Tag: Kris Grundy

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 2 Montgomery pours it on in second half, knocks off North Jersey power Don Bosco Prep, 66-47 in NJBCA Tip-Off Classic

For a team that went to the Group 4 final in 2025 to have its top scorer limited to five first half points might be a disaster for most teams in their opening game of the season.

Montgomery’s Ethan Lin didn’t score much in the first half, but he didn’t have to, as No. 2 Montgomery – ranked No. 9 in the state – knocked off state No. 7 Don Bosco Prep at home, 66-47 in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic on their home floor in Skillman.

And if this is any sign how the season will go, it could be another special one for the defending Central Jersey Group 4 champions.

Sophomore Connor Benedict was red hot over the first 16 minutes, leading the Cougars with 15, all on shots from beyond the arc. He had three alone in the first quarter, giving his team an early lead, and helping get it back after the Ironmen had gone ahead.

He only missed one first-half attempt, clapping his hands in frustration on the one he missed.

He’s just a sophomore, mind you, finishing with 21 on 7-of-8 from beyond the arc. Add to that fellow soph, Mike Simborski, who led the team with 16, and Montgomery has found some scoring from its youth for the long season ahead.

The Cougars took the early lead, but it was tight, and Don Bosco went ahead late in the first quarter before Montgy got it back in the second, and never looked back. Still, they only led 28-24 at the half.

After the break, Benedict cooled, and Simborski heated up, scoring 13 in the third quarter alone. He got good looks inside from Lin, who eventually ended up with 17, eight after the break. He hit three times from beyond the arc.

The third quarter was the difference, with Montgomery building what would turn out to be an insurmountable 15-point advantage,

About the only downside of the night? With four seconds left, Monty missed a pair of free throws when would would have sent the student section into a frenzy… leaving Montgomery with 66, one shy of “67” points.

If that’s all that went wrong, it was a good night in Montgomery.

Click below for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Montgomery sophomores Connor Benedict and Mike Simborski
Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy
Two basketball players, one in yellow and the other in black, stand holding awards on a basketball court, flanked by a coach. A crowd can be seen in the background.
At halftime of their NJBCA Tip-Off Classic game on December 13, 2025, Montgomery’s Mohamed Ndiaye and Don Bosco Prep’s Kameron Crews were honored as NJBCA Scholar Athletes. (Source: @NJBCA_Official on Twitter)
by Mike Pavlichko

Coming off second straight sectional title, Montgomery will look to Lin to lead Cougars

Montgomery has had a solid boys’ basketball program for many years under head coach Kris Grundy, but the last two may be the pinnacle of their success so far, and they’re not done yet.

When Monty opens its 2025-26 season Saturday at home in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic down in Skillman (5:30 pm vs. Don Bosco Prep) the lineup will look a little different, but the goal is top even what they’ve done the last couple of years.

After all, the Cougars have won two straight sectional titles, taking Central Jersey Group 4 over Monroe in 2024, and West Windsor-Plainsboro North last year, when they made it all the way to the Group 4 finals, where they fell to Plainfield, their only public school loss all year.

Granted, Grundy will lose some considerable talent, like Ukranian Bohdan BIekietov (11.9 ppg) and Christian Hill (11.2 ppg), along with supporting cast members like Kyryl Streltsov and Braden Ginsberg.

But All-Stater Ethan Lin is back for his senior year, and everything will flow through him. After a horrible leg injury caused him to miss the last half of the regular season and all the postseason in 2024, Lin came back stronger last season, leading the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game, running the offense, and eventually committing to play Philly Big Five basketball for the University of Pennsylvania.

Other key returnees will be Mike Simborski (5.9 ppg), just a sophomore who Grundy says is a very talented guard. Sophomore James Kamara (32 points last year) also will start, along with junior Connor Benedict, whose grandfather is Jim Benedict, a member of the 1969 Rutgers centennial football team who later returned as an assistant coach under Terry Shea.

They’ll also have another big in sophomore Shriyans Mallavarapu – who Grundy says is a great rebounder, has good footwork around the basket, who is “just scratching the surface” – as well as Xavier Harrigan, a junior defensive specialist who also was a member of the football team that made its first-ever sectional title game this year.

