Donald Nwaigwe scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Izayah Brown added 16 and went 10-of-11 from the charity stripe in a 64-61 win for second-seed Piscataway over third-seed Colonia, sending the Chiefs back to the GMC Tournament title game for the second straight year.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call all the play-by-play from Monroe Township High School on February 18, 2026.
Mark Taylor has won two GMC Tournament titles, Bob Turco three. Friday night, both will look to end title droughts for their boys’ basketball teams, droughts of varying degrees.
The Piscataway program – with Turco in his second year as head coach after winning three straight GMC titles for St. Thomas Aquinas in 2020, 2022 and 2023 – hasn’t won a title since 2009, when Guy Jensen’s top-seeded squad beat third-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen, which proceeded to win nine of the next ten championships.
The last of those came in 2019, the second year under head coach Mike Thompson after Dave Turco – who’d won five in a row, seven of eight, and each of his last two appearances – before he was replaced. After all that, six years without a title – or even an appearance in the finals, after having made a dozen in a row – is a long stretch.
For one of them, the drought will end Friday night.
You can hear the GMC Tournament championship doubleheader exclusively on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday, starting with the 6 pm girls’ opener between six-time defending champ and top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas and second-seed East Brunswick, seeking its first title since 2016. The boys’ championship tips at 8:00. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame starting around 7:45. Click here to listen.
Both coaches have been game changers for their respective programs, but both will tell you it’s about the players, not the coaches. That was the case Wednesday evening in the semifinals, where Piscataway found itself trailing Colonia 28-22 at halftime, and the locker room speech essentially boiled down to “We gave you the game plan, now just go execute.” The did in the second half, and here they are.
Turco came to Piscataway and breathed new life into the program, playing them in as many summer league games as they could get into, and learning defensive fundamentals that have paid off big-time: this will be their second straight trip to a county final, and Turco’s sixth. And in large part, it’s due to homegrown talent like seniors Donald Nwaigwe (team-bests 16.3 oints per game, 8.5 rebounds and 27 blocks), Isaiah Fowler (14.2 ppg), Josh Lima (12.8 ppg) and the like.
Mark Taylor did it a different way, being at a parochial school. If Turco left Aquinas to get out of that game, Mark Taylor at St. Joseph is playing it. He brought in three highly-touted transfers this year, and it’s paid immediate dividends.
Junior Imaad Johnson came in from Union and is averaging 11.3 points per game, with a team-best 33 treys. Junior Andrew Kretkowski, who made an impact as a freshman two years ago at Rutgers Prep and was key as a sophomore last year, came in from the Easton Ave. school and is scoring 17 points a game, hitting from down low, nailing jumpers, and connecting from beyond the arc 23 times already.
Neither had to sit like perhaps the biggest piece Taylor brought in: 6’7″ junior Aidan Carter, a lengthy guard who is leading the team with 18.9 points per game, 9.8 boards, 155 assists and 58 steals, while also hitting 21 treys.
MORE ON THE GMC TOURNAMENT BOYS’ FINAL:
(1) St. Joseph-Metuchen (25-1) vs. (2) Piscataway (20-6)
When: Friday, 8 pm
Where: Monroe Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe (LISTEN HERE)
COACHES:
St. Joseph: Mark Taylor, 1st season, second stint (624-178 overall, including 172-69 in first run at St. Joe’s, as well as Ridge and St. Benedict’s Prep)
Piscataway: Bob Turco, 2nd season (417-133 overall, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Notre Dame, and Monroe)
PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
St. Joseph: The first two games were a cruise for the Falcons, who got past 17th-seed Monroe in the first round, 86-49, then picked up an 85-30 win at nine-seed Metuchen. The semifinals were a different story. Though they held fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas off the board for nearly the first six minutes of the game Wednesday night, the Trojans were within six about midway through the fourth quarter, but that was about as close as they would get, as St. Joseph won 63-51.
Piscataway: After the round of 16, one might say the Chiefs have been a bit more tested. Following a 95-40 win over 18th-seed North Plainfield in the round of 16, they beat seventh-seed Sayreville 80-66. And in the semifinals, they erased a six-point halftime deficit against third-seed Colonia, and pulled out a 64-61 victory Wednesday night to get back down to Monroe Friday for a chance at the title.
TOP SCORERS:
St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (junior, 18.2 ppg, 21 treys), Andrew Kretkowski (junior, 17 ppg, 23 treys), Imaad Johnson (junior, 11.3 ppg, team-best 33 treys)
Piscataway: Donald Nwaigwe (senior, 16.3 ppg, 11 treys), Isaiah Fowler (senior, 14.2 ppg, 38 treys), Josh Lima (senior, 12.8 ppg, 38 treys), Landon Pernell (junior, 12.8 ppg, team-best 46 treys)
TOP REBOUNDERS:
St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (9.8), Joel Patrick (8.9), Andrew Kretkowski (7.8)
Piscataway: Donald Nwaigwe (8.5), Isaiah Fowler (4.1)
MISCELLANEOUS:
St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (155 assists, 58 steals), Joel Patrick (79 blocks)
Piscataway: Landon Pernell (114 assists, 83 steals), Donald Nwaigwe (27 blocks)
RECENT MEETINGS: St. Joseph has won eight of the last ten meetings, but they’ve split the last four. Piscataway won both matchups last year, 73-49 and 84-69, but the Falcons won both this year, by similar scores: 64-53 in overtime on January 3rd at home – a game win which the Chiefs were held to just one second half and one overtime field goal – and 64-57 on the road just 12 days later.
GMC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
St. Joseph (12-9):
*coached by Mark Taylor
Piscataway (7-5):
OTHER NOTES:
Championship Coaches: Of the four coaches in this year’s semifinals, three have won GMC titles, but those are the only three. That’s right, only three current Greater Middlesex boys’ coaches have ever won the event. Jose Rodriguez of Colonia – this year’s GMC Coach of the Year – won the last two with the Patriots. Before that, Bob Turco won three straight when he was at St. Thomas Aquinas, in 2020, 2022, and 2023. And Mark Taylor won two titles in his first run at St. Joseph, in 1998 and 1999.
Championship Coaches, Part Two: When Piscataway made the finals last season, Bob Turco became the first coach in GMC history to bring three different schools to the championship game. Until this year, he was one of three to bring two different schools to the GMC title game, and two share the same last name. Ken Pace brought JFK in 1990 and won it over top-seed Perth Amboy, then he took Colonia several times in the 90s, winning in 2001 over top-seed St. Joseph. Speaking of the Falcons, Bob’s brother Dave brought Carteret to two finals, winning in 2002 over a Pace-coached Colonia club. Then, of course, he went to – and won – a slew of titles with St. Joseph. Bob has been to the GMCT’s ultimate game as the head coach of Monroe – losing his only trip there in 2010 to his brother Dave and the Falcons – then and went to four straight as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, winning the first three.
Piscataway Doubles: The Chiefs have won seven titles, and every coach who’s won it has brought back multiple trophies. Windy McGriff’s P’way teams won back-to-back MCT titles in 1976 and 1977. Paul Schoeb – who later became the school’s athletic director, is now retired, but took in the semifinals this week at Monroe – won three in a span of five years, taking the GMC crown in 1991, as well as 1994 and 1995. Guy Jensen then won championships in 2007 and 2009. Turco is looking to be the fourth coach in Piscataway history to win the county title, gunning for his first when the play St. Joe’s Friday night. Should the Chiefs win Friday night, he’ll get a chance to go for two next season.
Repeat, Repeat: With Colonia out in the semifinals, Friday night’s winner may very well begin a streak. In fact, the Patriots were the last one-off champion, back in 2015. That snapped a string of five straight titles by the Falcons, who won nine of ten in a stretch from 2010 through 2019. They won the next four after that loss. Following that, St. Thomas Aquinas won three straight titles from 2020 through 2023, then Colonia’s two-year streak, which officially was snapped Wednesday night when they got knocked out in the semifinals.
How have the seeds fared? There have been 59 MCT/GMCT championship games, and the top seed has won 28 times. The second seed has won 16 times. When it’s the No. 1 vs. the No. 2, The top seed is just 16-11 overall, and 10-6 in the GMC era. Overall, the top seed is 28-16 in the championship game.
