CHECK BACK SOON FOR BRACKET
One year after falling to Delbarton in the championship game as the No. 2 seed, Mendham gets a chance to redeem itself in the Morris County Tournament with a view from the top.
The Minutemen were seeded No. 1 for the 2025 tournament at Sunday’s meeting, ahead of No. 2 Morris Catholic, No. 3 Madison and No. 4 Chatham. Three-time reigning champion Delbarton is seeded no. 6, behind No. 5 Montville.
Those six teams along with seventh-seeded West Morris all will commence action in the Feb. 6 first round at the courts of the higher seed. There will be nine preliminary round on or before Saturday.
Mendham was last crowned in 2015 behind the efforts of Brian Kenez and Robert Annen in a defensive chess match against Chatham, 34-29.
Quarterfinals will be Feb. 8 with all four games at Randolph, the semifinals are set as a doubleheader Feb. 15 at County College of Morris, and the championship is Feb. 26 at CCM.
Mendham carried a seven-point lead into the second half of last year’s final at CCM, but succumbed to Delbarton’s late surge powered by then-seniors Lincoln Zimmermann and Michael Van Raaphorst. Current senior poured in 26 points that night for Mendham.
Mendham lost a 45-44 overtime game to 10th-seeded Morris Knolls on Jan. 10, but has since reeled off four straight wins, including a 51-38 decision against Delbarton, and a 45-44 triumph over Chatham. The Minutemen topped both Morris Catholic and Madison last month at the JP Flynn Tournament.
Along with the sturdy leadership of King, Mendham has received consistent outings from sophomore Talonh Wehmeyer and seniors Cole Capuzzi. Steven Comelo and Noah Villalobos.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
(By Sat., Feb. 1)
17-Mount Olive at 16-Hanover Park; winner at 1-Mendham24-Butler at 9-Pequannock25-Whippany Park at 8-Morristown-Beard21-Boonton at 12-Morris Hills; winner at 5-Montville20-Parsippany at 13-Morristown; winner at 4-Chatham19-Dover at 14-Roxbury; winner at 3-Madison22-Parsippany Hills at 11-Randolph; winner at 6-Delbarton23-Kinnelon at 10-Morris Knolls; winner at 7-West Morris18-Mountain Lakes at 15-Jefferson; winner at 2-Morris Catholic
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Mike Kinney can be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeKinneyHS.
