Tag: boys’ basketball

by Mike Pavlichko

After first win over rival Bound Brook in 20 years, Manville seeks season sweep at home Friday nite

Hard to believe that two similar-size schools don’t play each other every year in every sport, but that was the case for the past decade, as Manville and Bound Brook hadn’t played each other in basketball for a decade.

Maybe it had something to do with the Crusaders winning all 25 matchups between then from 2005 through 2015, by wide margins in the later years of that stretch.

That all changed on December 16th, when the two teams played in Bound Brook, and the visiting Mustangs came out with a 50-43 win. Prior to that, Manville’s last win in the series had come on January 20th, 2005.

Friday night, the two will meet for a second time in a Skyland Conference Mountain Division game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Tip-off is at 6 pm, pregame starts at 5:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Manville will enter the game at 6-5 (4-0, first place in the Mountain Division), having a bit of an up-and-down season not entirely in their control. They’ve had some injuries, and the team even got the flu bug together at one point. Looking healthier now, they come in off a 67-61 win Tuesday over South Hunterdon.

Bound Brook has a better overall record at 8-3, but is 3-2 in the division, in third place, with South Hunterdon ahead of them at 3-1. They’re coming off a 58-46 win at Roselle Park Saturday, but have been otherwise idle this week.

A win for the Mustangs could solidify their chances at the division title, with a rematch in two weeks with South Hunterdon likely deciding it. A Crusader win would make things interesting; on its own, it would drop them into a first-place tie with the Eagles, both a game ahead of Bound Brook in the loss column.

Bound Brook is a much higher-scoring team, averaging nearly 70 points a game, with four players in double-figures, led by senior Dorian Roundtree. He’s averaging 20.6 points per game, and scored 28 in the December loss to Manville. Junior Titus Godwin is scoring at a 17.9 point per game clip, with seniior Jasahn Canary averaging a double-double: 11.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. Sophomore Cameron Newton is averaging 10 flat per game.

Manville, though scoring less, also is balanced. Senior Josh D’Ambrosio is averaging 12.2 points a game to lead the team, also No. 1 in threes (17), assists (43) and steals (22). The next four down all are scoring between 9.3 (sophomore Owen Kenyon) and 6.5 points per game.

The first meeting was a good one defensively for Manville, which held the Crusaders to what remains a season-low, just 43 points. Bound Brook is 0-3 when scoring fewer than 50 points in a game, with losses coming to Princeton and South Hunterdon.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

Manville head coach Bill Rooney with Mike Pavlichko
Bound Brook head coach Anthony Melesurgo
by Mike Pavlichko

Saturday Hoops Roundup: No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s boys make case for No. 1 with win over No. 3 Rutgers Prep, Montgomery back to winning; Colonia, Bernards girls stay unbeaten

It’s official: we’re in the thick of high school basketball season.

And we’re nearly at the midpoint of the regular season, considering we’re about a month in for most teams, and in the CJSR coverage area, the county seedings are a little less than a month away.

Here’s a look at games of note from Saturday afternoon/evening:

Gill tops Prep; Will Knights be No. 1?

It was a weak of heavy-hitters going at it in Somerset County this week, starting with Rutgers Prep’s win over Montgomery on Tuesday, the second straight loss for the Cougars. Gill St. Bernard’s beat them on Thursday, leaving the race for the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament mostly between those two.

Bridgewater-Raritan might have been in the mix, heading into Thursday’s home game against Immaculata at 8-0, but the Panthers took their first loss of the season that night, and Rutgers Prep got upset by Pingry.

Still, the Argonauts had a shot with a head-to-head at Gill St. Bernard’s Saturday afternoon. It was a tight one, with the Knights even trailing with five minutes and change left. But in the end, a career high night of 33 points – and ten rebounds – from Prosper Highlander, the Knights triumphed, 90-84.

That should give the Knights the inside track at the top seed in the SCT. With the seeding meeting on Monday, January 26th, all eyes will be on Gill this week, as the No. 1 spot is basically theirs to lose. But they will have to deal with the Big Blue on Tuesday, a game the Knights will host at 7 pm.

Gill gets Bridgewater on the road Thursday at 5:30 (the Panthers host Rutgers Prep Tuesday) but won’t get Immaculata – which beat the Panthers – until Tuesday, the 27th, after the seeding meeting.

Montgomery boys back on the winning track…

The Cougars always play tough competition – in their own league and out of conference – but this week ran into quite the buzzsaw. After an 8-0 start, they lost by two to Linden in the Warrior Classic at Manasquan, a close game Kris Grundy said was just a great game anyone could have won.

He was not as happy against Rutgers Prep, saying in a pre-game interview for Thursday’s meeting with Gill St. Bernard’s that they got out of their game a bit against the Argonauts. And pretty much the same thing happened Thursday against the Knights.

So, it was good to be home on Saturday for their annual Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout, where they picked up a win against a solid, 8-2 Overbrook team out of the Tri-County Conference. Mike Simborsko scored 19 points, while Connor Benedict added 15 for the Cougars, who are now 9-3 on the season and get a bit of an easier week coming up, with Hillsborough – a solid 7-3, but not on a par with Linden, Prep or Gill – on Tuesday, and Phillipsburg (1-7) on Thursday.

Colonia girls are back on the map

The Colonia girls’ basketball team had some grand times when Taylor Derkack and Mattie Chiera were on the floor, after Chiera graduated in 2023 and Derkack in 2024, the Patriots struggled to a 7-20 year in 2024-25 under first-year head coach Jill Bachonski.

Well, that’s a distant memory now, as Colonia has already surpassed last year’s win total and is undefeated: 9-0 on the season. Some wins have been on the close side, like a 59-58 victory where they held off a late surge by Spotswood, and a six-point win over Montclair on the first day of the Charlie Dolan Holiday Tournament up at Kearney, which they won. They also have biggger-margin wins over Edison (twice), and even Old Bridge on Saturday, 62-38.

And while Derkack and Chiera were clearly the stars a few years ago, this team is balanced, and young, so they’ll be together a while.

Sophomore Ariana Sosa is the leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, with a team best 16 treys, and 7.3 rebounds per game. Nasaleah Hooker – the only senior and one of two holdovers from the Derkack-Chiera era – is next at 10.7 points and 13.4 boards per contest. Freshman Samantha Howell is averaging 9.8 per game, and junior Hailey Conklin – the other holdout with Hooker – is averaging almost nine points per game.

That’s balance.

We’ll get our first look at Colonia on Tuesday night this coming week, when the Patriots travel to Middlesex for a 5 pm Red National Division game.

Bernards girls also remain perfect…

There’s just one unbeaten team left in the Somerset County – in fact, in the entire Skyland Conference – and it’s not Rutgers Prep, nor Gill St. Bernard’s nor even Bound Brook.

It’s the Bernards Mountaineers. They’re 8-0 after a 53-32 cruise past non-conference foe Hanover Park at home on Saturday afternoon.

Bernards won the Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament at Metcuhen back in December. (Source: @Bernards_GBball on Twitter)

They’re a low-scoring team, averaging just 43.1 points per game, but they’re allowing a paltry 31.6 per game. So they’re winning by almost a dozen every time out and have been amazingly consistent: They won their opener by four, their most recent game by 21, but in between by 16, 14, 15, and then three straight games by eleven.

Senior and thousand-point scorer Aletha Reynolds (1,181 career points) is a four-year starter, and averaging 14.6 points per game this season, with three double-doubles already. Junior Jasmine Kelleher (9 ppg) and freshman Jane Freisen (8.2 ppg) have also been key.

Tuesday night will be a big matchup for the Mountaineers, their first meeting of the year – and only one before the SCT seeding – with Somerville (9-2), on the road, Tuesday night at 5:30.

by Mike Pavlichko

WATCH: Here’s the final sequence of No. 7 East Brunswick’s wild win Saturday over Sayreville

Saturday afternoon, No. 7 East Brunswick rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit – 11 at the half – to beat Sayreville on the road, 48-47, in a GMC Red National Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Sayreville senior Sam Jones hit a three-pointer with ten seconds left to tie the game at 47-47, but senior Matt Mikulka of East Brunswick drove to the basket on the other end and drew a foul, hitting one of two shots to put his team ahead, 48-47, while a last-ditch shot by Jones from the back court to win it fell short.

FULL GAME STORY: Late rally sends No. 7 East Brunswick past Sayreville, 48-47, on key Mikulka FTs, as Bears sweep season series from Bombers

Watch the full final sequence, with play-by-play by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, below:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rematch between No. 7 East Brunswick and Sayreville Saturday should have tournament feel

In their first meeting less than a month ago, the East Brunswick and Sayreville boys’ basketball teams played a tight game from wire to tire, won by the Bears, 58-53.

If that one is any indication, Round Two between the GMC Red National Division rivals should be very much the same.

They will meet with a lot on the line Saturday afternoon – in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio – with an East Brunswick win giving them the inside track at the division title, with still a lot of basketball to be played.

A Bombers’ win would split the season series, and leave the two tied for first place.

With the GMC’s new divisional alignments come the tossing out of an age-old rule that division winners were guaranteed to get the top eight seeds (back when there were four divisions), or a top 12 seed when the league had five divisions, as it did the last couple of years. Teams can only get seeded, however, based on order of finish in their division, which puts even more importance on the game; the winner of the Red National Division will be the first team out of that division to be seeded in the GMCT.

You can hear Saturday’s game live with Mike Pavlichko on the play-by-play, starting with pregame at 12:45 and tip-off at 1 pm. Click here to listen.

The teams are actually pretty similar. While seventh-ranked East Brunswick is 10-1 overall, and Sayreville 7-3, each has two big scorers surrounded by more-than-capable supporting casts.

For the Bears, it’s Cam Vick, who just joined the 1,000-point club with 22 points Thursday night in a 72-40 rout of Monroe. The senior is averaging 16.9 points per game on the season, second only to fellow senior Matt Mikulka, and has scored in double figures in all eleven games this season.

Mikulka is the school’s all-time leading boys’ basketball scorer, with 1,585 points, and he leads the team at 21.1 points per game, and 27 treys. He set the program record last year, passing Rob Ukuwuba, who ironically played on the last Bears team to get off to this good a start. Current head coach Mark Motusesky was the top assistant on that team in the mid-2010s, working under legendary boys’ coach Bo Henning.

For the Bombers, senior forward Chidi Chukwurah is the top scorer at 21.7 points per game, and he has a team-best 40 assists, while senior guard Sam Jones is No. 2 at 19.8 points per game, including a team-best 22 triples.

For both squads, it’s been a slow, but steady, climb to where they are now. This East Brunswick program has had ups and downs – part of the cyclical nature of public school high school sports – but this group has played together for years, now seeing their hard work pay off.

Sayreville has been rebuilding in the program’s second stint under John Wojcik, now in his sixth year on his second go-round. He coached the Bombers for nine years before leaving after the 2017-18 season to be an assistant at Ramapo College, his alma mater, returning to the Parlin school two years later.

Click below to hear previews of the game with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

East Brunswick head coach Mark Motusesky
Sayreville head coach John Wojcik
by Mike Pavlichko

Pingry knocks off No. 3 Rutgers Prep, 64-58, and all heck breaks loose in Somerset County hoops

The last few years in Somerset County boys’ basketball have been about Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s and Montgomery. They first two have split Somerset County titles, while Montgomery has won back to back Central Jersey Group 4 champions. Bridgewater-Raritan, undefeated heading into Thursday play – more on that in a bit – now is in the mix this year, as well.

Well, now you can add Pingry, too.