No Double Vision, Again: Colonia’s win over St. Thomas Aquinas two years ago snapped a two-season run of clean sweeps by the Trojans on the girls’ and boys’ side. There have been eight double champions in the GMC era – there were three in the MCT – but it didn’t happen last year and won’t again this year, with the St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick girls in the final, along with St. Joe’s and the Piscataway boys. That’s good for attendance, since there will four sets of fans attending, rather than just two.
1-2, 1-2: Since the dawn of the GMC in 1986, this is the ninth time both the girls’ and boys’ title games have featured the 1 vs. the 2 seeds. And this will be the second straight year. Last year, top-seed Colonia beat second-seed Piscataway for the boys’ title, while top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas beat second-seed Monroe for the girls’ championship. The last time it happened before that was in 2016, when the top-seeded St. Joe’s boys beat South Brunswick, and the 2nd-seeded East Brunswick girls beat Monroe. It also happened the year before, in 2015, when the second-seeded Colonia boys beat St. Joseph, and top-seed Piscataway topped Monroe on the girls’ side. Other double 1 vs. 2 years include 2010, 1998, 1994, 1992 and 1989.
An hour or so before Wednesday night’s GMC Tournament semifinal, Piscataway came into the gym as a walking MASH unit.
Senior Josh Lima was about 80-percent due to a tight quad, head coach Bob Turco said before the game. Tyler West had a tricky knee and didn’t get to play much, in the end, And Landon Pernell, the football team quarterback just starting to get his basketball legs, also has been bothered by a calf injury
But the second-seeded Chiefs – though they were down 28-22 at the half – persevered, and had others step up, in coming out with a 64-61 win over third-seed Colonia, sending Piscataway back to the GMC’s championship game for a second year in a row.
The Chiefs (20-6) made it there last year in a big turnaround under first-year head coach Bob Turco, who raised eyebrows when he left St. Thomas Aquinas, where he had won GMC titles in 2020, 2022 and 2023. He got bested last year by his former ballplayer at Carteret and protege Jose Rodriguez and Colonia in the final, but not this time.
Turco told his team at halftime they just needed to execute. They had the game plan. Just go out and do it. And do it they did.
After Izayah Brown kept the team in the game early with eight first half points off the bench to lead the Chiefs, the starters took the ball and ran with it, literally, in the second half.
It was a tight game throughout. No one led by more than seven. Piscataway came out hot to start the second half and finally – after chipping away – got their first lead of the game at the 4:01 mark of the third period on a three by Landon Pernell. Another shortly after extended their lead, and while there were a couple of ties after that, the Chiefs never gave the lead back.
Pernell finished with 14, Brown with 16, and senior Donald Nwaigwe finished with 17, including a monster dunk late with the game still in the balance.
Dylan Chiera led Colonia (16-9) – which had gone 14-2 since a tough 2-6 start – with 14 points, while Jayce Rodriguez added 13, but the team’s leading three-point shooter – who had 66 on the year coming in – was held to just one make from beyond the arc.
Piscataway will face the winner of the second Wednesday night semifinal between top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas. The final will be back here at Monroe Twp. High School at 8 pm, following the girls’ title game between St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick at 6 pm. Both games can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Click below for postgame reaction from Piscataway senior Donald Nwaigwe and head coach Bob Turco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Sophomore Ava Catanho scored 13 points while junior Mia Figueroa added another 11 second-seed East Brunswick clinched its first GMC Tournament finals berth in a decade with a 52-38 win over third-seed Piscataway.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from Monroe Township High School on February 17, 2026.
The East Brunswick girls’ basketball team last won the GMC Tournament title in 2016.
Ten years later, that team could have another reason to celebrate.
That’s because the 2026-26 Lady Bears – the tournament’s second-seed are going back to the finals for the first time since, after a 52-38 win over third-seed Piscataway in the semifinals at Monroe Twp. High School Tuesday night, heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
The Chiefs got the first basket of the game, but 2-0 was the only time they would lead. East Brunswick (21-4) went on a quick 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead, and though it would get closer at various points in the first half – even just 22-18 at halftime – the lead grew and shrunk, in double-digits most of the second half, but never changed hands again.
The Chiefs have been a team with great three-point range all year, but the shots just weren’t going in. Otherwise, it might have been a different game. Every time Piscataway would come up with a stop, or a mini-run, East Brunswick was there to counter back.
And while Piscataway – now 15-8 – has had a fine season with a starting five made up entirely of sophomores, it was another soph who was the difference for East Brunswick, as she has been the entire season.
Ava Catanho finished with a team-high 13 points for the Bears (20-4) and had one triple. Sophia Tannura had tow and finished with six points, but each seemed to come at big moments with Piscataway trying to get back in the game. Sophomore Violet Azcona of Piscataway was the game’s high scorer with 14 points.
Coming into the game, Piscataway was 17-0 when holding opponents to 54 points or less. Tuesday night was the exception, as the Bears won it with just 52 points.
Now, East Brunswick is going back to the title game in the GMC Tournament, where they’ll be back at Monroe Friday night at 6 pm against six-time defending champion and top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas, which was a 76-56 winner over fourth-seed Colonia in the nightcap semifinal.Â
The Bears will be looking for their sixth GMC Tournament championship, and seventh county title overall.
Click below for postgame reaction with East Brunswick sophomore Ava Catanho and head coach Travis Retzlaff with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Last year’s GMC Tournament final was an exciting one, for a number of reasons. Besides the fact is was some great, high-level basketball between Piscataway and Colonia, it was the first all-public title game since 2006, when the Patriots beat Metuchen for the championship.
It was Bob Turco taking the Chiefs to the finals in his first year as head coach, and for the first time since 2019. And it was the veteran mentor’s sixth straight appearance in the finals, the first five of those coming while he was at St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, he and protege Jose Rodriguez had met in the finals the year before, just with Turco leading a different team.
Wednesday night, the two will meet again, with a trip to the finals on the line as they square off in the opener of a GMCT semifinal doubleheader that you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Second-seed Piscataway (19-6) and third-seed Colonia (16-8) will play at 5 pm, with pregame at 4:45. Join Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau for all the action, with the second game scheduled to tip at 7 pm between top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and 5th-seed St. Thomas Aquinas. Click here to listen.
While Colonia was considered a favorite to repeat even before the 2024-25 season began, Piscataway was the story last year: Turco taking an 11-14 team from the year prior to the county final with a 22-4 mark.
This year, Colonia is the big story. In the summer, Aiden Derkack transferred to national powerhouse Spire Academy in Ohio. Defender extraordinaire Zach Smith graduated. In December, glue guy R.J. Wortman announced he’d signed on to play Rutgers football, and enrolled in January, leaving him off the roster. And Colin Kroner and Julien Jones didn’t return.
The immediate result was that the Patriots started the season just 2-6. But over the last five weeks and change, they are 14-2. Among the highlights, a revenge win at Piscataway by three – avenging a home loss to the Chiefs by two in December – and a 52-46 win over state-ranked and previously-unbeaten Wall in their final game before GMC Tournament play.
Jayce Rodriguez – coach Jose Rodriguez’ son – and Dylan Chiera are the two most experienced players back. Their steadiness has helped the rest of the team find its footing. If there was ever a more apt place to use the cliche “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” we don’t know about it. Rodriuguz is scoring 20.4 points per game, with a team-best (by far) 66 treys, while Chiera is averaging 10.2, with a team-best 94 rebounds and 29 steals, tied with fellow senior Nfa Clyne.
The defense also has been a key, and while their points allowed have gone down, their scoring has gone up.
The fact these two have played two epics this season should come as no surprise. The Chiefs have some major ballers, too and much of last year’s key players are back. That includes Donald Nwaigwe, one of four players averaging double figures on a balanced squad where the top three scorers are seniors.
Nwaigwe is scoring at a 16.3 point clip, followed by Isaiah Fowler (14.4) and Josh Lima (13.0) while junior Landon Pernell – who Turco says has found his “basketball legs” after playing quarterback for the football team this fall – is averaging 12.7 per game, and has hit a team-high 42 treys on the year.
These are two teams that can shoot, get to the basket, rebound, play defense, and frustrate the heck out of opponents, and like the earlier meetings this year, should come right down to the wire again.
Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:
In the last six years that St. Thomas Aquinas has won the GMC Tournament, they have faced Monroe and Colonia twice, South Brunswick and Edison once.
And while they’re a heavy favorite to get back to the finals again this year – and win it all – there’s one certainty: they will finally face someone new if and when they get there.
Second-seed East Brunswick (20-4) and third-seed Piscataway (15-7) haven’t seen the title game in a while, but one of them will be there Friday night down at Monroe Township High School. To get there, they’ll have to win the opener of Tuesday night’s GMC Tournament semifinal doubleheader, also at Monroe.
You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen calling all the action. Coverage begins at 4:45 with the pregame show, and tip-off between the Bears and Chiefs at 5:00. Click here to listen. The game will be immediately followed by top-seed and six-time defending champ St. Thomas Aquinas playing fourth-seed Colonia at 7 pm.
East Brunswick has been fantastic all year long, in a season that has been the culmination of the vast majority of the team playing together for the last several years, even before they got to high school. They’re fast and athletic, can play “D” and shoot the three. Ava Catanho leads the team in scoring at 18.3 points per game, and has a team-high 49 treys on the year, with juniors Zoey Alexio and Sophia Tannura not far behind, with 46 and 42, respectively. They are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the state, with 188 on the year coming into the game.
Julianna DelosSantos-Branson – “JDB,” as she’s known to her teammates, is the team’s top rebounder at 8.3 per game, and also has a team-best 19 blocks and 15 steals. Sophomore Ava Krzywdzinski dishes out 5.3 assists per contest.
They’ll face a Piscataway team that scores a little less – just under 54 points per game, while EB scores 59 – but can also hit from beyond the arc, with 135 on the season, led by sophomore Caelyn Cook, who has 47 treys, while leading the team in scoring at 13.5 and assists with 67. Sophomore Alyssa Iduh averages a double-double – 11.8 points and 14.1 rebounds, while also rejecting a team-best 64 shots. He has 15 double-doubles in 22 games played this season. Another sophomore, Violet Azcona, has 54 steals to lead the team, averaging 11.5 points a game.
Notice a trend here? This team is young. There are no seniors on the roster, one junior, and two freshmen. The starting lineup is all sophomores, as are their top six scorers.
East Brunswick may have a little more depth in what has been a tremendous season, the Bears’ first 20-win campaign since 2017-18. They lost in the GMC Tournament semifinals that year, and were knocked out of the state tournament in the first round. They are hoping for a better outcome this year, seeking their first finals berth since 2016, when they beat Monroe for their sixth county title overall.
Piscataway is seeking its first trip back since 2018, when they also won it, beating Edison for their 14th overall crown.
The Bears and Chiefs combined have won 17 of the 39 GMC Tournament titles, heading into this, the 40th edition. Two of Piscataway’s and one of East Brunswick’s crowns came in the old Middlesex County Tournament, before the formation of the GMC in 1985-86.
Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:
All four GMC Tournament semifinal teams are set on the girls’ side, as top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas, fourth-seed Colonia, second-seed East Brunswick, and third-seed Piscataway all won quarterfinal home games Saturday afternoon.
In Tuesday’s semifinals – which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Monroe Township High School – it’ll be St. Thomas and Colonia in the nightcap at 7 pm. Piscataway will East Brunswick in the opener at 5 pm.
Pregame coverage starts at 4:45 pm with Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen on the call. Click here to listen.
Scroll down for recaps of Saturday’s action:
(1) St. Thomas Aquinas 79, (8) Middlesex 41: Three players scored in double digits for the Trojans (20-5), who became the first 20-win team in the GMC this season. St. Thomas stepped on the gas right out of the box, blitzing the Blue Jays (14-10) to the tune of a 26-8 lead at the end of one quarter; it was 45-24 at the half. Jordan Barnes scored 20, and Trista Whitney had 16, 12 of which came on four from beyond the arc. Kayla Navarro added 11. Middlesex was led by 11 from Avery Iskra, and 10 from Taylor Lawrence, as STA held Kaylee Devine to just three points.
(4) Colonia 58, (5) Spotswood 45: The Patriots (19-2) jumped out to a 17-3 lead after one and never looked back, building a 22-point halftime lead that was enough to hold off a stronger second half from the Chargers (14-10). Sophomore Ariana Sosa matched a career high she set in her freshman debut last year in the opener against Piscatway with 23 points – including three treys – also grabbing 11 rebounds to finish with her second double-double of the season. Samantha Howell added ten and had two threes. Spotswood was led by Gabrielle Hill with 14, including a pair of treys, while Alex Nault added 12 and 11 rebounds, her second double-double of the season.
(3) Piscataway 79, (6) Woodbridge 49: The Chiefs (15-7) led by 13 at the half, then pulled away on the strength of a 29-13 third quarter. Violet Azcona was the game’s high scorer with 26 points, five treys, six rebounds and five assists, while Alyssa Iduh had a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
(2) East Brunswick 59, (7) Monroe, 31: Julianna DelosSanton-Branson went for 15 points and 13 rebounds – her eighth double-double on the season – as the Bears became the second 20-win girls’ team in the GMC this season, just hours after St. Thomas got there first with a win over Middlesex. Zoey Alexia added 14, including three treys. It was a low-scoring game early, as East Brunswick led 9-7 after one, but they more than doubled up the Falcons over the next eight minutes and took a 26-11 lead into the break that Monroe could not recover from. Zoe Wilcher and Kiera Longo each finished with 11 to pace Monroe in the losing effort.
GMC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
TUESDAY, FEB. 17 at MONROE TWP. H.S.
(3) Piscataway vs. (2) East Brunswick, 5 pm
(1) St. Thomas Aquinas vs. (4) Colonia, 7 pm
In the final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten before the end of the season, The top four teams remained the same, while most of the rest got shuffled around, with Piscataway and Colonia trending upward.
Gill St. Bernard’s (20-2) remains No. 1, having won 16 straight, including two games last week. The Knight edged No. 3 Rutgers Prep Thursday in Somerset in a potential Somerset County Tournament final preview, 73-68. Then, Saturday, they beat Ridge in the SCT quarterfinals, 71-53. Gill will play Immaculata at 4 pm this Saturday in the SCT semis at Franklin High School.
Holding at No. 2 is St. Joseph-Metuchen (21-1). The Falcons swept their two games last week over a pair of GMC opponents: Sayreville on Tuesday, 66-55, and at St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, 76-38.
Holding in third is Rutgers Prep (15-7), which went 2-1 in the week gone by. Monday, they beat Watchung Hills at home, 93-54, then lost to No. 1 Gill St. Bernards, 83-68, at home Thursday night. The Knights bounced back Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, rolling past Bridgewater-Raritan, 85-58. Their semifinal will be Saturday against Montgomery at 10 am at Franklin High School, a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
On a 3-0 week, Montgomery (19-3) holds in fourth, winners of eleven straight. After opening with a non-conference win at St. Joe’s of Montvale on Wednesday, the Cougars topped Bridgewater-Raritan on the road, 49-42. Saturday, they beat rival Hillsborough, 53-38, in the SCT quarterfinals, setting up a date with Rutgers Prep this coming Saturday at Franklin High School, a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Moving up two spots to fifth is Piscataway (17-6). The Chiefs had a perfect week, starting with an 84-47 win Tuesday at Woodbridge. They came back home for a Friday non-league win over Franklin, 71-69, then won Saturday at Columbia, 59-51.
Immaculata (16-5) holds in sixth. The Spartans opened the week Tuesday with an 85-50 win over Pioneer Academy, but then lost to No. 8 Hillsborough Thursday night, 78-64. But they bounced back strong, rallying in the second half for a 72-28 win at Pingry in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals. Immaculata will play defending champion Gill St. Bernard’s Saturday at Franklin High School at 4 pm in the semifinals.
Checking in at seven is Colonia (14-8), rising three spots this week. The Patriots had a rough start adjusting to graduation and other losses, but have won eight straight, including four last week. After a 55-47 win over Bayonne on Monday, Colonia won 56-51 at Newark Collegiate Wednesday, 64-52 at Old Bridge Thursday, and capped it with a mammoth win at Wall, the No. 17 team in New Jersey, 52-46.
Hillsborough (15-6) holds at No. 8 on the strength of a 2-1 week. The Raiders beat Watchung Hills, 66-53, on Tuesday, then won at No. 6 Immaculata Thursday, 78-64, before falling 53-38 at Montgomery Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.
Down four spots to nine is Pingry (11-7), which lost twice last week. Wednesday, they fell at Franklin, 63-59. On Saturday, they got knocked out of the Somerset County Tournament in the quarterfinal round, with a 72-68 loss to Immaculata.
And dropping one spot to tenth is South Plainfield (13-9), which split a pair of games last week. After a 74-72 win at Old Bridge Tuesday, they lost a non-conference game to a solid Chatham team, 59-57.
Click below for the full Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week 9:
Some big wins and tournament losses this week threw a wrench into the Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings, with the list pared down to ten this week, while three teams dropped out, and two new ones took their place, rejoining the Top Ten after bowing out earlier this season.
Holding on at the No. 1 spot – and on a 14-game winning streak – Gill St. Bernard’s (18-2) went 3-0 this week. They beat Immaculata at home Tuesday, 89-68, then won a pair of games down at the Metro Classic at Stockton University. They beat Paramus Catholic 65-46 on Friday, then got a 67-53 win over Spire Academy’s (OH) International team.
St. Joseph-Metuchen (19-1) stays in second, mainly on its overall body of work, despite taking its first loss of the season at previously-unranked South Plainfield, 55-54 in overtime. The Falcons rebounded with a 56-30 win at Monroe on Thursday, a 58-52 win over Crestwood Prep (Canada) Friday at the Metro Classic, and a 67-43 win over New York Military (NY) at home Sunday afternoon.
Moving up a spot to third is Rutgers Prep (13-6). The Argonauts were 2-0 last week, beating Franklin 83-65 on Tuesday, then Salem, 67-55, on Thursday.
Also up a spot this week is Montgomery (16-3), which has won eight straight, including a pair in the week gone by. The Cougars topped then-No. 3 Pingry Wednesday, 68-54, then beat Central Jersey College Charter, 72-32 on Friday.
Down two spots to fifth is Pingry (11-5), which lost its only game this week, 68-54 to Montgomery.
Up one spot to six is Immaculata (14-4). The Spartans lost at No. 1 Gill St. Bernard’s on Tuesday, but came back with a 74-54 home win over North Hunterdon Thursday, then beat Bernards 74-49 on Saturday afternoon in the Somerset County Tournament second round. The fifth-seeded Spartans will travel to four-seed Pingry this Saturday in the quarterfinals.
At seven – up two spots – is Piscataway. The Chiefs beat then-No. 6 East Brunswick 81-74 on Tuesday, then South Plainfield 70-49 on Thursday, before falling 72-62 to Ewing in the Mary Walker Classic in Hackensack on Sunday.
Hillsborough (13-5) holds steady at NO. 8 after a 1-2 week. It began with a 54-52 loss Tuesday at Montclair, but the Raiders came back with a GMC crossover win over Sayreville on Thursday, 89-74, then beat Watchung Hills at home Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament’s second round, 60-50. Sixth-seeded Hillsborough will visit neighbor and third-seed Montgomery this Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Then, there are two “new” teams.
South Plainfield (12-8) rejoins the rankings at No. 9, starting the week off by knocking off the top -ranked GMC team, St. Joseph-Metuchen, ending its 16-game win streak to start the season, 55-54 in overtime. After a 70-49 loss Thursday to Piscataway, the Tigers rebounded with a 77-62 home win over Notre Dame.
And back in at No. 10 is Colonia (10-8), which has been improving all season long. After a 65-29 win at Monroe Tuesday, the Patriots beat then-No. 6 East Brunswick at home, 56-44, and completed a 3-0 week when they beat Roselle Saturday, 62-51.
The Bears dropped out to make room for the two new teams after a 1-2 week, also losing to Piscataway, but also beating St. Thomas Aquinas.
And the two teams tied for tenth dropped out, as well. Briddgewater-Raritan (12-5) beat Somerville Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament, but lost to Ridge on Tuesday. Somerville (12-7) went 1-2 as well, falling to Warren Hills along with Bridgewater-Raritan in the SCT, while beating College Achieve in the preliminary round on Tuesday.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week 8:
