Rutgers Prep’s Ava LaMonica battles for a rebound against Ridge on January 18, 2024. Rutgers Prep remains No. 1 in this week’s rankings. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Since the debut of Central Jersey Sports Radio in the 2020-21 school year, only one school has topped the girls’ basketball rankings that entire time: Rutgers Prep.
Going back to the days of Christina Dalce, then Antonia Bates and Mikayla Blakes, there has always been some overlap and consistency. Not so much this year.
On the boys’ side, head coach Matt Bloom had a very young and inexperienced team last year, but one that gained valuable experience throughout the course of the season, and – ultimately – won the Somerset County Tournament for a second straight year. This year, almost the entire team is back.
The script has been flipped, and yet, both teams could still be the favorite to win their respective sides of the SCT this winter.
For Mary Klinger’s girls, the No. 1 ranking is theirs to lose. They have topped the rankings for 37 straight weeks, won 51 straight games against Somerset County opponents, and won 64 in a row against the Skyland Conference, their last defeat to any of those teams coming to Franklin in the 2019 SCT Final, almost six years ago now.
All that will face a stiff early test in the Argonauts’ home opener next Tuesday – our first broadcast of the season on Central Jersey Sports Radio – when Gill St. Bernard’s travels down to Somerset. The Knights are another veteran squad.
The Prep girls return just one starter in Ava LaMonica. Mikayla Blakes is tearing it up at Vanderbilt, having been named SEC Freshman of the Week for a third time already, and scoring over 20 points a gamewhile Chloe Escanillas and Zahra Alexander are thriving at Marist and NYU, respectively. NYU is the top-ranked team in Division 3.
LaMonica averaged about 11 points a game last year and nearly five rebounds, though missed a good chunk of the year and the entire SCT due to injury.
Hannah Fraser, is the next-most experienced returnee, a sophomore who played in 13 games last season as a frosh.
The girls open up Saturday at 11:30 am in Game Two of the inaugural Tip-Off Showcase at Montgomery against Ewing, which was 26-6 last year and won Central Jersey Group 3.
Click below to hear Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball coach Mary Klinger preview the 2024-25 season with Mike Pavlichko:
Meanwhile, on the boys’ side, head coach Matt Bloom’s squad had little experience last year, but as they came together throughout the season – playing their typically challenging schedule – they were good enough to outlast Montgomery in the Somerset County Tournament Championship game.
They’ll lose senior John Kelly – who would have been a big contributor had he not missed much of the season due to injury – but have their top six returning scorers back, including uber-freshman Jacob Canton, now a sophomore, who averaged just over 16 points a game last year, as well as now-senior Myles Parker and his 14.7 points a game.
The Argonauts won’t be taking it easy either with the schedule, opening up with Manasquan – last year’s Central Jersey Group 2 champions, who were embroiled in controversy over the end of that group semifinal game against Camden – in the same event the girls will play in Saturday, the Tip-Off Showcase at Montgomery.
That will be Game Three of the day, starting at 1:00, right after the girls take on Ewing.
Click below to hear Rutgers Prep boys’ basketball coach Matt Bloom preview the 2024-25 season with Mike Pavlichko:
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