2025 Boys Basketball SCT Watch: Feb. 8 Update

Matt Manley|February 8, 2025|Last Updated February 8, 2025

The Shore Conference Tournament field is almost set, but there is a full day of games Saturday to settle before we have an idea of what the full 20-team field looks like. The top 10 is more-or-less locked in, but there are still a few teams close enough to one another that the power points strength of schedule multiplier (OOWP) could change enough that there is movement, even for teams that did not play.

If you still need a refresher of the new rules for the Shore Conference Tournament seeding here they are, with the key changes listed below.

Teams will be seeded based on the NJSIAA power points formula (power points divided by games played) as of games complete on Saturday, Feb. 8. The top 20 seeds will qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament. The remaining teams will be entered into the Shore Conference Coaches Cup.
In addition to the teams ranked within the top 20 in power points, teams that win a Shore Conference division championship that are not within the top 20 will be eligible to enter either the Shore Conference Tournament or the Coaches Cup. If such teams opt into the Shore Conference Tournament, said teams will be seeded according to their power points.
If two teams seeded consecutively have played against each other head-to-head, the team with the advantage in the head-to-head results will be seeded first. Head-to-head comparisons will start at the top of the seeding chart and work down to the bottom of the list. Teams can be dropped multiple spots if new teams listed directly below them own the head-to-head advantage.

The head-to-head provision has been confirmed by boys tournament director Nick Pizzulli. As of Thursday morning, every outright division championship is clinched and all eight division champions are currently projected to fall in the top 20 seeds, meaning there would not be any additional entrants beyond the top 20 should that set of circumstances remain after Saturday’s games.

What to Watch on Saturday

The bubble is where it’s at. The top 19 seeds are all pretty much safe, with No. 19 Jackson Memorial the only team that might have to hold its collective breath until Sunday morning, when all the power point numbers are final. Even if everything goes against the Jaguars on Saturday, however, the math is still likely to work in their favor.

That leaves the No. 20 spot, which is up-for-grabs between five teams: Henry Hudson, Freehold Township, Neptune, Brick Memorial and Middletown South. Neptune currently occupies the first-team-out spot, but a game vs. Lakewood Saturday will hurt the Scarlet Fliers because a win is only in the neighborhood of 11 power points, which will drag Neptune’s current average below that of Brick Memorial. Fortunately for Neptune, the Scarlet Fliers have a win over Brick Memorial and should Brick Memorial finish 20th in power points with Neptune right behind, Neptune would earn the No. 20 seed by virtue of that head-to-head win.

Neptune needs a lot of help for that to happen. In addition to beating Lakewood, the Scarlet Fliers will need Henry Hudson to lose at Pinelands, Freehold Township to lose to Lacey and for the OOWP adjustment on Sunday morning to keep them over Henry Hudson so the head-to-head vs. Brick Memorial will matter. Based on the current OOWP, Neptune would lead Henry Hudson, 16.181-16.109, and Pinelands, 16.181-16.081.

Brick Memorial was a long-shot heading into the end of the week but has played its way within shouting distance of clinching a berth thanks to back-to-back wins over Brick and Point Pleasant Boro. Brick Memorial will need quite a bit of help to grab the No. 20 seed, but there are only two outcomes that the Mustangs absolutely need in order to qualify: a Pinelands win over Henry Hudson and a Lacey win over Freehold Township. Even then, Brick Memorial has to hope that Henry Hudson or Pinelands can stay ahead of Neptune for the No. 21 spot, which would clinch it for the Mustangs.

Over the last two days, Henry Hudson has climbed into the projected field and has set itself up for a win-and-in scenario on Saturday. The Admirals are taking the long bus ride to Pinelands and if they can pull off the victory, it will be a happy ride back. Not only would Henry Hudson lock down a spot with a win on Saturday; the Admirals would likely pass Jackson Memorial for the No. 19 seed.

Freehold Township also needs help to qualify, but not as much as Brick Memorial needs. First thing’s first: the Patriots must beat Lacey at home on Saturday to set themselves up for a potential push into the field. As long as Freehold Township can handle its end on Saturday, it would just need Pinelands to knock off Henry Hudson, which the Wildcats did a year ago, when Henry Hudson put together its best season in three decades. The Patriots might also have to hope the OOWP does not boost Middletown South over them, but the math currently is in Freehold Township’s favor. If Middletown South loses to Old Bridge, Freehold Township would be in with a win and a Henry Hudson loss.

Middletown South will get a power-point boost of around 27 points if the Eagles can beat Old Bridge on Saturday. That is a must for Middletown South to qualify and from there, the Eagles would need a Pinelands win over Henry Hudson and likely a Lacey win over Freehold Township. There is an outside chance that Middletown South could pass Freehold Township if both win, but Freehold Township currently appears to hold the edge. The same OOWP caveat applies with Middletown South and Brick Memorial, who would be within hundredths-of-a-point should Middletown South win on Saturday.

As for the rest of the field, OOWP changes are the only things that can alter the current seeding list. Based on the current OOWP, St. Rose would not jump Christian Brothers Academy if the Purple Roses beat La Lumiere on Saturday and they would not drop below Central if they lose to Darius Adams and Co. In that losing scenario, however, the margin between St. Rose and Central would be enough to keep an eye on any OOWP changes from Saturday to Sunday. In the unlikely event that those changes jump Central ahead of St. Rose, the Golden Eagles would also jump Red Bank due to a head-to-head win over the Bucs.

The final cluster to watch on Sunday morning is Nos. 14-through-17. Point Pleasant Beach, Southern and Barnegat are all close enough that the OOWP could shuffle their order around and the team that is most hoping for that outcome is Barnegat. Currently, the Bengals are No. 16 in power points, but lost to No. 17 Marlboro head-to-head. Should they stay next to one another in the seeding, Marlboro would jump Barnegat and host the Bengals in the first round of the tournament.

It will all play out on Saturday and on Sunday, we will all await the official release of the Shore Conference Tournament and Coaches Cup brackets.

The Shore Conference Tournament and Coaches Cup schedules are as follows:

Shore Conference Tournament

First Round: Tuesday, Feb. 11
Round of 16: Thursday, Feb. 13
Quarterfinals (Girls): Saturday, Feb. 15 at Holmdel High School
Quarterfinals (Boys): Saturday, Feb. 15 at Middletown South High School
Semifinals (Girls): Tuesday, Feb. 18 at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena, Toms River
Semifinals (Boys): Wednesday, Feb. 19 at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena, Toms River
Championship: Friday, Feb. 21 at Monmouth University

Coaches Cup (All games hosted by the better seed)

First Round: Wednesday, Feb. 12
Round of 16: Friday, Feb. 14
Quarterfinals: Monday, Feb. 17
Semifinals: Wednesday, Feb. 19
Championship: Saturday, Feb. 22

2025 Boys Basketball Shore Conference Tournament Seeding through Friday, Feb. 7

SCT Seed	Team	Power Points	PP/Game	NJSIAA Section	Section Seed
1	Manasquan (17-3)	652.98	32.649	CJ2	1
2	CBA (16-3)*	575.385	30.282	SJ Non-Pub A	4
3	Red Bank (18-3)*	640.605	30.505	CJ3	1
4	St. Rose (15-6)	600.285	28.585	SJ Non-Pub B	1
5	Central (20-2)	601.81	27.355	SJ4	3
6	Rumson-FH (14-5)	505.913	26.627	CJ2	2
7	Holmdel (11-7)	432.738	24.041	CJ2	3
8	Wall (17-3)	478.54	23.927	CJ2	4
9	Colts Neck (10-7)	389.317	22.901	CJ3	4
10	RBC (12-9)	452.466	21.546	SJ Non-Pub A	8
11	Midd. North (16-6)	468.468	21.294	CJ3	5
12	Freehold Boro (17-6)	481.643	20.941	CJ3	6
13	Ranney (10-8)	365.526	20.307	SJ Non-Pub B	7
14	Point Beach (15-6)	416.136	19.816	CJ1	4
15	Southern (15-5)	395.26	19.763	SJ4	8
16	Marlboro (9-11)*	355.88	17.794	CJ4	9
17	Barnegat (15-6)*	411.537	19.597	SJ2	9
18	Howell (11-10)	367.479	17.499	SJ4	11
19	Jackson Mem. (9-12)	357.735	17.035	CJ3	10
20	Henry Hudson (15-6)	346.332	16.492	CJ1	6
	Neptune (11-8)	311.828	16.412	CJ3	11
	Brick Memorial (10-13)	376.671	16.377	CJ3	13
	Freehold Twp. (8-10)	292.626	16.257	CJ4	10
	Midd. South (8-12)	316.94	15.847	CJ3	14
	Point Boro (10-11)	327.201	15.581	CJ2	11
	Donovan Cath. (10-11)	322.812	15.372	SJ Non-Pub A	13
	Keyport (15-6)	317.667	15.127	CJ1	10
	Pinelands (10-8)	270.558	15.031	SJ3	12
	Matawan (8-13)	308.784	14.704	CJ3	15
	Shore (15-5)	293.94	14.697	CJ1	12
	St. John Vianney (6-15)	308.427	14.687	SJ Non-Pub A	14
	Raritan (8-13)	304.962	14.522	CJ2	12
	Manalapan (7-12)	266.114	14.006	CJ4	12
	New Egypt (8-10)	252	14	SJ1	10
	Toms River North (7-14)	278.46	13.26	SJ4	19
	Lacey (7-12)	247.836	13.044	SJ3	15
	Toms River East (7-12)*	223.801	11.779	SJ3	18
	Ocean (7-14)*	252.861	12.041	CJ2	16
	Brick (7-14)	236.544	11.264	CJ3	18
	Jackson Liberty (6-13)	195.054	10.266	CJ2	18
	Manchester (4-16)	187.9	9.395	SJ2	18
	Keansburg (6-13)	175.655	9.245	CJ1	22
	Long Branch (6-15)	192.591	9.171	CJ4	19
	Toms River South (3-18)	192.276	9.156	SJ3	20
	Monmouth (5-14)	167.162	8.798	CJ2	20
	Lakewood (2-16)	143.82	7.99	CJ3	20
	Asbury Park (0-18)	100.206	5.567	CJ1	29

*Head-to-Head

CBA owns the head-to-head advantage over Red Bank for the No. 2 seed.
Marlboro owns the head-to-head advantage over Barnegat for the No. 16 seed.
Toms River East owns the head-to-head advantage over Ocean for the Coaches Cup No. 17 seed.

Shore Conference Tournament projected pairings through Friday, Feb. 7

Opening Round

(20) Henry Hudson at (13) Ranney

(19) Jackson Memorial at (14) Point Beach

(18) Howell at (15) Southern

(17) Barnegat at (16) Marlboro

Round of 16

(17) Barnegat/(16) Marlboro winner at (1) Manasquan

(18) Howell/(15) Southern winner at (2) CBA

(19) Jackson Memorial/(14) Point Beach winner at (3) Red Bank

(20) Henry Hudson/(13) Ranney winner at (4) St. Rose

(12) Freehold Boro at (5) Central