Seniors Cesci Schiro (left) and Maya Loniewski get the state Group 4 championship trophy from NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 16, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Having won its first-ever state championship – and the first by any public school in the nearly five-year history of Central Jersey Sports Radio – the Hillsborough Raiders are the No. 1 team in the final Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten.
‘Boro finished 26-6, and won the Central Jersey Group 4 title over Monroe – which landed at No. 5 – their second straight sectional title. They won their first last season, beating Elizabeth for the North 2, Group 4 championship.
And while they finished fourth in one of the toughest divisions in the state – five of their six losses came in the division – they also featured senior Cesci Schiro, who finished her stellar career with 2,106 points, the leading scorer in school history among girls or boys. For perspective, the entire team scored 2,066 points this season.
Hillsborough also picked up its most signature win in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, beating Rutgers Prep for the first time since 2006, before falling to Gill in the title game.
Check back this afternoon to hear our interview with CJSR’s 2025 Girls’ Basketball Team of the Year, the Hillsborough Raiders, including seniors Cesci Schiro, Mya Loniewski and Reghan Bice, as well as coach Courtney Tierney.
Coming in second was Gill St. Bernard’s. The Knights (23-5) were co-champs in the Skyland Delaware Division with Rutgers Prep – as they split their two regular season meetings – and won the Somerset County Tournament. They lost in the Non-Public North B finals to Montclair-Immaculate, in the school’s final season before it closes this summer, it was recently announced.
Rutgers Prep came in third at 20-7, also reaching a sectional final, bowing out to Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final. They shared the Delaware Division title with Gill St. Bernard’s.
GMC Tournament champion St. Thomas Aquinas (23-7) finished fourth, also winning the Red Division in the Greater Middlesex Conference, with Monroe right behind them. The Falcons (20-10) finished second in the division to the Trojans and lost to them in the GMC Tourney final. They also reached the Central Jersey Group 4 championship game, falling there to Hillsborough.
Bernards (23-6) checks in at No. 6, the Skyland Conference Mountain Division champions, while Valley Division winner Somerville (23-6) finished seventh.
In eighth is GMC White Division champion Middlesex (21-9), with Spotswood (18-10) at No. 9.
Franklin – despite an 11-16 record, but having two losses each to Rutgers Prep and Hillsborough and three to Gill St. Bernard’s – finishes in tenth. They reached the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, where they lost to the Raiders.
Below is the complete Final 2024-25 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten:
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