No. 1 Rutgers Prep draws first blood against No. 6 Hillsborough with 63-53 road win

The race for the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament wasn’t narrowed down Tuesday night.

Three teams are still in contention, but the top-ranked Rutgers Prep now has the upper hand.

Sophomore guard Jacob Canton had a game-high 25 points, 19 of which came after halftime, as the Argonauts won at 6th-ranked Hillsborough 63-53 in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Prep (11-4, 6-0 Skyland Delaware) got out of the gate with a 6-2 run, but an 8-0 run by Boro (10-3, 4-1) countered and put them up 10-6 less than midway through the first quarter. And no one would lead by more than four before halftime, with the first 16 minutes of play seeing six lead changes and eight ties, the last of which was at 30-30.

But going into the second half with a 32-30 lead, Rutgers Prep never trailed again. They built up to a seven point lead in the third quarter, and got it as big as nine on two occasions in the fourth. And Hillsborough didn’t have enough offensive gas in the tank to get it much closer.

The Raiders narrowed it down to six with 3:15 left on a three by Nick Losch, and after Myles Parker hit a huge three to go back up by nine, Boro got it to six again on a Zion Harrison three before Prep pulled away.

The win gives Rutgers Prep the leg up in the division, but they’ll meet again next Thursday, February 1, just a few days before the SCT seeding meeting the following Monday. Before that, Montgomery – 12-1 overall, 6-0 in the Skyland Valley – will get its crack at the Argonauts next Tuesday in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. And Monty plays Hillsborough on Saturday, February 3.

The race is far from over, but Rutgers Prep has one in the win column.