Boys Basketball NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore Non-Publics

Last season marked the first time since 2000 that a public school team finished No. 1 in New Jersey, with Plainfield finishing atop the final 2024-25 state rankings, according to NJ Advance Media. For nearly a quarter century, you could bank on either of the two Non-Public groups to produce No. 1 team in the state and as th is year’s NJSIAA Tournament gets underway, the Non-Publics would appear to have the inside track to reclaim the No. 1 ranking this year. The top five teams in the latest state top 20 and eight of the top 10 are Non-Public programs, which means if any of those teams wins a state title at Rutgers on Friday, March 13, they will be in the running for the No. 1 spot.

Since Ranney’s emergence as a statewide power in the late 2010’s, the Shore Conference has had a team in that No. 1 conversation heading into the state tournament more years than it hasn’t. Ranney came close in 2018 before breaking through in 2019, while St. Rose made it to the Non-Public B championship game in 2023, 2024 and 2025, with the Purple Roses finishing No. 1 in the state in 2024.

Heading into this March, it will be Christian Brothers Academy that has the opportunity to play for the state’s No. 1 ranking. The Shore Conference Tournament champions are currently No. 4 in the state with losses to both No. 1 Bergen Catholic and No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s and a win over No. 5 Roselle Catholic. Should CBA run the Non-Public A gauntlet and Roselle Catholic beat Gill St. Bernard’s in Non-Public B, the Colts would likely finish No. 1 in the state. That would likely require CBA beating three top-10 teams in a row to close out the championship march.

South Jersey Non-Public A

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 2 CBA, No. 5 Red Bank Catholic, No. 12 St. John Vianney, No. 13 Donovan Catholic
Top Seed: Paul VI
Defending Champion: No. 7 Camden Catholic
Favorite: No. 3 St. Peter’s Prep. The Marauders have just one loss to an NJSIAA team this season and it is a three-point loss to Bergen Catholic – the No. 1 team in the state. St. Peter’s Prep is a battle-tested, guard driven team that also has enough length and athleticism to match up with teams that boast real size. That includes 7-foot-2 center Toussaint Malukila and top-seed Paul VI, which is searching for its second sectional championship in three years.

A year ago, St. Peter’s Prep entered the tournament as the unofficial favorite, but were taken down by Camden Catholic, which is lying in the weeds as a No. 7 seed this season. The Irish will have to get past CBA to earn a possible rematch with St. Peter’s, which will could require Camden Catholic to beat the most dangerous team in the section. CBA looked like a sectional-title favorite in early January and the Colts are starting to round back into form after winning their first Shore Conference Tournament championship in 16 years. A showdown with St. Peter’s after the Marauders’ ended CBA’s 2024-25 season feels almost inevitable and the winner would have a great shot at taking out either Paul VI, No. 4 St. Joseph of Metuchen or Red Bank Catholic on a neutral floor. Unlike last year, CBA has the advantage of a better seed than St. Peter’s, which means the Marauders would have to go to Lincroft.

Dark Horse: No. 9 Union Catholic. Paul VI and St. Joseph Metuchen would appear to be the likeliest finalists from the top-half of the bracket, while Red Bank Catholic is coming off a trip to the Shore Conference Tournament championship game and also took CBA to overtime during the regular season. Don’t, however, count out Union Catholic. The Vikings are another group of talented, athletic guards who play a grueling schedule in Union County and can measure up to Paul VI or St. Joseph Metuchen on a good day.

As the No. 11 seed, St. Thomas Aquinas is another road team to watch in the first round, with the Trojans heading to No. 6 Immaculata Thursday for the right to move on to Monday’s sectional quarterfinal – likely against St. Peter’s Prep. No. 14 Notre Dame made an improbable run to the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament championship game, but a similar run in this section is severely hampered by a first-round draw of St. Peter’s. As for St. Thomas, the Trojans will have a great opportunity for a round-one win, but getting past St. Peter’s and into the semifinals is a harder quarterfinal road than the one Union Catholic has – even with the Vikings potentially facing two long trips to South Jersey to face No. 8 St. Augustine and Paul VI.

Bracket Breakdown: This section has had some very strong teams over the years and enough depth that it is never easy to predict. A No. 1 or 2 seed has not won the South Non-Public A section since St. Augustine in 2017 and since Karl-Anthony Towns led St. Joseph Metuchen to the Tournament of Champions title in 2014, that St. Augustine team is the lone team with a top-two seed to win this section.

That would appear to be bad news for Paul VI and CBA and encouraging news for St. Peter’s Prep, St. Joseph Metuchen and Camden Catholic. The latter, in particular, has embraced the role of underdog in the later rounds of the tournament, with the Irish winning back-to-back sectional titles in 2018 and 2019 to go with last year’s championship.

Before the championship picture takes shape, two Shore Conference teams will tangle in the first round. St. John Vianney heads to downtown Red Bank to play RBC on Thursday and while the Caseys have been the superior team all year, SJV has proven itself to be pesky opponent while playing in a challenging Shore Conference Class A Central division with Wall, Howell, Freehold Township and Middletown South. The Lancers are a junior-heavy team and will benefit from playing a high-intensity first-round game, perhaps even with a chance to surprise an RBC team getting over the hangover of losing to CBA in its first ever SCT championship appearance.

Speaking of teams that is looking for a long-term benefit from this year’s state-tournament appearance, Donovan Catholic will take its young roster to Metuchen to play a talented St. Joseph team. With freshman Gerard Gallo leading the team in scoring, Donovan Catholic has a chance to get its young core a taste of a high-level playoff game.

Prediction: St. Peter’s over St. Joseph Metuchen. The Marauders have been on a mission all year since losing to Camden Catholic in last year’s sectional final, but the competition this year is even tougher. CBA is much more capable of matching up with St. Peter’s and would host that potential semifinal with the same idea of revenge that St. Peter’s has when thinking about last year’s sectional final.

CBA will have a difficult road to the final, with defending champion Camden Catholic likely paying a visit in the Colts’ playoff opener, followed by a visit from St. Peter’s. Based on how the season has played out, CBA and St. Peter’s appear to be the class of this section and if the two indeed meet on March 5 in Lincroft, that will be a must-see game.

RBC should get its shot at St. Joseph and its talented four-star junior duo of Andrew Kretkowski and Aidan Carter in the quarterfinal, with the Caseys looking to become just the second team to beat St. Joe’s (26-1) this season. The lone loss is to a 16-10 South Plainfield team, so while the Falcons are imposing, they are not unbeatable.

Round-by-Round Picks

First Round
(9) Union Catholic over (8) St. Augustine
(5) Red Bank Catholic over (12) St. John Vianney
(4) St. Joseph Metuchen over (13) Donovan Catholic
(3) St. Peter’s Prep over (14) Notre Dame
(11) St. Thomas Aquinas over (6) Immaculata
(7) Camden Catholic over (10) Pingry

Quarterfinals
(9) Union Catholic over (1) Paul VI
(4) St. Joseph Metuchen over (5) Red Bank Catholic
(3) St. Peter’s Prep over (11) St. Thomas Aquinas
(2) CBA over (7) Camden Catholic

Semifinals
(4) St. Joseph Metuchen over (9) Union Catholic
(3) St. Peter’s Prep over (2) CBA

Championship
(3) St. Peter’s Prep over (4) St. Joseph Metuchen

 

South Jersey Non-Public B

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 6 Ranney, No. 8 St. Rose
Top Seed: Rutgers Prep
Defending Champion: St. Rose
Favorite: Rutgers Prep. It was only four years ago that Rutgers Prep won its first and only sectional championship and that was the 2022 Non-Public A championship. In Non-Public B, the Argonauts have been on the cusp of a title on several occasions and this year represents their best chance yet to collect a trophy in Non-Public B. A year ago, they ran into the St. Rose machine in the sectional final and bring back a handful of key young players from that team, led by sophomore Will Brunson and junior Rocco Loomis. That sets up Rutgers Prep nicely, but with a solid Bishop Eustace team perched at the No. 5 seed and No. 2 Holy Cross, No. 3 Holy Spirit and Ranney all potential championship candidates, it will not be a cakewalk.

Dark Horse: Ranney. Realistically, there are five teams that look like they have a legitimate shot to reach the sectional final – Rutgers Prep, Holy Cross, Holy Spirit, Bishop Eustace and Ranney – and Ranney has the worst seed among them. The Panthers have played a quality schedule, have beaten some well-seeded teams throughout the state (Marlboro, Red Bank Catholic, Jackson) and don’t have any losses that ought to sound the alarm about their vulnerability for an upset. Trips to Holy Spirit and, potentially, Holy Cross will put Ranney’s junior-heavy squad to the test, but the schedule says the Panthers are up for the challenge.

St. Rose is in a good spot to win a game and the Purple Roses are better equipped to deal with Rutgers Prep than any other five-win team in the state. That unsightly 5-20 record is the function of an exceedingly difficult schedule for a team that returned just one starter to an overhauled roster that had to learn a new coaching staff. They have to go earn in, but a state-tournament win would be a well-earned accomplishment for the Purple Roses, as would a chance to test themselves against Rutgers Prep in the quarterfinals.

Bracket Breakdown: The Non-Public B sections tend to be fairly top-heavy and that is somewhat true again this season with a significant drop-off after No. 6. The difference is there is no juggernaut this season. Rutgers Prep is the best team on paper, but Holy Cross has shown it can compete with teams of Rutgers Prep’s ilk, although its actual shot at Rutgers Prep did not go as well in a 77-59 loss at Central Regional in mid-January.

Ranney and Bishop Eustace are the potential spoilers in the section as well-coached, well-rounded teams with a talented lead guard (Shaan Nayar for Ranney; Dillon Adomanis for Bishop Eustace). Ranney will have to deal with Holy Spirit in the quarterfinals, while Bishop Eustace should match-up well with No. 4 Doane Academy. Once the semifinals arrive, Rutgers Prep and Holy Cross will most certainly be there and will most certainly be the favorites on their respective home floors.

Prediction: Rutgers Prep over Holy Cross. Rematches in championship games tend to play out differently than how they did during the regular season, as we saw in the Shore Conference Tournament final between CBA and Red Bank Catholic. In this case, Holy Cross will be looking to close an 18-point game, which the Crusaders will be better-positioned to do with some experience against Rutgers Prep. With that said, 18 points is a significant margin to close and even with all its youth Rutgers Prep has been here before.

Round-by-Round Picks

First Round
(8) St. Rose over (9) Princeton Day
(5) Bishop Eustace over (12) Noor-ul-Iman
(4) Doane Academy over (13) Moorestown Friends
(6) Ranney over (11) Calvary Christian
(7) Gloucester Catholic over (10) Wildwood Catholic

Quarterfinals
(1) Rutgers Prep over (8) St. Rose
(5) Bishop Eustace over (4) Doane Academy
(6) Ranney over (3) Holy Spirit
(2) Holy Cross over (7) Gloucester Catholic

Semifinals
(1) Rutgers Prep over (5) Bishop Eustace
(2) Holy Cross over (6) Ranney

Championship
(1) Rutgers Prep over (2) Holy Cross