But for Grundy, it still comes down to Lin.

“When you have Ethan Lin on the floor,” he says, “you have a chance in every game that you play.”

by Mike Pavlichko

Local hoops coaches supportive of NJSIAA’s new H.S. Basketball mercy rule, running clock

With the NJSIAA instituting a statewide running clock mercy rule in high school basketball – standardizing the previously-optional rule across New Jersey – it will certainly have effects on many games and programs this winter.

The intent, of course, is to prevent mammoth blowouts, or at least keep them from getting further out of hand.. Now, when a score differential reaches 35 points in the second half, the clock will run continuously, only to be stopped for time outs, injuries, technical fouls, or officials’ stoppages. It will only return to normal if the game reaches overtime, which is a longshot.

But there are other effects, too. We’ve seen a couple running clock games in recent years, since the Skyland Conference already had such a rule, and the Greater Middlesex Conference was set to institute it this year, albeit at 30 points. (Now, 35 will be the statewide standard.)

For one, the games now go a lot faster. But that also means there’s less time to get bench players in the game, which could hinder development.

We asked a few coaches in the GMC and Somerset County what they thought of the rule, and many seem to be in favor of it.

One of the reasons the GMC decided to forge ahead was the many blowouts – even with bench players in – that St. Thomas Aquinas had been involved in. Winners of the last six GMC Tournament titles, they’ve dominated the league for years, but last year, it became a different story. Against seven other division opponents – Colonia, East Brunswick, Monroe, North Plainfield, Old Bridge, Piscataway and South Brunswick – they won by 45.1 points per game, on average. And in four GMC Tournament games, their average margin of victory was 59.5 points.

Head coach Tim Corrigan says it likely won’t affect his team in non-conference play, but it will in their league.

“Overall, it’s probably a good thing,” Corrigan tells Central Jersey Sports Radio. “The only downside to it that I see is the playing time for JV/swing players could be cut short as the clock runs in the second half.”

Overall, Corrigan believes the change is a “net positive” and “35 points is a reasonable number.”

The Monroe girls faced St. Thomas twice in the regular season and once in the GMCT final. And they came closer to Aquinas than anyone else in the Red Division.

Their first meeting – a 59-28 Aquinas win on January fourth – was STA’s sixth lowest point total of the season and second lowest scoring output in a win. The 29-point margin was their only Red Division game won by fewer than 30 points, and the game never reached 35. In fact, the deficit was just 12 going into the fourth quarter.

Monroe also beat Colonia by 33 (57-24) and Highland Park by 32 (66-34). So head coach Brian Hinz has seen it from both angles. Their two losses to Aquinas came by a 90-33 score in their second meeting, and 93-34 in the GMC Championship game.

“Having been on both sides of a blowout, I understand the need for a rule like this,” Hinz tells CJSR. “It’s not like the game just ends,” he notes, like it does in baseball.

“It still allows you to go deeper into your bench and help develop your players who look forward to and deserve those minutes in a lopsided game,” Hinz says.

“It will allow us as coaches to get out kids off the court quicker and into the locker room, where we can learn from it and move on to our next opponent,” Hinz added.

Kris Grundy, the boys’ coach at Montgomery – who also is the Cougars’ Athletic Director – considers another angle, too, saying it should also alleviate crowd issues. He says sometimes it can get tense in a blowout.

“We have all been there in those types of environments when teams feel embarrassed by the score and the clock seems to be standing still,” Grundy says. “It is ion those moments where that emotion can spill out onto the playing surface.”

“Hopefully, the running clock will help mitigate those types of situations for all as the second half will go extremely quickly.

by Mike Pavlichko

More tributes pouring in for Hillsborough alum and former basketball coach Ian Progin; plus a one-on-one with Montgomery’s Kris Grundy, and our postgame chat after Raiders’ 2015 CJ4 title

As word spread over the weekend that former Hilllsborough basketball coach – and Rutgers walk-on – Ian Progin had passed away Friday at the age of 47 after a long battle with brain cancer, the tributes came pouring from all over.

In our original story Monday, we heard from his longtime assistant Chris Fox. We asked him to reach out to former players and coaches who wished to say a word or two, and many of them got back to us. They are presented virtually in their entirety here.

We also spoke with Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy, who started with the Cougars’ boys’ basketball program shortly after Progin took over at Hillsborough in 2004. The two became instant friends, often getting together at the end of seasons, along with others in the coaching fraternity.

Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko

We went digging for some nuggets, old pictures, anything we can find. But much of Progin’s run with the Raiders came before the explosion of social media and all things being digitized. We did find a good one, though.

A year after Hillsborough upset Gill St. Bernard’s to win the Somerset County Tournament in 2014, they were a 13-seed in the Central Jersey Group 4 playoff bracket. I was working at WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick at the time, and with that game being played out of our coverage area, at Freehold Township, we opted to broadcast a game closer to our area: Ridge hosting Linden in the North 2, Group 4 final.

The Red Devils had just come off a thrilling win over Columbia in the semifinals, which we also covered. So, we stuck with the higher seed and the hot hand. As the game – which Ridge lost – came to a close, we got word Hillsborough had stunned the Patriots to win the title, the program’s first ever. During the commercial break, I went to my phone, got his number, and told my producer in the studio, David Raisch, to call and see if the could come on the air.

We got him, while he was on the team bus, graciously telling us about the game and how proud he was of the Raiders. You can hear that interview below.

Hillsborough head coach Ian Progin with WCTC’s Mike Pavlichko after the Raiders won the Central Jersey Group 4 title on March 9, 2015.
Ian Progin (in back, with trophy) and the Hillsborough Raiders celebrate their Somerset County Tournament title win over Gill St. Bernard’s, 53-52, at Franklin High School on March 1, 2014. (Source: Progin Basketball)

Here are comments from various former players and coaches, as sent to Central Jersey Sports Radio:

Nick Alaimo, HHS ’13, boys’ basketball: “Coach Progin was more than a coach to me, he was my role model. He is the reason I decided to go into education and coaching. Coach cared about us all more than just basketball players. He was there for us on and off the court. He played a vital role in me having the opportunity to play college basketball. I will cherish the memories I had with coach Progin forever.”

Olivia and Erin Buckman, HHS ’18, girls’ basketball captains: “Coach Progin was so much more than a coach to us – he was family. He was always there with support, advice, and genuine care and he touched our lives in so many ways. The life lessons he taught us are something we will carry with us forever.”

Brett Bisconti, HHS’07, boys’ basketball, current Bernards girls’ coach:  “Ian was my coach throughout high school and brought me onto his staff at Hillsborough when I was just 21 years old with zero coaching experience – he took a chance on me and gave me my first real opportunity. I wanted to be a teacher and a coach and he made it his priority to mentor me to help reach my fullest potential both on and off the court. He was always patient, kind, and modeled how a true leader operates day in and day out – I wanted to be like him. He loved his players and truly only wanted what was best for them. He was so detail-oriented, organized, and prepared – which is why there is no surprise he had the success he had both with the boys and girls programs.

After playing for him, then coaching with him, I got to see first hand what a special and selfless person he really was. I am beyond grateful for everything he did for me, I just completed my 15th year coaching and without the impact he had on me, none of it would be possible – he changed my life.

Courtney, his children, and the rest of his family will always be in my prayers. “

Jill Stanton, HHS ’20, girls’ basketball: “I played basketball for Coach Progin all four years of high school from 2016-2020. Progin embodied what it means to be a true Coach. He took the time to teach every single player how to become a better player, and he tailored his coaching style to our individual needs to help us succeed as individual players and as a team. He was the first coach that really made me feel seen and valued as a player. I was never an outspoken leader, yet he understood that and still trusted me enough as a freshman to be able to contribute and compete against girls three years older than me.

