Tag: Watchung Hills

by Mike Pavlichko

Nine girls’ basketball teams advance, Bound Brook and South River notch upsets as Groups 2 and 4 begin NJSIAA Tournament play

The bigger schools in the CJSR coverage area had mostly good nights in their opening round NJSIAA State Tournament games, while nine teams advanced overall, and seven were eliminated.

East Brunswick, Edison, Hillsborough, Monroe, Old Bridge, South Brunswick, and Watchung Hills all advanced in Group 4 play in their respective sections. All those teams were higher seeds in their first-round games.

Among the smaller schools, there were two upsets in Central Jersey Group 2. The biggest – by seed – was 11th-seed Bound Brook winning at 6th-seed Spotswood, 52-40. And in an all-GMC matchup, 10–seed South River beat 6th-seed Metuchen on the road 45-44.

Below are opening round results of all games in sections with area teams remaining. Scroll further down for the upcoming schedule, including matchups resulting from today’s games.

Central Group 4:
#1 Hightstown def. #16 North Brunswick, 52-28
#8 Old Bridge def. #9 Marlboro, 62-54
#5 Jackson Memorial def. #12 Princeton, 71-37
#4 East Brunswick def. #13 West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 46-29
#3 Monroe def. #14 Northern Burlington, 69-33
#6 Howell def. #11 Middletown South, 51-34
#7 Long Branch def. #10 Trenton, 64-47
#2 South Brunswick def. #15 Freehold Twp., 63-31

Central Group 2:
#16 Delaware Valley def. #1 New Providence, 62-26
#8 Roselle def. #9 Delran, 48-45
#5 Voorhees def. #12 Hillside, 64-44
#4 Rumson-Fair Haven def. #13 Point Pleasant Boro, 54-26
#3 Holmdel def. #14 Monmouth, 60-35
#11 Bound Brook def. #6 Spotswood, 52-40
#10 South River def. #7 Metuchen, 45-44
#2 Manasquan def. #15 Wall, 66-38

North 2, Group 4:
#1 Bayonne def. #16 Newark East Side, 65-31
#8 Hillsborough def. #9 Woodbridge, 76-49
#5 Edison def. #12 Union, 65-46
#4 Westfield def. #13 Phillipsburg, 61-29
#3 Irvington def. #14 Linden, 52-35
#6 Watchung Hills def. #11 Franklin, 52-46
#7 Scotch Plains-Fanwood def. #10 Ridge, 58-50
#2 Elizabeth def. #15 Hunterdon Central, 46-40

North 2, Group 2:
#4 Dayton def. #13 Bernards, 54-46

WEDNESDAY

Central Group 3 Quarterfinals
#8 Colts Neck at #1 Ewing
#5 Somerville at #4 Allentown
#11 Brick Memorial at #3 Red Bank Regional
#7 Robbinsville at #2 Ocean Twp.

Central Group 1 Quarterfinals
#8 South Hunterdon at #1 Shore
#13 Keyport at #5 Pt. Pleasant Beach
#6 Highland Park at #3 Dunellen
#7 New Egypt at #2 Middlesex

North 2 Group 3 Quarterfinals
#8 North Plainfield at #1 Randolph
#5 Colonia at #4 Fort Lee
#11 Mendham at #3 Millburn
#7 Warren Hills at #2 Chatham

Non-Public South A First Round

#9 Our Lady of Mercy at #8 Pingry
#12 Union Catholic at #5 St. Thomas Aquinas
#11 Immaculata at #6 Camden Catholic

Non-Public South B First Round
#14 Moorestown Prep at #3 Rutgers Prep
#11 Timothy Christian at #6 Trenton Catholic
#10 Calvary Christian at #7 Bishop Eustace

FRIDAY

Non-Public North B Quarterfinals
#5 Gill St. Bernard’s at #4 Montclair-Immaculate
#7 Wardlaw-Hartridge at #2 Morris Catholic

THURSDAY

Central Group 4 Quarterfinals
#8 Old Bridge at #1 Hightstown
#5 Jackson Memorial at #4 East Brunswick
#6 Howell at #3 Monroe
#7 Long Branch at #2 South Brunswick

Central Group 2 Quarterfinals
#8 Roselle at #1 New Providence
#5 Voorhees at #4 Rumson-Fair Haven
#11 Bound Brook at #3 Holmdel
#10 South River at #2 Manasquan

North 2, Group 4 Quarterfinals
#8 Hillsborough at #1 Bayonne
#5 Edison at #4 Westfield
#6 Watchung Hills at #3 Irvington
#7 Scotch Plains-Fanwood

by Mike Pavlichko

Gill St. Bernard’s girls move on to SCT title game with 76-47 win over Watchung Hills

It started as a defensive battle, then things opened up.

And when the dust settled, second-seed Gill St. Bernard’s had a 76-47 Somerset County Tournament semifinal win over third-seed Watchung Hills, to move on to its second straight title game.

Four Knights finished in double figures – and Sidney Quinn led the offensive effort with a career high 16 points in the win.

Also finishing in double figures for Gill (17-6) were Brooke Baisley with 14 points, Jennah Johnson with 11 and Maya Abramson with 10. For Watchung Hills (17-6), Claire Gillenwater and Giana Lobozzo finished with 11 points each.

After a defensive-minded opening quarter ended 12-5, Gill began to pull away late in the half, going into the locker room up 32-20. That momentum carried over into the third quarter, where Gill outscored Watchung Hills 29-11.

With the semifinal in the rearview mirror, the stage is set for rematch against Rutgers Prep with a county title on the line this Saturday at 1 pm at Montgomery High School, a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Gill lost both meeting with Rutgers Prep this year.

Click below for postgame reaction sponsored by SportsPlex at Metuchen:

Gill St. Bernard’s sophomore Sydney Quinn
Gill St. Bernard’s Head Coach Mark Gnapp
by Mike Pavlichko

Watchung Hills girls take a rare, much-needed break to gear up for postseason

Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger often says the regular season is just the preseason. It’s what her teams do in the Somerset County and NJSIAA State Tournaments that matter, at the end of the day.

Perhaps Watchung Hills head coach Reese Kirchoffer is of the same mind-set.

Eagle-eyed followers of the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Eight that not only did the Lady Warriors hold in seventh place, but their record was unchanged as well, at 16-4.

That’s because Kirchoffer gave his team a week off, rather than schedule some games against non-conference opponents. The reason? Both physical and mental.

Advertisements

They’ve had some bumps and bruises, a season-ending injury, and an intense run through the first 20 games of the season.

After a 60-33 win on Friday, January 28th at Hunterdon Central, Hills took the next week-plus off, and didn’t play again until this past Tuesday, February 7th, the night after the coaches voted to make them the third-seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament.

With a double-bye, they will begin postseason play with the SCT quarterfinals at home on Tuesday, February 14 against the winner of #6 Mount St. Mary vs. #11 Bernards/#14 Manville.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko talk with Watchung Hills girls’ basketball coach Reese Kirchoffer after the Somerset County Tournament seeding meeting:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls hold court in final Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten before season’s end

In the last Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball rankings before the end of the season, Rutgers Prep held onto the top position, making it 26 weeks out of 26 the Lady Argonauts have been No. 1 in the three-year history of the rankings.

Prep is 15-3, with wins last week over Blair and Rumson-Fair Haven, the latter coming in the Coaches’ Choice USA Shore Conference Challenge.

Holding on at No. 2 is St. Thomas Aquinas (17-5) which went 2-1 last week, including a loss to two-point loss to state-ranked Saddle River Dayy, a win over Colonia, and a victory over Wall in the Coaches’ Choice showcase.

Gill St. Bernard’s (14-5) holds at No. 3 after a 2-1 week, with the only area game a 74-45 win over Pingry.

South Brunswick (15-6) and Edison (18-4) flip-flopped on the strength of a 2-1 week that included a Vikings’ win over the Eagles on Friday, 61-34.

Bernards (14-5 held in sixth with two non-league wins over Johnson and Parsippany Hills, while Watchung Hills (15-4) remained in seventh, having not played last week.

Middlesex (15-5) moved up two spots to No., 8, with a 2-1 week that included wins over North and South Plainfield, and a loss playing up to the Red Division and East Brunswick.

