“One day at a time” has worked well for Rutgers Prep as Argonauts visit Hillsborough for a big one

Losing as much talent as they did in the off-season, things could have gone the other way for Rutgers Prep.

But Matt Bloom has taken a tone of patience this year, not getting ahead of himself, and it’s led the Argonauts – the No. 1 team in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten the last few weeks – to a 10-4 record so far, unbeaten in Skyland Conference (6-0) and Delaware Division (5-0) play.

That mark may face its toughest challenge tonight when the Argonauts head to sixth-ranked Hillsborough (10-2, 4-0) for a game that could go a long way to determining who will get the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament, with the seeding meeting now less than two weeks away.

Hillsborough all but knocked Gill St. Bernard’s out of the race, beating the Knights twice. Rutgers Prep beat them in their only meeting before the SCT seeding; their rematch is the night after the seeding takes place. And both Boro and Prep still have to play Montgomery, which can make its claim in those games, too.

But as Bloom has said, “One day at a time.”

That patience has helped with players like junior Myles Parker (14.7 ppg, 2.8 steals per game) who can shoot, play defense, get steals and rebound. The senior leadership has come from guys like Husan Zakir and Jayden Jenkins. They may have scored fewer than 30 points between them, but Bloom says their influence is felt in other ways.

You can hear tonight’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen calling all the action. Tip-off is at 7:00, pregame at 6:45; click here to listen.