Tag: St. Joseph-Metuchen

by Mike Pavlichko

Top Ten losses reshuffle the entire deck in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings

For the first time this season, the entire Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten got a complete reshuffle.

It was a challenging week to be sure, as a few top ten teams suffered multiple losses this week, whether in conference play or at showcase games. And the end result is one new team in the rankings, and a new No. 1 squad.

Gill St. Bernard’s (9-3) is the new top team after getting through a heck of a schedule this past week. They opened with a 79-46 win over Ridge, then passed tests from two of the Skyland Conference’s elite – winning 64-53 Thursday at Montgomery (in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio) and again Saturday at home over Rutgers Prep, 90-84. The Knights should have the inside track at the top seed in the county tournament, but first will have to get by Pingry Tuesday; the Big Blue knocked off Rutgers Prep Thursday, and would have a legitimate argument for that top seed if they can beat Gill on the road.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph-Metuchen moves up to No. 2, as they remain undefeated at 10-0. The Falcons went 4-0 in the week gone by; they were 61-45 winners over St. Thomas Aquinas at home Tuesday and beat Old Bridge 75-35 on Thursday in GMC play. Then, Saturday at the Iverson Classic Breakout Series at Paramus Catholic, they beat Archbishop Carroll (PA) 61-50. And on Sunday, they beat Wings Academy (NY), 77-36.

With an upset of Rutgers Prep Thursday, Pingry enters the top ten at No. 3. The Big Blue are 7-2, and last week, knocked off one of the league’s heavyweights in the Argonauts at home. That followed a Tuesday win over then-No. 10 Immaculata, which came back Thursday to hand Bridgewater-Raritan its first defeat of the season. Pingry took a loss Saturday, however, at Oratory Prep, 60-58.

Falling one spot to fourth was Rutgers Prep (6-5), which opened the week with an 89-73 win over Montgomery, but then lost three straight – at Pingry on Thursday, 64-58; Saturday at Gill, 90-84, and Sunday, 79-64, to St. Francis (NY) at their Shooting Stars Shootout showcase event.

Falling from No. 1 back behind Prep is Montgomery, which lost two league games during the week, at Rutgers Prep on Tuesday, then to Gill at home on Thursday. But the Cougars ended a three-game skid with a 66-45 home win over an eight-win Overbrook team from the Tri-County Conference in their own Coaches vs. Cancer Classic down in Skillman.

East Brunswick (11-1) has won five straight, and rises one spot to six this week. The Bears beat Woodbridge 80-54 on Tuesday, Monroe 72-40 on Thursday, then used a big second-half rally to win at Sayreville, 48-47, on Saturday, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Immaculata (6-2) climbed to No. 7 this week from ten. After a loss to Pingry, 64-59, back on Tuesday, they rebounded by knocking off undefeated and then-No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan on the road, 64-57. They also won Saturday, beating Hamilton 77-42.

Down two spots to No. 8 is Bridgewater-Raritan (9-1), which took its first loss of the year Thursday against Immaculata at home. That was sandwiched in between a pair of wins: Tuesday, 69-50, at Watchung Hills, and Saturday at Hillside, 69-54.

Piscataway (9-3) is down to nine after a two-loss week. They fell 68-67 Thursday to previously-ranked Sayreville, then lost Sunday afternoon to East Orange at nearby Plainfield in the Stay Public Basketball Showcase, 74-53.

And down one spot to tenth is Somerville (8-2). The Pioneers lost Tuesday 48-24 to Delaware Valley, but bounced back with a pair of wins: Thursday at home over College Achieve Central, 71-26, then Saturday, 52-20 over Westfield in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Montgomery.

Dropping out this week is No. 8 South Plainfield. The Tigers (8-3) beat Colonia Tuesday at home, 56-42, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, then Woodbridge 88-68 on Thursday, but fell twice over the weekend: Saturday to Ramapo 54-30 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Montgomery, then Sunday 67-46 to Westfield in the Stay Public Basketball Showcase at Plainfield.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Five:

by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery holds at No. 1 despite first loss, but there’s much shuffling elsewhere in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Top Ten for Week 4

Only three teams – Montgomery, Somerville and Immaculata – held their ground this week in the latest Bellamy & Son Paving boys’ basketball Top Ten, the first of the New Year.

Montgomery (8-1) holds at No. 1 after a 2-1 week. In their own Cougar Holiday Classic, they beat Princeton 70-33 on Monday, then North Hunterdon 71-47 on Tuesday. Monty took its first loss of the season Saturday, 53-51, falling to Linden in the Warrior Classic down at Manasquan.

Gill St. Bernard’s (7-2) used a 3-1 week to edge up to No. 2. After a Monday loss to Linden, 73-52, at the Jingle Bells Jubilee at Paterson STEAM Academy on Monday, they went back there Thursday for the New Year’s Jump Off and beat St. Mary-Rutherford, 76-56. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep on the Ironmen’s home floor, 65-58 in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase, before finishing out the week with an 85-61 win over Trenton in the New Year’s Jump Off II at Newark Collegiate.

Rutgers Prep (5-2) split a pair this week, and falls one spot to third. The Argonauts were 96-79 winners over Cardinal Spellman (NY) in the New Year’s Eve Jump Off at Paterson STEAM Academy, then lost in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase at Don Bosco to St. Peter’s Prep, 78-72.

The fourth and fifth place teams flip-flopped this week as well, with St. Joseph-Metuchen (6-0) having beaten Piscataway on the road Saturday, 64-53 in overtime, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the year. The Falcons also beat Middle Township on Monday, 69-37, and St. Mary’s Ryken (DC) 69-48 on Tuesday in the Winter Showcase at Paul VI in Wayne.

Piscataway (9-1) – which falls to five – had been unbeaten before the Joe’s game, winning three times in the week gone by before that matchup. They beat Ferris 62-38 Monday, and Dickinson 72-52 Tuesday in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament at Hillside. They also beat state-ranked No. 12 Teaneck in the BWB Resolution Bumble up at FDU-Madison on New Year’s Day.

Bridgewater-Raritan (7-0) – the only undefeated team remaining in the rankings – moves up two spots this week to No. 6. The Panthers were 2-0 over the break, beating North Hunterdon, 64-63 on Monday, then Princeton, 61-33, on Tuesday in the Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

Down a spot to seventh is East Brunswick (8-1). The Bears took their first loss of the season Monday in the championship bracket semifinals of the Albert E. Martin Buc Classic at red Bank Regional, but bounced back with a win over host Red Bank regional, 64-42, in the third-place game. Saturday, they came up with a gusty road win, a 72-70 overtime victory at Cranford.

Jumping in at No. 8 this week is South Plainfield (6-1). The Tigers were 2-0 in the week gone by, beating Edison 73-45 on Tuesday, followed by an 87-77 victory at previous No. 7 Sayreville. The Tigers will be on Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday night at 7 pm when they face Colonia (2-5) – click here to listen – as part of a doubleheader starting with the South Plainfield girls taking on JP Stevens at 5:30.

And the last two teams held their spots.

Somerville (6-1) stays at nine after a 2-1 week that began with a 62-47 loss to Woodbridge on Monday in the JP Stevens Holiday Tournament, followed by a 58-23 win Tuesday over Perth Amboy Magnet, and a 59-21 win over Dunellen on Saturday.

And Immaculata (4-1) holds in tenth after a 2-0 week, winning the Battle at the Bomb Shelter at Sayreville with a 48-47 victory over Union Monday, and a 71-61 win over the host Bombers Tuesday.

Sayreville dropped out from No. 7 after a 1-2 week, which began in fine fashion with a 66-57 win over New Dorp (NY) in their Battle at the Bomb Shelter tournament Monday. But after the Immaculata loss in the final, they also fell 81-77 to South Plainfield on Saturday.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Four:

Image of the Bellamy & Son Paving basketball Top Ten rankings for boys' basketball, Week 4, featuring team names, records, and previous rankings.
Colonia and Piscataway square off in a GMC Red American Division game in Colonia on December 22, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – BOYS: No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen 64, No. 4 Piscataway 53 (OT)

Stifling defense and game-highs of 18 points from Alijah Murphy and Andrew Kretkowski helped power No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen past No. 4 Piscataway, in a 64-53 road win in GMC Red American Division play.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play from Piscataway High School on January 3, 2026.

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

Shots stop falling for No. 4 Piscataway, and No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen takes down Chiefs in OT

There were a couple of ways this one could have gone at halftime, when No. 4 Piscataway took an 18-point lead into the home locker room at halftime over visiting No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen on Saturday afternoon.

It wasn’t likely to stay that way. It felt like had the Chiefs kept the momentum going they’d come out with a huge home win, pulling further away. Or, the Falcons would make a game of it.

Switching to a 1-3-1 zone after playing most of the first half man-to-man – something Piscataway head coach Bob Turco figured they’d do at some point, if not from the tip, St. Joe’s beat the Chiefs at their own game.

In the first half, a stifling defense forced at least a dozen turnovers, as Piscataway built a 35-17 halftime lead.

But after the break, the tables were turned. The Chiefs scored three points in the third quarter – all from the foul line – and had only one field goal in the fourth – a trey from Josh Lima. And still, they never trailed, going to OT tied at 49-49.

But St. Joe’s would take its first lead in OT, and pull away for a 64-53 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Senior guard Alijah Murphy and junior forward Andrew Kretkwoski each had game-highs of 18 points. Kretkowski – a transfer in from Rutgers Prep – was in-and-out, in foul trouble a good part of the game, but had a couple of monstrous dunks – on in the second quarter, and another in overtime that signalled the game was over, even with time still remaining on the clock.

Piscataway wasn’t just not hitting shots, they took very few, unable to get good looks, and were dominated down low by 6′ 10″ sophomore center Joel Patrick, swatting away layups and grabbing rebounds with authority.

In a battle of unbeatens, the Falcons improved to 6-0, while the Chiefs fall to 9-1, their first loss of the season, just two days after knocking off state 12th-ranked Teaneck in the BWB Resolution Bumble at FDU-Madison on New Year’s Day.

Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joseph’s Andrew Kretkowski, Alijah Murphy and head coach Mark Taylor, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Early January battle of unbeatens – No. 5 St. Joseph at No. 4 Piscataway Saturday – has big implications in GMC Tournament race

While the Greater Middlesex Conference doesn’t seed its tournament until early February, Saturday’s matinee between fourth-ranked Piscataway and fifth-ranked St. Joseph-Metuchen could have a lot to say in deciding the top part of the bracket.

The Chiefs and Colonia were last year’s finalists. The Patriots lost a ton of talent for various reasons, and while they should improve by the stretch run, they’ve struggled early. St. Joseph hired alum and former coach Mark Taylor, who brought in a slew of transfer talent to go with some solid pieces already in place, and East Brunswick is off and running to its best start since the days of Bo Henning manning the sidelines and players like Amir Bell and Rob Ukuwuba in the early 2010s.

All that said, while it’s still just the first of two meetings between the two, St. Joe’s visit to Piscataway Saturday has all the trappings of a conference tourney game from the round of eight on.

OF course, you can hear tomorrow’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off tentatively set for about 11:45 – shortly after the 10 am JV game ends. Pregame starts 15 minutes prior; Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action. Click here to listen.

The Falcons will, for sure, have the height advantage, with Rutgers Prep transfer Andrew Kretkowski now with the Falcons. The 6′ 7″ junior already has asserted himself in a leadership role, and is scoring just under 20 points per game. Senior guard Alijah Murphy is one of the key returnees, and big Ryan Hilongos will get time, too.

Piscataway coach Bob Turco may say “Attitude and Effort” is the team’s mantra, but it might as well be “An ugly win is as good as a pretty one.” That’s not because they play poorly; quite the opposite. They play a stifling defense, dive all over, and get a ton of steals. In fact, of their top eight rotation players who have made 69 total game appearances, 62 have earned at least one steal in a game.

That means it’s not just one or two guys breaking up passes and forcing turnovers. Everyone in the lineup is doing it, night in and night out.

Both teams might need oxygen tanks by the time this one’s through.

Click below to hear pregame interviews with both head coaches:

Piscataway head coach Bob Turco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mark Taylor with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe

by Mike Pavlichko

Unbeaten Montgomery retains No. 1 spot in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Top Ten, Rutgers Prep, Bridgewater edge up, Somerville joins

The combination of the winter break – and a winter storm that blew through the area Friday into Saturday this past weekend – meant a light schedule for many of the boy’s basketball teams in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area.

As a result, there was very little movement in the Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten.

Montgomery (6-0) held on to the top spot, winning its only game of the week, 75-27 over Hamilton West. The Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery was moved from Saturday to Monday due to the storm.

Rutgers Prep (4-1) moved up a spot on the strength of a win over defending South Jersey, Group 2 champion Camden Sunday at the Pete & Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University outside of Philly. That dropped Gill St. Bernard’s (3-1) down one to third, as they were idle this week.

The next four teams all held court. The first of the bunch is No. 4 Piscataway (6-0), which won on Monday at Colonia, 75-73 in double overtime, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. They followed it up with a win over previously unbeaten Perth Amboy on Tuesday, 80-52.

St. Joseph-Metuchen held in fifth, but we’ve updated the Falcons’ record to 3-0 after their December 8th opener against Wesley College of Australia – a 101-37 win – was posted.

East Brunswick (6-0) holds at six after a 2-0 week, with a 75-71 win over Franklin on Tuesday, and a 78-69 victory over Ranney Saturday in the Alfred E. Martin Buc Classic at Red Bank Regional, which puts them into Monday’s semifinals.

And holding at No. 7 is Sayreville (4-1), which was a 68-47 winner over Monroe on Monday in their only game of the week.

Bridgewater-Raritan (5-0) moves up a spot to No. 8, though they did not play, as previous No. 8 Colonia (2-4) drops out. The Patriots lost to Piscataway Monday in double-OT at home, 75-73, then fell to Friendship Tech Saturday in the Governor’s Challenge showcase event down in Salisbury, MD.

Somerville (4-0) joins the rankings at No. 9 , after a 1-0 week in which they beat Manville, 48-23, on the road.

And Immaculata (2-1) – idle last week – holds at No. 10.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Three:

A digital ranking table displaying the Week 3 standings for the 2025-26 boys' basketball season, presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. The table includes team names, records, and previous rankings, with highlighted spots for the top ten teams.

by Mike Pavlichko

A New No. 1, and two new teams join the Week 2 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

The first full week of play in high school basketball didn’t have anything in the way of seismic upsets, but there is a new No. 1 team in the Bellamy & Son Paving rankings – with a very fine line and little room for error among the top five teams, which are a combined 17-2 following this weekend’s action – as well as two new teams joining the bottom half of the rankings.

None have necessarily come up with any stunning or signature wins, but are playing very good basketball at the moment.

We start, of course, at the top, where 5-0 Montgomery takes the top spot by a nose, with an unblemished record. The Cougars won four games this week, starting off their league slate with an 81-55 win at Watchung Hills on Tuesday. Thursday, they beat Immaculata, 72-62 at home, then won twice over the weekend. Saturday, it was a 60-36 win over Haddonfield at the Jimmy V Classic down at Cherokee High School, then a 72-33 rout of Paramus Catholic in The Battle at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth.

Monty’s move leaves Gill St. Bernard’s (3-1) in the second spot. After a Tuesday win over Hillsborough, 51-49, then a 66-36 rout at Phillipsburg, Gill fell to unbeaten St. Peter’s Prep, 59-43, at the Big Jersey Showcase down at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft.

Holding in third is Rutgers Prep (3-1). The Argonauts bounced back from a season-opening loss with a 64-51 win over Phillipsburg Tuesday, a 62-60 win at Ridge Thursday, and a 70-60 win at Don Bosco Prep on Saturday.

Piscataway (4-0) is in fourth for a third straight week. The Chiefs beat West Orange Wednesday – as head coach Bob Turco picked up his 400th career win – then topped his old school, St. Thomas Aquinas, 90-66 on Thursday, before beating Old Bridge Saturday, 82-58.

St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-0) edges up one notch to five, after winning its opening two games (their December 8th game has not been officially recorded as a regular season win, so we’re not considering it here). The Falcons won 89-70 at Old Bridge Tuesday, and got by then-No. 5 Colonia at home, 58-40, Saturday afternoon.

Joining the Top Ten for the first time this season, at No. 6, is East Brunswick (4-0). The Bears won three games this week to stay perfect, starting with a 63-35 road win over Monroe. On Thursday, they topped No. 7 Sayreville, 58-53, then beat South Plainfield at home Saturday, 77-72.

That leaves Sayreville (3-1) in seventh, with a Tuesday win at St. John Vianney, 54-42, and a Saturday 81-58 win at Woodbridge sandwiched around the previously-mentioned loss to the Bears.

At No. 8, it’s Colonia (2-2), down three spots. The Patriots were 2-1 this week, starting with a pair of wins: 59-49 over St. Thomas Aquinas, and 71-60 over Old Bridge. Saturday, the Patriots took their second loss of the season, falling 58-40 at St. Joseph-Metuchen.

Checking in at No. 9 is Bridgewater-Raritan (4-0), also making its debut. The Panthers were 3-0 in the week gone by, starting with a 70-63 win at Franklin on Tuesday, followed by a 51-40 win over Hunterdon Central on Thursday, and a 64-19 win over College Achieve Central.

And still in the ten-spot is Immaculata (2-1). The Spartans beat Ridge Tuesday, 68-53, at home, then lost 72-62 at Montgomery Thursday, before bouncing back with a 61-53 win over Delaware Valley on Saturday.

Two teams dropped out to make room for East Brunswick and Bridgewater-Raritan. Ridge (0-4) fell out from No. 8 after an 0-3 week, with losses at Immaculata, 68-53 on Tuesday, Rutgers Prep 62-60 on Thursday, and against Delbarton in the Rose City Classic at FDU-Madison on Sunday, 50-47. St. Thomas Aquinas (1-3) fell out from No. 9 after a 1-2 week, including a 59-49 loss to Colonia Tuesday, and a 90-66 loss at Piscataway Thursday. They rebounded with a 49-35 win over 0-4 St. Joseph-Montvale Saturday in the Dr. Gerald Glisson Classic at Paterson Eastside. It’s the first time in the history of the CJSR/Bellamy Top Ten (dating to the COVID-shortened 2020 season) that the Trojans are not in the rankings, snapping a 50-week streak.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Two:

Image of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten rankings for high school boys' basketball for the 2025-26 season, displaying the current standings, records, and previous rankings of the teams.

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 6 St. Joseph-Metuchen’s third quarter run, Kretkowki’s 22, sink No. 5 Colonia, 58-40

With all due respect to those who returned, the full effect of off-season losses for defending GMC Tournament champion Colonia were on display Saturday afternoon in Metuchen.

That’s where No. 6 St. Joseph went on a 14-7 third quarter run to top the fifth-ranked Patriots, 58-40 in a GMC Red American Division game that will undoubtedly shake up at least the middle of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten when the Week Two rankings come out Monday.

Junior Rutgers Prep transfer Andrew Kretkowski led all scorers in the game with 22 points, spread evenly throughout the game: seven in the first, five in the second, four in the third and six in the final period. He hit two first half treys as St. Joe’s connected five times from beyond the arc.

With the loss of Aidan Derkack, who transferred to Spire Academy in Ohio to play his senior season for Kevin Boyle, Colonia was missing some well-established height inside to deal with the Falcons. Newcomer Desmond Rudanovic, a 6’7″ freshman, scored 15 points, but he’s as big as they go for the Patriots right now, and just getting his feet wet at the varsity level.

They’re also out R.J. Wortman, who skipped out to enroll early at Rutgers, where he’ll play football for Greg Schiano after grabbing 101 passes this year, his senior season. Defensive specialist Zach Smith also graduated. And on Saturday, St. Joseph did much of what it wanted to do on offense.

While sophomore Jayce Rodriguez, coming off a great freshman year, has been pouring in the points early on, what’s clear is Colonia also needs to develop some other options, or teams will gameplan for him and take their chances with the rest. Rodriguez had 13 on the afternoon, but besides him and Rudanovic, no one else scored more than four points.

Meanwhile, junior Elijah Murphy added 14 for the Falcons, including a nine-point first half where he went three-for-three from the foul line. He’s one of a number of returners for St. Joe’s, which also has brought in key transfers to supplement the lineup in season one of the second go-round for alum Mark Taylor, who won a pair of GMC titles here in the late 1990s.

It was a tight first half, with Joe’s up just 10-8 after one, and by seven at the half, 28-21. To start the second half, Marcel Carr of St. Joe’s hit a three, then Jayce Rodriguez countered with and and-one, but the Falcons finished the quarter on a 9-4 run to make it 42-28 heading to the fourth.

The Falcons weren’t perfect, missing some second- and even third-chance putback opportunities, and they got int foul trouble – even Kretkowski played the final few minutes with four fouls – but they are coming together after a light first full week of the season.

Click below to hear St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mark Taylor talk about the win with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

It may be early, but there are some big boys’ games in the GMC this weekend

New divisional alignments and no guaranteed seeds in the GMC Tournament may give this year’s event a different look and feel, and while we’ve barely gotten the first week of play in the books in high school basketball for 2025-26, there are some games with big implications this weekend on the boys’ side.

Starting this season, the GMC abandoned the traditional Red, White, Blue, Gold and sometimes Silver Divisions for a National and American Division in the Red White and Blue – still with six divisions – plus mandatory crossovers to help scheduling.

The league also got rid of its longstanding seeding rule that division winners had to get one of the top seeds. When there were four divisions, each winner had to be among the top eight seeds. When the GMC added a Silver Division, it expanded that number, but now, that’s all gone. A Blue American Division winner could end up as the 20th seed if the committee – made of up ADs from each division and two coaches, chosen by the coaches themselves – sees fit.

That aim is to have more games against common league opponents that will make it easier for the committee to weigh each team’s resume. League games and crossovers now take on more importance than ever.

Here are some key games to watch Saturday on the boys’ side in the Greater Middlesex Conference:

No. 7 Sayreville (2-1) at Woodbridge (0-1), 12 pm

The Barrons took a tough 10-point loss to South Plainfield in their opener back on Tuesday, and now face a ticked-off seventh-ranked Bombers squad, which just dropped a five-point game at unranked East Brunswick Thursday night. (More on them later.) Senior Sam Jones has led the way, averaging 23.3 points per game with seven treys, and even his 18 – another 18 from Chidi Chukwurah – were not enough to overcome the Bears in a game that was neck-and-neck throughout.

Sayreville has a lot back coming off a 23-5 season, where they won the GMC White Division (11-1) over South Plainfield and were a GMC Tournament semifinalist as a three-seed, where they lost 73-62 to second-seed Piscataway.

Woodbridge would like to get in the win column, and a win over Sayreville could be a signature win in their pocket later on down the line, what the committee calls a “quality win,” against a team already “on the board,” or already “seeded.”

No. 5 Colonia (2-1) at No. 6 St. Joseph-Metuchen (1-0), 1 pm

The Patriots have won two straight GMC games after a season-opening 62-35 loss to St. Peter’s Prep in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic at Montgomery last Saturday. They beat St. Thomas Aquinas on the road by ten Tuesday, 59-49, then topped Old Bridge 71-60 on Thursday night.

The Knights gave the Patriots a run for their money, jumping out to a 15-7 lead after one quarter, but Colonia stormed back with a 25-14 second period to take a 32-29 lead at the half. And, they trailed again 50-44 after three before rallying to win in the fourth. Sophomore Jayce Rodriguez – who’ll be called upon to do a lot more with the transfer loss of two-time GMCT MVP Aiden Derkack and early departure of R.J. Wortman to play football at Rutgers (he’s a January early enrolee) – scored a career high 32 points, including four treys.

Rodriguez, the son of head coach Jose Rodriguez, hadn’t scored more than 20 coming into this year, but had 26 in his last game, and is now averaging 25 points per game with 10 triples.

The jury is still out on the Falcons. While new (old) coach Mark Taylor has assembled an impressive group that expects to challenge for the Red American Division and a GMC Tournament title, they’ve gotten in just one GMC game, an 89-70 win at Old Bridge Tuesday in which the Knights led 19-18 after one quarter and trailed by just five heading into the final eight minutes.

Rutgers Prep junior Andrew Kretkowski scored 28 in the game, while Alijah Murphy added 21. For the Falcons, it’s probably not a matter of if, but when they officially turn the corner. One win does not a season make, but they certainly have the talent on paper. This is their first early test, and it comes against a Colonia team that took significant losses, but could also still compete for a title.

Old Bridge (1-2) at No. 4 Piscataway (3-0), 1 pm

Back to the Knights, they have dropped two straight since a 67-41 season-opening win over Eagle Academy. But, as mentioned above, they gave St. Joe’s a ride on Tuesday, and did the same against Colonia Thursday night. They jumped out to a 15-7 lead, then were down 32-29 at half. before taking a six-point lead into the fourth quarter that they couldn’t hold on to.

So, yes, Old Bridge has given two of the top teams in the GMC a ride in the first week of the season, and they’ll be hoping the third time’s the charm as they get 2025 GMC Tournament finalist Piscataway in the second of back-to-back Red American Division road games.

As for the Chiefs, they’re playing very well. They’re playing good defense and scoring an average of 86.7 points per game through their first three. Balanced scoring has been the name of the game, between Isaiah Fowler (53 points), Donald Nwaigwe (45) and Josh Lima (43). But the Knights have given teams runs, and the last thing you want to do is let an upset-minded team have some confidence. This one’s a mind game, and the Chiefs would do well to come out strong in this one, even on their (brand-new) home court.

South Plainfield (2-0) at East Brunswick (3-0), 6 pm

An early battle of unbeatens always proves to be fun, and this should live up to it. While the Bears have played an extra game, both have played a pair against the GMC; East Brunswick has wins over Monroe by 28 and Sayreville by five, while the Tigers have an 11-point win at Woodbridge, and a 38-point win over Monroe.

South Plainfield has been led by Andrew Bena, a sophomore scoring 23.5 points per game, while junior Boresa Jawula is averaging 13.5 and junior Justin Vaca is at 10.5 points per game. For EB, it’s senior Matt Mikulka scoring 20.3 points per game to lead the team, along with eight triples, by far the team leader so far.

East Brunswick is off to its first 3-0 start since they won their first four of the 2015-2016 season, when they went 18-9 and reached the GMC Tournament semifinals. They won four straight to start the prior season as well, but the last time they were 5-0? Well, that was an epic season.

That was 2012-13, when they upset St. Joseph in the debut of a future NBA star – maybe you’ve heard of him – named Karl-Anthony Towns in the season-opener in Metuchen. They won their first 15 games that year – including a sold-out rematch against the Falcons at home – until losing to St. Anthony in a one-off non-conference game in late January.

The Bears would reach the GMC Finals that year, and lose an epic to Joe’s, 66-63, in double overtime at Rutgers before winning the Central Jersey Group 4 title, and losing 51-49 in the state semis to Atlantic City.