Pingry knocks off No. 3 Rutgers Prep, 64-58, and all heck breaks loose in Somerset County hoops

The last few years in Somerset County boys’ basketball have been about Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s and Montgomery. They first two have split Somerset County titles, while Montgomery has won back to back Central Jersey Group 4 champions. Bridgewater-Raritan, undefeated heading into Thursday play – more on that in a bit – now is in the mix this year, as well.

Well, now you can add Pingry, too.

A pesky club for years, giving some of the Skyland Conference’s best teams fits, they knocked off third-ranked Rutgers Prep (No. 9 in New Jersey) at home Thursday night, 64-58, in a game that will have a profound effect on the Somerset County Tournament seeding when it takes place later this month.

The Big Blue (7-1) trailed 34-29 at halftime, but used a monster third and incredible defense to hold Rutgers Prep (8-3) to just seven third quarter points, winning the period 17-7, going into the third up 46-41, hanging on to win through an even fourth quarter.

Dylan Cowell came up huge for the Big Blue, scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, one of three Pingry players to complete double-doubles on the night, along with 15 points and ten boards from Neel Sappidi, and 12 points and 14 rebounds from Ryan Rust.

William Brunson had 15 points and 12 boards for a double-double for Rutgers Prep.

Now the race gets interesting…

To reset the race for the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament, among the top teams:

• Rutgers Prep beat Montgomery Tuesday, 89-73, but fell to Pingry Thursday night
• Montgomery lost to Rutgers Prep Tuesday, and to Gill St. Bernard’s 64-53 Thursday night
• Rutgers Prep visits Gill St. Bernard’s Saturday afternoon at 3:30

And then, there’s Bridgewater-Raritan. The Panthers had been undefeated heading into Thursday, but they lost 64-57 at home to Immaculata to fall to 8-1. Bridgewater gets their version of Murderer’s Row next week, when the Panthers visit Rutgers Prep Tuesday and host Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday.

Pingry visits Gill next Tuesday night.

There’s still a lot of basketball to play, but as the dust settles from January 8, 2026, it would appear Gill St. Bernard’s – if they can win the games the should – has the early inside track at the No. 1 seed.

But hey, we’ve still got more than two weeks until the seeding meeting.