Somerset County Tournament Boys’ Final Preview: It’s Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep for the ‘chip, yet again

After two years of seeing the Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep boys’ basketball teams battle it out for the Somerset County title, Montgomery came in and crashed the party with a stellar 2023-24 season, and fell just short to the Argonauts in the championship game.

But this year, for the third time in four seasons, it’ll be the Knights and Argonauts battling it out for county supremacy, when they two meet at Montgomery High School in the 2025 Somerset County Tournament finals.

Both teams are right near the 20-win mark. Both can shoot, defend, and race up and down the floor. Every time they meet, it’s a battle that probably requires a few more ice packs and bandages than your typical high school game.

An all out war.

You can hear Saturday afternoon’s championship game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio at 3 pm, following the 1:00 girls’ title tilt between top-seed Gill and third-seed Hillsborough, with pregame at approximately 2:45. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action. Click here to listen.

The similarities between the teams are striking, and both teams have grown immensely since last year.

Rutgers Prep was younger. Andrew Kretkowski, Jacob Canton, and Rocco Loomis – huge contributors for the Argonauts – were just freshmen last season, and led by a junior in Myles Parker. He’s now a senior, leading the team at 16.1 points per game, not too far ahead of Kretkowski – averaging 15.5 – and Canton at 15.2 points per game. And then there’s Loomis, playing great defense, and taking charges, including a couple of big ones in the semifinals against Montgomery.

As much as Rutgers Prep was able to play through the youthful inexperience last season, Gill had a more difficult time with a good deal of roster turnover. It was a rare off-year for Mergin Sina’s program, but they’re reaping the benefits this season. Kind of like when you start shaving every day: it just comes back stronger the next time.

Dorsett Mulcahy is the point guard, and if that name means anything to you, yes, it’s the younger brother of Bayonne native and former Rutgers standout Paul Mulachy, who’s also helping Sina on the bench this season. By the way, he also missed several weeks last season due to injury, stunting the Knights’ cohesiveness.

But here’s how tough Gill is to play: they have just a single player averaging double-figures in scoring, but seven players are averaging at least six points a game, and a total of 59 points per. That’s balance, and it makes it difficult to hone in on any one player defensively. Trying to defend Gill is like whack-a-mole.

MORE ON THE SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT BOYS’ FINAL:

(1) Gill St. Bernard’s (19-5) vs. (3) Rutgers Prep (18-8)
When: Saturday, 3 pm
Where: Montgomery Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel (LISTEN HERE)

COACHES:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Mergin Sina, 14th season (273-72)
Rutgers Prep: Matt Bloom, 7th season (151-47)

STATE RANKINGS:
Gill St. Bernard’s: #5 NJ.com
Rutgers Prep: #12 NJ.com

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Gill St. Bernard’s: The Knights cruised past 9-seed Watchung Hills in their opener, in the quarterfinals, 52-32, matching their lowest point total of the year in a victory. (They did it twice before in a road win at Hillsborough in Late January, and against Ramapo earlier in the Month at the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic Showcase.) They followed it up last Saturday with a 56-45 win over fourth-seed Ridge in the semifinals.

Rutgers Prep: The Argonauts had to pull off some magic to make it to a fourth straight Somerset County Tournament final (2020, and 2022 through ’24 – there was no SCT in 2021 due to COVID). After blowing past sixth-seed Hillsborough in their opener, in the quarterfinals, 80-44, they found much more difficulty with a Montgomery team they had beaten by four just two weeks prior at home. Prep trailed by 14 at one point in the third quarter, but started chipping away, and really made their push after a Bohdan Biekietov elbow in the final five minutes and change sent him packing with his fifth foul. The Cougars still had the lead at that point, but collectively could not hold on to it.

TOP SCORERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Kobe Closiell (10.7 ppg, 15 treys), Connor Junker (9.5 ppg, team-leading 36 treys), Dorsett Mulcahy (9.3 ppg)
Rutgers Prep: Myles Parker (16.1 ppg, team best 63 treys), Andrew Kretkowski (15.5 ppg, 25 treys), Jacob Canton (15.2 ppg, 38 treys)

TOP REBOUNDERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Dorsett Mulcahy (6.0), Kieran Quinn (3.9)
Rutgers Prep: Andrew Kretkowski (5.5), Myles Parker (5.3)

MISCELLANEOUS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Kobe Closiell (55 assists), Stanley Njekwe (30 blocks), Jahmal Dixon (36 steals)
Rutgers Prep: Jacob Canton (124 assists), William Brunson (32 blocks), Myles Parker (77 steals)

RECENT MEETINGS: These games have always been a battle, generally close and highly competitive. Gill won moth meetings this year – 77-64 on February 4th at home, and 78-73 down in Somerset on January 9th. But Rutgers Prep won both meetings last season, 61-43 and 63-53, close games even though Gill is much stronger this year. They also met in the 2023 and 2022 SCT finals. The Argonautus won 69-67 in ’23, while the Knights won the year before, 84-63. Gill also beat Prep in three prior SCT finals meetings in 2011, 2017 and 2018. All three years, Gill was the No. 1 seed; Prep was the two in 2011 and 2018, and the third-seed in 2017.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Gill St. Bernard’s (8-4):

• 2010     (2) Ridge beat (4) Gill St. Bernard’s 63-52
• 2011:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
• 2012:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Bridgewater 88-72
• 2013:    (1) Ridge beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-56
• 2014:    (3) Hillsborough beat (1) Gill St. Bernard’s 53-52
• 2015:    (3) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (1) Ridge 48-39
• 2016:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Somerville 66-51
• 2017:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
• 2018:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
• 2019:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Watchung Hills 73-53
• 2022:   (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
• 2023:    (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67

Rutgers Prep (3-5):

• 1988:     (1) Bridgewater West beat (2) Rutgers Prep 94-66
• 2011:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
• 2017:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
• 2018:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
• 2020:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (3) Watchung Hills 71-57
• 2022:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
• 2023:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67
• 2024:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Montgomery 64-61

OTHER NOTES:

Perfect, and Almost Perfect, in the Skyland: Gill hasn’t lost to a Skykland Conference opponent all year. Their four losses have came to powerhouses like Don Bosco Prep in the New Year’s Jump Off, St. Peter’s Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, St. Rose in the Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase, as well as Roselle Catholic and The Patrick School’s national team in standalone contests. Rutgers Prep lost its opener to Manasquan, then dropped games to St. Rose, Don Bosco, St. Peter’s Prep and Roselle Catholic, as well as Bergen Catholic in the same Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II. And, of course, their two losses to Gill are their only conference losses. What’s that about trying to beat a team three times in one year?

Karma Came Into Play? Having nothing to do with Rutgers Prep, other than the Argonauts being the opponent, Manasquan beat them in their opening game on December 14th, at the Tip-Off Classic at Montgomery, 64-61 on a buzzer-beater. Was there anything Rutgers Prep could do about it? Sure, Matt Bloom will talk about his team and what they did or didn’t do well, but remember the Warriors were the team who lost in controversial fashion to Camden at the buzzer, when it appeared ‘Squan hit the game winning shot, but after the officials conferred, it was waved off. Still, who could have seen that coming in their next time on the court? Even Steven, anyone?