Getting 21 points from sophomore Tyler VanLeeuwen and 18 more from senior Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage, Spotswood pulled away after a tight first half to a 78-43 win in a Greater Middlesex Conference crossover game at Highland Park.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from Highland Park High School on January 20, 2026.
Six of the teams in the Bellamy & Son Paving boys’ basketball rankings had perfect weeks last week, and it led to no changes in the Week Six Top Ten.
Gill St. Bernard’s (12-2) picked up a pair of league wins in the week gone by – 69-38 over No. 3 Pingry Tuesday, and 74-46 at Bridgewater-Raritan on Thursday. The Knights have won eight straight and – absent a big upset loss in the next week – should be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, which will be seeded next Monday, January 26th. In the past couple of weeks, they’ve beaten Rutgers Prep, Montgomery, Pingry (which knocked off Prep two weeks ago) and Bridgewater-Raritan (which was 9-1 heading into last week).
St. Joseph-Metuchen (13-0) remains undefeated and holds at No. 2, coming up with two GMC wins this past week: Tuesday at Colonia, 54-50, and Thursday over Piscataway at home, 64-57. On Saturday, they gained a 56-44 win over Berkmar (GA) in the Hoops for Harmony showcase at William Penn H.S. in New Castle, Delaware.
Holding in third is Pingry (8-4), despite a 1-2 week. The Big Blue – who jumped up big into the rankings a last week after beating Rutgers Prep, lost Tuesday at No. 1 Gill St. Bernard’s, 69-38, and at home Thursday to Hillsborough, 53-48, before winning Saturday at Princeton Day, 43-29.
At No. 4 again is Rutgers Prep (9-5), which was 3-0 in the week gone by, but has a head-to-head loss to Pingry from a couple weeks ago. This past week, Prep beat Bridgewater-Raritan at home, 72-56, then won 74-60 at Hunterdon Central. Saturday, the Argonauts beat Holy Cross, 77-59 in the Jimmy V. Classic down at Central Regional in Bayville.
Fifth is Montgomery (12-3), which is on a four-game win stream, picking up a trios of dubs in the week gone by. Tuesday, the Cougars won 53-37 at Hillsborough before grabbing a pair of home victories: Thursday over Phillipsburg, 74-48, and Saturday 62-57 over St. Thomas Aquinas in a GMC-Skyland crossover.
Holding at six is East Brunswick (14-1). The Bears won three games this week to extend their current winning streak to eight. Tuesday, they won at South Plainfield, 56-46, then beat Governor Livingston at home on Thursday, 59-27, before picking up a Saturday win at Woodbridge, 73-49.
In seventh again this week is Immaculata (10-2). The Spartans topped Hunterdon Central at home Tuesday, 64-56, then won Thursday at Watchung Hills, 61-59, before coming back home Saturday to beat in-town rival and No. 10 Somerville, 83-51, dropping eleven three-pointers in a game for the third time in their last four outings.
Holding at No. 8 is Bridgewater-Raritan (10-3), which had a brutal schedule this past week. First, it was a 72-56 loss at Rutgers Prep Tuesday, then a 74-46 loss to Gill St. Bernard’s at home on Thursday. The Panthers rebounded with a 66-50 win at South Plainfield on Saturday.
In ninth is Piscataway (10-5). The Chiefs won 77-57 at Old Bridge Tuesday, but then dropped two in a row, falling Thursday at No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen, 64-57, and Saturday to Colonia, 65-62,
And holding in tenth is Somerville (10-4), which went 2-2 this past week. Monday, they won at College Achieve Central, 63-32, then they picked up a 73-64 win Tuesday at American History. But the Pioneers dropped their next two, including a 57-53 loss against Bernards on Thursday, and an 83-51 defeat at in-town rival and No. 7 Immaculata Saturday afternoon.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Six:
After a game, win or lose, coaches will show their team the game film to look at all the things they can improve upon and the things they need to work on.
So, if at any other point this season, Manville is struggling defensively, head coach Bill Rooney will want to put on the tape of Thursday night’s home game against Bound Brook, starting with about five minutes left in the third quarter.
That’s when the Mustangs faced their biggest deficit of the game against the Crusaders, eight points, after a three-ball by Titus Godwin.
But after that? Manville went on a 21-0 run, fueled by intense defense that forced Bound Brook into missing bad shots, and they were able to convert on the other end to take a 13 point lead that eventually grew as big as 17, and wound up being the final margin, in a 58-41 win heard live Friday night on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
In the end, Manville finished the game on a 37-12 run, from eight down to win by 17.
Remarkable.
In that run, Collin Shimp – even playing with three fouls – had two big threes. Twin brother Brandon hit one at the buzzer at the end of the third – a microcosm of how the quarter went for both teams – and Jimmy Cuadra had a number of steals along with six points in the period.
After five first quarter lead changes, Bound Brook took the lead, and finished the first half with a 23-19 advantage. They extended that to eight points – the biggest lead for either team at that point – with a three by Titus Godwin, who had 12 points in the first half but was held to five in the second.
And all game, Manville did a number on Dorian Roundtree, the Bound Brook senior who came in averaging 20.6 points per game, but was held scoreless in the first 16 minutes and finished with just six points.
Head coach Bill Rooney’s game plan was a bit novel. Most teams would try and slow down Bound Brook, getting them into a half court game since they get up and down the floor well. But Manville hit some shots, got back on defense, pressed, forced turnovers and got out in transition. They didn’t always hit on the other end, but it frustrated the Crusaders to no end.
Cuadra led the Mustangs with 15 points, while Josh D’Ambrosio added a dozen and Collin Shimp finished with 11. Godwin finished with a game-high 17 for Bound Brook.
It was the second straight win over Bound Brook for Manville (7-5, 5-0 Skyland Conference Mountain Division), which – coming into this season – had not beaten the Crusaders in 25 games over a span of ten years from 2005 to 2015, and they didn’t play each other for the next decade.
That changed December 16, when they picked up a 50-43 win at The Brook. Thursday’s win over Bound Brook (8-3, 3-3 Skyland Mountain) swept the season series.
The last time they beat Bound Brook back-to-back games? Well, that might take some digging. Based on easily available online records, it would predate the 2004-05 season, making it at least 22 years ago.
Click below for postgame reaction from Manville senior Collin Shimp and head coach Bill Rooney, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
When you think of Gill St. Bernard’s basketball, you think uptempo, flying across the floor, and plenty of victories.
Through one half against No. 3 Pingry, those three factors were present at times, but not enough with a 21-15 lead.
Once both teams emerged from the locker room for the second half of play, things changed.
The Knights (11-2, 5-0) raced out of the gate and never looked back, pulling away for a 69-38 win, outscoring the Big Blue (7-3, 3-0) 48-23 in the final 16 minutes of play.
Fresh off a 33-point, ten-rebound performance in a thrilling win over Rutgers Prep on Saturday, Gill St. Bernard’s forward Prosper Highlander led the way once again, with a 20-point, 12-rebound follow-up performance. After scoring just two points in the first half, he came alive with 12 points in the third quarter with an array of drives to the basket and a three-pointer.
Oh, and he also picked up the tough assignments on defense, stuffing the stat sheet with three steals and two blocks.
Pingry controlled the tempo early on, scoring the first five points of the game and keeping close for much of the first half. Even after the Knights responded to the opening run with ten unanswered points of their own, the Big Blue ended the quarter with six unanswered to stay within a point at 12-11.
That momentum continued into the second quarter. Even as Gill St. Bernard’s appeared to be on the verge of pulling away, Pingry continued to stack up timely buckets to stay within arm’s reach, as head coach Jason Murdock and his team looked to build off the momentum of back-to-back wins over Immaculata and Rutgers Prep last week.
But the Knights’ intensity and pace on both ends of the floor eventually became too much to overcome. They methodically built up their lead as the third quarter went along, turning defense into offense plenty, before the lead eventually ballooned to 17 points to end the third quarter, and 31 points by the end of the game.
Gill St. Bernard’s standouts Connor Junker and Dorsett Mulcahy kick-started the offense in the opening quarter with six points apiece for all of the Knights’ scoring in the opening eight minutes. Junker finished with ten points with two three-pointers, while Mulcahy finished second on the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Dylan Cowell led Pingry with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with three blocks, and was the Big Blue’s only double-digit scorer.
With the win, Gill St. Bernard’s now puts itself in an excellent position for the top seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, as the Knights look to defend their title from a season ago. Last week, they won their only matchups before the seeding meeting with Montgomery and Rutgers Prep, with the Argonauts also having lost to Pingry.
Amid a schedule head coach Mergin Sina calls one of the toughest in the state, Gill St. Bernard’s passed yet another test as the calendar flips to 2026.
Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s senior forward Prosper Highlander and head coach Mergin Sina, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
For the first time this season, the entire Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten got a complete reshuffle.
It was a challenging week to be sure, as a few top ten teams suffered multiple losses this week, whether in conference play or at showcase games. And the end result is one new team in the rankings, and a new No. 1 squad.
Gill St. Bernard’s (9-3) is the new top team after getting through a heck of a schedule this past week. They opened with a 79-46 win over Ridge, then passed tests from two of the Skyland Conference’s elite – winning 64-53 Thursday at Montgomery (in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio) and again Saturday at home over Rutgers Prep, 90-84. The Knights should have the inside track at the top seed in the county tournament, but first will have to get by Pingry Tuesday; the Big Blue knocked off Rutgers Prep Thursday, and would have a legitimate argument for that top seed if they can beat Gill on the road.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph-Metuchen moves up to No. 2, as they remain undefeated at 10-0. The Falcons went 4-0 in the week gone by; they were 61-45 winners over St. Thomas Aquinas at home Tuesday and beat Old Bridge 75-35 on Thursday in GMC play. Then, Saturday at the Iverson Classic Breakout Series at Paramus Catholic, they beat Archbishop Carroll (PA) 61-50. And on Sunday, they beat Wings Academy (NY), 77-36.
With an upset of Rutgers Prep Thursday, Pingry enters the top ten at No. 3. The Big Blue are 7-2, and last week, knocked off one of the league’s heavyweights in the Argonauts at home. That followed a Tuesday win over then-No. 10 Immaculata, which came back Thursday to hand Bridgewater-Raritan its first defeat of the season. Pingry took a loss Saturday, however, at Oratory Prep, 60-58.
Falling one spot to fourth was Rutgers Prep (6-5), which opened the week with an 89-73 win over Montgomery, but then lost three straight – at Pingry on Thursday, 64-58; Saturday at Gill, 90-84, and Sunday, 79-64, to St. Francis (NY) at their Shooting Stars Shootout showcase event.
Falling from No. 1 back behind Prep is Montgomery, which lost two league games during the week, at Rutgers Prep on Tuesday, then to Gill at home on Thursday. But the Cougars ended a three-game skid with a 66-45 home win over an eight-win Overbrook team from the Tri-County Conference in their own Coaches vs. Cancer Classic down in Skillman.
East Brunswick (11-1) has won five straight, and rises one spot to six this week. The Bears beat Woodbridge 80-54 on Tuesday, Monroe 72-40 on Thursday, then used a big second-half rally to win at Sayreville, 48-47, on Saturday, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Immaculata (6-2) climbed to No. 7 this week from ten. After a loss to Pingry, 64-59, back on Tuesday, they rebounded by knocking off undefeated and then-No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan on the road, 64-57. They also won Saturday, beating Hamilton 77-42.
Down two spots to No. 8 is Bridgewater-Raritan (9-1), which took its first loss of the year Thursday against Immaculata at home. That was sandwiched in between a pair of wins: Tuesday, 69-50, at Watchung Hills, and Saturday at Hillside, 69-54.
Piscataway (9-3) is down to nine after a two-loss week. They fell 68-67 Thursday to previously-ranked Sayreville, then lost Sunday afternoon to East Orange at nearby Plainfield in the Stay Public Basketball Showcase, 74-53.
And down one spot to tenth is Somerville (8-2). The Pioneers lost Tuesday 48-24 to Delaware Valley, but bounced back with a pair of wins: Thursday at home over College Achieve Central, 71-26, then Saturday, 52-20 over Westfield in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Montgomery.
Dropping out this week is No. 8 South Plainfield. The Tigers (8-3) beat Colonia Tuesday at home, 56-42, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, then Woodbridge 88-68 on Thursday, but fell twice over the weekend: Saturday to Ramapo 54-30 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Montgomery, then Sunday 67-46 to Westfield in the Stay Public Basketball Showcase at Plainfield.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Five:
After a game-tying three with 10 seconds to go by Sayreville’s Sam Jones, East Brunswick’s Matt Mikulka drew a foul on offense and hit one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to put the Bears over the Bombers, 48-47, in GMC Red National Division play.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play from Sayreville High School in Parlin on January 10, 2026.
The all-time leading scorer in East Brunswick boys’ basketball history already had 24 points when he headed to the free throw line for the first time in the game with under a minute to go in a tight game at Sayreville.
But down the stretch, he made two of four – including the winner with 2.9 ticks left on the clock – to help the Bears rally from an 11-point halftime deficit for a 48-47 GMC Red National Division game in Parlin, heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Out of an East Brunswick time out with 38 seconds to play, up 46-44, Mikulka got fouled and headed to the charity stripe for the first time. He missed the first, but made the second to put the Bears up by three.
Sayreville came down the floor and got Sam Jones a look at a three for the tie. He missed short from the wing, but the Bombers got the rebound and head coach John Wojcik called his last time out to allow the offense to more easily reset.
Off the break, they found Jones on the right wing again, and he swished it with ten seconds to go to tie it at 47. But Mikulka brought it up the floor, drove to the basket from the right wing, and drew a blocking foul on Joseph Lewis with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Mikulka hit the first free throw, and EB coach Mark Motusesky called a time-out to set the defense. Miklulka missed the second shot, Sayreville got a rebound, and Jones couldn’t get a three-quarter court prayer to get anywhere near the basket.
WATCH: Here’s the final sequence of No. 7 East Brunswick’s wild win Saturday over Sayreville
East Brunswick (11-1, 6-0 GMC Red National) rallied thanks in large part to Mikulka’s scoring, but maybe in larger part due to their second-half defense. Down by as many as 13 in the second quarter, the Bears held Sayreville to just one field goal in the third, and outscored the Bombers 10-4 in the period, down 35-40 heading into the fourth.
Mikulka finished with a game-high 26, balanced throughout the afternoon, and hit three triples. Cam Vick added 13.
Sayreville (7-4, 3-3) got team-highs of 20 each from Sam Jones and Chidi Chukwura, with Chhukwurah – a 55 percent free throw shooter coming in – hitting eight of nine in the game, including six of six in the second half, four of four in the fourth quarter. That could have been the difference-maker for the Bombers, had they been able to score otherwise after halftime.
Sayreville managed just four second half field goals, an and-one in the third by Andrew Provenza,who missed the free throw, and a pair of twos and the triple to tie with ten seconds left by Jones.
Click below for postgame reaction from East Brunswick senior Matt Mikulka and head coach Mark Motusesky with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s got 22 points from Jahmal Dixon, while No. 1 Montgomery saw Ethan Lin set the program’s career scoring record, but it was the Knights who beat the Cougars on the road, 64-53, in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division game.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play from Montgomery High School in Skillman on January 8, 2026.
No. 8 South Plainfield got 17 points from Justin Vaca and 16 from Andrew Bena in a 56-42 win at home over Colonia, the Tigers’ first win over the Patriots since the 2005 GMC Tournament semis, snapping a 23-game losing streak in the series.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from South Plainfield High School on January 6, 2026.
South Plainfield got career highs of 24 points from Jiselle Lennon – including four treys – and 18 points from MaKenzie Harris en route to a dominating 61-37 win over visiting JP Stevens in GMC White American Division action.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from South Plainfield High School on January 6, 2026.