Gill St. Bernard’s sophomore Kieran Quinn goes up for a shot at Rutgers Prep on January 9, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
There’s a new team atop the Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings for Week 8, as Gill St. Bernard’s wrested the top spot away from Colonia in the week gone by.
It’s the first No. 1 ranking for the Knights since the finished the 2021-22 season at No. 1, going 20-7. They won the Somerset County Tournament that year, beating Rutgers Prep in the finals, and reached the Non-Public North B Final. Gill St. Bernard’s (13-4) won its only game last week, beating Hillsborough, 52-36. Saturday, they’ll open play in the 2025 SCT as the No. 1 seed, playing host to 9th-seed Watchung Hills (9-9) in the quarterfinal round.
Down to No. 2 is Colonia (16-3), which went just 1-2 in the week gone by. After a 50-40 road win at Monroe Tuesday, they lost at Old Bridge, 65-59, in a GMC Red Division game, and Saturday in a non-conference matchup at Phillipsburg, 64-58. The Patriots, though, are the Red Division champs, and should receive the No. 1 seed when the GMC Tournament is seeded Friday morning.
Holding at No. 3 is Rutgers Prep (13-7). The Argonauts swept two games this week, first getting a 78-41 win at Watchung Hills, then beating No. 4 Montgomery on Thursday, 63-59, in a rematch of last year’s Somerset County Tournament final. Prep is the third seed in this year’s tournament, and will face 6th-seed Hillsborough (10-8) Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Also holding in fourth is Montgomery (14-4), which went 2-1 this past week. Tuesday, they got a 65-53 win at Bridgewater-Raritan before falling to Prep Thursday, 53-59. Then came back with a win Sunday over Notre Dame, 62-44 in the Investors Bank Showcase at Kean University. The second-seed in the county tournament, the Cougars will host 7-seed Pingry (6-8) in the SCT quarterfinals on Saturday.
Up one spot to fifth is Piscataway (16-4). The Chiefs won both their games last week, 73-49 over St. Joseph-Metuchen on Tuesday, following a Monday non-conference win over Lincoln (Jersey City), 75-41.
Flip-flopping with them, down to sixth, is Ridge (15-4). They won at Pingry Tuesday, 60-47, then again Thursday over Newark Tech, 68-48, but fell to Westfield 61-53 on the road Saturday, giving them a 2-1 week. The Red Devils open SCT plat in the quarterfinal round Saturday at home against 5-seed Immaculata (15-4).
The next four teams all stayed the same.
St. Thomas Aquinas (11-6) remains in seventh after a 1-1 week, in which they took an 81-54 loss at Paul VI on Tuesday, before bouncing back with an 80-52 Red Division win at Monroe.
Sayreville (16-2) holds at No. 8 after a 2-0 week, with a 62-54 win over East Brunswick Tuesday, and a 69-46 win at Princeton Saturday.
Immaculata (15-9) holds in the ninth slot after a 72-55 win over Hunterdon Central on Tuesday, and a 52-39 win over 12-seed Somerville in the first round of the SCT. The 5th-seeded Spartans will visit 4th-seed Ridge (15-4) Saturday in the quarterfinals.
And Somerville (13-6) remains at No. 10, despite Saturday’s loss to the Spartans. They beat Bound Brook twice last week, the first 72-38 in the regular season Tuesday, then again 48-37 on Thursday in the first round of the Somerset County Tournament.
Below is the complete Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week 8:
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