Montgomery, Monroe advance to face each other in CJ4 finals; Franklin falls at Elizabeth

Call it the all-Central Jersey Sports Radio title game, or maybe the GMC-Skyland Bowl if it were football. But whatever you call it, Montgomery and Monroe – the No.1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively – will square off against each other Friday night for the Central Jersey Group 4 title.

Top-seed Montgomery was a 60-46 winner over 4th-seed Marlboro Monday night in the sectional semifinals, while second-seed Monroe beat third-seed Manalapan in the other semi.

For the Cougars (24-3), it was not just the regular cast of characters, though they certainly were critical. Steve Donahue had 16 points and five steals, while Bohdan Bieketov tallied another double-double, with 12 points and ten rebounds. Josh Moore, who’s helped pick up the slack since a season-ending ankle injury to guard Ethan Lin, finished with nine.

It’s Montgomery’s first finals appearance since 2014, when they lost to Trenton at home in the CJ4 final.

Listen to Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy talk about the Cougars’ win over Marlboro.

Meanwhile, the Falcons (19-7) were down 10-2 early against third-seed Manalpan, but came back to take a lead in the second half, and won 47-44. They got 24 points from Nick Cicchetti, his first time leading Monroe in scoring all season, according to head coach Jeff Warner, whose team is a win away from 20 coming off just a 5-18 campaign a season ago. They won 22 games two seasons ago, but lost in the sectional quarterfinals.

Monroe was coming off a near-buzzer-beating win Monday in the quarterfinals over North Brunswick.

Friday’s Central Jersey Group 4 final will be played at 6 pm at Montgomery High School in Skillman.

Listen to Monroe head coach Jeff Warner talk about the Falcons’ win over Manalapan.

As for seventh-seed Franklin, another upset was not in the cards after they knocked off 2-nd-seed Watchung Hills on the road in the quarterfinals. Franklin’s season ended in the semifinals of North 2, Group 4 with a 55-44 road loss to third-seed Elizabeth at the Dunn Center. The Warriors led 34-21 at halftime, but the Minutemen clamped down on defense, and outscored Franklin 34-10 in the second half. The Warriors finish their season 16-12.

Scroll down to see all results in sections with CJSR-area teams, as well as the upcoming schedule with matchups in the next round.