Non Public A State Tournament Preview

The final preview of the 2023-2024 season may be the most interesting, as the Non-Public A tournament is absolutely loaded, especially in North Jersey.

FAVORITES

Don Bosco Prep

Record: 25-3

Best Wins: McEachern(GA)(76-50), Columbus(FL)(79-74), IMG(FL)(96-92), Bergen Catholic Twice, Ramapo Twice, Immaculate Conception(58-51), Cardinal Hayes(NYC)(68-49), St Mary's Rutherford Twice, Roselle Catholic(83-52)

Don Bosco has been absolutely dominant from the opening tip of the season and has made a national name for themselves in basketball this winter. Led by Rutgers bound Dylan Harper, they have a starting 5 of D1 players that includes Jordan Ghee, Brady Loughlin, Keiner Asprilla and Isaiah Brown. They have depth, size and skill at every position and can go 10+ deep.

They're ranked #1 for a reason and proved it night in, night out.

CONTENDERS

Saint Peter's Prep

Record: 24-2

Best Wins: Hudson Catholic Twice, Archbishop Carroll(DC)(77-70), Msgr. Bonner(PA)(70-67), Ramapo(73-46), Ramsey(67-39), Rutgers Prep(53-45), St. Thomas Aquinas(54-44), RBC(67-51), RFH(59-46)

The Hudson County Champions have had a banner year and are one of the deepest teams in the state. With a team that can run 10 bodies, they can matchup with most utilizing their guards. Behind Nico Pena, Richie Rosa, Mason Santiago, Peyton Miller and Austin Spencer, they may have the best guard depth in New Jersey.

They have as good a shot as any to take down Don Bosco Prep--Finding a matchup for Asprilla always seems daunting, but they do have 6'10" sophomore prospect Will Higgs who can be utilized if that matchup materializes and size proves an issue.

Saint Benedict's

Record: 21-6

Best Wins: Roselle Catholic(45-41), Brooklyn Collegiate(NY)(64-34), Saint Peter's Prep(46-42), Rutgers Prep(60-50), College Achieve(64-55), Immaculate Conception(57-34)

The Bees have had another good year and are back in the NJSIAA State Tournament. They enter coming off a Prep A Final loss to a Blair team that would be ranked in the Top 5 if we included them in the state rankings.

They have a talented backcourt led by promising sophomore Chidi Nwigwe, a long 6'5" guard. 6'3" senior David Johnson has also had a big season. Maurice Vassel gives them skill and size at 6'9" to matchup with anyone in the field.

Hudson Catholic

Record: 19-8

Best Wins: Pembroke Pines Charter(FL)(69-66), Rutgers Prep(68-60), DeLaSalle(IL)(68-53), Roselle Catholic(93-84), Colonia(56-48), College Achieve(75-60), Saint Mary's Rutherford(78-41)

Vetean coach Nick Maraniello has two of the top senior guards in the state with Auburn bound Tahaad Pettiford and Penn commit Alex Massung. Those two are enough to keep them in a game with just about anyone they could play. Add in 6'5" junior wing Keith McKnight and it's a complete backcourt. They get help from junior Omari Moore and 6'7" sophomore Jayvon Rampersant. They have young talent on the bench and never count them out with Pettiford, the most electric scorer in the state, on their side.

Union Catholic

Record: 20-6

Best Wins: Linden(61-50), St Thomas Aquinas(78-57), Elizabeth(59-47), Medford Tech(82-60), Cranford(68-62), Roselle Catholic(66-56), Morris Catholic(77-7`1)

The defending Parochial A Champion Vikings have themselves positioned to make another run out of the A South bracket in 2024. Their frontcourt is among the best in the state behind 6'11" Yaw Ansong, 6'8" FK Muntari and 6'6" senior Terrance Wood. Wood is the muscle to the finesse of the bigger two and makes UC a matchup nightmare for most teams. AJ Altobelli does a good job driving the bus while Luke Schorr provides a sharpshooter on the perimeter. The biggest boost for UC this year has been 6'4" senior Elijah Peters, who transferred in from JP Stevens.

UC is in the mix to win a South, along with our next team.

Rutgers Prep

Record: 19-6

Best Wins: Immaculata Twice, Camden Eastside(83-69), Gill St Bernards Twice, Franklin Twice, RFH(77-55), Hillsborough(69-58), Montgomery(64-61)

Matt Bloom has a very young team and will return all players of importance next year. They're well ahead of schedule as far as competing against top tier teams and have a high ceiling. Jacob Canton is already among the best guards in the state, Andrew Kretkowski has a nice game, junior Myles Parker has had an excellent year and Logan Franz gives size in the paint.

If all goes to plan, the A South semifinal will be RP at UC in a must watch game.

On The Fringe

The following teams have had solid seasons and are capable of making a run in the playoffs. If they get hot this week, they'll be Sectional Shakers.

North

Bergen Catholic(20-7)

Delbarton(21-4)

South

CBA(17-6)

Paul VI(18-9)

St Joes Metuchen(18-8)

Camden Catholic(16-10)