Hillsborough boys may be top-seed, but will have to topple two-time title winner Montgomery to claim Central Jersey Group 4 championship

The last time (the only time) the Hillsborough boys’ basketball team won a state sectional title, it was 2015. Coming off a 22-3 year in which they beat Gill St. Bernard’s to win the Somerset County Tournament championship.

Ian Progin’s team didn’t quite make the encore, bowing out in the quarterfinals of the SCT to Montgomery, the Raiders were 11-12 heading into the state tournament, not even a top eight seed.

All they did was win four games on the road, culminating with an upset of top-seed Freehold Township on the road in the final, 66-58, making for a boisterous trip back up to the ‘Boro from Monmouth County.

This year’s team? Well, they’re 22-7. And nothing’s easy, but having earned the top-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, they would certainly be considered a contender for a title. Since the tournament started, they’ve cemented that rep, entering the state Top 20 at No. 20 last week, up one spot this week to 19.

They will face another state-ranked team Friday night in the CJ4 final: No. 14 Montgomery, as the top-seeded Raiders take on the third-seeded Cougars (24-4) for some NJSIAA hardware. Central Jersey Sports Radio will be there so you can listen to the game, with tip-off set for 6 pm, pregame at 5:40 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will be on the call. Click here to listen.

While many will look at Montgomery’s two wins over Hillsborough this year – by 16 on the road in the regular season in mid-January, and 15 at home in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals back on February 7th. But Montgomery also took a pair of losses to Rutgers Prep, while the Raiders beat them, 82-79, the next game after losing to the Cougars in the SCT.

While the guards get a lot of attention – including Derek Feath, who now owns the single season three-point record at Hillsborough with 78 and counting – it was the frontcourt that came up big Tuesday in the semis against Jackson. Layne Pawlowski scored 13 and had six rebounds, Kai Williams had ten and five rebounds, and Kow Quagrine had nine.

And Hillsborough may need that against Montgomery’s big, Sriyans Mallavarapu. Also known as “Shree,” he had 12 blocks in Monty’s 61-49 win at second-seed Marlboro Tuesday in the semifinals.

Click below to hear Hillsborough head coach Tim Palek talk about the Central Jersey Group 4 final against Montgomery with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: