Tag: NJSIAA

by Mike Pavlichko

Baseball Power Points Update: Edison, Middlesex, Rutgers Prep and Immaculata in line for top seeds with three weeks left before NJSIAA cutoff

With only one Central Jersey Sports Radio-area team on the baseball schedule this Sunday, a rainy one at that, it’s time to take our first look at the power point standings in New Jersey, with the cutoff date of May 17 exactly three weeks away.

And there are two publics and two non-publics who are on the right track for top seeds in their respective sections.

Interestingly, the two publics are in Middlesex County – Edison in Central Jersey Group 4, and defending state Group 1 champion Middlesex in CJ1 – while the two non-publics are from Somerset. Immaculata sits atop South A at the moment, while Rutgers Prep tops North B.

This year’s change to the power point formula is that only the top 16 results will count toward qualification. Group points again are no longer a part of the equation, and OOWP remains in the formula. That’s the Opponent’s Opponent Winning Percentage, and for each game, that winning percentage gets .500 added to it, and the total is multiplied by the quality and residual points to get the value for each game.

For example: Team A beats Team B with 6 wins. Team A gets 6 quality points and 18 residual points. The OOWP is the average winning percentage of all of Team B’s opponents. So if that turns out to be a .520 win percentage, the OOWP is 1.020 (.520 plus .500), meaning the 24 power points (6 plus 18) is multiplied by 1.020 to get 24.48 power points.

The top 16 power point values are averaged to get the team’s power point average used for qualification.

(In a story we’re still researching from basketball season, early findings have shown OOWP does little to change power point standings compared to not using it at all, and just using quality points and residuals.)

In any event, here’s a section by section look of power point standings in sections with CJSR-area teams, with links to official standings as posted on NJ.com as of 9:45 am on Sunday, April 26th:

Central Jersey Group 4: This section has the biggest concentration of GMC and Somerset County teams anywhere, and after the top seed, many are bunched together. With the GMC Red and Skyland Conference Delaware Divisions stacked with top teams, don’t get fooled by records; strength of schedule is going to be a big factor here. Currently, Edison (8-3) is leading the pack, with easily the best winning percentage in the section at .727 and a power point average of 18.742, more than a full point ahead of second-place Hightstown (8-4, 17.726). After Hunterdon Central and Marlboro, there’s a trio of GMC Red Division squads, with Monroe (7-6, 14.867) in fifth, followed by South Brunswick (6-6, 14.252) in sixth and Old Bridge (6-6, 14.252) in seventh. The Red Division has been very good, but mostly beyond Edison – which is in first by two games over Old Bridge and, 2.5 over Monroe and three over Soouth Plainfield – everyone has been beating everyone else up. We think the Falcons, Vikings and Knights have a good shot at finishing in the top eight, but don’t count any of those teams out, even if they get an eight or a nine-seed. That’s because Hillsborough (5-6, 13.458) won this section as a nine-seed last year; currently, the Raiders sit in tenth, right above three more area teams. They’re a sliver ahead of Montgomery (7-8, 13.444), followed by Franklin (2-5, 12.663) in 12th, then East Brunswick (5-7, 12.465) in 13th. We think anyone from 11 up is going to be pretty safe here if they can continue without a dropoff in play, though even Franklin and East Brunswick are on the right side of things for now. Sayreville (5-7, 11.382) is a bubble team, but with some cushion; Trenton is right behind them, and North Brunswick in 17th (5-8, 9.967) has some real distance to make up between them and the Tornadoes (6-6, 11.003).

Central Jersey Group 2: While they may not be undefeated as they were last year, State Group 2 champion Governor Livingston is at the top of the pack this year, but not by much. But last year, Rumson-Fair Haven had a bit of an off-year. This year, not so much. The Highlanders are 10-3 (21.505) with the Bulldogs 11-2 (21.251), behind them by a pretty slim margin. This race could come down to the wire. For the first CJSR-area team, you have to get by Johnson, Point Pleasant Boro and Wall to get to South River (10-4) at No. 6 with 17.978 power points, and they’re not far out of fourth. But Allentown (7-6, 17.852) and Delran (10-4, 17.504) are also well within striking distance of the Rams from behind, so they’re not exactly guaranteed a top eight seed (and first-round home game) either. After Manasquan and Robbinsville, Spotswood (6-7, 15.381) is in 11th, but they’re just .006 points behind the Ravens, and could make a move here late. After a 1-5 start, the surging Chargers have won five of their last seven. East Brunswick Magnet (3-10, 8.573) sits in 18th place, but only about 1.2 points out of the 16th and final playoff spot.

Central Jersey Group 1: Defending State Group 1 champion Middlesex (13-1, 20.175) is right at the top of the pack again here, with Point Pleasant Beach (13-1, 20.175) in second. Those two always seem to hook up in the playoffs, including in last year’s sectional final here, a 7-1 win for the Blue Jays en route to Hamilton (then Wood-Ridge). Not far behind is Piscataway Magnet (13-0, 17.698), the only undefeated team left in the CJSR coverage area, and one of just seven statewide with an unblemished record heading into Sunday play. One of the other six, Keyport (9-0, 16.398) is very close behind, too, but with fewer games, could pass the Raiders. Then, there’s Metuchen (8-4, 16.207) and Dunellen (9-2, 14.842) who could also make a run from fifth and sixth, respectively. After Shore and South Hunterdon round out the top eight, South Amboy is just a shade back of the Eagles at 7-2, with 11.317 points, just .136 behind. The Guvs should have a shot at the top eight, but that’s likely all. The next team from the area is Manville (5-6, 8.138) at 14, followed by Somerset Tech (5-4, 7.873) and Highland Park (4-7, 7.313), rounding out the top 16. The Owls could make it with a couple more wins, with likely Keansburg (3-8, 6.22) in 17th their only real competition for that final playoff spot.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4: Fewer than two power points separate the top four from each other here, but there’s a little more distance to the next four. Currently, Bayonne (11-2, 22.007) holds the top spot, followed by Scotch Plains-Fanwood (8-3, 21.6), then two Skyland Delaware Division squads: Ridge (11-4, 21.335) and Watchung Hills (7-3, 20.037). We like both teams’ chances to finish in the top four, especially considering their strength of schedule. JP Stevens (9-4, 18.835) might have a shot, but they might also need some help from the teams ahead of them. Defending champion Westfield – which beat Ridge in last year’s sectional final – sits in seventh, and the next area team down is Woodbridge (5-6, 13.733) in tenth, with Bridgewater-Raritan (4-8, 13.505) in tenth, with their strength-of-schedule keeping them in the hunt right now. They should safely be in the playoffs at their current pace, but Piscataway (6-8, 12.859) is squarely on the bubble in 14th, albeit on the right side. A few more wins, maybe a run in the counties, and we think they’re a good bet to be in.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3: South Plainfield is the defending champ here, but the Tigers find themselves in ninth place at the moment, with a 7-7 record, and 12.917 power points. Have they been a little inconsistent? Maybe. Or maybe it’s more the nature of the GMC Red, where everyone has been feasting off one another. Swept by Edison, they swept Woodbridge, but have since split with St. Thomas Aquinas and Old Bridge, before losing a pair of high scoring games to East Brunswick. Point is, wherever they land, and they still have a good shot at a top eight seed, they could be dangerous. The highest team here is Carteret (10-3, 20.221), but it might be a stretch with their schedule to say they have a good shot at Chatham (11-2, 1st, 23.932). It’s a good deal of ground to make up, and likely not out of the realm of possibility, but the odds are likely a little on the longer side. Still, finishing top two would be an accomplishment, and guarantee home field through at least the sectional semifinals. Behind the Ramblers, North Hunterdon is almost three points back (9-5, 17.663), and Colonia (9-3, 16.622) – last year’s sectional runner-up – sits in fourth. This isn’t an easy section: Cranford (7-7, 16.502( is a shade behind in fifth, and resurgent North Plainfield (10-5, 15.233) is right there in sixth, and could also have a crack at the top four. Somerville (6-6, 12.953) is the team South Plainfield is chasing for the eight spot; how high the Tigers can go will depend if they can string some big wins together. After that, it’s all the way down to 14 for bubble team JFK (5-8, 10.657), but looking at the competition behind them, we think they’re more likely to be in than out.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2: Caldwell (12-1, 16.509) has a sizable lead here for the top seed over second-seed West Morris (10-3, 22.591), with the only area team here being Bernards (6-6, 10.894). The Mountaineers sit in 14th, and while nothing is set in stone (far from it), they look like they should be in the final 16 when things shake out.

Non-Public North A: The only area team here is the new co-op Timothy Christian/Roselle Catholic, which is last out of 13 teams at 0-8. Defending champ Don Bosco is second, behind No. 1 DePaul, currently the No. 3 team in the state.

Non-Public North B: Rutgers Prep (9-2, 20.574) leads the pack here, with a sizeable lead over St. Mary-Rutherford (9-3-1, 17.51). Mother Nature cost the Argonauts a shot at South Plainfield Saturday, with rain moving their game against the Tigers at TD Bank Park until after the cutoff. But they’re still in an enviable position, in front by more than three power points. After those two, and Morris Catholic, Morristown-Bears and the Hawthorne Christian/Eastern Christian co-op, Gill St. Bernard’s (5-6, 11.489) and St. Thomas Aquinas (4-9, 10.73) sit in sixth and seventh. At best, this should be a eight- or nine- team field, with 11th place Golda Och only 0-4, and who knows if Pope John will opt-out, currently at 1-10.

Non-Public South A: Immaculata (9-3) has been lights out all year, and could sweep top-seeds this season, as they are on track to be the No. 1 seed in the Somerset County Tournament. They’re in first-place in this section with 22.906 power points, but they are less than one point ahead of St. Augustine (11-4, 22.099). After that, it’s all the way down to eight for St. Joseph-Metuchen (5-8, 11.743), but keep in mind, they rallied in the GMC Tournament to win it last year after entering the tournament at 10-6, and never led, winning each game in their final at bat. The Falcons even beat Immaculata – which won last year’s SCT – in the opening round here. There are 12 teams here in what could be an 11-team field, if Camden Catholic (1-9, 12th) decides not to play. Pingry (5-6, 9.689) is in tenth, ahead of 11th-place Donovan Catholic.

Colonia celebrates a North 2 Group 3 sectional final win over Chatham (Photo: Nick Hart)
by Mike Pavlichko

NJSIAA moving Colonia boys’ basketball up to Group 4 based on new success formula

With the prevalence of charter schools live Thrive Charter and College Achieve Asbury Park in basketball, as well as public schools that draw students from outside their traditional geographical boundaries, the NJSIAA created a success formula, that moves team up in Group size for playoff qualification.

And now, Middlesex County has seen its first team be affected by the new rule, as the Colonia boys’ basketball program – which has won five straight sectional titles and six of the last seven – is moving up to Group 4. The news was announced Wednesday by the NJSIAA at its monthly meeting in Robbinsville, first reported on Twitter by Darren Cooper of Varsity Aces, and confirmed by Colonia Athletic Director Lou Grasso.

Though the official classifications won’t be out until late in 2026, right before the season starts, it’s most likely the Patriots will end up in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4. It’s a brutally difficult section that this past season included Linden, Elizabeth, Piscataway, and two-time state Group 4 champion Plainfield, which beat Montgomery for a second straight year in the state final at Rutgers.

Eight other boys’ basketball teams will move up as well, according to Varsity Aces. Moving from Group 1 to Group 2 are Thrive Charter, Shabazz, and Essex County Tech. Moving from Group 2 to 3 are Middle Twp. and Camden. Besides Colonia, gGoing from Group 3 up to Group 4 are Ramapo – which had knocked out Colonia in the Group 3 semifinals four years straight from 2022 through 2025 – and Colts Neck.

Only four girls’ basketball programs made the move: Arts (Newark) from Group 1 to 2, Manasquan and Middle Twp. from Group 2 to 3, and Cherry Hill West from Group 3 to Group 4.

The Colonia boys have been in Group 3 for years, but as part of the Woodbridge Township Board of Education – which also operates Woodbridge High School and JFK Memorial High School in Iselin – they are permitted in certain special situations, but not for athletic reasons – to take students from parts of town that would normally send high schoolers to Woodbridge or Kennedy.

In the eyes of the NJSIAA, that makes them a “non-traditional public school,” and coupled with their playoff success this year, that prompted a move up, essentially saying that their success was predicated on pulling students from other areas of town who would not normally attend Colonia.

Already, one Big Central Conference school got moved up in football, as Phillipsburg will be playing in Group 5 next year instead of Group 4. The Stateliners won North 2, Group 4 each of the past two seasons, 2025 and 2024. Prior to that, they were in Group 5, and reached the sectional finals in 2023 and 2022, losing both times.

Other football schools to move up in 2026 based on the new success formula include Glassboro moving up to Group 1, Camden and Shabazz moving up from Group 2 to Group 3, Cedar Creek moving from Group 3 to 4, and Ramapo going from Group 4 to 5 along with Phillipsburg.

The moves have no bearing on league divisions in the Big Central, GMC, or Skyland Conference, nor for conference tournaments in basketball.

The idea of the formula is to deal with public schools that can take students from beyond their normal geographical boundaries, but are not non-public schools, which can admit anyone from anywhere in the state. Charters are considered public schools, based on how they are funded and accessibility. There are also choice and tuition schools, among others, like county vo-techs, academies, and magnet schools.

The success factor awards one point for each in through the sectional semifinals of the state tournament, two for winning a sectional title, three for a state semifinal and four for a state title. Those with three or more non-resident athletes on the roster while accumulating seven or more points in basketball (six in football) move up the next season, depending on the type of school. 

According to the rules, choice schools, those that accept tutition-paying students, and those with satellite campuses for county academies must meet both criteria.  Charters, county Vo-Tech, magnet/academy schools and those with open enrollment policies only need to meet the points criteria.

Responding to an email requesting information under which category Colonia was affected, NJSIAA Chief Compliance Officer Paul Popadiuk told Central Jersey Sports Radio Wednesday evening Colonia was classified as open enrollment, “allowing students outside its geographical borders.  

That means Colonia only needed to meet the point requirement, which it did, accumulating eight points as the Patriots went all the way to the Group 3 finals for the first time in program history.

Popaduik further explained that because Woodbridge has three high schools and students are permitted to attend a school outside their zone, making Colonia an open enrollment school, the issue of residency is irrelevant; Colonia only needed to pass the point threshold.

The issue first came up three seasons ago when longtime Roselle Catholic head coach Dave Boff went down the Shore to lead College Achieve Asbury Park. That raised the profile of the tiny school, as Boff brought in major Division 1 prospects.

Traditionally, many charter schools, often small, have not achieved great success in the state tournament. But Boff’s team steamrolled through the playoffs in 2023-24, beating tiny Manville for the Central Jersey Group 1 title, and Newark Tech in the state Group 1 final.

Now, College Achieve has a “regional” and national team, with the national team not playing in the NJSIAA, while the regional squad does. But it only won six games combined the last two seasons since its inception, with the most talented players being on the national team roster.

Thrive Charter also became an issue with public school coaches for similar reasons. Manville ran into them in 2025, a year after losing to College Achieve, falling to Thrive in the Central Jersey Group 2 semis to cap a 19-9 season, one of the program’s best ever in terms of wins, and certainly its best in years.

“I am in favor of the success formula,” Manville head coach Bill Rooney told Central Jersey Sports Radio Wednesday. “I think it will help even out the non-traditional publics and allow for a competitive balance for the true public schools. I wish it would have happened a few years ago, but what are you going to do?”

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Group 3 Finals (Boys): Ocean City, Montgomery 40

Despite a 22-point game from sophomore Jayce Rodriguez, North 2, Group 3 champ Colonia lost to South Jersey Group 3 champion Ocean City, 55-46, in the NJSIAA state Group 3 title game, giving the Red Raiders their first state title since 1964.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 15, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Smooth sailing in winter championships welcome for NJSIAA, with more experiences at Rutgers to come

Someone will always complain about something – a seed, a snow day – but on the whole, things seemed to go quite swimmingly these last few weeks in the state tournaments for the NJSIAA.

After some hot controversies over the last couple of years, it’s welcome news.

There was Manasquan-Camden’s controversial ending in basketball two seasons ago, then the Anthony Knox wrestling saga last season. But the best news to come out of this week’s state championships – whether it was wrestling at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, or 12 state title basketball games at Rutgers – was that it was all about the champions.

NJSIAA Executive Director Collen Maguire was at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway Sunday for the last day of championships, after spending the last few days down in Atlantic City with the wrestling tournament. And nearly every official with the NJSIAA was nearly all smiles all weekend.

No pointed questions from reporters, no challenges working its way through the courts. The way it should be.

About the biggest challenge for the NJSIAA was dealing with a massive winter snowstorm a couple of weeks ago as the basketball tournament got underway. Originally slated to begin on Tuesday, February 24th with the opening round for public schools in Groups 2 and 4, the blizzard not only postponed those games, but also the opening round for Group 1 and 3 publics on Wednesday.

The NJSIAA smartly had enough breaks baked into the schedule, and it simply moved those days – and the sectional quarterfinal rounds – back two days. Some didn’t like it, and would have preferred to play on time, but the move essentially allowed referee assignments to stay the same, and keep everyone on the same track, rather than having some teams play earlier and have more of a break before the next round. It was the most fair and equitable decision it could make.

And the state athletic association even adjusted is non-public game sites on the fly when some teams – like St. Joseph-Metuchen and St. Peter’s Prep, which are designated Non-Public “South A” schools – had quite the distance to travel. St. Peter’s is in Jersey City, for example, and was faced with traveling far past the home court of its lower-seeded opponent.

Add to all that, a few years into Maguire’s tenure leading the state athletic association, the NJSIAA isn’t sitting still on its championships. A few years ago, she brokered a deal to keep all the state championships in basketball at Rutgers, a central location in the state, rather than have some there, and others down at the RWJBarnabas Arena in Toms River.

It’s a great facility, but it’s not Rutgers, and it just doesn’t have the same cachet. The NJSIAA says it wants a world-class experience for its student-athletes, and Rutgers is it. Plus, it’s as Central a location as you could get.

Sure, some will complain about the price of parking. But those things come with having such a big event. Is $20 really that bad when you can stay and watch four great high school basketball games over eight hours? That’s about $2.50 an hour, maybe a bit more than your average parking meter.

Back in late January, the NJSIAA announced it would move its baseball finals from picturesque Veterans’ Park in Hamilton to Bainton Field at Rutgers, right across from Jersey Mike’s Arena. The park was beautiful, but as the NJSIAA has said, it simply outgrew the park, which had limited parking, a curfew (that provided a controversy of its own last year over a long-running game that had to be suspended and picked up the next day, no tarp (which led to games frequently being rescheduled), and scant cell service that often forced reporters to file stories from their cars, where there could maybe get one more bar – or one at all – on their mobile hotspots.

On Saturday, after the state Group 4 final, we ventured over to see the new facility, which actually is more impressive than any picture released online has even shown.

Brand-new elevated bleachers wrap around from beyond both dugouts, with 400 seat-back chairs directly behind the plate, and a new press-box replaces the antiquated one that used to sit at field level behind home plate, now with plenty of room inside and out for media.

Some of the credit goes to Rutgers here, too. The baseball move happened on the watch of new Athletic Director Keli Zinn, who only began the job last summer, and was hired by similarly-new University President William Tate. They seem to understand the value of having such events on campus.

Even the Greater Middlesex Conference has had discussions with Zinn, and we hear at least one of the topics was to bring the basketball championship doubleheader back to RU. The county finals had been held there for decades, predating the formation of the GMC for the 1985-86 season. (In fact, the first live basketball game this reporter ever attended was the 1984 Middlesex County Tournament final, at age six, when St. Peter’s of New Brunswick beat St. Joe’s-Metuchen in the final.

But the GMC moved to Middlesex County College in 2019 and 2020, citing cost issues at Rutgers. And after COVID, the league began holding the semifinals and finals all at Monroe Township High School, where it has remained since.

But with all due respect, what sounds better as a preseason mantra? “We want to make it to Monroe” or “We want to make it to Rutgers?”

by Mike Pavlichko

Ocean City capitalizes on late turnovers in tight game, tops Colonia 55-46 in NJSIAA Group 3 final

This season, the Colonia boys’ basketball team went further than any other Patriot team in program history in the state tournament, all the way to the state finals at Rutgers for the first time in eleven previous sectional championship season.

But they will have to wait one more year for a chance to take it one step further and win it all.

Some uncharacteristic late turnovers in the final four minutes of the NJSIAA Group 3 final at Rutgers ultimately cost Colonia, and the North 2 Group 3 champs fell 55-46 to South 3 champ Ocean City, in a game heard Sunday afternoon on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was a tight game throughout. Colonia led 14-12 after one quarter, and led most of the second half, but found itself trailing the Red Raiders by one, 29-28 at the break. The Patriots had ten from Jayce Rodriguez in the first eight minutes to lead the way, but also had 10 points off the bench, including six from Jayden Johnson.

In the second half, head coach Jose Rodriguez tightened his rotation. And despite no bench points through the first 12 minutes, the game was still close with the final four minutes on the clock – despite three early-fourth quarter treys from junior Josh Lenko – as Rodriguez called a time out to settle the troops.

But then came the turnovers. A poke away here, an errant pass there, and Ocean City capitalized on the other end, going five-of-six from the foul line. All of a sudden, in a game no-one led by more than seven, the Red Raiders pulled away to win by nine.

Lenko, who had 30 in the group semifinals against Central 4 champion Westhampton Tech, went off for 24 to lead all scorers. Sixteen of those points came in the second half. Luke Tjoumakaris finished with 15.

Colonia’s Tyler Herman goes in for a layup in the second half of the Group 3 title game at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 16, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Jayce Rodriguez led Colonia with 20, and he had ten in each half. But no one else scored in double figures, as the Patriots were held to just two fourth-quarter field goals: an and-one from Jayce, and a bucket by senior Dylan Chiera, who finished with five, all in the second half.

For Ocean City, which finished the season 26-6, it’s their first state title since they won Group 3 in 1964, just three years into the sectional era. They also won Group 1 in 1955.

Colonia ends its season at 21-11, sectional champs for the sixth time in seven playoff seasons under Jose Rodriguez, who was named GMC Coach of the Year by the league coaches last month. (There were no state playoffs in the COVID-shortened 2021 season.)

They’ve also won five sectional titles in a row, tying a Middlesex County mark set by Odie Page’s New Brunswick teams, who won nine sectional crowns under his tutelage, and five straight from 1983 to 1987.

The Patriots won North 2, Group 3 in 2019, lost in the 2020 title game, but have been victorious in every final going back to 2022.

Click below for postgame reaction from the NJSIAA Group 3 Boys’ Championship Game, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel
Ocean City head coach John Bruno with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Group 4 Finals (Boys): Plainfield 49, Montgomery 40

Despite a 20-point game from Penn-bound senior Ethan Lin, Central 4 champion Montgomery lost 49-40 to North 2, Group 4 Champion Plainfield in the NJSIAA state Group 4 title game. It was Plainfield’s second straight state championship.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 14, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Group 3 Semifinals (Boys): Colonia 67, Montville 57

North 2, Group 3 champion Colonia got 27 points from sophomore Jayce Rodriguez – including 14-of-14 from the foul line, all in the second half – and another 20 from senior Dylan Chiera, as the Patriots beat North 1, Group 3 champion Montville in the Group 3 state semifinals. The win sends Colonia to the state Group 3 finals for the first time ever, where they will take on Ocean City at Rutgers.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from the Dunn Center in Elizabeth on March 11, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery falls to Plainfield for 2nd year in a row in Group 4 final, as Gordon helps Cardinals pull away in 4th for 49-40 win

The Montgomery boys’ basketball team felt good about its chances coming into Saturday afternoon’s NJSIAA Group 4 state final at Rutgers, and they had plenty of reason to.

All season long, they have gotten outstanding performances from different players every night, with Ethan Lin running the show, Shriyans Mallavarapu blocking shots, Xavier Harrigan coming off the bench to play lock down defense, and Connor Benedict and Mike Simborski connecting from beyond the arc.

And they got that again, with the teams playing a tight first three quarters. Plainfield led 13-9 after one, with the second quarter seeing the lead change four times. It was 22-20 Cardinals at the half.

Whenever it looked like Plainfield was going to pull away, Monty would hit a big shot, whether it was a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first to trim a five-point deficit to two, or Simborksi from the college range on the left wing at the third-quarter horn to slash a seven-point deficit to four.

But the matchup zone defense of Plainfield caused Monty headaches all night, and by late in the game, their long possessions were stretching longer, and with a few misses, The Cards won the rebounding battle in the second half. It was tied 11-11 at the break, but the Cougars were left with a lot of one and dones, and they had a 12-5 advantage on the glass over the last 16 minutes.

And the exclamation mark was a thunderous one-handed jam by Gordon, streaking to the basked from the left wing on a break off a pretty feed from Kamai Lowery with 4:26 left. If it didn’t mathematically put the game out of reach, everyone in the building could sense that it was a harbinger of the celebration that would come when the clock finally winked down to :00.

Lin finished with 20 in the game – including four treys, and two in the fourth quarter – tied for game-high honors with Gordon, a junior who is uncommitted, but has offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State and North Carolina state, among others. Lin, meanwhile, in his last game as a Cougar, will be headed down to The Palestra to play for Penn.

Senior Kamai Lowery finished with 12 for Plainfield (26-5), while fellow senior Rashawn Williams added ten, including a pair of triples.

Sophomore Connor Benedict finished with nine for Montgomery (26-5), while Mallavarapu had six, but all were in the first half.

Click below for postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel with head coach Kris Grundy, presented by Sportsplext at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia battles Ocean City for Group 3 title at Rutgers Sunday, as Patriots, Red Raiders both seek first state ‘chip

The Colonia boys’ basketball program made history Wednesday night, but there’s still some more ink in the pen, and more to write.

The Patriots’ 67-57 win over Montville sent them to the state finals for the first time ever. And now, a program that has won eleven sectional trophies – six of which have come under current head coach Jose Rodriguez – will look to claim its first state championship when it plays Sunday in the NJSIAA Group 3 final at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway.

They’ll take on Ocean City at 2 pm, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame starts at 1:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Colonia comes in at 21-10, with their season trajectory well-documented. They won just two of their first eight games, but are 19-4 since, their last two defeats coming right before the state tournament. After losing so much off-season talent, including two-time GMC Tournament MVP Aiden Derkack, R.J. Wortman and Zach Smith, it took a little while to figure out roles and adjust to the changes.

To say they “figured it out” might be the understatement of the year, as they eventually earned the top-seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3, then four games later claimed their fifth straight sectional title.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about their semifinal win over Montville was not the 27 points Jayce Rodriguez – the team’s top scorer – poured in, or they early lead they built that they never lost the rest of the way, or even the outstanding effort from Nfa Clyne with an 11-point four-rebound night.

No, it was probably the fact the Patriots went 22-of-24 from the foul line, including 13-of-15 in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs attempted to come back. Of those, Jayce Rodriguez went 8-for-8 in the final quarter, and his last 14 points came from the foul line.

All that spells a team that knows the game, and knows the plan: draw contact, get to the line, score.

It was the kind of all-around team effort that maybe wasn’t happening in those first eight games, but certainly has been since.

Ocean City is a very similar team. The Red Raiders come in at 25-6, 9-3 in their Cape-Atlantic League American Division, which got them a second place finish behind Middle Township. They were a CAL Tournament finalist, falling by one to Atlantic City in the title game.

And while they may not have won five straight sectional titles like Colonia has, they have played in big games.

Ocean City won South Jersey Group 4 last year before tragedy struck in the state semifinals against Colts Neck. Senior point guard Ben McGonigle was injured early on and couldn’t return. The Red Raiders built a lead, and were up ten with two minutes to go in the third, but lost by two, 47-45.

So, just like Colonia, they know the hurt of just missing a state final.

It can be a different player for Ocean City every night. Senior forward Josh Lenko was the one who came up big in a 56-43 win over Central 4 winner Westhampton Tech in the state semifinals. A 14 point-per-game scorer on the season, he dumped in 30 points and hit six treys in the state semifinals Wednesday night, and as coach John Bruno said afterward, “you wouldn’t necessarily have prepared for that.”

The team’s top scorer is Luke Tjoumakaris, who’s averaging around 15 points a game all season, and in the states. The senior is a tough scorer around the rim, while senior Tighe Olek who averages xi points – “does the dirty work,” according to Bruno, drawing the opposition’s best defender.

And then there’s Bruno, a veteran coach who’s been at Ocean City for 37 years, and has won over 500 games in America’s Greatest Family Resort town. He’ll be pacing the sideline at Jersey Mike’s in

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez
Ocean City head coach John Bruno

Quirky/Useless Stat of the Day: While this will be Ocean City’s first game at Rutgers, Colonia has been there before, most recently playing in the 2018 GMC Tournament final. That was the last season under former standout Brandon Hall as head coach, and the tournament has since moved on to play the finals at other league venues. But maybe not for long. GMC officials recently met with new Rutgers Athletic Director Keli Zinn, and it’s possible – like how the NJSIAA recently struck a deal to hold all its state basketball finals at Rutgers, and recently announced baseball finals will be held there, too – that the tourney could come back to the “RAC” in the near future.

LINKS TO PREVIOUS COLONIA STATE TOURNAMENT COVERAGE:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gill’s defensive effort in Non-Public B Final win over Holy Cross was best in nearly three decades, matches program best win streak

If you ever want this reporter to go down a rabbit hole, ask him a question he doesn’t know the answer to.

Then again, sometimes you don’t even have to ask.

The Gill St. Bernard’s boys’ basketball team won its first-ever state title Thursday night when the Knights beat Holy Cross Prep of Delran 39-28 at Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers University, and may have made a little history in the process besides picking up that first state championship trophy.

We looked back through the record books, and the 28 points allowed was the lowest scored in a state non-public final since at least 2011, when South B champion Cardinal McCarrick of South Amboy (now closed) lost to powerhouse and North B champ St. Anthony of Jersey City, 75-28 in the Non-Public B Final. No one else has allowed fewer points dating back to the 2000 championships.

That Friar squad finished that season 33-0, with a 61-49 win over Plainfield in the now-defunct Tournament of Champions final.

St. Anthony would go on to play its final season six years later, as the school closed in the summer of 2017 with a record 13 TOC wins. Plainfield, which also lost to the Friars in a rematch in 2012, will face Montgomery Saturday afternoon in the Group 4 finals, a rematch of a game they won 65-48. You can hear that game live at 2 pm, with pregame at 1:40 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel; click here to listen.

The game also was the lowest combined score of any non-public/parochial final in the last 25 seasons in which group finals were held. The emerging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ended up truncating the NJSIAA state tournament before the non-public finals could be held, and there were no state playoffs at all the following season, in 2021.)

Gill St. Bernard’s led Holy Cross 20-2 at the half, though the Lancers rallied to cut it to six points and a two-possession game, at one point in the fourth quarter, with the Knights pulling away at the end.

The combined 67 points beat out the second-lowest scoring game since 2020, a 38-35 win for Union Catholic over St. Peter’s Prep in the Non-Public A final in 2023, with a combined 73 points scored between the teams.

Scores that low are rare in games where a lot of offensive firepower tends to rule the day. In that time span, only seven of 50 non-public finals saw combined scores under 100, with three of them coming since COVID. In 2024’s Non-Public A final, Don Bosco Prep beat Paul VI 56-29, a combined score of 85, and the second fewest points allowed in a final since 2000.

For the “record”…

With the win, Gill St. Bernard’s finished the 2025-26 season on a 24-game win streak, tying what is believed to have been the longest win streak in school history, or at least its longest since becoming a member of the NJSIAA in 2004-05. The 2010-11 team finished 26-3, and won its last 24 games after a 2-2 start that includes losses to St. Anthony and St. Benedict’s.

While those Knights won the Somerset County Tournament championship – their first of ten, now tied for that mark with Bridgewater-Raritan after this season’s win – they bowed out in the sectional semifinals of the state tournament to St. Patrick of Elizabeth, 69-41.