UNION COUNTY, NJ — Who gets the top seed for the upcoming boys basketball Union County Tournament?
That’s a good question.
As the first week in February commenced a few days ago, you could have considered Plainfield, Roselle Catholic or Elizabeth high schools, based on regular season results so far.
Elizabeth split Union County Conference–Watchung Division games with Plainfield and Roselle Catholic and also with Westfield High School.
Roselle Catholic and Plainfield also split against each other.
Elizabeth defeated defending UCT champion Union Catholic High School the first time they played and was scheduled to play the Vikings again on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
So Watchung Division squads Plainfield, Roselle Catholic, Elizabeth, Westfield and Union Catholic are all pretty close. Union Catholic won the UCT for the first time last year.
Plainfield began the week 18-2, with Roselle Catholic at 15-4, Elizabeth at 12-4, Westfield at 12-7 and Union Catholic at 11-6.
The boys and girls county tournaments are scheduled to commence in a week on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The championship games, which will again be contested at Kean University’s Harwood Arena in Union, are set for Sunday, Feb. 23.
Boys and girls state tournament play is to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Union County Tournament dates for boys and girls tournaments
Thursday, Feb. 13: first round
Saturday, Feb. 14: quarterfinals
For girls: at Arthur L. Johnson High School
Tuesday, Feb. 18: first semifinals at Kean University
Thursday, Feb. 20: Second Semifinals at Kean University
Sunday, Feb. 23: Finals at Kean University
Teams from the Valley Division, the small-school division of the UCC, don’t usually get considered for a relatively high UCT seed because of the schedule they play. However, Arthur L. Johnson High School on the boys side and the Roselle Park High School girls have produced more-than-solid basketball seasons so far.
The Arthur L. Johnson boys began the week as the only undefeated team in Union County, both boys and girls, with a 17-0 record. The Crusaders were scheduled to host Abraham Clark High School on Tuesday, Feb. 4, and are then to play at David Brearley High School on Thursday, Feb. 6, in Kenilworth.
Arthur L. Johnson, sparked by the play of juniors Dean Yellen Jr., Luke Laporta and Ryan Malcolm and senior Jake Brower, began the week 8-0 in the Valley Division, with its final two division games being the Abraham Clark and David Brearley contests this week.
Arthur L. Johnson is projected to win the Valley Division outright and perfect this year at 10-0, with predicted wins against Abraham Clark and David Brearley this week.
Arthur L. Johnson has wins against Mountain Division squads Cranford, New Providence and Summit high schools. The Crusaders won 13 of their first 17 games by double-digit margins.
The Roselle Park girls were the last girls team in Union County to lose this year. The Panthers got off to a rare 12-0 start before falling at home to a 13-2 Bernards High School squad, 50-35, last week. In that game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, junior standout Sidney Smith poured in 31 points to reach and pass 1,000 for her career. Smith scored her first 600 points at Roselle Catholic, with 402 as a freshman in 2022-2023 and 198 as a sophomore last year in 2023-2024.
After winning at Hillside High School, 60-18, on Thursday, Jan. 30, the Panthers hung tough against Mountain Division leader Union Catholic on Saturday, Feb. 1, before falling, 67-63, at Scotch Plains–Fanwood High School. The host Vikings led by nine at the half, 29-20, before coming out in the third quarter and outscoring Roselle Park, 27-13, for a 56-33 advantage heading into the game’s final eight minutes.
Roselle Park, which began the week at 13-2, refused to go quietly and outscored Union Catholic, 29-11, in the fourth quarter. Smith finished the game as high-scorer with 44 points. She made six three-pointers and was also 11-of-15 from the free throw line.
Smith, one of the highest-scoring players in the state, began the week with 484 points for a 32.27 average. She had 1,084 career points going into Roselle Park’s home game against Linden High School on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
The Panthers are scheduled to host Manville High School on Thursday, Feb. 6, and then play at Jonathan Dayton High School on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Roselle Park head coach Staci Hartzler was the first Jonathan Dayton girl to reach 1,400 points. She is a 1988 Jonathan Dayton grad and was the head coach at Jonathan Dayton before present head coach Dave Rennie succeeded her in the late 1990s.
Other top girls records at the start of the week included Watchung Division schools New Providence at 17-2, Westfield at 15-4, Plainfield at 12-8 and Roselle Catholic at 11-6; Mountain Division teams Union Catholic at 14-4 and Summit at 13-5 and Valley Division foe Rahway at 9-7.
New Providence, which won the UCT in 2022 for only the second time and the first time since 1990 and then repeated as champs in 2023, began the week with only losses out-of-county to Teaneck and Chatham high schools.
The Pioneers, which swept Westfield in UCC–Watchung Division play, are in line to garner another UCT top seed. New Providence, as the top seed last year and seeking a three-peat, fell to eventual champion Elizabeth, 64-56, in the UCT semifinals.
Photo by JR Parachini