Franklin guard Alissa Myers lofts a three-pointer against Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals on Saturday, February 14th, 2026. Both are top seeds in the state tournament, which starts this week. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko).
This story has been updated after the NJSIAA Monday postponed Day One of the high school basketball tournament to Thursday. As of 6pm Monday, play in all other sections of the tournament remain “as is.” Check back with Central Jersey Sports Radio for the latest.
The 2026 NJSIAA state tournament gets underway this week for basketball, but as of now, a day later than originally planned. Groups 2 and 4 have had their opening round moved to Thursday, with quarterfinal play now pushed off to the weekend.
As of now, Groups 1 and 3 still will begin play Wednesday, In the non-public Sections, A North and South begin Thursday, and B North and South begin play Friday.
The good news is: there’s plenty of padding in the schedule to make it all work.
Sectional semifinal rounds take place the following week, with sectional finals for publics on Friday, March 6 (Groups 2 and 4) and Saturday, March 7 (Groups 1 and 3), all at high seeds. Non-Public sectional finals are Monday, March 9 at neutral sites.
Here’s a section-by-section look at the state tournament, with full schedules at the end of this story, organized by day.
Central Jersey Group 4
While Hillsborough is the defending champion (actually, they’ve won two-in-a-row, taking North 2, Group 4 the year before over Elizabeth) and they’ve had a good season, it’s Franklin that got the top seed here. The Lady Warriors will be coming off a loss to Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament title game, but led by Aleah Sunkins, they are very good, and had to knock off the top-seed in Non-Public South B – Gill St. Bernard’s, the defending SCT champion – to get there. They are good enough to make a deep run. And what;s more, with the Raiders on the other half of the bracket as a third seed, they could very well meet up in the finals. Franklin beat Hillsborough at home on January 6th pretty handily, 72-44, but were just 5-4 at the time under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie. Since that win, they are 13-5.
Of course, East Brunswick is also in the bracket, the two-seed on Hillsborough’s side, and they could have something to say about that. The Bears made the GMC Tournament final, falling to St. Thomas Aquinas, 62-41. They also lost at Hillsborough on January 22nd, 70-52, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Honestly, anything could happen here.
Central Jersey Group 2
Defending champion Manasquan is one of few returning winners – at least in the sections we’re following – to earn a No. 1 seed this year, and they are the odds-on favorite in this section. South River earned a top-four seed, and gets a familiar opponent in 13th-seed Metuchen, though – inexplicably – they haven’t played this season. They did last year, when Metuchen was 21-5, and South River was 2-23, and Metuchen won big, but the Rams are much improved, so those results are probably quite irreleveant.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4
Bayonne gets the top-seed here, and defending champion Westfield is the second-seed. Piscataway could be a contender here as the third-seed. They’ll get 14-seed Perth Amboy in the opening round, their first meeting with the Panthers in four seasons. The Lady Chiefs are good, but this is a tough section in which to make a deep run. Woodbridge also has had a good year and could make a run here.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2
The Bernards’ girls have had a tremendous season, and started the season 10-0 before picking up their first loss against Roselle Park, and the state’s top scorer Sydney Smith, who’s still averaging 30 points per game. They should get through a good chunk of the bracket, with a potential semifinal matchup – if all goes chalk – against third-seed and defending champion Madison on their side of the bracket. Caldwell is the top-seed. and sits in the other half, while Voorhees is the four-seed; they’re a familiar foe, as the teams split two regular season meetings this year in the Skyland Conference Valley Division, which the Mountaineers won this year.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
The Somerville girls have had a fine year, and got the well-deserved top seed here, but second-seed Colonia has been very good, too. Both could make deep runs, and it could be a fun title game if they both get there. North Plainfield also could be a surprise team here, as could any with a player like Layla Gutierrez, who has gone off for 42 and 50 points on separate occasions this season, and is averaging 19.3 points per game.
Central Jersey Group 1
Defending champion New Providence earns the top-seed here, so Bound Brook – which got the two-seed – is on the other side of the bracket. The Crusaders (22-3) will get a young 15-seed in Dayton in the opening round, and anything but a run to the finals might be a disappointment. They are clearly good enough to get it done. Bound Brook hasn’t lost to a public school all year, with their only losses coming in the regular season to Union Catholic and Gill St. Bernard’s. They nearly knocked off eventual Somerset County Tournament champion Rutgers Prep in the semifinals, with a second-half rally falling short. Freshman Peytan Pugh has been a game-changer, and this group should be good for a while. Still, they should be in this thing a while.
Non-Public North A
The Pauldo twins may be gone, but three-time defending champion Morris Catholic is the No. 1 seed again and remains the favorite here to potentially meet two-seed Immaculate Heart in the finals. Pingry is here as a six-seed, and gets 11-seed Kent Place School in the opening round.
Non-Public South A
Defending champion Paul VI got the three-seed, and Red Bank Catholic has the No. 1 seed, with the only opening round bye here in a 15-team field, with St. Thomas Aquinas getting the four-seed. The seven-time defending GMC Tournament champions are looking for their first sectional title since they were Bishop Ahr, back in 1985. They draw 13-seed Immaculata in the opening round, and should get through to the semifinals, but they would meet the Shore Conference Champion Caseys there, as they’re in the same half of the bracket. And should they pull a major upset there, their likely opponent in the finals would be two-seed St. John Vianney. Tough to get by one, if not both. SJV is the top-ranked girls team in the state, and RBC two, but probably only until the next rankings come out; the Caseys beat Vianney by four in the Shore Conference Tournament final Friday night.
Non-Public North B
This is an eight team bracket, and the opening round isn’t until next Monday, March 2, although teams can play early if agreed upon, and it looks like one game already has been moved up to Wednesday according to their online schedule: 5th-seed Eastern Christian at Villa Walsh. Nonetheless, Gill Gt. Bernard’s (19-5) opens as the top-seed against eighth-seed Pioneer Academy (1-13). So they should easily win that one, then just need to get out of the semis against Villa Walsh or Eastern Christian before likely facing second-seed Saddle River Day or Hudson Catholic, which they beat on January 3rd in the Garden State New Year’s Ball in Newark, 49-42.
Non-Public South B
Very likely we get a rematch of last year’s final in this one. Rutgers Prep is the top-seed and has a first-round bye, as does the team that beat them last year in the sectional final down at Jackson Liberty H.S., second-seed Gloucester Catholic. Both have been excellent all year, and only need to win two games to get there, none against any competition they can’t beat/
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Please note that early-round dates and/or times could be affected by school closures due to the weekend blizzard. This list will be updated, if necessary, as any postponements are announced.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
- (16) Warren Hills at (1) Somerville, 5:30 pm
- (9) Carteret at (8) Summit, 5 pm
- (12) Randolph at (5) Chatham, 5 pm
- (13) North Plainfield at (4) Cranford, 5 pm
- (14) Orange at (3) Millburn, 7 pm
- (11) Fort Lee at (6) North Hunterdon, 5:45 pm
- (10 South Plainfield at (7) Mendham, 5 pm
- (15) Cliffside Park at (2) Colonia, 5 pm
Central Jersey Group 1
- (16) Dunellen at (1) New Providence, 4 pm
- (9) Middlesex at (8) Shore, 6 pm
- (12) Highland Park at (5) Brearley, 4:30 pm
- (13) Henry Hudson at (4) South Amboy, 4:30 pm
- (14) College Achieve Central at (3) Keansburg, 4 pm
- (11) Florence at (6) Roselle Park, 5:30 pm
- (10 Manville at (7) Thrive Charter, 5 pm
- (15) Dayton at (2) Bound Brook, 5:30 pm
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Central Jersey Group 4
- (15) Manalapan at (1) Franklin, 5:30 pm
- (9) Sayreville at (8) Freehold Twp., 4 pm
- (12) Monroe at (5) Jackson Twp., 4:30 pm
- (13) Trenton at (4) Hunterdon Central, 5 p
- (14) West Windsor-Plainsboro South at (3) Hillsborough, 4:30 pm
- (11) Old Bridge at (6) Princeton, 4p
- (10) Montgomery at (7) Marlboro, 4 pm
- (15) Hightstown at (2) East Brunswick, 7 pm
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4
- (16) Scotch Plains-Fanwood at (1) Bayonne, 7 pm
- (9) Woodbridge at (8) North Star Academy, 5:30 pm
- (12) Linden at (5) Columbia, 4:30 pm
- (13) Ridge at (4) Plainfield, 5 pm
- (14) Perth Amboy at (3) Piscataway, 5 pm
- (11) Union at (6) Elizabeth, 5 pm Thursday
- (10) Watchung Hills at (7) Bridgewater-Raritan, 5 pm
- (15) JP Stevens at (2) Westfield, 5 pm
Central Jersey Group 2
- (16) Ocean Twp. at (1) Manasquan, 5 pm
- (9) Spotswood at (8) Delaware Valley, 5:30 pm
- (12) Robbinsville at (5) Bordentown, 5 pm
- (13) Metuchen at (4) South River, 4:30 pm
- (14) Holmdel at (3) Johnson, 5 pm
- (11) Governor Livingston at (6) Piscataway Magnet, 4 pm
- (10 Delran at (7) Point Pleasant Boro, 5 pm
- (15) Wall at (1) Rumson-Fair Haven, 5 pm
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2
- (16) Harrison at (1) Caldwell, 5 pm
- (9) Ridgefield Park at (8) Snyder, 5 pm
- (12) West Morris at (5) Rutherford, 4 pm
- (13) Weequahic at (4) Voorhees, 5 pm
- (14) Newark West Side at (3) Madison, 4 pm
- (11) Hoboken at (6) Hackettstown, 5:30 pm
- (10) Newark Collegiate at (7) Hanover Park, 4 pm
- (15) Lyndhurst at (2) Bernards, 7 pm
Non-Public North A
- (9) Oak Knoll at (8) Montclair-Kimberley; winner at (1) Morris Catholic
- (12) Holy Angels at (5) Mount St. Dominic, 4 pm
- (13) Newark Academy at (4) DePaul, 5:30 pm
- (14) St. Elizabeth at (3) Pope John, 5:30 pm
- (11) Kent Place at (6) Pingry, 4:15 pm
- (10) Paramus Catholic at (7) Dwight-Englewood, 4 pm
- (15) Morristown-Beard at (2) Immaculate Heart, 5:30 pm
Non-Public South A
- (9) Princeton Day at (8) Union Catholic, 4:30 pm; winner at (1) Red Bank Catholic
- (12) Our Lady of Mercy at (5) Trinity Hall, 4:30 pm
- (13) Immaculata at (4) St. Thomas Aquinas, 4:30 pm
- (14) Mount St. Mary at (3) Paul VI, 5 pm
- (11) Notre Dame at (6) Camden Catholic, 5 pm
- (10) St. Rose at (7) Bishop Eustace, 6 pm
- (15) Donovan Catholic at (2) St. John Vianney, 5 pm
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Non-Public South B
- (9) Holy Cross Prep at (8) Doane Academy, TBA; winner at (1) Rutgers Prep
- (12) Noor-ul-iman at (5) Stuart Day, 4 pm; winner at (4) Holy Spirit
- (11) Ranney at (6) Moorestown Friends, 3:45 pm; winner at (3) Wildwood Catholic
- (10) Calvary Christian at (7) Koinonia, 6:30 pm; winner at (2) Gloucester Catholic
MONDAY, MARCH 2
Non-Public North B
- (8) Pioneer Academy at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s, 4 pm
- (5) Eastern Christian at (4) Villa Walsh, Wednesday 4 pm
- (6) Mount St. Dominic at (3) Hudson Catholic, TBA
- (7) Roselle Catholic at (2) Saddle River Day, 7 pm
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