Gill St. Bernard’s, Montgomery boys lead stacked preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

Coming up with a preseason Top Ten is never an easy proposition, but one thing seems pretty certain – or maybe it isn’t: the first rankings of 2025-26 very likely will look nothing like the final one.

The group includes a team that won just six games a year ago – St. Joseph-Metuchen, which brings back alum and former coach Mark Taylor – but will have to prove itself early and either soar up the rankings if they win as many expect, or quite possibly fall out if they don’t jell in December.

At the top is Gill St. Bernard’s, which finished 22-7 last season, won the Somerset County Tournament, and made the sectional finals in the state tournament’s Non-Public North B section. They return a solid core, including senior guard Dorsett Mulcahy (9.6 ppg, 30 treys), senior Jakub Malecki (6.3 ppg), and sophomore Connor Junker (9.25 ppg), who played out of his mind in the SCT final against Rutgers Prep – scoring 15 points, including four triples – and hit a team-best 49 treys last season.

Montgomery at No. 2 has the talent, but with some key losses, may be a little less proven. The Cougars didn’t lose to a public school all last season until the Group 4 state final at Rutgers, where they faced Plainfield. And even the year before, they only Lost to Lenape – in the regular season and in the Group 4 semifinals. Gone to graduation are big Bohdan Biekietov and guard Christian Hill – the team’s second and third leading scorers – but back is point guard Ethan Lin for his senior season. At 19.7 points per game last year, he had an amazing bounceback after breaking is leg the season before and missing the entire postseason run.

In third is Rutgers Prep. The Argonauts also made a sectional final last year – in Non-Public South B – and also went to the Somerset County Tournament final, falling to Gill. A mostly young team in 2024-25, third-leading scorer and post player Andrew Kretkowski (15.3 ppg, 34 blocks) transferred over the summer to St. Joseph-Metuchen, and senior Myles Parker (14.8 ppg) graduated. But Jacob Canton, the team’s leading scorer at 15.3 ppg and with a team-best 47 treys returns, along with senior Logan Franz and junior Rocco Loomis.

At four and five, respectively, are the two GMC Tournament finalists from a year ago, runner-up Piscataway and champion Colonia. Both teams lose significant parts from last season.

The Chiefs graduated top-scorer Nate Davis (14.5 ppg, team-best 53 treys) and swing Vaughn Turner (9.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg), but other key pieces like junior Landon Pernell (7.9 ppg) and seniors Donald Nwaigwe (11.7 ppg) and Josh Lima (10.3 ppg, 40 treys) return.

Colonia was dealt a double-blow, first when Aiden Derkack (24.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg) left to play his senior year at Spire Academy in Ohio, then last week when R.J. Wortman (12.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg) signed with Greg Schiano, getting a football scholarship at Rutgers, where he will enroll in January. Zach Smith graduates, too, but Dylan Chiera is back for his senior season, along with Julien Jones. Both are top-notch athletes, and will see increases scoring roles, along with the coach’s son, Jayce Rodriguez, who had a fantastic freshman season, scoring 7.7 points per game, and led the team from beyond the arc with 58 triples.

At No. 6 is Ridge, which was 22-7 last season. Seniors Luke Kreitz (16.2 ppg, 74 treys) and Quinn Dashefsky (11.9 ppg) have graduated, but Gabe Kielb and Sidd Narayanabhatia were also key contributors last season as juniors.

St. Joseph-Metuchen makes its debut at No. 7. After a difficult year finishing 6-16 under Karl Towns, Sr. – the father of Falcon great Karl-Anthony Towns, currently of the New York Knicks – the school hired 1983 alum and former coach Mark Taylor back to Metuchen, and he’s made progress before the team even steps on the floor, bringing in a number of transfers to shore up the ranks. Word around the league is they will be the team to beat. The question is: will they mesh right off the bat, or take some time to find their footing?

The final three teams all fell one spot from the final rankings last year to make room for St. Joe’s.

2024-25 GMC White Division champion Sayreville is eighth, coming off a 22-7 season. The Bombers’ top two scorers return, including seniors Chidi Chukwurah (18.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg) and Sam Jones (16.6 ppg, team-best 61 threes).

St. Thomas Aquinas starts the year at nine, after a 15-12 campaign, but they also have a new coach, and a bunch coming back. Dan Jennings is the top-returning scorer at 11.1 ppg, and he’ll be back for his senior season after spending his first two up the road at St. Joe’s; he also was one shy of the team lead in treys with 43; graduated senior Aiden Ur had 44. Albion Ahmetaj (7.8 ppg) also should be a big part of things under new head coach Tom Weiler, a mentee of former Aquinas coach Bob Turco, who’s now at Piscataway.

And in tenth is Immaculata. The Spartans were 20-8 last season, and will return top scorer Riley Gorman (18.1 ppg, team-best 72 treys), along with junior Nick Swartwood (7.2 ppg), the team’s top rebounder at 7.5 per game.

Below is the complete preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten: