Two-time defending champion Montgomery will play for a third just up the road, as Cougars visit Hillsborough in Central Jersey Group 4 title tilt

While the Montgomery boys’ basketball program has won back-to-back Central Jersey Group 4 titles, and seemingly been through it all, there was something that happened Tuesday that was a first on this run by the Cougars: a true road game.

Sure, in 2024, they had to go all the way down to Central Regional in Bayville to play a sectional semifinal against South 4 champ Lenape, which they lost. And last year, they got another crack and this time exacted revenge, sending them to the Group 4 final against Plainfield at Rutgers.

But Tuesday was different. Those were neutral courts.

Tuesday saw the third-seeded Cougars playing a sectional semifinal on the road, down in Monmouth County, against Marlboro, the second-seed.

Despite a slow start and an early deficit, Montgomery prevailed, and now will play another road game in the final, though not quite as far away.

Friday night, Monty (24-4) will travel up Route 206 on a short jaunt to neighboring Hillsborough, where they’ll face the top-seeded Raiders (22-7) for the Central Jersey Group 4 title. You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off set for 6 pm, pregame at 5:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Montgomery has beaten Hillsbrough twice this season: by 16 on the road in the regular season, and by 15 at home in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals. But head coach Kris Grundy has been around long enough to know those don’t mean a thing. The Raiders are playing solid basketball at the right time of the year.

Still, Montgomery has been solid all year as well. Of their four losses, one came to Gill St. Bernard’s, two to Rutgers Prep, and one to Linden, which is in the North 2, Group 4 final Friday night against Plainfield. All those teams are ranked in the statewide Top 20.

Ethan Lin, of course, has been a big reason for Monty’s success, even though he missed that 2024 run with a broken leg. He came back stronger than ever last year, and has been even bigger this season. Lin is a steadying force on a team that’s a bit on the young side otherwise. And in three games in the state tournament, he’s averaging 28.7 points per game, going for 31 and 30 in the last two.

But big man Shriyans Mallavarapu – just a sophomore – has also been “a revelation,” according to Grundy. Tuesday night at Marlboro, he had 12 blocks. You don’t want to get down low against him and risk your shot being swatted away.

Click below to hear Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy talk about Friday’s Central Jersey Group 4 title game against Hillsborough with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: