St. Thomas Aquinas plays Saddle River Day at home in North Edison on January 19, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Having dominated the Greater Middlesex Conference for a while now – winning 78 straight against league competition going back to January 2022 – St. Thomas Aquinas has challenged itself with a strong non-league schedule.
And while Saddle River Day doesn’t have the kind of record they’ve had in the past, they’re a traditionally strong program that had won five of their last six games after getting a key transfer in the lineup after an injury, and proved to be a more than worthy opponent for the Trojans Monday afternoon in North Edison.
In a game that was tight all the way and went back-and-forth in the second and third quarters, the Trojans eventually built up to a 12-point fourth quarter lead and beat the visiting Rebels 61-51, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Senior Trista Whitney finished with 14 points – nine in the second half – with two treys, while fellow senior Jordan Barnes added 11, and senior Leah Kearney chipped in 13 for St. Thomas Aquinas (14-3), which is now on a nine-game win streak.
With STA known for its intense defense, seemingly getting in the way of nearly every pass, Saddle River Day (8-6) clearly watched some tape and was prepared, using crisp, quick passing to break the Aquinas pressure in the back court. But it was still just a six point STA lead at the break.
And while Rebel sophomore Grace Darling, the team’s leading scorer, finished with 26 points and three treys – seven points above her average – Aquinas made Harper Cohn, in just her seventh game back recovering from and ACL injury, nearly invisible in the scoring column, holding her to five points, and just two in the second half.
St. Thomas led just 46-43 at the end of three, but pulled away on the strength of a 15-8 final eight minutes.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with St. Thomas Aquinas senior Trista Whitney and head coach Tim Corrigan, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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