Gill St. Bernard’s is tough enough, now Timothy Christian also will have to deal with freshman Connor Junker, whose late threes helped the Knights to the Somerset County Tournament title over Rutgers Prep on February 22, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
After a pause on Sunday, the NJSIAA state basketball tournament resumes Monday afternoon and evening, with Public Groups 2 and 4 back in action with sectional quarterfinal round play, as well as Non-Publics.
Following is a section-by-section breakdown of boys’ matchups for Monday’s games, and some storylines for Central Jersey Sports Radio-area teams, as well as Tuesday’s playoff schedule for Public Groups 1 and 3.
MONDAY – SECTIONAL QUARTERFINALS
Central Jersey Group 4: The top half of this bracket has three CJSR-area teams gunning for the semifinals, as three lower seeds pulled upsets. Ninth-seed East Brunswick got a 57-48 win at 8-seed Hightstown Thursday in the opening round, meaning the Bears (15-12) will travel to top-seed Montgomery Monday night for a 6 pm game against the Cougars (21-5). Their last three meetings have been in the state playoffs, in 2014, 2020 and last year, all of which went the Cougars’ way, last year by a 65-38 score en route to the CJ4 title, Monty’s first in over a decade. The other half of that bracket has two double-digit upset winners: 12th-seed North Brunswick entertaining 13-seed Manalapan. The Raiders (10-17) get the surprise home game after winning at five-seed Hillsborough back on Thursday, 50-47, taking the lead late and holding off a game-tying three by the other Raiders. The Braves (11-16) toppled four-seed Old Bridge by three. This will be the first meeting between North Brunswick and Manalapan since the quarterfinal round of this section in 2012, back when Iverson Fleming was pumping in points for the Raiders, who lost to St. Joseph-Metuchen that year in the GMC final and finished 22-4.
In the other half of the bracket is second-seed Sayreville. The Bombers are 23-4 and will face 10-seed Freehold Township (13-12) for the first time in eight years, when the Patriots beat them by ten in the CJ4 semifinals.
(9) East Brunswick at (1) Montgomery, 6 pm
(13) Manalapan at (12) North Brunswick, 6:30 pm
(6) Trenton at (3) West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 6 pm
(10) Freehold Twp. at (2) Sayreville, 7 pm
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4: Piscataway and Ridge are the only teams from the area left here, and on separate sides of the bracket. The fourth-ranked Chiefs (24-5, GMCT runner-up) will be home again Monday as they take on five-seed Westfield (17-10), their first meeting since 2011. Every game in this section is due to be a battle, just like Piscataway’s opening round game over Bridgewater-Raritan, by four. As for the third-seeded Red Devils (21-6), they get 11-seed Irvington up in Basking Ridge (16-11), their first matchup in 15 years. Ridge beat 14-seed Union, 50-49, in the first round on Thursday in double overtime, overcoming a 20-8 deficit early int he second quarter.
(8) Linden at (1) Plainfield, 7 pm
(5) Westfield at (4) Piscataway, 5:30 pm
(11) Irvington at (3) Ridge, 7 pm
(7) Dickinson at (2) Elizabeth, 7 pm
Central Jersey Group 2: The only local team left here is seven-seed Metuchen, and the Bulldogs have a tall task in front of them as they travel Monday to second-seed Rumson-Fair Haven (18-6). Don’t let the record fool you; for a Group 2 school, they play a challenging schedule. Metuchen has lost three straight to Rumson dating back to 2011, including a loss in the playoffs last year, 74-45, in the first round of this section.
(9) Robbinsville at (1) Manasquan, 7 pm
(5) Wall at (4) Delaware Valley, 6 pm
(11) Point Pleasant Boro at (3) Holmdel, 5:30 pm
(7) Metuchen at (2) Rumson-Fair Haven, 5:45 pm
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2: Bernards – the only team in this section from the start – won its opening round game, upsetting six-seed Hackettstown on the road, 57-46. The 11th-seeded Mountaineers (16-10) now travel to third-seed Madison (20-7) in search of another upset, and a trip to the sectional semifinals. Bernards has won three straight, including pre-states victories over Dunellen and Nutley, and will meet the Dodgers for the first time since 2017.
(8) West Morris at (1) Caldwell, 7 pm
(13) Ridgefield Park at (5) Hoboken, 6 pm
(11) Bernards at (3) Madison, 5:45 pm
(7) Newark Collegiate at (2) Rutherford, 4:30 pm
Non-Public South A: The sixth-seeded Spartans had a nice opening round win in an all-Skyland Conference Raritan division matchup over 11-seed Pingry, 58-54, but now get third-seed Christian Brothers (20-4) down in Lincroft. Immaculata won their last meeting three years ago, 56-41 in the first round of this section; that CBA team was 17-7.
(9) St. Augustine at (1) Paul VI, 7 pm
(5) Union Catholic at (4) Camden Catholic, 5
(6) Immaculata at (3) CBA, 5
(10) Notre Dame at (2) St. Peter’s Prep, 6 pm
Non-Public North B: It’ll no doubt be a tough one for 8th-seed Timothy Christian (15-10), which beat 9-seed Pioneer Academy, 62-57, Friday to reach the quarterfinals, where they get top-seed and Somerset County Tournament champion Gill St. Bernard’s (20-6). This is the first meeting between the two since the 2008-09 season opener, which Gill won. The Knights have length, quickness and can shoot the three, just like the Tigers, but with more depth. It’ll be fun to watch the big guys battle in this one, while also focusing on the emerging Gill freshman Connor Junker, who was instrumental in the Knight’s SCT finals win over Rutgers Prep.
(8) Timothy Christian at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s, 5:30 pm
(5) St. Mary-Rutherford at (4) Morristown-Beard, 5 pm
(6) Montclair-Immaculate at (3) Morris Catholic, 7 pm
(7) Saddle River Day at (2) Roselle Catholic, 7 pm
Non-Public South B: Third-seed Rutgers Prep (18-9) gets to open what it hopes is a long state tournament run with a home game against 6-seed Wildwood Catholic (20-8). They last met in the South B final five years ago, the year COVID ended everything early. Wildwood Catholic won that matchup, 80-67. Prep had three really nice wins – over Paramus Catholic, CJ1 top-seed Thrive Charter and CJ4 top-seed Montgomery before falling to Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament final. But here’s our question: How will they handle a lengthy stretch of time off? With an opening round bye, they will have had eight days off in between games!
(8) Ranney at (1) St. Rose, 6:30 pm
(5) St. Joseph-Hammonton at (4) Bishop Eustace, 7 pm
(6) Wildwood Catholic at (3) Rutgers Prep, 5 pm
(7) Holy Spirit at (2) Holy Cross Prep, 5:30 pm
TUESDAY – SECTIONAL QUARTERFINALS:
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(4) Chatham at (1) Colonia, 6
(3) Payne Tech at (2) Mendham, 7
Central Jersey Group 1
(4) Manville at (1) Thrive Charter, 7
(10) New Providence at (3) Point Pleasant Beach
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