Rutgers Prep girls awarded top seed in Somerset County Tournament; Gill St. Bernards, Franklin, Hillsborough round out top four

The top-seed in the Somerset County Tournament for girls basketball has gone to Rutgers Prep, in a vote by the coaches Monday night.

The Argonauts are 14-2 on the season, and are tied for first in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division with Gill St. Bernard’s, which is 13-3 overall. However, both teams are 3-0 in the division, and will square off for the first and only time this regular season on Thursday night at 5:30, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Gill is the defending SCT champion, but Rutgers Prep won the last four prior, in 2020 and 2022 through 2025. There was no county tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The top four seeds were rounded out with Franklin (10-6) third and Hillsborough (14-2) fourth. The top four seeds get double-byes to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Saturday, February 7 at higher seeds.

Seeds five through nine get first round byes to this Saturday’s second round. Those went to Bound Brook at five, followed by Pingry, Bernards, Somerville and Watchung Hills.

The last six seeds in the 15-team field went to Bridgewater-Raritan at ten, followed by Mount St. Mary, Ridge, Montgomery, Immaculata and Manville.

First-round games will be Thursday night, with the following schedule at higher seeds, times TBD:

• (15) Manville at (10) Bridgewater-Raritan, winner at (7) Bernards
• (14) Immaculata at (11) Mount St. Mary, winner at (6) Pingry
• (13) Montgomery at (12) Ridge, winner at (5) Bound Brook.

Below is the full 2026 Somerset County Tournament Girls’ Basketball bracket:

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the SCT semifinals on Saturday, January 14 at Franklin High School, with games to be broadcast to be determined. We’ll also broadcast live from the finals on Saturday, January 21 at Montgomery High School. The girls’ final will be at 1 pm, the boys’ at 3 pm.