Hillsborough (12-9) split four games last week to hold in ninth place, beating Monroe and Pemberton, falling to Pennginton and Ewing, while Monroe joined the Top Ten at No. 10. The Falcons were 2-1 with win at North Brunswick, home over Mount St. Mary, and a loss at Marlboro in non-conference play.

Previous No. 8 North Plainfield (14-6) dropped out.

Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings for Week 8:

by Mike Pavlichko

Watchung Hills gets a big QB transfer as Aleks Sitkowski moves from Piscataway

Every year, dozens of high school kids move to a new town for one reason or another, but one of the biggest in Big Central high school football in the off-season is the move of Aleks Sitkowski to the Watchung Hills Regional School District.

The younger brother of Art Sitkowski – the former Old Bridge star who played for a couple of seasons for Rutgers before transferring to Illinois – Aleks played the last two seasons for Piscataway, but transferred out just before Christmas, Central Jersey Sports Radio has learned.

An Internet search shows an address for the Sitkowski family in Watchung.

The Twitter bio for Aleks Sitkowski says he’s now a member of the Watchung Hills football team. (Source: Twitter screenshot)

Watchung Hills head coach Rich Seubert says Sitkowski would have been eligible to play basketball, but decided not to play this winter. That apparently means Sitkowski would not have to sit out 30 days per NJSIAA rules since he would have a bonafide change of address. The NJSIAA is considering updated transfer rules in the near future, but they have not won final approval yet.

As a junior last year for the Chiefs, Sitkowski was 57-of-117 passing for 752 yards and six touchdowns and six interceptions on a team that primarily ran the ball, rushing for over 1,600 yards.

Advertisements

Two years ago – as a sophomore – playing all eight games in an 0-8 season following a full fall athletic department COVID shutdown in 2020, Sitkowski went 31-75 for 294 yards, two touchdowns and three picks.

Assuming he remains at Watchung – Sitkowski’s Twitter bio says he is a “Quarterback Class of 2024 at Watching Hills Regional High School” – he would figure to compete for a starting job after the graduation of senior Dylan Kelley and his 1,117 passing yards and seven TDs. The Warriors’ lone returning QB is Brendan Fenton, a full-time varsity player who only attempted one pass last year as a junior.

That means, at the moment, Sitkowski is the only varsity QB on the roster with any meaningful action under his belt.

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s 25 straight weeks atop the rankings for Rutgers Prep, with two new teams joining Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week 7

On the strength of a 3-0 week, and a win that solidified their position as the team to beat in the Skyland Conference – a 75-36 thumping as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio last Tuesday afternoon – Rutgers Prep held on to the No. 1 spot in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten for Week 7.

The Lady Argonauts (13-3) had a 3-0 week, which also included an 80-19 rout at Bridgewater-Raritan, and a 76-56 win over Montclair-Immaculate on Sunday. They’re on a seven-game winning streak heading into the final week of the regular season, with the Somerset County Tournament seeding coming up a week from tonight.

St. Thomas Aquinas (15-4) holds in second, while Gill St. Bernard’s (12-4) stays put in third.

Edison (15-2) moves up to No. 4 on the strength of a 3-0 week, while South Brunswick (13-5) moves up two spots to No. 5, despite a 1-1 week in which they beat North Brunswick, but dropped an out-of-conference game to Morristown 54-51.

READ: Edison community and beyond comes together to “Fight For Allie,” help local 11-year old girl beat brain tumor

Bernards (12-5) had a 1-2 week and dropped to sixth, after a win over Delaware Valley, but losses to Belvidere and Dayton.

In seventh is Watchung Hills, which went 3-0, sweeping a week of games from Phillsipburg, Montgomery and Hunterdon Central.

North Plainfield (13-4) makes its debut this season at No. 8, with wins in the past week over Woodbridge and South Plainfield, but a loss to former Skyland Conference foe Bound Brook. (North Plainfield joined the Greater Middlesex Conference this season.)

Hillsborough (10-7) – which fell out of the rankings in Week 4 – rejoins the Top Ten at No. 8 after a three-win week that included victories over Franklin, Hunterdon Central, and previously-No. 9 Mount St. Mary (13-6), which dropped out, along with previous No. 10 Spotswood (15-4).

Below are the full Week 7 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls keep on keepin’ on, lead Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten again

Make it 24 straight weeks at No. 1 for Rutgers Prep in the Central Jersey Sports Radio/Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten, as the Lady Argonauts remain the only team ever to hold the top spot in the rankings, now in their third year.

Rutgers Prep (10-3) went 2-0 in an abbreviated week gone by, with wins at Hunterdon Central and Hillsborough by a combined 166-71. They will take a nearly four-year and 50-game winning streak against Skyland Conference opponents into a huge clash Tuesday afternoon at home against Gill St. Bernard’s, which can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. It’ll determine the Skyland Conference Delaware Division winner, and could figure into who gets the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament with the seeding two weeks from today.

Advertisements

St. Thomas Aquinas (12-3) held in second with wins over South Brunswick and Old Bridge, while Gill (11-3) had a 2-0 week with wins over Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan, keeping them in third.

The rest of the rankings, however, saw some shifts.

Bernards (11-3), Edison (14-2) and Middlesex (12-2) all edged up one spot each to fourth, fifth and sixth, while South Brunswick (12-4) dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 after a 1-2 week that saw them beat Piscataway, but lose to No. 2 Aquinas and unranked Colonia.

Advertisements

The bottom three also saw some shuffling: Watchung Hills (12-4) moved up two spots to eighth on the strength of a 3-0 week that included wins at Ridge and Hillsborough, and at home over Immaculata.

Mount St. Mary (11-5) dropped one spot to No. 9 after a 1-1 week: a win over Somerville and a loss at Warren Hills.

Spotswood (12-4) entered the rankings after a 3-1 week where they lost to East Brunswick, 56-41, but rebounded with wins at Carteret and at home over South River and Keansburg. Metuchen (12-3) – previously ranked No. 9 – dropped out with a 2-1 week that included a loss at Woodbridge. The Chargers and Bulldogs square off against each other Monday.

Below are the full Week 6 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Few teams lose, but Franklin, Old Bridge girls bow out of Bellamy & Son Paving Week 6 Top Ten

The top four teams in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls Basketball rankings remained the same this week, while Franklin and Old Bridge dropped out, and Metuchen and Watchung Hills joined the group.

From No. 1 to No. 4, neither Rutgers Prep (8-3), St. Thomas Aquinas (10-2), Gill St. Bernard’s (9-3), no South Brunswick (11-2) dropped a single game last week.

Advertisements

Previously-6th Franklin dropped out after suffering an 0-3 week – albeit losses to Gill, Rutgers Prep and Rumson – and falling to 4-7 on the year. Meanwhile, Edison (12-1) suffered its first loss of the season – falling at Monroe 60-36 – and dropped one spot in the poll from fifth to sixth.

That all paved the way for Bernards (10-3) to move up to fifth on the strength of a 4-0 week.

Middlesex (9-2) and Mount St. Mary (10-4) each moved up a spot to seventh and eighth, followed by two new teams.

Advertisements

Metuchen (10-2) joins the rankings at No. 9, while Watchung Hills (9-4) takes the last spot at ten.

Below are the full Week 5 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Hot heading into ’23: GMC and Somerset County boys’ teams hoping to keep it going in the New Year

The Christmas break and holiday tournaments are in the rear view mirror, and now it’s five weeks of crunch time in the regular season before the county and state playoff seeding meetings.

They come just about one right after the other, with the GMC seeding meeting on Friday, February 3, the SCT on Monday, the 6th, and the NJSIAA a week later on the 13th.

Everything starts a week earlier than usual this year, after the NJSIAA shortened the season (but allowed for unlimited four-game weeks to make up for it) and lopped off the Tournament of Champions so that the state finals now end Sunday, March 5th. (Last year, the TOC Finals were on March 20th.)

So it’s a bit more of a sprint this year; blink and you might miss it!

Here is a quick look at the boys teams in the area who are in great position heading into 2023:

GMC

  • St. Thomas Aquinas (7-0): The Trojans have only played three games against GMC competition so far this season, and none have been close: they’ve beaten JP Stevens, South Brunswick and Old Bridge in Red Division play by an average of 38 points per game. But their out-of-conference games haven’t been much closer. They beat Oratory before the holidays 66-34, then won all three games in the Husky Holiday Classic, topping Manalapan by 40 and Holdmdel by 27. Their closest game of the year brought home the trophy from Matawan, a see-saw battle with Seton Hall Prep that the Trojans won 52-44, getting eight fourth-quarter points from Kamal Lee in a matchup of top-15 state-ranked teams. (This week: Monroe Monday, at East Brunswick Tuesday, Rosedale Baptist (MD) Thursday, at Piscataway Saturday, Camden Eastside Sunday)
  • South Plainfield (6-0): The Tigers lead the GMC White Division with a 3-0 mark and wins over North Brunswick, Woodbridge and Edison. They swept the Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament over the holiday break with wins over the Eagles and Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Tuesday is a big test, playing up to the Red Division and struggling St. Joseph-Metuchen, which already has two GMC losses this season – to Colonia and South River. A win against the Falcons not only would be a resume-builder, but could leave the county tournament seeding committee with a lot of questions to wrangle with next month. (This week: at St. Joseph Tuesday, at North Plainfield Thursday, at Franklin Saturday)
  • South River (6-0): Brandon Walsh’s team is in a groove heading into 2023. We saw them fend off a tough Spotswood team on December 19th in what has turned out to be their closest game of the season so far, a 73-68 win. They even beat St. Joe’s by seven in a stunner the Monday after Christmas. (Read more by clicking here. And for more on the potential impact on the GMC Tournament seeding, click here.) This week’s schedule is kind to the Rams until they get to Saturday, and a matchup with so-far undefeated Bound Brook. (This week: at Wardlaw-Hartridge Monday, Middlesex Wednesday, at Bound Brook Saturday)
Advertisements
  • North Brunswick (4-1): The Raiders are in fourth in the White Division at 1-1, but have won four straight since a 12-point opening night loss to South Plainfield at home. Alani Ajigbotosho has led the way in the early season averaging 18 points a game, and has seven steals to boot, with North Brunswick averaging nearly seven a game as a team. They have three below-.500 teams coming up after a trip to Perth Amboy Tuesday, and could very well by 8-1 heading into a potentially critical White Division home matchup with Woodbridge on January 10th. (This week: at Perth Amboy Tuesday, Edison Thursday, Sayreville Saturday)
  • Colonia (6-1): The Patriots may only be on a two-game winning streak, but they’re still one of just four GMC teams to have won six games before the New Year. Their only loss came to Westfield in the opener of the LeGrand Holiday Jubilee, and they also have a win over St. Joe’s – a triple overtime affair – 83-78. (Read more on that game by clicking here.) Freshman guard Aidan Derkack has added another dimension for Colonia, leading the team with 17 steals in seven games, while dishing out 24 assists. This week they get the bottom half of the GMC Red Division, and one more next week before a huge clash at St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday, January 12th, which we’ll have live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. (This week: at Old Bridge Tuesday, East Brunswick Thursday, at Monroe Saturday)
  • Middlesex (5-1): The Blue Jays’ five-game win streak came to an end last week in the championship game of the Crusader Classic, losing at home team Bound Brook 60-57. Nothing to be embarrassed about there with the Crusaders still undefeated. (More on them in the next section. Defense has been the name of the game for Jared Goldstein’s squad, allowing an average of 31 points per game in their four GMC wins, while scoring 72 against Perth Amboy Magnet, and 91 at Wardlaw-Hartridge. They also had narrower wins by 11 over JFK, and by five over Carteret. Wednesday is a huge one at Blue Division-leader and undefeated South River. (This week: at South River Wednesday, Metuchen Friday, at South Hunterdon Saturday)
Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

Somerset County

  • Immaculata (5-0): Two of the six teams in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division are undefeated, and three of the others are 4-1. The Spartans opened the season with wins over Conference foes Montgomery, Hunterdon Central and Ridge, then beat Piscataway of the GMC by five before coming back to Somerset County and handling Bridgewater-Raritan on the road, 76-53 last Thursday. Seniors Davis Adams (forward) and Sean Givens (guard) balance the high-low game with 19.2 and 19 points per game, respectively. Adams has notched double-doubles (points and rebounds) in all five games so far, scoring 20-plus points twice, including a near career-high 24 against Central. (This week: at Watchung Hills Tuesday, Phillipsburg Thursday, at Morristown Saturday)
  • Watchung Hills (5-0): The Warriors’ only divisional game so far was a 48-35 win over Montgomery in the Cougar/Warrior Classic on December 29th, and they jump right back in with a critical home matchup against Immaculata at 5:30 Tuesday evening. With the graduation of Elijah Lewis, Hills is much more balanced this year, with five players averaging 8.2 points per game or better, but none more than 11.4 per contest. That’s also a nice luxury to have. (This week: Immaculata Tuesday, Hillsborough Thursday, JP Stevens Saturday)
  • Hillsborough (4-1): Under second-year head coach Tim Palek, the Raiders are picking up where they left off in 2021-22, and after a two-point season-opening loss to Ridge, 55-53, take a four-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game at Montgomery, which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 6:45 and tip-off at 7. (Click here to listen. For a preview of the game with Coach Palek, click here.) Hillsborough needs to not look past the Cougars (3-4) with a key game at Watchung Hills on Thursday night. (This week: Montgomery Tuesday, at Watchung Hills Thursday, Raritan Friday)
  • Bound Brook (5-0): Head coach Anthony Melesurgo doesn’t rebuild, he just reloads, having done nothing but win the last several seasons. In fact, going back to 2019-20, the Crusaders are a combined 66-10 over a span of four seasons, including an undefeated 14-0 mark in the COVID-shortened season, in which they won the Skyland Conference middle postseason pod. This year’s edition has only won one game “comfortably,” a 67-51 victory over South Hunterdon. They’ve won their other four games by an average of three points. Still, nobody asks how, just if. Jordan Summers has been lighting it up: the senior is averaging a whopping 29 points per game. Just try stopping him. And here’s a nice way to start the new year: three straight games in The Brook. (This week: North Hunterdon Tuesday, Voorhees Thursday, South River Saturday)
Advertisements
  • Rutgers Prep (5-2): The record may not look “hot” with two losses in their last three games, but they both came to out-of-state opponents: in a regular season home game before Christmas to Devon Prep (PA) 74-70, and in the opening game of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classic against Cardinal O’Hara (PA) 73-53. They rebounded with a 69-55 win over Neumann Goretti (PA) on Friday. They’ve only played two Skyland opponents so far, edging Franklin on the road in the season opener 90-82, and beating Hunterdon Central a few days later 71-29. The Argonauts are off ’til Thursday, when they have a huge clash up in Gladstone against Gill St. Bernard’s at 7:00. (This week: at Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday, DePaul Saturday)
  • Gill St. Bernard’s (4-2): With a new look, and no household names – yet – Mergin Sina’s club may take some time to jell. But they’ve won both their Skyland games (over Bridgewater-Raritan by 26 and Franklin by 12) and have two tough losses: one to Ramapo by seven in the Jingle Bells Jubilee, and another today to St. Joe’s of Montvale. They get a conference tune-up before Thursday’s home clash with Prep – Hunterdon Central on Tuesday – as part of a four-game week to start 2023. (This week: at Hunterdon Central Tuesday, Rutgers Prep Thursday, at Christian Brothers Academy Saturday, at St. Augustine Sunday)
by Mike Pavlichko

South River cracks Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten after upset at St. Joe’s

St. Joe’s is out, South River is in.

The Rams’ win over the Falcons in Metuchen over the Christmas break has put them in the Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Week Three Top Ten, taking the tenth spot, while knocking out St. Joe’s, which suffered its second loss of the early season. South River is undefeated at 6-0.

That moved the five teams below the Falcons all up one notch this week, while the first four places remained the same.

St. Thomas Aquinas leads the pack at 7-0, followed by Rutgers Prep (5-2) and Gill St. Bernard’s (4-2). The Argonauts had a 2-1 break, while the Knights were 1-2, but all three losses came to out-of-area opponents, and only Gill suffered a loss to an in-state opponent. Colonia (6-1) held in fourth.

The next four teams are all unbeaten: Watchung Hills (5-0) in fifth, followed by Bound Brook (5-0), South Plainfield (6-0), and Immaculata (4-0), with Ridge (4-1) checking in ninth.

Below are the full Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings: