County and conference tournament are officially underway.
Top teams from each corner of New Jersey are looking to cross off their first box on the checklist of goals this winter: win their area tournament.
Below, have a quick look at the top tournaments around the Garden State to see which programs are in line to contend for a championship.
COUNTY/CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT BRACKETS
Bergen County Jamboree
Defending champion: Bergen Catholic over St. Joseph (Mont.)
Top seed: Bergen Catholic
Outlook: Bergen Catholic, ranked No. 1 in the NJ.com Top 20, will be a difficult team to slow down, but that doesn’t mean other games haven’t been exciting. Twelfth-seeded Cresskill upset 5-Ridgewood in the Round of 16 in a come-from-behind victory to make it to the quarterfinals, and 4-Teaneck got by 13-River Dell in an overtime thriller behind Mickell Taylor Jr.’s 47 points. Bergen Catholic, led by seniors Julius Avent and Jaden Brown, will face 8-Northern Highlands in the quarters, 2-Tenafly opposes 7-Don Bosco prep, 3-St. Mary (Ruth.) takes on 6-Hackensack, and Cresskill-Teaneck square off.
Burlington County Tournament
Defending champion: Rancocas Valley over Burlington Township
Top seed: Lenape
Outlook: Lenape and Holy Cross Prep have been the county’s top two teams all season. They met last Sunday in the Holy Cross Prep Showcase, with Holy Cross Prep walking away with bragging rights and most likely earning the designation as tournament favorite. Burlington Township is certainly a team to watch, one that has had its share of tough luck but is talented enough to make a run even as the No. 12 seed.
Camden County Tournament
Defending champion: Paul VI over Camden
Top seed: Paul VI
Outlook: With a victory over Camden on Thursday, Paul VI swept their Olympic National series and looks to be the favorite if the tournament started today. Camden remains a legitimate threat as it continues to gel with a host of newcomers to the program, while fellow division members Camden Catholic and Bishop Eustace can’t be overlooked. Eastern has also enjoyed a strong campaign and figures to make some noise, and you can never count out traditional Group 2 power Haddonfield, too. The biggest surprise is Cherry Hill East not participating because of injuries. The Cougars have been in the NJ.com Top 20 all season.
Cape-Atlantic League Tournament
Defending champion: St. Augustine over Wildwood Catholic
Top seed: Middle Township
Outlook: One look at the standings and there really isn’t a clearcut favorite. Middle Township, Ocean City, St. Augustine and Atlantic City could give the American Division a champion. Lower Cape May, Cedar Creek and Miillville out of the National have been strong and are more than capable of making a run. Then you can’t forget about Holy Spirit, Vineland and Hammonton out of the United. Each has played well, with Holy Spirit recently handing Cherry Hill East its first loss after 17 consecutive wins. With its championship last year, St. Augustine has won the tournament 11 times. No team has won the event in back-to-back seasons since Wildwood Catholic in 2019 and 2020. It’s all about who gets hot and comes to the gym with intensity and a purpose.
Colonial Valley Conference Tournament
Defending champion: Ewing over Lawrence
Top seed: Lawrence
Outlook: This conference tournament is wide open. Lawrence, the top seed, lost by 10 points to Trenton on Feb. 4. Ewing is tailing Lawrence in the power points race in the CJG3 leaderboard, which tells us that they are nearly evenly matched. All three top seeds have players with the ability to take over a game, too: Lawrence’s Marvin McNeill, Ewing’s Terrance Traylor, and Trenton’s Aivaye Ingram, Juan Sanchez, and Jaydon English-Fulton. As we get deeper into the bracket, it’ll be exciting to see which one can soak up the spotlight.
Essex County Tournament
Defending champion: Seton Hall Prep over Payne Tech
Top seed: Seton Hall Prep
Outlook: Seton Hall Prep, ranked No. 14, showed some vulnerability in the past two weeks with in-county losses to Arts, 62-48, and St. Benedict’s, 60-55. This seems to have developed into a legitimate four-team race to the between the Pirates, second-seeded St. Benedict’s, third-seeded Arts and fourth-seeded and 13th-ranked Shabazz, the county’s only remaining undefeated team at 19-0. Seton Hall and eighth-seeded Seton Hall conduct a rematch of the 2025 ECT final won by the Prep, 65-61.
Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament
Defending champion: Colonia over Piscataway
Top seed: Projected: St. Joseph
Outlook: St. Joseph, ranked No. 15, seemed to be a rather clear favorite to win its first GMCT crown since 2019, but suffered an unexpected loss to South Plainfield, 55-54, on Jan. 27. Suddenly, what seemed to be the coming coronation of a renewed local power under head coach Mark Taylor began to look more like an unpredictable scrum. While St. Joseph will no doubt still earn the top seed at Friday’s meeting, No. 2 with Piscataway, East Brunswick, South Plainfield and two-time reigning champion Colonia all deep in the hunt.
Hudson County Tournament
Defending champion: St. Peter’s Prep over Hudson Catholic
Top seed: Projected: St. Peter’s Prep
Outlook: This could be the first time since 2020 that three-time reigning champion St. Peter’s Prep and Hudson Catholic do not hook up for the championship. Hudson is 9-8 and needed a fourth-quarter rally led by Ashton Graves and Elijah Williams to edge Bayonne, 52-50, on Jan. 13, while Bayonne (16-5) and Union City (14-5) have split their two meetings. Union City doesn’t face Hudson Catholic until Monday, the day the HCT is seeded. Second-ranked St. Peter’s – led by veterans Richie Rosa, Mason Santiago and Nick Ferdinand – will enter as the heavy favorite, having already handled Hudson Catholic, Bayonne and Union City with relative ease.
Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament
Defending champion: Phillipsburg over Hackettstown
Top seed: Warren Hills
Outlook: Hard to find a more democratic tournament than this one, which has produced a different winner – Phillipsburg, Vernon, Sparta, Hackettstown, Hunterdon Central – in each of the last five tournaments. How perfectly fitting then that the top two seeds this year – No. 1 Warren Hills and No. 2 Delaware Valley – were not among those recent champions. A Warren Hills-Del Val final would be an enticing one should that develop. In their Jan. 13 regular season clash, Warren Hills needed a furious fourth-quarter rally sparked by Jake Nisivoccia and Michael Dufner to pull out a 71-69 win.
Morris County Tournament
Defending champion: Morris Catholic over Chatham
Top seed: Morris Catholic
Outlook: The top-seeded and 11th-ranked Crusaders are undefeated against Morris County competition, though not with much room to spare against two major contenders; Morris Catholic needed overtime in both encounters this season with Madison, and had to rally in the second half to edge Morristown-Beard, 64-63, on Jan. 13 with the strong play of Austin Workman and Donnie Gregory. Madison is the No. 2 seed and Morristown-Beard No. 3, so it is possible that Morris Catholic will face one of them in the final. Do not count out, however, fourth-seeded Montville, fifth-seeded Delbarton or sixth-seeded Chatham.
NJIC Tournament
Defending champion: Rutherford over Paterson Charter
Topseed: Projected: St. Mary (Ruth.)
Outlook: Sneakily, the NJIC has been one of the stronger conferences this winter. While St. Mary (Ruth.) is ranked within the Top 20 in N.J., other programs like Cresskill have made noise in the Bergen Jamboree. Midland Park, Paterson Charter, Dwight-Englewood, Emerson Boro, Lyndhurst, and Waldwick have played difficult schedules and played well, indicating that they each intend to compete in the postseason.
Passaic County Tournament
Defending champion: DePaul over Paterson Eastside
Top seed: Wayne Valley
Outlook: The wait through three byes for the top four seeds is soon to be over. Wayne Valley, DePaul, Paterson Eastside, and Paterson Charter will get their chance to play in the tournament in the quarterfinals on Valentine’s Day. Among these top four seeds, only Wayne Valley and DePaul have played each other this winter, which resulted in a 54-41 DePaul victory behind 13 points from Cody Webster, and 11 apiece from Craig Nelson and Hamidou Seidou. Besides that, there is not much separating these four teams, which tells us that this bracket may just be one of the most unpredictable ones in New Jersey.
Shore Conference Tournament
Defending champion: St. Rose over Christian Brothers
Top seed: Projected: Christian Brothers
Outlook: The top seed will likely go to either CBA or Wall, depending on what is valued more. At 17-3, CBA has played a tough out-of-conference schedule to hang within the Top 5 programs in N.J. Wall, on the other hand, is undefeated through 16 contests. Either way you crack it, both teams are deserving of a No. 1 seed. Other teams that will look to contend in the Shore tourney include Marlboro, Red Bank Catholic, Manasquan, Howell, Rumson-Fair Haven, Jackson Township, Central Regional, and Southern. This is one of the best conferences in the state regarding volume of talent, so we can expect a team or two to make a surprising run.
Somerset County Tournament
Defending champion: Gill St. Bernard’s over Rutgers Prep
Top seed: Gill St. Bernard’s
Outlook: The three-headed monster of Gill St. Bernard’s-Rutgers Prep-Montgomery will not be easy for any other team to work through, considering each program is ranked within the Top 10 in the state. However, keep an eye on 4-Pingry and 5-Immaculata, who have each churned several impressive victories this winter. The victor of that game could try and spell upset, though these three championship contenders are each hitting their stride at the perfect time.
Tri-County Tournament
Defending champion: Overbrook over Kingsway
Top seed: Seeding scheduled for Feb. 8
Outlook: First introduced in 2021, Overbrook has won two titles and played in a third final. The Rams have the firepower to make deep run, but there are a few others that can’t be overlooked. Salem has played as well as just about any team in the league, while Deptford, Delsea and Cumberland appear to be the strongest coming out of the Liberty. Kingsway won the Royal, but Williamstown has been trending upward after Clinton Suggs and Jameer Gordon became eligible following transfers. The Braves also knocked off Kingsway on Thursday, further cementing them as a team to watch. The tournament no longer consists of three flights. It will be broken down into two brackets – Championship and Postseason. The Championship bracket will include the top 12 teams, with the four division leaders receiving first-round byes. The Postseason bracket will include the remaining 11 teams, with the top five team receiving byes.
Union County Tournament
Defending champion: Plainfield over Roselle Catholic
Top seed: Plainfield
Outlook: Plainfield has the top seed, but second-seeded Roselle Catholic is carrying the most momentum of any of the top contenders as the tournament gets underway. Plainfield lost its No. 1 state ranking with a 58-55 loss to No. 7 Linden Jan. 27, and then fell to Roselle Catholic, 68-62, Thursday night. Linden inserted itself into the championship talk with that triumph over Linden, but came back down to earth two nights later in a 78-63 loss to Roselle Catholic. The Tigers were outstanding again Tuesday in their 58-35 defeat of Elizabeth, then back searching for answers after Thursday’s 50-41 loss to Union Catholic. Roselle Catholic has won seven straight games since a 77-73 overtime loss to Elizabeth.
