In the last six years that St. Thomas Aquinas has won the GMC Tournament, they have faced Monroe and Colonia twice, South Brunswick and Edison once. And while they're a heavy favorite to get back to the finals again this year - and win it all - there's one certainty: they will finally face someone new if and when they get there.

Top-seed Rutgers Prep got 11 points from Hailey Benbow and 10 from Natalia Valdez in a 55-49 win over fifth-seed Bound Brook in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, sending them back to the title game. Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas call all the play-by-play from Franklin High School in Somerset, NJ on February 14, 2026.

Second-seed Rutgers Prep held off a late push from third-seed Montgomery for a 66-57 win in the semifinal round of the Somerset County Tournament behind 20 points from Will Brunson and 15 from Nicholas Nsenkyrie. Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas call all the play-by-play from Franklin High School in Somerset, NJ on February 14, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, it looks like Gill St. Bernard's loss in the Somerset County Tournament Saturday will not keep them from getting a top seed in their playoff section, with Rutgers Prep also expected to earn one. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 2 pm on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, four Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area teams appear to have earned top four seeds, including a top-seed for Somerville in the Group 3 section of North Jersey, Section 2. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 2 pm on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, Franklin's big win over Gill St. Bernard's in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals may have been enough to help the Warriors claim the top-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, the only section to be lead by a CJSR-area team. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 2 pm on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, it looks like Gill St. Bernard's and Rutgers Prep - ranked Nos. 3 and 9 in the statewide rankings, and both Somerset County Tournament semifinalists - will be getting the NO. 1 seeds in their respective playoff sections. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 9:30 am on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, Piscataway appears to have locked in the top seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, while four-time defending champs Colonia in North 2, Group 3 have used a late-season surge to appear to take the top seed, yet again. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 9:30 am on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

With playoff qualification in high school basketball closing Saturday at the NJSIAA cutoff, it looks like Hillsborough will be the only Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area team getting a top seed, having wrestled it away from Montgomery in the final week. Below is a look at all the area teams in the Central Jersey playoff brackets, based on NJ.com power point standings as of 9:30 am on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

The second GMC Tournament boys' basketball semifinal at Monroe Township High School Wednesday night will feature the league's only two parochial schools, with top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen taking on fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas. That'll follow the opener: a rematch of last year's GMC title game, as second-seed Piscataway takes on third-seed Colonia. Of course, much of the personnel there will be different, as will be the case in the night cap, with two new coaches at he helms of those schools.

Three of the four GMC Tournament semifinal teams are set on the girls' side, as top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas, fourth-seed Colonia, and third-seed Piscataway all won early quarterfinal home games Saturday afternoon. Second-seed East Brunswick and seventh-seed Monroe tipped off at 2 pm, and we'll have a recap on that one when it's finished. In Tuesday's semifinals - which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Monroe Township High School - it'll be St.

Sometimes when two top teams get together - and these two both were 20-game winners coming into Saturday's Somerset County Tournament semifinal at Franklin High School - there's a feeling out period. See what the other team gives you, then figure out what you can take. There was none of that, however, for top-seed Rutgers Prep when the Argonauts took on fifth-seed Bound Brook.

The Skyland Conference Delaware Division is a beast. Three teams are ranked in the statewide Top 20, all from ten up to three. So, whenever they meet in the postseason, whoever they meet, they are always well-prepared. So it was Saturday morning in the first Somerset County Tournament semifinal game. Second-seed Rutgers Prep and third-seed Montgomery both came in with excellent resumes.

We're officially in the thick of county tournament season in high school basketball! Here in Central Jersey, Franklin High School will play host for the second year in a row to the Somerset County Tournament semifinals. Two boys' and two girls' games highlight a four-game extravangaza with the first tipping at 10 am, and the last at 4 pm. Winners will move on to next Saturday's finals down at Montgomery High School in Skillman, with the girls' final at 1 pm, and the boys' title game at 3 pm, both of which can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

With four Somerset County Tournament semifinal games on tap at Franklin High School this Saturday, it'll be defending champion and top-seed Gill St. Bernard's taking on fifth-seed Immaculata for a trip to the championship game next week at Montgomery in the last of the hoops extravaganza's four games. There was little doubt who the top-seed would be. The Knights are 22-2, their only losses coming to St.

Both of the teams who will meet in Saturday's second girls' basketball Somerset County Tournament semifinal game have some newness to them. Jimmy Kreie is in his first year as Franklin head coach, and he has he third-seeded Warriors a win away from getting back to county championship for the first time since 2019, when Audrey Taylor's squad went 34-0 and won the Tournament of Champions for the second time in three years.

Montgomery's last win over Rutgers Prep in boys' basketball came in the 2018-19 season, with the Cougars winning twice that year. Since then, the Argonauts have won ten straight, but the majority - especially in recent seasons - have been close, including a three-point loss in the 2024 Somerset County Tournament final. This Saturday, the second-seeded Argonauts (15-8, No. 9 in New Jersey) and the third-seeded Cougars (20-3, No.

High school football is at it again. According to a report out Thursday from Shore Sports Insider (formerly Shore Sports Network), the NJSIAA's Leagues and Conferences committee has recommended that the NJSIAA move back to snaking playoff brackets in each section, rather than splitting them up geographically. Snaked brackets are intended to "balance" them. In that process, when the top 16 in North and South in each group are determined, teams are placed into sections with, for example, the top overall seed in Central, then seeds 2 and 3 in South, then 4 and 5 in Central, 6 and 7 in South, and so on.

Spotswood won by 18, Tyler VanLeeuwen scored 17, and the Chargers won their 14th game of the season Thursday. But the number that really mattered last night was 500. Spotswood head coach Steve Mate - in his 31st season there behind the bench, and 35th season of coaching overall - won his 500th game when they beat Dunellen, 66-48 at the Faber School.

By no stretch of the imagination did the Rutgers Prep and Bound Brook girls' basketball teams have "bad" years, or even so-so seasons, at least not by most people's standards. The Argonauts finished 20-7, while the Crusaders went 19-7. But Rutgers Prep didn't make the county finals for the first time in ten seasons, and they got beat by Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final.

Things went mostly in line with the seeds on Thursday night in the boys' basketball GMC Tournament First Round, as seven higher seeds were victorious and moved on to Saturday's quarterfinals. The only upset was a mild one in terms of numbers, but a big one for the small schools, as 9th-seed and White National Division Champion knocked off 8th-seed Old Bridge on the road, 60-44.

They may have been their first games in this year's GMC Tournament - as the teams with the double byes do - but all eight won their "First Round" games in the round of 16 Wednesday, with very few of them actually close. In fact, only 8th-seed Middlesex won by single digits, just edging out nine-seed Old Bridge at home, 36-35.

Even if they had no idea Layla Gutierrez scored 50 points Monday night in a GMC Tournament preliminary round game against New Brunswick, Monroe had every idea of her talents, having split a pair of regular season games against North Plainfield already this year. And while she finished with 19 Wednesday, Monroe did its job against her all game, throwing double- and triple-teams her way, trapping, and - most importantly - holding her scoreless in the third quarter.

Five higher seeds advanced in the boys' basketball GMC Tournament Tuesday night, while Monroe, JP Stevens and North Plainfield came away with upset wins in preliminary round action. The GMCT now moves on to the First Round, the round of 16, as the top eight seeds that earned double byes begin play, hosting game on Thursday night, with winners moving on to Saturday's quarterfinals, all at higher seeds - unlike years past where the quarters were held at neutral sites.

The Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament is in full swing for basketball, with the boys' preliminary round set for Tuesday, and the girls' first round - where the top eight seeds begin play - scheduled for Wednesday. The boys' first round takes place Monday, where those top eight seeds begin play against Tuesday's winners, and both the boys and girls will move on the the quarterfinals on Saturday, with game to be played at higher seeds, after years of having neutral site games either at Middlesex College or other high school venues in the league.