To outsiders, Progin may have just been our Coach. But to the girls lucky enough to play under his leadership, he wasn’t just a Coach. He was the best Coach I’ve ever had. He cared about us as people off the court just as much as he cared about us as players. He was a mentor and another father figure to us all. In just four years, he was able to take a basketball program and turn us into a family, and I will be forever grateful for him. I hope he knows how much we all love and miss him and that he will remain forever in our hearts.

Brandon Shamy, HHS ’05, boys’ basketball:  “I played for Ian Progin for two years, from 2004-2005, his first two years as head coach. After college, Ian hired me to be the freshman coach for his program. It was such a honor to coach with someone I loved playing for. As a coach, Ian brought incredible preparation, passion and energy. He was a great mentor for me, on and off the court. He cared deeply for his players. A special coach, but an even better man.

Ian taught me so much about playing and coaching basketball at a high level. I’ll never forget the amazing memories and accomplishments we shared on the court. He had such a huge impact on so many of our lives. His legacy will last forever. He was such a special coach and man. He’ll be greatly missed by so many.”

Matt Hornich, HHS ’14, boys’ basketball: “In short, Coach Progin was a Hillsborough legend, changing many lives on the court and off. Coach knew how to get the most out of all his athletes and held us to a high standard on and off the court. He will be missed, my thoughts go out to his wife and two kids. The good die young, rest in peace.”

James Smith, HHS ’14, boys’ basketball: “Coach Progin believed in us — not just as players, but as people. He cared deeply for his team, his students, and his community, always showing up with unwavering support. His quiet confidence helped us grow through every challenge. I’m grateful to have known him and will always cherish the time we shared.”

Michelle Fratianni, HHS ’20, girls’ basketball: “Coach Progin was someone who had such a drive to see every girl who stepped onto a court succeed. However, off the court he was caring and had a passion for teamwork, collaboration, and supporting one another. He implemented a poster creation of a new word every week throughout my senior season, and it was a word the team lived by. Coach Progin really brought us all together and is the reason for the team being so successful and bonded. He truly changed the girls basketball dynamic at Hillsborough.”

Amy Rachilla of the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team with Ian Progin – who had stepped down three years prior – on Senior Night in 2023. (Submitted photo.)

Amy Rachilla, HHS’ 23, girls’ basketball:  “In 2019-2020, I was a freshman on the girls varsity basketball team and Coach Progin coached me for his last year before stepping down. Progin was a passionate, dedicated, and supportive coach. He loved the game of basketball and I was lucky enough to have been coached by him for my first year of high school. Not many girls get the opportunity to play on varsity their freshman year, but Coach Progin took a chance on me and paved the way for me to become the basketball player I am today. Progin embodied what being a coach is. He ran a well-organized, close-knit, resilient team. He knew what it took to WIN and he pushed us everyday to be the best version of ourselves. As an only freshman on the team, I was timid and nervous, but he guided me day in and day out whether that was at practice, games or even during school. He had so much confidence and faith in me and put me in positions he knew I would do good in. He only coached me for one year, but for the 3 years after that he always made sure to stay in touch with me and continue to meet with me yearly to check in. He always supported me, and even though he wasn’t my coach for the next 3 years, he still came to watch me score my 1,000th point and celebrate my Senior Night. That shows you the coach he really was. Without him, I would have not been where I am today. He taught me so much about the game and more importantly about life. I was so lucky to have him as my coach. I will truly miss him so much and that smile he always had on his face. He always wanted everyone to be there best as individuals and he would do anything for anyone. He was a coach, mentor and guidance counselor, but he was another father figure to all of us. He built more than just a high school basketball program, he built a family. We will forever miss him and the legacy he built. He will remain in my heart forever.”

Former Hillsborough Girls’ basketball coach Ian Progin (middle) with Senior Night honorees, 2018.  (Submitted photo)

Elizabeth Suseck, HHS ’18, Girls’ basketball:  “Coach Progin was the best coach I ever had. He didn’t just teach us basketball; he taught us how to show up in life, how to work hard, push through, and never settle. I watched him coach my brothers with intensity and high standards, and when he came to the girls’ team, he brought that same energy- he believed in us just as much. I’ll always remember the tough practices, the big wins, and the post-game bus ride sing alongs with Coach (only after the wins of course). I feel very lucky to have known and played for Coach Progin.”

Caitlin Kolesar, HHS ’20, girls’ basketball:  “

When I moved to Hillsborough, I didn’t know what to expect. But one of the first people I connected with was Coach. He sat down with me, listened to my story—where I came from, what I hoped to do with basketball—and he met me with nothing but openness and excitement about what the future could hold. I’ll be honest, our relationship wasn’t always perfect, but when it mattered most, he showed up for me in a way I’ll never forget.

In 2019, after my concussion left me unable to finish my junior year and part of my senior year, Coach never stopped checking in – asking how I was doing, how my recovery was going, and keeping tabs on my progress with the doctors. With their help, I made it back my senior year, and though the road was tough, Coach made sure my fight didn’t go unnoticed. At our senior banquet, he surprised me with the “Comeback Player of the Year” award – an acknowledgment I’ll always hold close to my heart.

Coach was more than just a coach—he was someone who truly cared. On and off the court, he had a heart for his players, and even now, I believe he’s still watching over all of us, cheering us on. I’ll always be grateful for the impact he had on my life, and I’ll carry his memory with me in every step forward.”

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Boys’ Basketball Team of the Year: Montgomery Cougars

Starting out a season, there can be multiple goals. Win your division. Win your county. Win a state title.

Only ten teams will get to play in the last game of the year. And this year, the Montgomery boys’ basketball team was one of them.

But that wasn’t all. The Cougars checked off the box next to division champs, winning the Skyland Conference Raritan with a 10-0 record. And while they fell in the county semifinals to Rutgers Prep, they won a second straight Central Jersey Group 4 title – both coming at home – defeating West Windsor-Plainsboro North to claim another piece of hardware.

The state final? Hey, they went up against to No. 1-ranked team in New Jersey in Plainfield, which won the game and the Group 4 title, and should finish as the top team in the Garden State this year.

Not a bad resume.

And yet, even bringing key parts back from last year, who knew how it would play out?

Senior Christian Hill had to play a bigger role. Ethan Lin was coming off a horrific ankle injury late last year that kept him out of the entire postseason run, both in the county and state tournament; how would he rebound? Would Ukrainian import Bohdan Biekietov be as dominant with teams now aware of his skill. And how would his fellow countryman Kyryl Streltsov fit in with the bunch.

There’s no guarantee, even with a good core back, but Montgomery answered the bell time and time again. Their loss to Plainfield? It was their only public school loss this season, and only the second public school they’ve lost to in two years. The other? Lenape, which beat them last year in the regular season and again in the Group 4 semifinals.

But Montgomery checked that box, too, avenging those defeats with a dominant win over the Indians in this year’s Group 4 semis to get to Jersey Mike’s Arena this past Sunday.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Montgomery seniors Christian Hill, Braden Ginsberg, Bohdan Biekietov, and Kyryl Streltsov, junior Ethan Lin, and head coach Kris Grundy:

by Mike Pavlichko

Plainfield too much for Montgomery, as Cougar boys fall 65-48 in Group 4 State Final

The Montgomery boys’ basketball team knew what it was getting into when they learned they would play the state’s No. 1 team in Plainfield in Sunday’s Group 4 state final.

The Cardinals are adept at defense, and it fuels their offense.

And their game was just too much for the Cougars, who fell 65-48 to Plainfield Sunday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Early on, Monty hung in there, trailing by just six after one quarter, at 16-10. And despite the best three-point shooting efforts of Ethan Lin and Christian Hill, they trailed by nine at the break, still a manageable game.

But even with a couple of mini runs in the third, they couldn’t get over the hump. The lead jumped to 14 for Plainfield. Then back down to single digits, then back to doubles again. Every move the Cougars made, Plainfield had an answer int he second half.

And that included NaJai Hines – “Baby Shaq” as he’s called – who looked the part as he took feeds down low and jammed them home with two hands, with at least five dunks in the third and fourth quarters.

Montgomery finishes its season 25-6, but not empty-handed. They’ve won two straight sectional titles in Central Jersey Group 4, and though they lose several key parts like Bohdan Biekietov, Christian Hill and Kyryl Streltsob, they should contend again next year.

For Plainfield, it was their fifth state championship, and first since 2012.

Click below for postgame reaction from Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Another year, another opportunity to win a title – at home – for Montgomery, as Cougars host West Windsor-Plainsboro North in CJ4 final

When Ethan Lin went down with a horrific ankle injury late last year, the Montgomery boys’ basketball team rallied, and found a way to finish the year strong, going to the Somerset County Tournament title game, and winning a Central Jersey Group 4 title.

Lin is back, there have been other injuries, and some new players, but the Cougars are back as well.

Saturday afternoon, top-seed Montgomery will host second-seed West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game at 3 pm at “The Cougar Den,” the nickname for their home gym that gets very, very loud, rockin’ with heavy student attendance and huge support from the community. (Follow Alec Crouthamel on Twitter for updates in the second half, and postgame story on cjsportsradio.com.)

It all plays into the theme of family veteran head coach Kris Grundy has established in his program.

Both the Cougars and Knights are 23-5 on the season.

West Windsor-Plainsboro North is a senior-heavy team – eight of the 15 players listed on their roster are seniors – led by Malachi Jeffers-Viera. The forward is averaging 19.6 points per game, but contributes in a lot of other ways. He leads the team in rebounds at 8.6 per game, as well as assists (107) and steals (64), and is second in blocks with 24. Aaryan Dadan has a team-best 31 blocked shots.

That will test the Cougars inside, where Bohdan Biekietov and fellow Ukrainain countryman Kyryl Streltsov will guard the rim.

Biekietov hasn’t put up the numbers he did last year, when he was an unknown to many, his first time in the U.S. after fleeing the war with his mother and sister, while his father defends the homeland against Russia. Streltsov joined him this season.

But in the semifinals, a 67-43 win over North Brunswick, Biekietov came alive for 21 points, after Grundy and his staff showed him video of how dominant he was last year. Against the Raiders, he looked like the Bohdan of 2023-24.

Lin, meanwhile, has dominated games this season, averaging 19.9 points per game and hitting a whopping 78 times from beyond the arc. Biekietov is still scoring, averaging 12.2 per game, second on the team.

Click below to hear Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy talk about the Cougars’ playoff run, and the Central Jersey Group 4 title game against West Windsor-Plainsboro North:

by Mike Pavlichko

A chance for another title for Montgomery boys, as Cougars top North Brunswick in CJ4 semis

Back to the finals for Montgomery boys, as Cougars top North Brunswick in CJ4 semis

After reaching their first sectional final in a decade last season, the Montgomery boys’ basketball team is going to the Central Jersey Group 4 title game for a second year in a row.

Maybe it’s something in the water along Route 206, as neighboring Hillsborough’s girls’ team also made the CJ4 finals with a win Wednesday night.

For the top-seeded Montgomery boys – who, like the Raiders – won the title last year, the win that got them there was a 67-43 dominating performance over 12th-seed North Brunswick, which had pulled off two upsets to get here.

Bohdan Biekietov – the reigning Central Jersey Sports Radio Boys’ basketball Player of the Year – has struggled a bit this season. But after the quarterfinal win over East Brunswick, head coach Kris Grundy challenged him to return to the dominating force he was last year as a junior, his first year in the program after fleeing the Ukraine with his mother and sister.

That came to fruition Wednesday, as Biekietov pumped in 21 points to lead all scorers in the game. His presence inside helped the Cougars establish themselves early. He scored the first bucket, en route to a 20-9 lead at the end of one, and a 38-18 bulge at the half.

Fellow Ukranain Kyryl Streltsov added 12 in the win, while Ethan Lin and Christian Hill each contributed eleven points.

Montgomery (23-5) will host third-seed West Windsor-Plainsboro South (23-5) in the finals at 3 pm Saturday. North Brunswick ends its season at 11-18.

Click below to hear Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy talk about the win over North Brunswick, and Saturday’s Central Jersey Group 4 title tilt:

by Mike Pavlichko

Last year’s final is this year’s semifinal, as Rutgers Prep and Montgomery rematch for trip to SCT championship game

If last year’s Somerset County Final and even this season’s regular season matchup are any indication, Saturday’s semifinal game in the Somerset County Tournament between Montgomery and Rutgers Prep very well may be the best game of the day.

It’s certain to be a doozy when the second-seeded Cougars and third-seeded Argonauts meet at 12:45 at Franklin High School. And you can hear it all on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame immediately following the 11 am girls’ semifinal between Rutgers Prep and Hillsborough. Click here to listen.

The last two meetings have all come down to the wire. After a 62-48 Prep win on January 30th of last season, they won the county final by three, 64-61. This year’s regular season was a 63-59 Argonauts’ victory.

In both games, Montgomery trailed at the half. They were down 37-29 at the break in the finals last season, and 40-25 at the half this year. Both times the Cougars rallied in the second half, but fell short, so getting out of the gate hot would be a good start this time around.

The Cougars had a legitimate shot at the tournament’s top seed, but that went to Gill St. Bernard’s, and the difference may have been a late win over Hudson Catholic, which Monty fell too in their opening game of the season, by four.

They have only lost three times since, coming in at 18-4 and on a five game win streak, that includes a 67-58 victory over an always-pesky Pingry squad in the quarterfinals last Saturday, and an impressive 48-45 regular season win over Ridge Tuesday. The Red Devils are the fourth-seed in the county tournament, and play top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s in Saturday’s semifinal finale, scheduled for 4 pm.

Monty’s top scorer is Ethan Lin, a junior who played in this year’s regular season matchup with Prep, but missed last year’s final after breaking his ankle a few weeks earlier. He’s averaging 19.7 points a game, while senior Bohdan Biekietov – in his second season since coming over from the Ukraine – is averaging 11.9 points per game.

For Rutgers Prep, it’s senior Myles Parking leading the show at 15.9 points per game, with sophomore Andrew Kretkowski – who had a big final last year as a freshman against Montgomery, with 17 points and eight rebounds – second at 15.5 points per game, and tops on the team at nearly 5.6 boards per contest. Sophomore Jacob Canton, with a team-best 116 assists in 24 games, can distribute the ball.

This is sure to be some hard-nosed basketball, and worth the price of admission.

Click below to hear both head coaches talk about Saturday’s SCT semifinal between 2-seed Montgomery and 3-seed Rutgers Prep:

Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy
Rutgers Prep head coach Matt Bloom

by Chris Tsakonas

Montgomery looks to keep rebound going after tough loss in opener with trip to South Amboy

When Montgomery tipped off the season against Hudson Catholic last Saturday, the Cougars were coming off of a season that ended with a Central Group 4 title, a run to the Somerset County Tournament final, and a 25-4 overall record.

After narrowly falling 48-44 in that season opener at the New Jersey Basketball Coaches’ Tip-off Showcase last Saturday, No. 3 Montgomery has delivered in the clutch with back-to-back single-digit wins over Pingry and Immaculata.

Tonight, the Cougars (2-1) have a chance to make it a three-game winning streak on a neutral site, as they take on St. Joseph-Metuchen in the nightcap of the 12th annual Friends of South Amboy Charity Basketball Tournament. The game tips at 8 pm, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call. Click here to listen.

While the high-scoring senior duo of Steve Donahue and Jack Fromelt have graduated from last year’s team, Montgomery returns two key players in junior Ethan Lin and senior Bohdan Bieketov.

Lin – who missed much of the late season, the SCT and state tournament last year with a broken ankle he suffered in a game against Hillsborough – has been the Cougars’ primary scoring option, most recently dropping 24 against Immaculata. 

Another key player for Montgomery through the first week of the season has been Christian Hill, who has developed into the Cougars’ third-leading scorer with just over eight points per game to help replace the lost production from Donahue and Fromelt.

Click below to hear Montgomery boys’ basketball head coach Kris Grundy preview tonight’s game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas: