by Mike Pavlichko

After hustling for four varsity seasons, Rutgers Prep’s Ava LaMonica reflects on her time as an Argonaut, and finishing on top in Somerset County

The 2024-25 girls’ basketball season hurt for Rutgers Prep, and then-junior Ava LaMonica. There was no division title – at least not outright – they got knocked out of the Somerset County Tournament by her hometown public school of Hillsborough, and lost to eventual Non-Public B group champion Gloucester Catholic in the South B finals.

That wasn’t want LaMonica was used to her first two years at the Somerset school.

But with everyone back, the team rededicated itself to its goals, and in the end, got two out of three.

Rutgers Prep finished as the No. 1 team in Central Jersey, in the Bellamy & Son Paving final rankings, as the Argonauts went 25-4, won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division with a 6-0 record, and beat Franklin in the Somerset County Tournament title game.

That makes it three county titles, three outright division titles, one shared, and two sectional championships in four years for LaMonica, who – along with Cali McCoy off the bench – is the only four-year Rutgers Prep varsity player to graduate this year.

She finishes as a member of the thousand-point, 500-rebound club, scoring 1,132 points and grabbing 527 rebounds over her career, and laid it all out there every time she was on the court, fighting for rebounds, diving after loose balls, and deflecting passes by the opposition to get the Argonauts out in transition.

And if she’s hasn’t had enough of the snow this winter, she’ll see plenty more most likely when she takes her talents to the University at Buffalo next year.

Click below to hear Rutgers Prep senior Ava LaMonica talk about the 2025-26 season, the Argonauts return as Somerset County Tournament champions, and her time spent alongside great players and head coach Mary Klinger:

by Mike Pavlichko

From 6-16 to GMC Tournament champs, rejuvenated St. Joseph-Metuchen named CJSR Boys’ Basketball Team of the Year

A year ago, St. Joseph boys’ basketball was a mess. Karl Towns, Sr. – the father of Falcon great Karl-Anthony Towns, who brought the Metuchen school a Tournament of Champions title in 2014 – was on his way out after a disastrous 6-16 season, where he barely coached the team, and seemed to spend more time watching his famous son play at Madison Square Garden after being traded from Minnesota to the Knicks.

Oh, how things changed quickly.

St. Joseph went with a known commodity: Mark Taylor, a 1983 graduate who later coached Jay Williams and Andrew Bynum and won two GMC titles in his first go-round, then later coached at Ridge and St. Benedict’s Prep.

He brought in key transfers, including Aidan Carter from nearby St. Thomas Aquinas, Andrew Kretkowski from Rutgers Prep, and Joel Patrick from Union, among others. The last two played right away, but Carter had to sit 30 days due to NJSIAA transfer rules.

A beautifully-voiced singer once told us it’s “never as good as the first time,” but this one proved the exception to the rule.

The Falcons won their first 16 games before taking a loss, a 55-54 defeat on the road at South Plainfield. It prompted a nearly 45-minute postgame meeting in the visiting lockerroom, but Taylor later called it the best thing that could have happened to his team.

It must have been, because they won their next 13 games, too – blitzing through the GMC Tournament to win the championship, making it all the way to Jackson for the Non-Public South A finals, where they eventually lost to St. Peter’s Prep, a juggernaut that beat five different Central Jersey Sports Radio-area squads this year.

And while they may not have finished the year No. 1 – that went to Gill St. Bernard’s, which won its division, county tournament, state sectional and first-ever state championship – the Falcons’ turnaround and league title earns Team of the Year honors from Central Jersey Sports Radio.

By the way, the Falcons aren’t done yet. Who knows what Taylor has up his sleeve for next year, with Alijah Muprhy the biggest senior graduation, as the core of Kretkowksi, Carter and Patrick will return.

Click below to hear from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Boys’ Basketball Team of the Year, including juniors Aidan Carter and Andrew Kretkowski, along with head coach Mark Taylor:

by Mike Pavlichko

Four titles earns Gill St. Bernard’s No. 1 ranking in final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

When high school basketball teams open their preseason, hitting the gym in earnest for the first time, they can set all kinds of different goals. For most with high-end aspirations, there are four main ones: win the division, win the county, win a sectional, win a state championship.

In 2025-26, it was check, check, check, and check one more time for Gill St. Bernard’s. And that’s why they finish as the No. 1 team in the final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings of the year.

With a mark of 28-2, the Knights won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, and while they played though the division only once due to the new alignment, they decided to play Rutgers Prep twice anyway, the last meeting coming after the SCT seeding meeting, and took both matchups. They then beat the Argonauts in the Somerset County Tournament final, went on to avenge a defeat at the hands of Roselle Catholic in the Non-Public Group B title game, then put on a defensive masterclass in the Non-Public B state final at Rutgers, beating Holy Cross Prep of Delran to win the program’s first state title in school history

The Knights are followed by a very close second in St. Joseph-Metuchen. In their first season under alum Mark Taylor – in his second go-round coaching the Falcons – they went 29-2, their lone loss coming to South Plainfield by one on the road before falling in the Non-Public South A final to St. Peter’s Prep – which, by the way, beat every Central Jersey Sports Radio-area team it played this year: Colonia, Gill St. Bernard’s, Rutgers Prep, St. Thomas Aquinas (twice) and St. Joe’s.

