Gill St. Bernard’s girls take first Somerset County crown since ’14 with 68-48 win over Hillsborough

With four-time defending champion Rutgers Prep getting knocked out in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals last week, the one thing we all knew was there would be a new champion this year.

Would it be top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s, seeking its first title in eleven years? Or third-seed Hillsborough, which hadn’t won it since 2006, it’s last trip tot he title game?

Gill had beaten the Raiders twice this regular season, by 33 and 34 points. But they led those games by 13 and 14 at the half. So when Saturday’s title game hit halftime and Hillsborough was within four, there was at least the potential it could be different.

But it wasn’t as Gill came out with a 68-48 win to take the Somerset County title, their sixth overall, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

But while the Raiders doubled-down on Gill big and UConn recruit Gandy Malou-Mamel, and kept her relatively in check in the first half, the second say the Knights utilize 5-11 Maya Abramson more, which opened up things for Malou-Mamel. Even before that, Abramson had a big third, hitting a three to start then back-to-back buckets to gill Gill a double-digit lead for the first time.

Hillsbrough never led, and got the game to within a possession here and there, but could never quite get over the hump. And getting in foul trouble further stymied the cause.

Malou-Malel finished with 17 points, but had to work hard for every single one. Abramson added 14, including two treys, as did Sidney Quinn. Gill improved to 21-3 with the win.

Hillsborough falls to 20-6 with the loss, but they’ll open the state tournament as the No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group 4, coming off their first-ever state title last year, in North 2, Group 2. Francesca Schiro scored 21 in the loss.

Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s senior Maya Abramson and head coach Mark Gnapp, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: