Looking at the Rugged Olympic Conference American Division Boys’ Basketball Race

by Marc Narducci | Jan 19, 2026

There are many great boys’ basketball races in South Jersey and over the next month prior to the state tournament, we will look at some of them.

The Olympic Conference, with the American and National Division are two of the area’s best.

Looking at the American Division, it is one of great depth.

There are just five teams, but each of them entered the week with eight or more wins and they play some of the most challenging schedules in South Jersey.

The teams play each other twice each, and since all will compete in South Jersey Group 4, there is the likelihood that some of them could meet a third time.

In another note, all five teams should earn a berth in the 16-team South Jersey Group 4 tournament.

At the beginning of the week, the American had three of the top four teams in the SJ Group 4 power points, with Cherry Hill East first, Lenape second and Eastern fourth.

Of the other two teams, Rancocas Valley stood at No. 9 and Cherokee was 11th.

Cherry Hill East, which began the week 12-0 and 4-0 in the American Division, is the frontrunner, having defeated the other four teams the first time around.

The highlight was last week’s 59-50 win over Lenape in a game featuring two teams that were ranked in the Top 10 in the state by NJ.com.

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The standout in the game was junior Chris Abreu who had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the effort for coach Dave Allen’s team. Jamieson Young, a 6-1 sophomore. began the week averaging a team-high 22.7 points, but there are plenty of other options, which makes the Cougars so dangerous. Abreu (16.1 ppg.) is the other double-figure scorer.

A date to watch is Feb. 10 when Cherry Hill East visits Lenape.

Speaking of Lenape, the Indians began the week 10-2, 2-1. Besides the loss to Cherry Hill East, Lenape has had two other competitive American Division victories, defeating Eastern, 60-57 and Cherokee, 54-46.
Senior guard Nolan Barnes leads coach Matt Wolf’s Lenape team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points.
This is a team that likely won’t blow out many quality opponents, but will also be in the game against just about anybody in the state.

Eastern has quietly gotten off to a 13-2, 1-2 start. Yes, the two losses were to American Division teams. There was the aforementioned three-point loss to Lenape and a 56-35 defeat to Cherry Hill East. Senior Sean Karbach began the week averaging a team-high 13.5 points for the Vikings.
Rancocas Valley entered the week 8-5, 1-2. The Red Devils’ lone American Division win was a 59-57 win over Cherokee.
Senior guard Jaylen Washington is averaging a team-high 15.4 points for a Red Devils team that could be vastly improved as the tournament approaches.

Finally, Cherokee has been a deceptive 8-5, 0-3. The three American Division losses to Lenape, Cherry Hill East and Eastern were by a combined 17 points. That shows that the Chiefs can be competitive with anybody, which gives an indication of the depth of strength in the American Division.

Lenape boys basketball team / Courtesy of the Lenape boys basketball team

Author: Marc Narducci

Looking at the Rugged Olympic Conference American Division Boys’ Basketball Race

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