A pesky club for years, giving some of the Skyland Conference’s best teams fits, they knocked off third-ranked Rutgers Prep (No. 9 in New Jersey) at home Thursday night, 64-58, in a game that will have a profound effect on the Somerset County Tournament seeding when it takes place later this month.

The Big Blue (7-1) trailed 34-29 at halftime, but used a monster third and incredible defense to hold Rutgers Prep (8-3) to just seven third quarter points, winning the period 17-7, going into the third up 46-41, hanging on to win through an even fourth quarter.

Dylan Cowell came up huge for the Big Blue, scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, one of three Pingry players to complete double-doubles on the night, along with 15 points and ten boards from Neel Sappidi, and 12 points and 14 rebounds from Ryan Rust.

William Brunson had 15 points and 12 boards for a double-double for Rutgers Prep.

Now the race gets interesting…

To reset the race for the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament, among the top teams:

  • Rutgers Prep beat Montgomery Tuesday, 89-73, but fell to Pingry Thursday night
  • Montgomery lost to Rutgers Prep Tuesday, and to Gill St. Bernard’s 64-53 Thursday night
  • Rutgers Prep visits Gill St. Bernard’s Saturday afternoon at 3:30

And then, there’s Bridgewater-Raritan. The Panthers had been undefeated heading into Thursday, but they lost 64-57 at home to Immaculata to fall to 8-1. Bridgewater gets their version of Murderer’s Row next week, when the Panthers visit Rutgers Prep Tuesday and host Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday.

Pingry visits Gill next Tuesday night.

There’s still a lot of basketball to play, but as the dust settles from January 8, 2026, it would appear Gill St. Bernard’s – if they can win the games the should – has the early inside track at the No. 1 seed.

But hey, we’ve still got more than two weeks until the seeding meeting.

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s withstands first-half rally by No. 2 Montgomery, pulls away for 64-53 win

This week is a Murderer’s Row in Somerset County boys’ basketball for a number of teams.

Montgomery had Rutgers Prep Tuesday and Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday, with Gill also getting Rutgers Prep Saturday.

And don’t forget about Bridgewater-Raritan next week, hosting Rutgers Prep on Tuesday.

But Thursday night in Skillman belonged to Gill St. Bernard’s, which got 11 points from Jahmal Dixon in the first quarter to build a ten point lead against Montgomery, enough for the Knights to keep the Cougars at bay after a late first-half rally. Dixon finished with 22 in the game to lead all scorers

It was also a bittersweet night for Ethan Lin, who led Montgomery. The senior – a Penn commit – tied the Cougar boys’ scoring record in the second quarter, and broke it on a buzzer-beating three before the half that capped a rally to bring his team within 31-30 at the break.

But in the second half, the Knights’ defense became a bit more suffocating, and they used an 18-9 third quarter advantage to pull away, eventually winning 64-53, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Beyond Dixon, Prosper Highlander finished with 16 for the Knights (9-2, 4-0 Skyland Delaware).

Lin finished with 17 to lead Montgomery (8-3, 0-2 Skyland Delaware), which has dropped three straight to positively brutal competition, including to Linden by two over the weekend, and Rutgers Prep on Tuesday. He now has 1,355 points, breaking the mark of 1,344 held by Maurice Bahr, a record he set 50 years ago, in a 26-2 season in 1975-76.

A basketball player, Ethan Lin, stands on the court with family, holding a sign congratulating him for becoming the all-time leading scorer in Montgomery High School boys' basketball history.
Montgomery’s Ethan Lin at center court with his family after tying the Cougars’ boys’ basketball career scoring record in the second quarter at home against Gill St. Bernard’s on January 8, 2026. He broke the mark with a buzzer-beating three at the end of the half. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

For Gill, the win was a huge one heading into their one and only meeting with Rutgers Prep this year, Saturday at 3:30 at home.

Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s junior Jahmal Dixon and head coach mergin Sina, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 8 South Plainfield gets outstanding D, scoring from Vaca, Bena in first win over Colonia since 2005, snapping 23-game skid

It was mid-fourth quarter. South Plainfield’s Justin Vaca was looking to make a pass, and he lobbed the ball with his right hand toward the basket.

Was it an alley-op? A pass to someone cutting in the back door?

It ended up going through the basket, a three-pointer to boot. That wasn’t the intent, but that’s kind of the way things went for the 8th-ranked Tigers Tuesday night, in a 56-42 win over visiting Colonia in a GMC crossover game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio..

It had been a long time since South Plainfield had beaten Colonia. In fact, it had been 21 years, it’s last victory coming in the 2005 GMC Tournament semifinals. Since then, they had played 23 times, with the Patriots winning every single matchup.

Until Tuesday night that is.

The Tigers (7-1) played tenacious defense, forcing uncharacteristic Colonia turnovers, and directly or indirectly, turned them into points on the other end. Vaca, the junior, finished with 17 points, including three that wasn’t meant to be, and had another right after it, helping extending a lead that was once eleven and had shrunk down to five all the way up to 12, before coming out with a 14 point win in the end.

Sophomore Andrew Bena finished with 16.

Colonia (2-6) got 17 out of Jayce Rodriguez, a sophomore who has seen an increased role with the departure of a lot of offensive firepower, but little other offense. Senior Dylan Chiera was next up with eight, but the Patriots were in foul trouble much of the night, including in the decisive fourth when they had fouls to give to try and get back in the game, just no one to commit them without fouling out.

Chiera did, and Desmond Rudanovic, Teagan Amponsah, Tyler Herman and Jayden Johnson all finished the game with four fouls.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from South Plainfield’s Justin Vaca, Andrew Bena and head coach John Greco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Graphic displaying the logo of Sportsplex at Metuchen, featuring various sports icons and promoting their Instagram for gym session updates.
by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery holds at No. 1 despite first loss, but there’s much shuffling elsewhere in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Top Ten for Week 4

Only three teams – Montgomery, Somerville and Immaculata – held their ground this week in the latest Bellamy & Son Paving boys’ basketball Top Ten, the first of the New Year.

Montgomery (8-1) holds at No. 1 after a 2-1 week. In their own Cougar Holiday Classic, they beat Princeton 70-33 on Monday, then North Hunterdon 71-47 on Tuesday. Monty took its first loss of the season Saturday, 53-51, falling to Linden in the Warrior Classic down at Manasquan.

Gill St. Bernard’s (7-2) used a 3-1 week to edge up to No. 2. After a Monday loss to Linden, 73-52, at the Jingle Bells Jubilee at Paterson STEAM Academy on Monday, they went back there Thursday for the New Year’s Jump Off and beat St. Mary-Rutherford, 76-56. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep on the Ironmen’s home floor, 65-58 in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase, before finishing out the week with an 85-61 win over Trenton in the New Year’s Jump Off II at Newark Collegiate.

Rutgers Prep (5-2) split a pair this week, and falls one spot to third. The Argonauts were 96-79 winners over Cardinal Spellman (NY) in the New Year’s Eve Jump Off at Paterson STEAM Academy, then lost in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase at Don Bosco to St. Peter’s Prep, 78-72.

The fourth and fifth place teams flip-flopped this week as well, with St. Joseph-Metuchen (6-0) having beaten Piscataway on the road Saturday, 64-53 in overtime, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the year. The Falcons also beat Middle Township on Monday, 69-37, and St. Mary’s Ryken (DC) 69-48 on Tuesday in the Winter Showcase at Paul VI in Wayne.

Piscataway (9-1) – which falls to five – had been unbeaten before the Joe’s game, winning three times in the week gone by before that matchup. They beat Ferris 62-38 Monday, and Dickinson 72-52 Tuesday in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament at Hillside. They also beat state-ranked No. 12 Teaneck in the BWB Resolution Bumble up at FDU-Madison on New Year’s Day.

Bridgewater-Raritan (7-0) – the only undefeated team remaining in the rankings – moves up two spots this week to No. 6. The Panthers were 2-0 over the break, beating North Hunterdon, 64-63 on Monday, then Princeton, 61-33, on Tuesday in the Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

Down a spot to seventh is East Brunswick (8-1). The Bears took their first loss of the season Monday in the championship bracket semifinals of the Albert E. Martin Buc Classic at red Bank Regional, but bounced back with a win over host Red Bank regional, 64-42, in the third-place game. Saturday, they came up with a gusty road win, a 72-70 overtime victory at Cranford.

Jumping in at No. 8 this week is South Plainfield (6-1). The Tigers were 2-0 in the week gone by, beating Edison 73-45 on Tuesday, followed by an 87-77 victory at previous No. 7 Sayreville. The Tigers will be on Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday night at 7 pm when they face Colonia (2-5) – click here to listen – as part of a doubleheader starting with the South Plainfield girls taking on JP Stevens at 5:30.

And the last two teams held their spots.

Somerville (6-1) stays at nine after a 2-1 week that began with a 62-47 loss to Woodbridge on Monday in the JP Stevens Holiday Tournament, followed by a 58-23 win Tuesday over Perth Amboy Magnet, and a 59-21 win over Dunellen on Saturday.

And Immaculata (4-1) holds in tenth after a 2-0 week, winning the Battle at the Bomb Shelter at Sayreville with a 48-47 victory over Union Monday, and a 71-61 win over the host Bombers Tuesday.

Sayreville dropped out from No. 7 after a 1-2 week, which began in fine fashion with a 66-57 win over New Dorp (NY) in their Battle at the Bomb Shelter tournament Monday. But after the Immaculata loss in the final, they also fell 81-77 to South Plainfield on Saturday.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Four:

Image of the Bellamy & Son Paving basketball Top Ten rankings for boys' basketball, Week 4, featuring team names, records, and previous rankings.
by Mike Pavlichko

First Saturday of New Year adds some wrinkles in GMC, Somerset County boys’ hoops

Saturday was blustery cold in Central Jersey, but boys’ high school basketball is clearly heating up.

In the Greater Middlesex Conference, there was the first big clash between 2025 GMC Tourney runner-up Piscataway and the new-look St. Joe’s, South Plainfield and Sayreville tussled in a critical Red National Division game, and Metuchen put its perfect record on the line.

Over in Somerset County, unbeaten Bridgewater-Raritan was idle, while Montgomery put its perfect record on the line, and Rutgers Prep faced some top-flight competition.

So, let’s take a look at how it all shook out…

SOMERSET COUNTY

Cougars take first loss down the Shore…

Two-time defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion Montgomery took a perfect 8-0 record into the New Year, but that went away Saturday with a slim two-point loss.

In their first eight games, the Cougars – now 8-1 – had been averaging almost 71 points of game, winning by an average of 28.4 points. But the closest game of the year for the fifth-ranked team in the state (No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten) turned out to be a two-point loss to the state’s No. 9 team, Linden.

Monty fell behind 14-9 after one, played a solid two middle quarters – rallying to go into the break up 24-22 – but got outscored by six in the fourth to fall 53-51 to the Tigers. Penn-bound senior Ethan Lin led all scorers with 20. It shouldn’t have too much of an impact in the race for a top-seed in CJ4, with Montgomery in first heading into the weekend.

Rutgers Prep falls, too…

The No. 2 team in the Bellamy Top Ten – the Argonauts – also suffered a close loss Saturday, this one to St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. Rutgers Prep was tenth in the state this week, the Marauders third. And the boys from Somerset did more than hang in there.

In fact, they led 23-15 after one, but that lead shrunk to one by halftime, and the third quarter was the decisive one, as the Argos got outscored by eight, and wound up losing 78-72 to fall to 5-2 on the season. Five players scored in double figures, led by William Brunson with 18, and Rocco Loomis with 16.

The game was a good test for Prep, which is in Non-Public Group B and wouldn’t play St. Peter’s in the states, and the loss shouldn’t hurt them much as they look to improve their standing in the South B section, where they made the sectional finals last year, falling to St. Rose of Belmar

But Gill St. Bernard’s wins again…

After the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic win and two league victories, the Knights have played all showcase games, including a fifth straight Saturday, then a sixth on Sunday when they play Trenton (4-2) up at Newark Collegiate in the New Year’s Jump Off. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, getting 22 points from Dorsett Mulcahy.

The Ironmen are just 2-5 on the season, but interestingly, three of their losses have come to the Skyland Conference Delaware Division’s top three teams: Montgomery in the Tip-Off Classic opening weekend, Rutgers Prep on December 20th, and now Gill, which improved to 6-2 on the season.

Big Week Ahead in the Delaware Division…

The week of the 12th, Bridgewater-Raritan (currently 7-0, and idle this weekend) will get its turn against the best in Somerset County, but this coming week will be a big one with major implications for Somerset County Tournament seeding, which takes place January 26th, three weeks from Monday.

First, on Tuesday night, Montgomery travels to Rutgers Prep for a 7 pm game. Thursday night, Gill travels down to Skillman to take on the Cougars in a 5:30 tilt you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Bookmark this link to listen on gameday.

Bridgewater-Raritan, meanwhile, visits Watchung Hills Tuesday, then has home games with Immaculata and Hillside Thursday and Saturday before getting their crack at the non-publics: at Rutgers Prep on Tuesday, the 13th, and hosting Gill at 5:30 Thursday, the 16th.

Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan won’t play until February 5th, after the SCT is already seeded.

GREATER MIDDLESEX CONFERENCE

St. Joe’s lands a big punch in race for GMC Tourney top-seed…

Despite a 6-16 record a year ago, once St. Joseph-Metuchen brought back Mark Taylor – and he began bringing in some new pieces to the puzzle – expectations shot through the roof. It was hard to tell what they would look like after a season-opening rout of Wesley College out of Australia on December 8th, which they won 103-36.

They won at Old Bridge by 19, then looked good, but not great, in a 58-40 home win over Colonia. Next was the Winter Showcase at Paul VI up in Wayne, where they beat Middle Township 69-37 and St. Mary’s Ryken (MD) by 21. All of those still weren’t great measuring sticks.

Saturday, they traveled to Piscataway for a battle of unbeatens against the 2025 GMC Tournament runner-up. And we got a much better idea of how the Falcons fit in the conversation this winter.

A high school basketball game in action, featuring players from St. Joseph's and Piscataway. The player in the foreground dribbles the ball while teammates and an audience watch in the background.
Alijah Murphy of St. Joseph-Metuchen controls the ball in a GMC Red American game at Piscataway on January 3, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Though the Chiefs led by 18 at the half on stifling defense, forcing turnovers seemingly every other possession, St. Joseph turned the table as first-year (of his second stint) head coach Mark Taylor whipped out some zone defense, a 1-3-1, and it befuddled Piscataway. More than the execution was the height advantage, and extra long wingspan of guys like junior Andrew Kretkowski (6′ 7″) and sophomore Joel Patrick (6′ 10″), the second of whom was a monster on the boards, and had 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, while blocking six shots.

No amount of excellent Piscataway defense – and they are very good – can combat that length when the tallest player on the floor is Donald Nwaigwe at 6′ 4″. It all led to a 64-53 overtime win for St. Joe’s, keeping them unbeaten at 6-0, while the Chiefs drop to 9-1.

So, where does this leave things in the GMC?

Piscataway took Colonia out before the holidays in double overtime for its first win over the Patriots in 13 years, but now has its first loss, and it’s in the Red American Division. With no guaranteed seeds, the seeding will be all about head-to-head. St. Joe’s won’t get any easier to deal with when 6-7 transfer Aiden Carter becomes eligible this weekend, and they’ve really fired the first salvo. The rematch is less than two weeks away, when the Chiefs visit the Falcons on January 15th.

With the Red split into American and National divisions, but mandatory crossovers (ideally for better comparisons at the seeding meeting) on the schedule, watch out for East Brunswick. The Bears host St. Joseph on Thursday, January 22, and while they don’t have a lot of height either, they can knock down the three – something the Chiefs couldn’t do Saturday.

The Bears have beaten the two teams right behind them in the division on their first pass-through – Sayreville on December 18th and South Plainfield on the 20th, both by five points – and will rematch with them in the same order next Saturday at 1 and on the 13th at 7, both on the road. They also

Right now, the Falcons seem to have the early inside track on the top-seed in the county tournament. A second win over Piscataway could really lock it in, unless East Brunswick can knock them off. The Bears also visit Piscataway Tuesday, January 27th, a week before the seeding.

Assuming no head-scratching losses, Piscataway would likely have to beat the bears and split with St. Joseph to have a shot, while East Brunswick would likely have to win out by sweeping Sayreville and South Plainfield, and beating both St. Joe’s and Piscataway.

And the only other unbeaten team left in the GMC is…

Metuchen! The Bulldogs beat Carteret on the road Saturday, 53-43, to improve to 6-0 on the season, and haven’t won a game by fewer than seven points, as happened against Voorhees back on Tuesday, a 59-42 win that gave them the championship of their own Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament.

Cameron Hayes-Durina – also an excellent football player, and a Borden’s Baller – scored 14 to lead all scorers in Saturday’s victory. He’s averaging 22.7 points per game this season and nearly nine rebounds; the 14 was his lowest output all year, and the first time under 20, but the Bulldogs won anyway, and led by nine at the half.

The Bulldogs go back on the road for two more this week – Monday at North Plainfield and Thursday at Middlesex, before returning home for JFK Saturday afternoon.

by Mike Pavlichko

Shots stop falling for No. 4 Piscataway, and No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen takes down Chiefs in OT

There were a couple of ways this one could have gone at halftime, when No. 4 Piscataway took an 18-point lead into the home locker room at halftime over visiting No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen on Saturday afternoon.

It wasn’t likely to stay that way. It felt like had the Chiefs kept the momentum going they’d come out with a huge home win, pulling further away. Or, the Falcons would make a game of it.

Switching to a 1-3-1 zone after playing most of the first half man-to-man – something Piscataway head coach Bob Turco figured they’d do at some point, if not from the tip, St. Joe’s beat the Chiefs at their own game.

In the first half, a stifling defense forced at least a dozen turnovers, as Piscataway built a 35-17 halftime lead.

But after the break, the tables were turned. The Chiefs scored three points in the third quarter – all from the foul line – and had only one field goal in the fourth – a trey from Josh Lima. And still, they never trailed, going to OT tied at 49-49.

But St. Joe’s would take its first lead in OT, and pull away for a 64-53 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Senior guard Alijah Murphy and junior forward Andrew Kretkwoski each had game-highs of 18 points. Kretkowski – a transfer in from Rutgers Prep – was in-and-out, in foul trouble a good part of the game, but had a couple of monstrous dunks – on in the second quarter, and another in overtime that signalled the game was over, even with time still remaining on the clock.

Piscataway wasn’t just not hitting shots, they took very few, unable to get good looks, and were dominated down low by 6′ 10″ sophomore center Joel Patrick, swatting away layups and grabbing rebounds with authority.

In a battle of unbeatens, the Falcons improved to 6-0, while the Chiefs fall to 9-1, their first loss of the season, just two days after knocking off state 12th-ranked Teaneck in the BWB Resolution Bumble at FDU-Madison on New Year’s Day.

Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joseph’s Andrew Kretkowski, Alijah Murphy and head coach Mark Taylor, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: