Montgomery’s Bohdan Biekietov holds the ball at the top of the key in the Friends of South Amboy Tournament against St. Joseph-Metuchen on December 21, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
They went further than any other Montgomery team ever did, and further than any other boys’ basketball team from the area in the 2024-25 season. And that makes the Cougars No. 1 in the final Bellamy & Son Paving boys’ basketball rankings this year.
Montgomery achieved two of the three goals they set every year: win their division, win the county, win a sectional title. They went 10-0 to win the Skyland Conference Raritan Division, and while they didn’t win the county tournament, they did win Central Jersey Group 4 for the second straight year, and made it all the way to the NJSIAA State Group 4 title game, where they fell to the No. 1-ranked team in New Jersey, Plainfield.
It was their only loss to a public school all season, as the Cougars finished 25-6, the biggest win total of any Somerset County school.
Check back later to hear our interview with CJSR’s Boys’ Basketball Team of the Year, the Montgomery Cougars, as we talk to seniors Christian Hill, Bohdan Biekietov, Braden Ginsberg and Kyryl Streltsov, as well as junior Ethan Lin and head coach Kris Grundy.
In second was Somerset County Tournament champion Gill St. Bernard’s. The Knights were 22-7, and though they’re in the same conference, didn’t play Montgomery this year. After winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division at 10-0, they beat Rutgers Prep in the county final, and went to the Non-Public North B title game where they lost to Roselle Catholic.
Colonia finished third at 27-5, with the most wins in the area, and they were the only team in the CJSR coverage area, girls or boys, to win both a county and sectional title. They won the GMC Red Division, the GMC Tournament over resurgent Piscataway, and took the North 2, Group 3 title for the fourth straight year, topping Mendham in an incredible home atmosphere. They fell in the Group 3 semifinals to Ramapo.
Fourth is Rutgers Prep at 20-10. The Argonauts made the finals of the Somerset County Tournament, losing to Gill St. Bernard’s, then reached the Non-Public South B finals – albeit shorthanded, without 6′ 7″ Andrew Kretkowski and 6′ 11″ Logan Franz – falling to St. Rose of Belmar.
Piscataway finished at No. 5, checking in at 24-6. They finished second to Colonia in the GMC Red under first-year head coach Bob Turco, and made it to the GMC Tournament finals, where they lost to the Patriots.
Ridge (22-7) comes in at No. 6, while GMC White Division Champion Sayreville (18-12) finished seventh.
St. Thomas Aquinaa (15-12) finished eighth, followed by two Somerset County schools: Immaculata (20-8) joins the rankings at No. 9, while Somerville (16-6) rounds out the list at No. 10.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Final Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for 2024-25:
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