Tag: Mike Gordon

by Mike Pavlichko

Experienced and ready, Montgomery boys seek first-ever state title in Group 4 finals rematch with Plainfield

At the end of the day, throw the seeds out, and just look at where the two teams playing in Saturday’s Group 4 state boys’ basketball title game rank statewide.

Montgomery was a three-seed in its Central Jersey Group 4 playoff section, and had to go on the road to beat top-seed Hillsborough in overtime to win it. Plainfield was a four-seed in North 2, Group 4 and had to travel to beat a higher seed as well – Linden, the two – to win the title.

But these are not your typical three- and four-seeds. Montgomery is the tenth-ranked team in the state, per NJ.com, with Plainfield five spots ahead. They are No. 1 and No. 2 when you take out the non-publics.

And quite truthfully, that’s more like it.

But no matter how you slice it, whoever is inside Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers Saturday when Montgomery (26-4) and Plainfield (25-5) play for the Group 4 title in a rematch of last year’s title game should get every single penny of their dollar’s worth.

You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – for free, with no paywall – beginning with the pregame show, set for 1:40 pm with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel. Click here to listen.

The Cougars have it going on all cylinders right now, and have been well-tested in the state tournament. After a blowout win over Manalapan in the opening round of the sectionals, they earned a ten-point win over Trenton, then went on the road and won back-to-back games: by 12 at Marlboro and 55-47 in OT at neighboring Hillsborough to take home their third straight sectional title, and fourth overall, all of which have come under current head coach Kris Grundy.

And he has a more than capable team.

It starts with Ethan Lin, the Penn-bound senior point guard who runs the show, in every sense of the word. Through the sectional finals, he had poured in 25, 31, 30 and 22 points, but one might be prompted to wonder how he was held to just nine in the Group 4 semis against Cherry Hill.

Watch the game, and you’ll know. Lin has an uncanny ability to know when he has to score, and when he doesn’t. He’ll gladly concede 20 points off his game to let someone else have them if that means Montgomery wins.

And that’s what he did against Cherry Hill East Tuesday night. He kept feeding the ball to two sophomores, Mike Simborski and Shriyans Mallavarapu. Simborski finished with 28, three shy of a career high, while Mallavarapu topped his previous best of 16 points with 23, while he also grabbed 12 rebounds and said “no” to a number of layup attempts by the other team named the Cougars.

But those three are just the start. Connor Benedict – always busy making deflections and stealing the ball – also can light it up from three. And then there’s the literal “X” factor off the bench, junior Xavier Harrigan, a multi-sport athlete who recorded 49 tackles last year – 41 solo – from his spot in the secondary.

Monty has four losses all year: twice to Rutgers Prep – once in the regular season and once in the Somerset County Tournament – once to North 2, Group 4 finalist Linden, and once to newly-minted Non-Public Group B state champion Gill St. Bernard’s.

Not bad at all.

On the Plainfield side, the Cardinals won’t win 30 games again this year – they finished 29-3 last season – but are still among the top public schools in the state

Micah Gordon – an uncommitted junior with his biggest offers from Tennessee and Mississippi State, among others – is the top dog (bird?) for the Cards. The point guard is averaging a shade under 25 points a game on the season, and he’ll eclipse the 2,000-point mark in his career very early next season/later in 2026, already sitting at 1,821 points.

He’s scoring at a 24.4 point per game clip in the state playoffs, where – even more impressive, in a dominating win over Linden – he had perhaps his finest moment in the tournament: 33 points, seven assists, three treys, and something you rarely see at any level of basketball: 14-of-16 from the foul line.

Then three of the next four top scorers – seniors Rashawn Williams, Devin Thomas, and Kamai Lowery – are, like Montgomery’s Harrigan – football players, and bring a unique dynamic to a team that plays in the rugged Union County Conference.

Williams and another senior, Tylor Hunter, are the team’s top rebounders, while Gordon and Thomas have each hit 48 triples on the year.

With two point guards who can take over the game at any time, this one might be as entertaining for the offensive exploits of those on the floor as it is watching each side’s defense try to contain the other side.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
Plainfield head coach Mike Gordon with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel

Quirky/Useless Stat of the Day: Montgomery is 2-0 against teams whose schools start with the letter C. Ironically, both are named “Cougars.” They had a 72-32 win over the Central Jersey College Charter Cougars on January 30th, and beat the Cherry Hill East Cougars Tuesday in the Group 4 semifinals, 67-57.

LINKS TO PREVIOUS MONTGOMERY STATE TOURNAMENT COVERAGE:

Plainfield guard Micah Gordon (5) skies for a dunk.
by Alec Crouthamel

Top-seeded Piscataway falls to Plainfield in North 2 Group 4 semifinals

You could feel it walking into the building. Playoff basketball intensity.

Or, to be more specific, before walking into the building, in a line that stretched nearly the entire length of Piscataway High School ahead of the North 2 Group 4 semifinal between the top-seeded Chiefs (23-8) and fourth-seeded Plainfield.

In the end, though, the Cardinals’ (22-5) top-end talent and pressure on both sides of the floor propelled Plainfield to a 73-56 road victory, continuing its quest to defend its Group 4 state title from last year.

The Cardinals took the “basketball is a game of runs” adage to the extreme, working three different “Killshots” — a run of 10-0 or more, coined by college basketball data scientist Evan Miyakawa — to pull ahead for good and keep the game out of reach.

Plainfield star guard Micah Gordon led all scorers with 23 points, as part of a quartet of Cardinals in double-figures. Forward Rashawn Williams added 18 points as a force at the basket, while Devin Thomas added 11 and Tylor Hunter scored ten points.

Senior forward Isaiah Fowler led Piscataway’s offense in one of his top scoring performances of the year, scoring a team-high 22 points with four three-pointers. Guards Josh Lima and Landon Pernell also added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Both teams came out of the gate throwing haymakers, with a combined five three-pointers in the first quarter. The Chiefs caught fire near the midway point of the frame, building up a 17-10 lead with an 11-3 run.

That was when Plainfield woke back up.

The Cardinals worked an extended 18-0 run to take a double-digit lead for the first time, as their backcourt pressure and uptempo offense took Piscataway completely out of its rhythm. It felt like an avalanche falling on the Chiefs with multiple backcourt steals in a row, as Gordon electrified the always-raucous Plainfield faithful with a dazzling array of finishes at the basket.

Piscataway managed to slow it down on offense and worked its way back into the game towards the end of the first half, knocking down two straight treys to cut the deficit to five points. But just when it seemed like the Chiefs were landing their counterpunch — with an equally frenzied home crowd of their own — the Cardinals landed another blow with an 11-0 run to end the first half, going into the locker room with a commanding 41-25 lead.

Plainfield kept the foot on the gas to open the third quarter, as well. Piscataway senior forward Donald Nwaigwe drew an and-one in the post, but Thomas and Gordon each knocked down deep three-pointers to stretch the Cardinals’ lead to 20 points in the half’s opening minutes.

Even with the big-time deficit, the Chiefs had one final burst left in them, working a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to nine points. Plainfield kept up the trend and responded accordingly, ripping off another 10-0 run, ending the third quarter with an 18-point lead and all of the momentum.

The Cardinals slowed the pace down with the big lead in the fourth quarter and worked some timely buckets, including six points from Williams.

In a battle of teams of similar size and uptempo style, Plainfield came away victorious thanks to its devastating spurt-ability and took control for good.

The Cardinals will face off against second-seeded Linden — who defeated the three-seed Union in the opposite semifinal — for a chance at a second straight sectional title in their third straight appearance. Piscataway’s season comes to a close in Bob Turco’s second year at the helm, moving a round further than a season ago.

Click below to hear postgame reactions from Piscataway head coach Bob Turco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen: