Ewing, Trenton get No. 1 seeds in state tournament

The road to boys basketball sectional titles in Central Jersey Group III and Group IV will run through Ewing and Trenton.

The seedings for the NJSIAA state tournaments were finalized Tuesday, and two local teams garnered No. 1 seeds.

Ewing will open in Group III by hosting No. 16 Freehold Borough on Feb. 20, with the winner moving on to face the winner of No. 9 Hopewell Valley at No. 8 Ocean Township.

Other local games in that bracket include No. 11 Allentown at No. 6 Robbinsville, No. 14 Somerville at No. 3 Hamilton West and No. 15 Red Bank Regional at No. 2 Nottingham.

Meanwhile, No. 12 Lawrence will head to No. 5 Colts Neck.

Ewing will be gunning for its sixth sectional title since 2011. Nottingham won its first sectional title in 2018, and Hamilton last made the final in 2015.

In Group IV, Trenton is the top seed and will be vying for its first sectional crown since 2018.

The Tornadoes open at home Feb. 21 against No. 16 Sayreville. The winner faces the winner of No. 9 Montgomery at No. 8 WW-P South.

Hightstown earned the No. 10 seed and travels to No. 7 Marlboro, while Princeton is seeded No. 14 and will head to No. 3 North Brunswick.

Other nearby schools who made the tournament include Florence getting the No. 7 seed in Central Group I with a firstround game Feb. 20 vs. No. 10 Henry Hudson. Bordentown

is the No. 11 seed in Central Group II and travels to No. 6 Delaware Valley on Feb. 21.

When the Non-Public Tournament begins Feb. 22, No. 9 Notre Dame goes to No. 8 Red Bank Catholic in NP A South, and No. 10 Trenton Catholic heads to No. 7 Holy Spirit in NP B South.

The sectional finals for public schools will be held

Feb. 27 for Groups I and III and Feb. 28 for Groups II and IV. The state semifinals will be March 1 and 2, and then all groups play for state titles March 4.

The non-publics will play for sectional titles March 1, with the state finals for Group A and Group B set for March 3.

There will no longer be a Tournament of Champions for the six state champions.

KYLE FRANKO — TRENTONIAN PHOTO Ewing’s Cameron James (24) goes up for a shot as West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Quintis Crosland (13) defends during a Mercer County Tournament boys basketball quarterfinal game at Emil Wandishin Gymnasium.