Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan play in the Cougar Classic in Skillman on December 29, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
The field began narrowing when Hillsborough knocked off Gill St. Bernard’s to open the 2023-24 boys’ basketball season. With the Raiders dropping their first two division games last week, the field is down to two, at least for the time being.
It’s widely considered Rutgers Prep and Montgomery are the two teams left that have the best, legitimate shot at getting the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament when it’s seeded next Monday. So, when they square off this Tuesday in Skillman (7 pm on CJSR) against Rutgers Prep (11-5, 6-0 Skyland Delaware Division) everything will be on the line, whether or not it’s actually decided.
And Montgomery has the horses to do it.
Of course, Rutgers Prep has had great success the last several years, and has won 23 straight games against Somerset County public schools in the regular season dating back to 2018-19, when they lost twice to – you guessed it – Montgomery.
The Cougars (14-1, 7-0 Skyland Valley Division) have not lost to a conference foe all year, their lone loss coming out-of-league to Lenape back on January 6th, by a mere five points.
Otherwise, it has been a steady dose of wins for head coach Kris Grundy’s club, which has been getting contributions from all over the court. Steve Donahue and Jack Fromelt can knock down the three with ease. Ethan Lin distributes the ball and gets to the foul line more than anyone. Bodhdan Biekietov cleans up the glass and alters shots.
And so on, and so on.
Donahue was one of the missing pieces last year. He broke his arm in the team’s final preseason scrimmage, and was only able to manage playing the last three games of the year. And Ethan Lin was pressed into starting duty as a result.
Turns out, Lin’s experience in that 11-14 season – an anomaly under Grundy – paid off, and now Donahue’s return has added extra spark to what has been a spectacular season so far, including a signature win over Dave Boff’s state-ranked College Achieve Asbury Park a couple of weekends ago.
You can hear Monday night’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas calling all the action. Pregame is at 5:45 pm; tip-off is at 6:00; click here to listen.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy:
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