Gill St. Bernard’s girls bring good times to Rutgers for Non-Public B final against Gloucester Catholic

Think back to March of 2012.

Adele and Flo Rida ruled the music charts, the Big East Conference was finishing up its penultimate year in its prime form before realignment destroyed it (nope, definitely not bitter), and the Gill St. Bernard’s girl’s basketball team stood at the top as Non-Public state champions, and sectional champions for the third straight year, under former head coach Aaron Gratch.

Now in 2026, the Knights (22-5) are back near the peak of the mountain in the state final, though no Tournament of Champions to follow like the 2012 team, so this is it.

Gill plays for all the marbles on Thursday at Jersey Mike’s Arena on the campus of Rutgers University, in the Non-Public B final against Gloucester Catholic. Tip-off time from Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway is at 5 pm, and we’ve got live coverage on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel calling all the action. Pregame starts at 4:45; click here to listen.

The boys’ game for the Non-Public Group B title against Holy Cross Prep of Delran against will also be broadcast live on CJSR at 7 pm.

Gill has played efficient, workmanlike basketball throughout its path to its first sectional title since the three-peat from 2010-12, but now faces one of its toughest tests yet against the Rams (25-4).

Addy and Kaity Platt once again steal the headlines, and combined for 31 points in the sectional final win over Saddle River Day, but it’s been a team-wide effort to get to this point for the Knights. With point guard Melina Miller setting the table and wing Sadie Finn doing the dirty work with tough defense and extra passes, it’s no wonder Gill has responded with a deep run after a tremendous senior class graduated.

This also won’t be the first time these two teams have seen each other this season. Way back in December — where three months ago feels like three years ago — Gloucester Catholic responded from an early deficit and put the clamps down on Gill for a 60-45 victory at the Shore Games in Colts Neck.

But both teams have evolved in the time since, and are playing at their best at the right time.

It’s a battle of similar but contrasting styles. Neither team goes particularly deep into their bench — both stick with a main six in the rotation, with a seventh usually mixed in somewhere — and both will send pressure in the backcourt. But Gill wants to get out and run, while the Rams are happy to play in a slower, grind-it-out type game.

That’s exactly how Gloucester Catholic — the second seed and champion of South Jersey Group B — won its second straight sectional title against top-seeded Rutgers Prep back on Monday night. The Rams were able to slow the game down and, combined with plenty of missed shots from the Argonauts, hold Rutgers Prep to its lowest scoring total of the year.

They also have continuity on their side, with no graduating seniors from a team that made it to this same stage last year. Senior trio Jalyn Moore, Jahzara Green, and Talia Shumate all played in that state title — a 41-30 loss to Montclair Immaculate, led by now-Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie before the school closed at the end of the year — and all played pivotal roles in Gloucester Catholic’s December win over the Knights.

Add in a leader with over 700 career wins in 37th-year head coach, and Rams graduate herself Lisa Gedaka, and Gloucester Catholic will not be fazed by the bright lights. The Rams will battle for their first state title since 1983, Gedaka’s junior season.

But Gill is executing at some of the highest levels ninth-year head coach Mark Gnapp has seen in his time in Gladstone. With the state crown — and two long championship droughts — on the line, it may come down to who has the ball last at Rutgers.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp about the Knights’ Non-Public B title matchup against Gloucester Catholic: