A highly productive 2025-26 basketball season that saw the Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams simultaneously tally their first dual-winning seasons in eight years came to a halt on Thursday, February 26.
On the girls’ side, No. 7-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (14-13) furiously rallied from a 17-point deficit with under four minutes to go in regulation against No. 10-seeded Watchung Hills Regional High School, who found themselves in a three-possession game with just under two minutes left. But the visiting Warriors avenged a one-point loss at home to the Panthers in the regular season by holding on for a 46-40 upset victory in the opening round of the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, Girls’ Basketball Tournament Thursday, February 26, at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium in Bridgewater.
About 40 minutes after the conclusion of the girls’ game, the Panthers’ boys’ game tipped at reigning Group 4 state champion Plainfield High School: New Jersey’s No. 6 overall-ranked team.
No. 13-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (18-9) silenced the packed gym at fourth-seeded Plainfield (21-5) out of the gate by jumping out to a seven-point lead and holding the Cardinals to just four points in the first 6:30 of regulation. Over the rest of the first half, Plainfield then responded and surged ahead for good with 23 of the next 27 points on the way to a double-digit halftime advantage.
Despite an impressive fight by the entire night by Bridgewater-Raritan, who entered the evening as a heavy underdog against the Garden State’s top-ranked team from a public high school, the Cardinals pulled away for a 60-39 victory in the first round of the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, Boys’ Basketball Tournament Thursday, February 26, at Plainfield High School in Plainfield.
In 2017-18, the Panthers’ boys’ and girls’ teams finished with a combined record of 33-21.
Eight years later, head coaches Xavier Brooks and Gene McAteer guided the Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ and boys’ teams, respectively, to a combined record of 32-22 to set the stage for what is projected to be a bright future across the board for Panthers’ basketball.
Bri Cacchio is the lone graduating Bridgewater-Raritan High School Class of 2026 senior on the girls’ side, while Alex Kolodziej, Josh Baker, Eli Milton, Brandon Ur, and Richie Gardner are the Panthers’ graduating five seniors on the boys’ side.