First Round of Somerset County Tournament gets underway with just one minor upset among first six games

The Somerset County Tournament is underway for both the boys and girls, and there was just one first-round upset out of the six opening round games played, as 13th-seed Montgomery beat 12th-seed Ridge on the girls’ side, 38-37.

Everything else went to chalk, and now Thursday night’s winners advance to Saturday’s second round, with games to be played at higher seeds.

From here on out, all the remaining games will be played on successive Saturdays, starting with this weekend’s second round. The quarterfinals next weekend are at higher seeds, but the semifinals on February 14 will be played at Franklin High School, with games at 10 am, noon, 2 pm and 4 pm, though tip times for individual games will depend on who advances.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the semis, as well as the finals. Those will be held on Saturday, February 21 at Montgomery High School, with the girls’ championship at 1 pm, and the boys’ title tilt at 3:00.

Here’s a rundown of Thursday night’s first-round SCT action, along with next round matchups.

SCT GIRLS’ TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND

(13) Montgomery 38, (12) Ridge 37: The Cougars managed just seven combined points in the second and third quarters, but overcame a six-point deficit heading into the fourth to win by one. Trailing 37-35, Senior Sophia Lehmann knocked down a three with 24 seconds to go from the left wing – her only basket of the game – to put Montgomery up 38-37. Ridge got the ball into the frontcourt and called timeout with 12.4 seconds left, and they eventually got a look at a long triple that fell short, with Monty getting the rebound in the paint to secure the win. Aliza Schulberg and Alia Johnson led the Cougars (8-6), while Ridge (7-9) got 15 from Maggie Kiessling.

(11) Mount St. Mary 56, (14) Immaculata 44 (OT): Sophia Crum scored 20 points – including her own 5-0 run late in the fourth to force overtime, where the Lions eventually got the win, just their fifth of the season (5-10). Crum then had all six points for Mount in overtime. The Spartans (7-10) had an eight-point hafltime lead, 27-19, in a low-scoring game, but the Lions were able to get it closer, took a two-point lead with over a minute to go and held Immaculata off the board for the rest of the way to survive and advance.

(10) Bridgewater-Raritan 57, (15) Manville 14: Three players scored in double-figures for the Panthers, who got 19 from Amanda Ciser, 12 from Safaa Fakhry and 11 from Juliet Kohutis, moving above .500 (9-8) with the win. Manville (8-6) got seven in defeat from Sadie Fleming.

Second Round and Beyond…

• (9) Watchung Hills at (8) Somerville (11 am), winner at (1) Rutgers Prep
• (13) Montgomery at (5) Bound Brook (noon), winner at (4) Hillsborough
• (11) Mount St. Mary at (6) Pingry (1 pm), winner at (3) Franklin
• (10) Bridgewater-Raritan at (7) Bernards (2:30 pm), winner at (2) Gill St. Bernard’s

SCT BOYS’ TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND

(12) Bernards 51, (13) Manville 47: The Mountaineers (8-9) held off a furious Mustang fourth-quarter rush to move on the second round. Ahead 41-22, Bernards was outscored 25-10 in the final period on inspired nights from Jimmy Cuadra – who scored 19 points – and Josh D’Ambrosio, who added 18, connecting three times from downtown. Manville dropped to 11-7 with the loss, after they secured their first outright division title since 1987 Wednesday night with a win over College Achieve Central. Casey Hockele scored a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds, while Ryan Frame added 18, 15 of which came on a quintet of treys.

(11) Watchung Hills 60, (14) Bound Brook 55: The Crusaders (13-6) got out to a 19-13 lead after one, but the Warriors (4-9) chipped away and used a strong third quarter – outscoring the Crusaders 17-11 – to get by Bound Brook at home by five. Four players scored in double-figured for Watchung Hills, led by 21 from Brady Simo and 14 from Will Randolph, as the Warriors hit nine times from beyond the arc. Bound Brook nailed seven from downtown, including three from Jasahn Canary, who finished with 15. Dorian Roundtree led with 18 in defeat.

(10) Somerville 72, (15) College Achieve Central 30: The Pioneers (12-6) played smothering second-quarter defense, extending a five-point lead to 43-14 at the half on the strength of a 26-2 period. Of the dozen players who got in the game for Somerville, eleven scored, led by 17 from James Hampton and another 12 from Messiah Bradley. Jayden Halley finished with 14 to lead College Achieve (1-11).

Second Round and Beyond…

• (9) Franklin at (8) Ridge (noon), winner at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s
• (12) Bernards at (5) Immaculata (3 pm), winner at (4) Pingry
• (11) Watchung Hills at (6) Hillsborough (10:30 am), winner at (3) Montgomery
• (10) Somerville at (7) Bridgewater-Raritan (1 pm), winner at (2) Rutgers Prep