Tag: Somerset County

by Alec Crouthamel

Immaculata baseball opens Somerset County title defense with short trip to Hillsborough

It’s a tale of two units for Immaculata’s baseball team, with the 2026 season about to get underway.

The batters are young, the pitchers are old.

The defending Somerset County Tournament champions bring back a veteran pitching staff, while the lineup features some youth, with five of the nine projected starters sophomores or younger.

But don’t let the inexperience fool you. The Spartans have talent all over the roster and are ready to put it on full display to open the year. And it all gets started on Tuesday with a 15-minute drive down Route 206.

No. 2 Immaculata travels to No. 8 Hillsborough at 4 pm to get the 2026 season going, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel have the call, with pregame set for 3:45 pm; click here to listen.

Southpaws Ryan Auten and Cole Raymond lead a pitching rotation that does return plenty of production. Raymond enters the rotation for the first time after serving as a high-leverage reliever in 2025, and will get the ball on Opening Day. Auten — signed to pitch at Wake Forest next year — looks to continue to build on a terrific junior campaign as one of the area’s top pitchers.

Those two will be relied on for much of the starting work to begin, as senior righty Jackson Trego — who led the Spartans in innings pitched last year — eases his way back into the rotation after dealing with a shoulder injury. Once he makes his return, the pitching will be full speed ahead for Immaculata.

As for the bats, 14th-year head coach Kevin Cust described many of his young hitters as exciting, talented baseball players with plenty of potential.

The senior trio of Jackson Lewis, Connor Quinn, and Owen Schilling brings the lion’s share of experience, but there’s a lot of eyebrow-raising underclassmen as well.

Freshman Bryson Auten — younger brother of Ryan — is described as “a beast” and has some solid pitching chops in addition to a powerful hit tool. Second baseman Luca Catanzarite built up plenty of experience as a freshman last year, and now takes the role of the speedy and ultra-aggressive leadoff bat. Sophomore Brian Cilento put up over 800 yards on the gridiron as the Spartans’ starting running back, and now will take his talents to the diamond as a high-caliber athlete, and a “great addition” to the roster, as Cust put it.

And there’s plenty more talent up and down the lineup past just the ones listed. Immaculata looms as a Somerset County contender once again thanks to a veteran pitching staff that has played in plenty of big games, and a young lineup just waiting to realize its full potential after a strong offseason and preseason.

Both teams will kick things off on the final day of March.

Click below to hear Immaculata baseball coach Kevin Cust talk about the Spartans’ upcoming season and their opening day matchup against Hillsborough with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio unveils 2026 High School Baseball Broadcast Schedule featuring a dozen regular season games, plus County, State tourneys

With a dozen regular season games, plus coverage of the GMC and Somerset County Tournaments – as well as state tournament coverage to be announced at a later date – Central Jersey Sports Radio has announced its 2026 high school baseball broadcast schedule.

It all gets started next week, with our opener on Tuesday, March 31 at 4 pm between defending 2025 SCT champion Immaculata and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 winner Hillsborough. Then, after the calendar turns to April mid-week, we get state Group 1 champion Middlesex visiting Spotswood, on Thursday, April 2.

Coverage also includes two regular season games at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater – Montgomery vs Pingry on April 11, and Rutgers Prep against South Plainfield two Saturdays later – as well as the semifinals and finals of the Somerset County Tournament on April 18th and 20th, respectively.

The schedule includes three of last year’s SCT semifinalists, and all four of 2025’s GMC Tournament semifinalists, including a rematch of the title game between Edison and St. Joseph-Metuchen, and a rematch on the Invitational final between New Brunswick and East Brunswick Magnet.

Last year’s North 2, Group 3 winner South Plainfield also is on the schedule, as well as finalist Colonia.

Click here to see the full 2026 broadcast schedule.

by Alec Crouthamel

Mergin Sina named CJSR’s Somerset County Boys Coach of the Year after Knights’ first state crown

Mergin Sina has coached plenty of great teams at Gill St. Bernard’s, with talented players that went on to achieve great things at the collegiate level.

But there’s one thing he hadn’t done as the head coach of the Knights’ boys’ team, one thing the program as a whole had not done before.

Hold up the state championship trophy.

This year’s Gill team did just that, rattling off 24 consecutive wins to end the year, winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, the Somerset County Tournament, the Non-Public North B sectional crown, and finally, the Non-Public B title at Rutgers last week.

For the team’s efforts, Sina earned CJSR’s Somerset County boys Coach of the Year.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Knights early on. They dealt with some tough tests amid a rugged schedule in and out of conference play, with losses to St. Peter’s Prep and Linden before the new year.

But all of a sudden, Gill turned it around. It started with a New Year’s Day victory over St. Mary’s (Ruth.) — who the Knights later defeated in the sectional semifinals. One win turned into three, which turned into five, which turned into ten, which turned into… well, you get the point.

Some wins came easily, taking a big lead from the jump and cruising to the finish line. Others were true grinders, including the sectional final win over Roselle Catholic, avenging last year’s loss on the same stage.

No matter the style, Gill ran the table in the 2026 calendar year, and relied on a battle-tested core of major contributors. Seniors Dorsett Mulcahy, Declan Corrigan, and Prosper Sonkoua went out on top to end their high school careers, while juniors Jahmal Dixon and Niko West, and sophomore Connor Junker set another building block to work from as the Knights will defend their title next season.

But for now, the Gill St. Bernard’s boys stand at the final mountaintop, for the first time in Sina’s illustrious career.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mergin Sina talk about the Knights’ 2025-26 season, the state final, and the long winning streak to end the year with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel

by Mike Pavlichko

Heady Montgomery point guard Ethan Lin repeats as CJSR Somerset County Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year

Basketball is a team sport, but without Ethan Lin, it’s highly likely Montgomery isn’t Central Jersey Group 4 champions three years running.

The smart, skilled, and unflappable point guard was the Central Jersey Sports Radio Somerset County Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year in 2024-25, and now he’s repeated the feat in 2025-26.

Last season, he was coming off a horiffic broken leg injury that truncated his sophomore season. He came back stronger than ever for his junior year, and that trajectory continued this season.

He’s the first back-to-back winner since another pretty good player did it in 2022, and 2023: Mikayla Blakes of Rutgers Prep. She’s doing alright these days, only the leading scorer in the nation in D1 women’s basketball, scoring 27 points per game for Vanderbilt, where she was just announced Thursday as a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy, given to the Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year. A two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they open play at home Saturday against High Point.

Lin reminds us – in the way he runs the game – of former East Brunswick standout point guard Amir Bell, who lead the Bears to a Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2013 as a junior. He then went on to be a standout at Princeton, where he was a thousand-point scorer, and most recently played in the German Bundesliga.

In the Group 4 semifinals against Cherry Hill East – a 30-point blowout win, 67-37 – Lin scored “just” nine points. And while many would look at that and say he was “held” to nine, he more realistically held himself to nine points. An unselfish player, he saw opportunities to get the ball to teammates Shree Mallavarpu and Connor Benedict, who scored a career-high 23 and a near-career high 28 points, respectively, as they dominated the game.

Or, as his father said to us afterward, “I think they game planned a lot for Ethan, but they forgot everyone else.”

That’s what makes Lin special, his feel for the game that not every player has.

Lin will be headed to play at the University of Pennsylvania next year. The Quakers of the Ivy League won the Ivy Madness Tournament title, and are in the NCAA Tournament as 15 seed, playing third-seed Illinois of the Big Ten Thursday evening at 9:25.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio Boys’ Basketball two-time Player of the Year Ethan Lin:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Prosper Highlander, Gill St. Bernard’s: The senior from Cameroon – full name Prosper Highlander Sonkoua, who dropped the Highlander this year and went by Sonkoua – averaged 15.6 points and 72. rebounds a game this year, and emerging as a big prospect in the class of 2026, currently uncommited. He also hit 37 treys and had 33 blocks and 74 steals for the first-time Non-Public B state champs.
  • Dorsett Mulcahy, Gill St. Bernard’s: The senior point guard – who will head to Canisius next year – has been a rock for Mergin Sina’s Knights, even during a downturn a couple of years ago during a season where the roster was very much in flux. But this year, he upped his game and scored career-high 502 points, averaging 18.6 points per game, with a career-best 66 treys. The Knights finished second in the state – behind only Rutgers Prep – with 254 triples on the year.
  • Will Brunson, Rutgers Prep: Merely a sophomore, Brunson scored 22.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season for a squad that reached the Somerset County Tournament finals. He also hit 53 treys, part of a 282-three barrage by the Argonauts that led the entire state of New Jersey
  • Riley Gorman, Immaculata: A senior, Gorman graduates with 1,238 points, cracking the 1k barrier in the Somerset County Tournament, in a win over Bernards. Averaging 22 points a game, he hit 91 threes, and finished his career with 168. And in 28 games played this season, he scored in double figures in all but one, a two-point effort against Westfield where he wasn’t feeling well and sat the second half.
  • Aaron Feath, Hillsborough: Also just a sophomore, he plays on a team with his older brother Derek, but not at all in his shadow. The kid hit big shots all year for a team that won 22 games and lost just eight, and scored at a team-best 18.5 point per game clip, while dishing out 103 assists.
  • Josh D’Ambrosio, Manville: Going 19-9 for a second straight year, D’Ambrosio – also an excellent football player – brought that physicality to the hardwood. He averaged 14.5 points per game, dished 100 assists for the second straight year, and hit 66 treys, giving him 219 in a four-year varsity career.

Franklin Girls Basketball celebrates the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title.
by Alec Crouthamel

Jimmy Kreie’s first-year success earns Franklin girls’ mentor CJSR’s Somerset County Girls’ Coach of the Year honors

Franklin girls’ basketball is a program built on tradition and plenty of winning, benchmarks set not too long ago in the 2010s. Former coach Audrey Taylor had the Warriors rolling, with four group state titles and two Tournament of Champions trophies, including the famed 34-0 2018-19 squad.

After a six-year hardware drought, Franklin brought back the shine that put the Warriors on the map across the state, under the leadership of first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie.

Following a run at Montclair Immaculate – capped by a Non-Public B title in the school’s final year of operation last season – Kreie headed south and took the job at Franklin.

All he and the Warriors did was reach the Somerset County Tournament final for the first time since 2019, and win a sectional title for the first time since 2020. They had to battle to do it, rallying from a nine-point deficit after three quarters in the Central Jersey Group 4 final against Hillsborough, and outscored the Raiders 22-2 in the final eight minutes.

Their season came to a close in the next round against eventual Group 4 champion Lenape, but the resounding success Franklin saw in Year One has earned Kreie Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Girls’ Coach of the Year for the 2025-26 season.

Heading into his first year at the helm, Kreie had some familiarity with the Warriors’ roster — all but one player (Rutgers freshman forward PreciousGem Wheeler) remained from Montclair Immaculate’s 47-39 win over Franklin in December of 2024 — and had seen plenty of star junior forward Aleah Sunkins and sophomore guard Jamila McRiney from his work in the AAU ranks.

Franklin came out of the gates a bit slow with a 1-4 start, but not a single Warrior was fazed. That tied back to Kreie’s philosophy and message: These challenges will make us better.

Whether it was the victory over Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, or the comeback win over Hillsborough to win the sectional title, the program’s focus never wavered from the ultimate goal of development and gaining experience, while being around success.

Sunkins enjoyed a terrific season as a junior, averaging a 17-point, ten-rebound double-double per game while being held to single-digit points just twice. The team’s top seniors — guards Alissa Myers, Gianna Mattia, and Kayla Duncan — each had their own game-changing moments when the lights were brightest, and as Kreie put it after the sectional final, put the Warriors on the map.

Following the first breakout season, the future is bright as well. Sunkins will enter her senior campaign next year as one of the premier wings in the area. Kreie is not shy about his praise for rising juniors McRiney and Nola Bright, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. And there is more development to be had for some of the other underclassmen who may not have seen the most action on the floor, but have the talent to compete next season.

Add in a full community and administrative effort to support the program in droves — as Kreie raved about all season — and the Warriors appear to have put themselves squarely back in position as one of the area’s top teams.

Click below to hear Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie talk about the 2025-26 season, the program’s future, and his coaching philosophy with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Alec Crouthamel

Addy Platt earns CJSR Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year honors, while her Gill St. Bernard Knights are Team of the Year after sectional title win

Outside of Gladstone, New Jersey, it looked like the Gill St. Bernard’s girls basketball team may have been headed for a retooling year.

Five seniors graduated, and all played college basketball this season as freshmen at the next level. With a solid stable of underclassmen returning, there was a relative unknown with the Knights.

On campus, though, the belief never wavered, even dating back to the summer.

Gill St. Bernard’s proceeded to go 22-6 and win its first sectional title since 2012, making it all the way to Rutgers in the Non-Public B Final.

All that has earned the Knights Central Jersey Sports Radio Somerset County Team of the Year honors, with senior leader Addy Platt named Girls’ Player of the Year in Somerset.

After playing a smaller role in her junior year, Platt burst onto the scene as a senior. She stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 19.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 4.1 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game. The future Saint Joseph’s Hawk also consistently picked up the opposing team’s top option, while drawing the same assignment on the opposite side.

But championship teams aren’t made by just one player, even a star of Platt’s caliber.

A returning junior class that developed into a dangerous supporting cast propelled Gill into the Team of the Year conversation. Platt’s sister Katie, point guard Melina Miller, and wing Sadie Finn all took advantage of the opportunities in front of them, and altogether, the Knights took another leap forward into the state’s cream of the crop.

Add in an exciting stable of younger talent, and Gill St. Bernard’s won’t be going anywhere.

But for the 2025-26 iteration of the Knights, Platt’s do-it-all leadership and ability to take over games earned her the distinction as the top Player of the Year, and the collective earned Team of the Year.

Click below to hear Knights head coach Mark Gnapp and Platt talk about the 2025-26 season, and what the future holds for both Platt and Gill St. Bernard’s with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Hailey Benbow, Rutgers Prep: There was no sophomore slump for Hailey Benbow, who averaged 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Argonauts, leading the team in both categories in her second season as a starter. She also sunk 25 triples on the year, and led a defensive-oriented squad with 60 steals.
  • Aleah Sunkins, Franklin: It may take five to play basketball, but the Warriors don’t get where they got this year – to the Somerset County Tournament final, and winning Central Jersey Group 4 – without Sunkins, a junior who averaged more than twice the next leading scorer, at 17.9 points per game. In fact, she averaged a double-double with 10.9 boards per contest, while also hitting 36 threes and tying for team-high honors in steals with Alissa Myers, at 62. A seniors, Myers will be gone next year, but Sunkins will remain the focal point next season.
  • Aletha Reynolds, Bernards: A double-double machine, with 16 during the season, Reynolds averaged 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. She helped the Mountaineers to a 10-0 start, and a trip to the North 2, Group 2 semis, where they lost to defending and eventual champion Madison. The senior will attend Catholic University in Washington, D.C. next fall.
  • Peytan Pugh, Bound Brook: Just a freshman, Peytan and Company nearly knocked off Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 title game. Why? Because she registered 254 steals, tops in New Jersey, nearly nine per game! A great focal point to build around for the Crusaders over the next three years!
  • Sadie Fleming, Manville: With 13 double-doubles this season, Sadie had another fantastic year to cap off a four-year varsity journey. She averaged 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game – helping Manville to a school record 17 wins – finishing the her time with the Mustangs as rare member of the “Double 1K Club” – with 1,238 career points and 1,217 rebounds. Sadie is just the second girls’ player at Manville to crack a thousand, but holds the record for most rebounds in a career – by far! Fleming will attend Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania next year.
by Mike Pavlichko

55th annual Bill Denny awards dinner honors local football standouts, coaches, and more

More than three dozen high school football players from Middlesex and Somerset Counties, along with several coaches, administrators, educators and officials were honored Sunday at the 55th annual awards dinner of the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football/College Hall of Fame at the Pines Manor in Edison.

The local chapter also awarded several scholarships, now having given out more than $380,000 in funds to deserving Middlesex and Somerset County Scholar-Athletes, over a span of nearly six decades.

The ceremony was presided over by Fred Roselli, chapter president, with awards presented by Tom Bara and Frank Noppenberger.

Read on to learn more about all the honorees.

Distinguished American: This award went to South River’s Rich Marchesi, the longtime Rams’ skipper and alum who will be heading into his 39th season this fall. Marchesi’s record is 228-154, with four Central Jersey Group 1 titles, in 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2001. He also played with with future Penn State All-American and NFL standout Kenny Jackson on the vaunted 1979 undefeated team as a senior, which went undefeated and was a state champion, ending the season ranked No. 3 in New Jersey. A five-time Bill Denny Coach of the Year, he is the winningest coach in South River football history, eventually surpassing Denny. Marchesi was inducted in the the New Hersey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.

Edward “Red” Losiewicz Distinguished Official: Given to the official who has “demonstrated sportsmanship, integrity and character in interscholastic athletics,” Tim McDonald was this year’s recipient. An East Brunswick resident, he started officiating football in 1997, and also has been an official for lacrosse, softball and basketball.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Middlesex): Old Bridge Athletic Director Dan DiMino was the recipient of this award, A Monroe resident, he was named AD in 2016 and has overseen an athletics program that was won 31 division titles, 26 conference championships, 14 NJSIAA sectional crowns, and nine New Jersey state titles. DiMino also is on the Greater Middlesex Conference Executive Committee, and manages scheduling for the entire league. Among several charitable endeavors, DiMino helps lead the Old Bridge Holiday Knight Toy Drive around the holidays, partnering with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Somerset): This one goes to Michael Hoppe, the Athletic Director at Bernards. Hoppe is a Mountaineer through and through, an alum who has been at his old stomping grounds since graduating from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 19984. Starting out as a teacher and coaching three sports, he has been the AD for the last 26 years.

Coach of the Year (Middlesex): Matt Donaghue just wrapped up his fourth season as the Old Bridge football coach, promoted to the head job after Anthony Lanzafama stepped down. At 25-17 in that span, this past fall was a breakout year, following a 6-4 campaign in 2024, as the Knights went all the way to the “Central Jersey” Group 5 final, where they fell to Washington Twp. out of South Jersey. Donaghue also is the head coach of the baseball team at Old Bridge, which won the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2023, and was a finalist a year ago.

Coach of the Year (Somerset): Montgomery’s Sean Carty takes home the award in his first year on the job, after being promoted from Offensive Coordinator under Zoran Milich, who stepped down as the school’s first and only football coach after the 2024 campaign. The Cougars went 8-4 this past fall, with signature wins over Somerville and Sayreville, and went all the way to the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 4 title game – their first ever – where they fell to defending champion Phillipsburg. A Rutgers graduate and four-year letterwinner, he played for his father, Hall of Fame coach Kevin Carty, at Somerville. His brother, Kevin Jr., is the head coach at neighboring Hillsborough, with his other brother, Ryan, is the head coach at the University of Delaware.

Sporstmanship School of the Year: Highland Park, Bridgewater-Raritan

STUDENT-ATHLETE HONOREES:

Rutgers: Jai Patel (South Brunswick)

Middlesex County:

  • Jonathan Hughes, Carteret
  • Dylan Chiera, Colonia
  • Jackson Portik, Dunellen
  • Noah DeJesus, East Brunswick
  • Robert Roma, Jr., Edison
  • Stamatis Hantsoulis, Highland Park
  • Grant Lorentzen, JFK
  • Esteban Reyes, JP Stevens
  • A.J. Crisci, Metuchen
  • Sean Hughes, Middlesex
  • John Lawless, Monroe
  • Jeffren Paulino, New Brunswick
  • Zachary Cipot, North Brunswick
  • Mark Fultz, North Plainfield
  • Brody Nugent, Old Bridge
  • Sebastian Medina Moreno, Perth Amboy
  • Brady Gallogly, Piscataway
  • Joseph Curbelo, Sayreville
  • Jacob Walczyk, South Brunswick
  • Kenneth Young, South Plainfield
  • Filipe Granadiero, South River
  • Gavin Pereira, Spotswood
  • Tom Myers, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Anthony Perez, Jr., St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Josh Allen, Woodbridge

Somerset County:

  • Justin Simpson, Bernards
  • Moaaz Abdelmonem, Bound Brook
  • Stephen Pikulin, Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Francis Flores, Jr., Franklin
  • Shane Khurana, Hillsborough
  • Bo Almeida, Immaculata
  • Collin Shimp, Manville
  • Michael Bellamy, Montgomery
  • Ryan Moye, Pingry
  • Anthony Valera, Ridge
  • J. Griffin Kaye, Somerville
  • Jake Herring, Watchung Hills

Pop Warner (Middlesex): Daniel Crowley, Edison Jets

Pop Warner (Somerset): Vincent Sandomenico, Watchung Hills Wolverines

by Alec Crouthamel

Highlander’s big second half helps lead No. 1 Gill St. Bernard’s to emphatic win over No. 3 Pingry – and likely the SCT’s top seed

When you think of Gill St. Bernard’s basketball, you think uptempo, flying across the floor, and plenty of victories.

Through one half against No. 3 Pingry, those three factors were present at times, but not enough with a 21-15 lead.

Once both teams emerged from the locker room for the second half of play, things changed.

The Knights (11-2, 5-0) raced out of the gate and never looked back, pulling away for a 69-38 win, outscoring the Big Blue (7-3, 3-0) 48-23 in the final 16 minutes of play.

Fresh off a 33-point, ten-rebound performance in a thrilling win over Rutgers Prep on Saturday, Gill St. Bernard’s forward Prosper Highlander led the way once again, with a 20-point, 12-rebound follow-up performance. After scoring just two points in the first half, he came alive with 12 points in the third quarter with an array of drives to the basket and a three-pointer.

Oh, and he also picked up the tough assignments on defense, stuffing the stat sheet with three steals and two blocks.

Pingry controlled the tempo early on, scoring the first five points of the game and keeping close for much of the first half. Even after the Knights responded to the opening run with ten unanswered points of their own, the Big Blue ended the quarter with six unanswered to stay within a point at 12-11.

That momentum continued into the second quarter. Even as Gill St. Bernard’s appeared to be on the verge of pulling away, Pingry continued to stack up timely buckets to stay within arm’s reach, as head coach Jason Murdock and his team looked to build off the momentum of back-to-back wins over Immaculata and Rutgers Prep last week.

But the Knights’ intensity and pace on both ends of the floor eventually became too much to overcome. They methodically built up their lead as the third quarter went along, turning defense into offense plenty, before the lead eventually ballooned to 17 points to end the third quarter, and 31 points by the end of the game.

Gill St. Bernard’s standouts Connor Junker and Dorsett Mulcahy kick-started the offense in the opening quarter with six points apiece for all of the Knights’ scoring in the opening eight minutes. Junker finished with ten points with two three-pointers, while Mulcahy finished second on the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Dylan Cowell led Pingry with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with three blocks, and was the Big Blue’s only double-digit scorer.

With the win, Gill St. Bernard’s now puts itself in an excellent position for the top seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, as the Knights look to defend their title from a season ago. Last week, they won their only matchups before the seeding meeting with Montgomery and Rutgers Prep, with the Argonauts also having lost to Pingry.

Amid a schedule head coach Mergin Sina calls one of the toughest in the state, Gill St. Bernard’s passed yet another test as the calendar flips to 2026.

Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s senior forward Prosper Highlander and head coach Mergin Sina, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

First Saturday of New Year adds some wrinkles in GMC, Somerset County boys’ hoops

Saturday was blustery cold in Central Jersey, but boys’ high school basketball is clearly heating up.

In the Greater Middlesex Conference, there was the first big clash between 2025 GMC Tourney runner-up Piscataway and the new-look St. Joe’s, South Plainfield and Sayreville tussled in a critical Red National Division game, and Metuchen put its perfect record on the line.

Over in Somerset County, unbeaten Bridgewater-Raritan was idle, while Montgomery put its perfect record on the line, and Rutgers Prep faced some top-flight competition.

So, let’s take a look at how it all shook out…

SOMERSET COUNTY

Cougars take first loss down the Shore…

Two-time defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion Montgomery took a perfect 8-0 record into the New Year, but that went away Saturday with a slim two-point loss.

In their first eight games, the Cougars – now 8-1 – had been averaging almost 71 points of game, winning by an average of 28.4 points. But the closest game of the year for the fifth-ranked team in the state (No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten) turned out to be a two-point loss to the state’s No. 9 team, Linden.

Monty fell behind 14-9 after one, played a solid two middle quarters – rallying to go into the break up 24-22 – but got outscored by six in the fourth to fall 53-51 to the Tigers. Penn-bound senior Ethan Lin led all scorers with 20. It shouldn’t have too much of an impact in the race for a top-seed in CJ4, with Montgomery in first heading into the weekend.

Rutgers Prep falls, too…

The No. 2 team in the Bellamy Top Ten – the Argonauts – also suffered a close loss Saturday, this one to St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. Rutgers Prep was tenth in the state this week, the Marauders third. And the boys from Somerset did more than hang in there.

In fact, they led 23-15 after one, but that lead shrunk to one by halftime, and the third quarter was the decisive one, as the Argos got outscored by eight, and wound up losing 78-72 to fall to 5-2 on the season. Five players scored in double figures, led by William Brunson with 18, and Rocco Loomis with 16.

The game was a good test for Prep, which is in Non-Public Group B and wouldn’t play St. Peter’s in the states, and the loss shouldn’t hurt them much as they look to improve their standing in the South B section, where they made the sectional finals last year, falling to St. Rose of Belmar

But Gill St. Bernard’s wins again…

After the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic win and two league victories, the Knights have played all showcase games, including a fifth straight Saturday, then a sixth on Sunday when they play Trenton (4-2) up at Newark Collegiate in the New Year’s Jump Off. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, getting 22 points from Dorsett Mulcahy.

The Ironmen are just 2-5 on the season, but interestingly, three of their losses have come to the Skyland Conference Delaware Division’s top three teams: Montgomery in the Tip-Off Classic opening weekend, Rutgers Prep on December 20th, and now Gill, which improved to 6-2 on the season.

Big Week Ahead in the Delaware Division…

The week of the 12th, Bridgewater-Raritan (currently 7-0, and idle this weekend) will get its turn against the best in Somerset County, but this coming week will be a big one with major implications for Somerset County Tournament seeding, which takes place January 26th, three weeks from Monday.

First, on Tuesday night, Montgomery travels to Rutgers Prep for a 7 pm game. Thursday night, Gill travels down to Skillman to take on the Cougars in a 5:30 tilt you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Bookmark this link to listen on gameday.

Bridgewater-Raritan, meanwhile, visits Watchung Hills Tuesday, then has home games with Immaculata and Hillside Thursday and Saturday before getting their crack at the non-publics: at Rutgers Prep on Tuesday, the 13th, and hosting Gill at 5:30 Thursday, the 16th.

Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan won’t play until February 5th, after the SCT is already seeded.

GREATER MIDDLESEX CONFERENCE

St. Joe’s lands a big punch in race for GMC Tourney top-seed…

Despite a 6-16 record a year ago, once St. Joseph-Metuchen brought back Mark Taylor – and he began bringing in some new pieces to the puzzle – expectations shot through the roof. It was hard to tell what they would look like after a season-opening rout of Wesley College out of Australia on December 8th, which they won 103-36.

They won at Old Bridge by 19, then looked good, but not great, in a 58-40 home win over Colonia. Next was the Winter Showcase at Paul VI up in Wayne, where they beat Middle Township 69-37 and St. Mary’s Ryken (MD) by 21. All of those still weren’t great measuring sticks.

Saturday, they traveled to Piscataway for a battle of unbeatens against the 2025 GMC Tournament runner-up. And we got a much better idea of how the Falcons fit in the conversation this winter.

A high school basketball game in action, featuring players from St. Joseph's and Piscataway. The player in the foreground dribbles the ball while teammates and an audience watch in the background.
Alijah Murphy of St. Joseph-Metuchen controls the ball in a GMC Red American game at Piscataway on January 3, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Though the Chiefs led by 18 at the half on stifling defense, forcing turnovers seemingly every other possession, St. Joseph turned the table as first-year (of his second stint) head coach Mark Taylor whipped out some zone defense, a 1-3-1, and it befuddled Piscataway. More than the execution was the height advantage, and extra long wingspan of guys like junior Andrew Kretkowski (6′ 7″) and sophomore Joel Patrick (6′ 10″), the second of whom was a monster on the boards, and had 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, while blocking six shots.

No amount of excellent Piscataway defense – and they are very good – can combat that length when the tallest player on the floor is Donald Nwaigwe at 6′ 4″. It all led to a 64-53 overtime win for St. Joe’s, keeping them unbeaten at 6-0, while the Chiefs drop to 9-1.

So, where does this leave things in the GMC?

Piscataway took Colonia out before the holidays in double overtime for its first win over the Patriots in 13 years, but now has its first loss, and it’s in the Red American Division. With no guaranteed seeds, the seeding will be all about head-to-head. St. Joe’s won’t get any easier to deal with when 6-7 transfer Aiden Carter becomes eligible this weekend, and they’ve really fired the first salvo. The rematch is less than two weeks away, when the Chiefs visit the Falcons on January 15th.

With the Red split into American and National divisions, but mandatory crossovers (ideally for better comparisons at the seeding meeting) on the schedule, watch out for East Brunswick. The Bears host St. Joseph on Thursday, January 22, and while they don’t have a lot of height either, they can knock down the three – something the Chiefs couldn’t do Saturday.

The Bears have beaten the two teams right behind them in the division on their first pass-through – Sayreville on December 18th and South Plainfield on the 20th, both by five points – and will rematch with them in the same order next Saturday at 1 and on the 13th at 7, both on the road. They also

Right now, the Falcons seem to have the early inside track on the top-seed in the county tournament. A second win over Piscataway could really lock it in, unless East Brunswick can knock them off. The Bears also visit Piscataway Tuesday, January 27th, a week before the seeding.

Assuming no head-scratching losses, Piscataway would likely have to beat the bears and split with St. Joseph to have a shot, while East Brunswick would likely have to win out by sweeping Sayreville and South Plainfield, and beating both St. Joe’s and Piscataway.

And the only other unbeaten team left in the GMC is…

Metuchen! The Bulldogs beat Carteret on the road Saturday, 53-43, to improve to 6-0 on the season, and haven’t won a game by fewer than seven points, as happened against Voorhees back on Tuesday, a 59-42 win that gave them the championship of their own Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament.

Cameron Hayes-Durina – also an excellent football player, and a Borden’s Baller – scored 14 to lead all scorers in Saturday’s victory. He’s averaging 22.7 points per game this season and nearly nine rebounds; the 14 was his lowest output all year, and the first time under 20, but the Bulldogs won anyway, and led by nine at the half.

The Bulldogs go back on the road for two more this week – Monday at North Plainfield and Thursday at Middlesex, before returning home for JFK Saturday afternoon.

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls hoops in unfamiliar, yet familiar territory heading into 2025-26 season

On the one hand, this is new, or at least different for Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball coach Mary Klinger. The Lady Argonauts are coming off a season in which they did not play in the Somerset County Tournament final, their first miss since 2014.

On the other hand, everyone who played a significant contributing role in 2024-25 – a season in which Klinger didn’t have a single senior to rely on – is back for this season. That’s also a rarity in this day and age of transfers and player movement.

In fact, she has a few newcomers from the nationally top-ranked Argonauts’ girls’ soccer program joining the team now.

Senior Ava LaMonica is the most experienced player back. She’s started since she was a freshman, and while she’s not the biggest scorer, she did average 13.4 points per game last season, but also gets to the line a lot as she hustles and boxes out for every rebound and loose ball. She also led the team with 81 assists and 65 steals a year ago.

Sophia Georgiadis was the second leading scorer a year ago as a junior, at 11.6 points per game, while adding 37 treys, one fewer than classmate Natalia Valdez, who had 38 and scored at an 8.3 point per game clip.

Sophomore Hailey Benbow and junior Hannah Fraser will be key contributors as well.

For this year’s club, the past is the past and it’s time to write a new chapter. And Klinger will have her team ready using the regular season as their pre-season, to gear up for another SCT run, and some more NJSIAA hardware as well.

Click below to hear Rutgers Prep girls’; basketball coach Mary Klinger preview the upcoming season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Rutgers Prep will make its season debut on Central Jersey Sports Radio on Monday, December 15m when the Lady Argonauts welcome in Franklin for a 5:30 tip off. Alec Crouthamel will have the call. Bookmark this link to listen live on the day of the game.