For all the marbles: Rutgers Prep to face Morris Catholic in Non-Public B rematch for state title, and state’s No. 1 ranking

It’s the final game of the year, and it’s the top two ranked girls’ basketball teams in the state squaring off for a state title.

Yes, please.

Friday afternoon, Rutgers Prep (24-4) will face Morris Catholic (26-1) at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena for the Non-Public Group B state title, with everything on the line. Not only will the winner be the state champ in Non-Public Group B, but with the Argonauts ranked No. 2 in the statewide NJ.com Top 20, and Morris Catholic No. 1, that top ranking in the state is also up for grabs.

You can hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, beginning with pregame at 2:45 pm and tip-off at 3 from Piscataway, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Click here to listen.

Prep is gunning for its third state title in two years. They won Group B in 2022, and went all the way to the Tournament of Champions final with a chance to knock off the state’s then-No. 1 team in St. John Vianney, but lost.

Last season, with no more TOC – it was eliminated by the NJSIAA following the 2022 event – Prep went to the Group B final, but fell to Morris Catholic down in Toms River.

So, here’s the rematch between two teams that have had very similar seasons, especially when looking at common opponents. Both have beaten Franklin (Prep three times, the Crusaders once), as well as Red Bank Catholic and Montclair Immaculate.

Both also play a national schedule against top-flight teams; both lost to Long Island Lutheran, and by similar margins. The Argonauts fell 77-55 to LuHi in the Rose Classic Super Jam on January 13th, while Morris Catholic lost to them 81-58 a little more than a month later, on February 17th.

In last year’s meeting in the Non-Public B final, Prep had an early lead that Morris Catholic narrowed by halftime, but after the break, the Crusaders stormed out of the gates. After the game, Argos’ head coach Mary Klinger – who has more than 700 wins now in her career – said matter-of-factly, “We got punched in the mouth.”

Painful as it was, she’s rewatched that game several times, vowing to correct the things her team didn’t do right in that game, with one thing beyond her control: Prep just didn’t have the shooting touch in the decisive second half.

Both teams have just about every key player back from last year’s teams.

Rutgers Prep is led by Vanderbilt-bound McDonald’s All-American Mikayla Blakes, the only New Jersey player on the roster for that elite high school game. She’s scoring at 20.5 points per game, and also leads the team in blocks (25) and steals (90).

Three others score in double-figures: Sophomore Gigi Battle is at 11.6 a game, but also turned in a stellar defensive effort against St. Rose in the South B final. Senior Chloe Escanillas averages 11.1 with a team-best 66 treys on the year – one more than Blakes – while sophomore Ava LaMonica is averaging an even 11 points per game.

Morris Catholic is led by the Pauldo twins, Mia and Mya. Both are juniors, Mia – the point guard – averaging 19.9 points per game with 89 treys and a team best 147 assists for 5.4 a game, while Mya is scoring 14.9 per game with 55 triples on the season.

Mia is ranked No. 7 by ESPNW in the Class of 2025, and Mya is at 46, the only two New Jersey girls’ hoopsters ranked in their Top 60. Blakes, the Rutgers Prep senior, is the highest ranked New Jersey player in her class, at No. 6 in the HoopGurlz/ESPNW Top 100.

Crusaders’ senior Alexis Rosenfeld is the top rebounder, at 8.6 per game, while also leading the team with 40 blocks on the season.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko preview the Non-Public Group B state final with Rutgers Prep veteran head coach Mary Klinger: