NJSIAA Boys Basketball Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 4

NJSIAA Tournament: Group IV Playoff Preview

After a long spell of multiple decades without a team from the Shore Conference in the Group IV final, the Shore Conference has made it to two Group IV championship games in the past five contested state tournaments: Freehold Township in 2019 and Marlboro in 2022.

In each of the last two seasons, no team from the Shore Conference has made it to the sectional final round in Group IV, but has had a heavy presence in the sectional semifinals. Last season a Shore team played in each of the four sectional semifinals across Central and South Group IV, with Marlboro and Manalapan making the Central Group IV semifinals and Toms River North and Central reaching the semifinals in South Group IV. All four Shore teams, however, played on the road in those games and all four lost.

Marlboro has reached the sectional semifinal round in each of the last four tournaments, which is a feather in the cap of third-year coach James Reuter after he inherited a team that graduated five starters from a Group IV finalist. Toms River North, meanwhile, has been a staple in South Jersey Group IV but did not qualify for this year’s Tournament. Manalapan will try to follow up its deepest postseason run in more than two decades with another deep run as a No. 13 seed, while Freehold Township hopes to tap into the magic of 2019 — or at least the mid-2010’s, when the Patriots lost in three straight sectional finals from 2014 to 2016. In South Jersey, Southern and Howell hope to make a splash in South Jersey after neither has done a whole lot in the state tournament in recent years.

If there is a hope for the Shore Conference in South Jersey in 2025, it is Central. The Golden Eagles are senior-led, have a big-time scorer in Jaycen Santucci, boast some depth and have the battle scars from the last two state tournaments with a similar cast. Eastern Regional has been Central’s foil in each of the last three state tournaments, with the Vikings eliminating Central in the first round in 2022, the quarterfinals in 2023 and the semifinals a year ago. The good news for Central is the Golden Eagles can’t play Eastern until the sectional final. The bad news is the Vikings have a chance to complete the pattern by beating Central in the sectional final.

For a team looking to play in its first sectional final, Central would have no problem putting that pattern to the test — especially since it would mean Eastern would have to travel to Bayville for a sectional championship game.

Now for a closer look at the two Group IV sections that involve the Shore Conference.

Central Jersey Group IV

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 7 Marlboro, No. 10 Freehold Township, No. 13 Manalapan
Top Seed: Montgomery
Defending Champion: Montgomery
Favorite: Montgomery. The Cougars are the reigning sectional champion and are loaded again this season, led by 6-foot-5 point guard Ethan Li and 6-9 forward Bohdan Biekietov. Montgomery is focused on reaching the Group IV final after losing to Lenape in the Group IV semifinals a year ago and with 20 wins and five losses against Rutgers Prep (twice), Hudson Catholic, St. Rose and Camden Catholic, the Cougars look like a heavy favorite to get to Rutgers out of the Central-South part of the state.

Dark Horse: No. 11 Hunterdon Central. It’s hard to argue against a team that has already beaten both of the teams it would likely play if it won its first round game. The Red Devils defeated both No. 6 Trenton and No. 3 West Windsor-Plainsboro North for two of its seven wins during the regular season, which is a reflection of how difficult Hunterdon Central’s schedule is. There is a championship history in the program and while a championship is not likely to be in the cards this season, the Red Devils figure to be a tough out.

Freehold Township and Manalapan have some darkhorse energy as well, particularly Freehold Township. The Patriots have already beaten first-round opponent Marlboro this season and have played a tougher schedule than what No. 2 Sayreville has played. Manalapan, meanwhile, is a year removed from reaching the sectional semifinals and one of the stars of that run – Aiden Sosinov – is still on this year’s team. The Braves will have a tough draw in No. 4 Old Bridge in round one, but Old Bridge will have to be on top of its game to deal with Sosinov and Co.

Bracket Breakdown: Montgomery is the heavy, heavy favorite in this bracket, but the Cougars will start the tournament with an interesting matchup. No. 16 Monroe lost to Montgomery in last year’s sectional final, so round one will be a championship rematch. From there, the Cougars have the personnel to overwhelm the rest of the section, with Old Bridge the most likely team to play them close.

The bottom half of the bracket is where the drama could be, as Sayreville has a quality team without a lot of noteworthy victories among its 21 wins, although the Bombers did just beat Colts Neck, 63-57. Freehold Township would have to overcome its reliance on sophomores and Marlboro will have to get healthy after a bout with injuries and illness, but either Shore Conference squad could make a run.

The first round begins Thursday with Freehold Township visiting Marlboro in one of the more interesting first-round games from the Shore Conference perspective. The two teams finished tied in the Class A North standings and split their regular-season series, with Marlboro winning the first meeting on the road by five points and Freehold Township taking game two in Marlboro by eight.

Championship Prediction: Montgomery over Hunterdon Central. Barring any major injuries, Montgomery should cruise through this section and the Cougars could probably even withstand some adversity and still win a second straight sectional title. There is not a roster that appears equipped to mount a serious challenge to Montgomery, although there may be a team that can make the Cougars sweat out a fourth quarter at some point. Hunterdon Central is 7-18 but is battle-tested and it would just take one win over Trenton to pump up its confidence to make a deep run against a beatable field.

Round-by-Round Predictions

First Round
(1) Montgomery over (16) Monroe
(8) Hightstown over (9) East Brunswick
(5) Hillsborough over (12) North Brunswick
(4) Old Bridge over (13) Manalapan
(3) West Windsor-Plainsboro North over (14) Franklin
(11) Hunterdon Central over (6) Trenton
(10) Freehold Twp. over (7) Marlboro
(2) Sayreville over (15) Edison

Quarterfinals
(1) Montgomery over (8) Hightstown
(4) Old Bridge over (5) Hillsborough
(11) Hunterdon Central over (3) West Windsor-Plainsboro North
(2) Sayreville over (10) Freehold Twp.

Semifinals
(1) Montgomery over (4) Old Bridge
(11) Hunterdon Central over (2) Sayreville

Championship
(1) Montgomery over (11) Hunterdon Central

South Jersey Group IV

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 3 Central, No. 8 Southern, No. 11 Howell
Top Seed: Cherry Hill East
Defending Champion: No. 2 Lenape
Favorite: Cherry Hill East. The top five seeds in this section – Cherry Hill East, Lenape, Central, No. 4 Eastern and No. 5 Atlantic City look like the contenders for the sectional title and there is not a huge difference separating any of them and all five appear to be comfortably above the rest of the field. Cherry Hill East gets the favorite label based on its home-court advantage and its strong play recently, which includes a win over Lenape. The Cougars have four players averaging double-figure scoring, led by freshman Jamieson Young at 16.3 points per game.

Dark Horse: No. 7 Rancocas Valley. The top six seeds all look like heavy favorites in the first round, which leads the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds as the potential road teams in round one that can make a run. No. 9 Pennsauken will have a good chance to knock off Southern in round one, but getting by Cherry Hill East will be a different animal.

No. 10 Cherokee, meanwhile, split its season series with No. 7 Rancocas Valley, including a win in the more recent of the two meetings. The Chiefs were swept by Lenape, but the first of the two meetings was decided by three points.

Realistically, Rancocas Valley might be the choice. The Red Devils have already beaten both Cherokee and Lenape and lost to Cherry Hill East by a point the first time the two teams played. Rancocas is only 3-7 vs. the South Jersey Group IV field, but that includes six losses to the top six seeds and a loss to first-round opponent Cherokee.

Bracket Breakdown: During the thick of January, Central was in position to be the No. 1 seed in the section, but the Golden Eagles’ division schedule hurt them and drawing St. Rose in the SCT quarterfinals did not help matters. That means that, once again, Central’s path to its first ever sectional championship will likely be on the road.

The good news for Central is it already convincingly defeated No. 2 Lenape, albeit at home and on opening night when Lenape was working in five new starters – including a freshman. The Golden Eagles have the pieces to beat both Lenape and Cherry Hill East on the road if that’s what it takes.

It may not necessarily take road wins for Central to win the title because there are some threats outside the top five. Lenape could have its hands full with either Rancocas Valley or Cherokee in the sectional quarterfinals, while the winner between Eastern and Atlantic City in the quarterfinals will have a legitimate chance to take out Cherry Hill East.

As for Southern and Howell, both teams are set up with a chance to win in round one, particularly Southern at home. The Rams are led by junior Jake Sliwinski and sophomore Noah Perna, so a good showing at Cherry Hill East in round two could be a major springboard into 2025-26, if not into a deep run this season. Howell will have a challenge in front of it against No. 6 Kingsway, but the Rebels have played well of late and could prove to be a challenging matchup in their own right thanks to a balanced lineup of scorers.

Championship Prediction: Cherry Hill East over Central. The most likely road for Central to win its first sectional title will require the Golden Eagles to win back-to-back road games to close out their potential championship run. Given Central’s performance vs. Lenape to open the season, Lenape might not have enough to hold off an older, more physical Central squad in the semifinals. Central also has the experience advantage over Cherry Hill East, but can the Golden Eagles pull off back-to-back road wins to win their first title?

Round-by-Round Predictions

First Round
(1) Cherry Hill East over (16) Millville
(8) Southern over (9) Pennsauken
(5) Atlantic City over (12) Egg Harbor
(4) Eastern over (13) Vineland
(3) Central over (14) Washington Twp.
(6) Kingsway over (11) Howell
(7) Rancocas Valley over (10) Cherokee
(2) Lenape over (15) Bridgeton

Quarterfinals
(1) Cherry Hill East over (8) Southern
(5) Atlantic City over (4) Eastern
(3) Central over (6) Kingsway
(2) Lenape over (7) Rancocas Valley

Semifinals
(1) Cherry Hill East over (5) Atlantic City
(3) Central over (2) Lenape

Championship
(1) Cherry Hill East over (3) Central