeding meeting.

So, where do things stand?

After Thursday night’s action – which also saw the Raiders win again, beating Immaculata by eight – it’s Hillsborough and Rutgers Prep both in first with 3-0 division records. Gill is 2-2, with the Spartans and Franklin both 0-3.

The Raiders and Argonauts will meet next Tuesday night in Hillsborough, with a rematch in Somerset on February 1. Barring any other losses by the two to anyone else in the division, that should settle the Delaware.

A Rutgers Prep sweep should give the Argos the top overall seed. A split could make things interesting, and make it come down to point differential, the eye test, or both, plus how well each did against Gill. Hillsborough beat them by one, Prep by ten.

Hillsborough also travels to Gill next Thursday, January 11th. A loss there still doesn’t get the Knights back in the race, depending on how Boro and Prep fare against each other.

One more wrinkle: What about Montgomery? The Cougars are 7-0, 4-0 in the Skyland Valley Division, but they also crushed Bridgewater-Raritan 88-46 in the finale of the Cougar Holiday Classic. They also get a crack at Rutgers Prep on January 30th at home, and Hillsborough just a few days later on February 3rd, two days before the seeding meeting.

The Cougars are really good, and did we mention they’re the only undefeated team left in the Skyland Conference at this point?

There’s a lot of basketball to be played for sure, and despite their talent, Gill looks like it has the hardest road. But everyone else – Hillsborough, Rutgers Prep and Montgomery – will have their shots.