Montgomery finishes in third. At 26-5, the two-time defending champion Cougars won a third straight Central Jersey Group 4 title, but this time had to go on the road to do it after being the top seed each of the last two seasons. Not only did they win at top-seed Hillsborough in the final, but the Cougars dominated Cherry Hill East in the Group 4 semifinals, and made it all the way to Rutgers for the state Group 4 final, where they lost back on Saturday to Plainfield for a second straight season, in a tight game most of the way.

Close behind in fourth is Colonia, which finished 21-11 after a 2-6 start, and having lost several key starters, including Aiden Derkack (transfer to Spire Academy in Ohio) and R.J. Wortman (early football enrolee at Rutgers) among others. The Patriots bowed out to Piscataway in a tight GMC Tournament semifinal game, but wound up getting the top-seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3, and won the sectional title for a fifth straight year, and sixth time in the last seven playoff seasons, all under head coach Jose Rodriguez. They made their first state final ever, too, but fell to Ocean City Sunday in the Group 3 finals at Rutgers, giving the Red Raiders their first state title in over 60 years.

Checking in at five is Piscataway (23-8). The Chiefs – despite a lack of height – were tough again in the GMC Red American Division this year, and took St. Joe’s to overtime in early January. They made it all the way to the county final, where they fell to the Falcons in the title game, and bowed out of a brutal North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 playoff section in the semifinals to eventual state Group 4 champion Plainfield.

At six, it’s Rutgers Prep (18-10). The Argonauts still had Will Brunson, but had to deal with the loss of Andrew Kretkowski, who transferred to St. Joseph-Metuchen. But they still showed out this season, reaching the Somerset County Tournament final, where it was another battle with Gill St. Bernard’s, who won the championship.

Hillsborough (22-8) checks in at No. 7, after putting together their first 20-win season under head coach Tim Palek, who just wrapped up his fifth season on the bench. The Raiders had fans enthralled through their playoff run, with an exciting win over Jackson Twp. in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, and they took Montgomery to overtime in the championship before taking the loss.

At No. 8, it’s Immaculata (21-7), the Skyland Conference Raritan Division champs. Season highlights included a home win over in-town rival Somerville, and handing Bridgewater-Raritan its first loss on the road after an 8-0 start by the Panthers.

The last three teams were unranked in the final poll before the postseason.

East Brunswick comes in at nine – going 21-7 this season, and winning the GMC Red National Division with an 8-0 mark – while two others share the tenth and final spot.

We put Perth Amboy (22-6) in at the ten spot along with Manville (19-9), honoring two teams for their full body of work, teams that might not otherwise get recognized in a crowded field of 48 teams between Middlesex and Somerset Counties. The Panthers won their first division title since 1993, claiming the GMC’s White American with an unblemished 12-0 record. The Mustangs, meanwhile, were Skyland Conference Mountain Division champions at 8-0, and beat rival Bound Brook twice this season, with the first of their two victories being their first against the Crusaders in 20 years.

Dropping out were Pingry (13-10) and South Plainfield (18-11).

Below is the complete final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for 2025-26:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls, back on top in Somerset County, are No. 1 team in Final Bellamy & Son Paving rankings

Sure, the Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team won 20 games last year, but it still wasn’t up to Mary Klinger’s standards. The coach calls the regular season the “preseason.” A division title is nice, but the county and state tournaments are the goals. Win those, and it’s a good year for the Argonauts. In 2025, they won neither.

But this year, with much of the same crew back, the Argonauts returned to their familiar spot as Somerset County Tournament champions, and finish the year No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten.

Led by four-year varsity standout Ava LaMonica – the team’s top scorer, who will be playing collegiately next year at Buffalo – as well as fellow seniors Ava Frith and Sophia Georgiades, as well as super sophomore Hailey Benbow – the Argos’ second-best scorer and top rebounder – Rutgers Prep (25-4) didn’t lose a single conference game this season, its three regular season losses coming to Red Bank Catholic, Cardinal O’Hara (PA), and Blair right before the state tournament. Their fourth came to Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final.

Prep beat Franklin – the eventual Central Jersey Group 4 champ – in the Somerset County Final, and won the Skyland Division title with a 6-0 record.

Gill St. Bernard’s checks in at No. 2. With a 22-6 mark, the Knights won the Non-Public North B title with a victory over Saddle River Day, then lout to Gloucester Catholic in the state Non-Public Group B final at Rutgers, the same Rams’ team that beat Rutgers Prep in the semifinals. Gill lost its only meeting with Rutgers Prep this season, 51-44 in late January, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Finishing third is St. Thomas Aquinas (24-7). The Trojans – with the senior trio of Jordan Barnes, Trista Whitney and Kayla Navarro – blew through the GMC this season, going 11-0 to win the Red American Division, and stormed to their seventh straight GMC Tournament championship, beating resurgent East Brunswick in the final. They would bow out to eventual state champion Red Bank Catholic in the Non-Public South A semifinals.

Checking in at four is Franklin (22-9). A Somerset County Tournament finalist under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie, the Warriors returned to their former – and fairly recent – glory with a win in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game over neighboring Hillsborough. They were knocked out of the state tournament by Lenape in the state Group 4 finals.

Fifth is Hillsborough (21-7). The Raiders had won two sectional titles in a row – in North 2, Group 4 in 2024 and Central 4 last season – but fell at Franklin in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game.

East Brunswick checks in at No. 6 with a 23-6 record. Ava Catanho and Julianna DelosSantos-Branson led the Bears back to prominence this season, as they got to the GMC Tournament title game, where they lost to now seven-time reigning GMCT champion St. Thomas Aquinas.

Bound Brook (25-4) – re-ignited by freshman sensation Peytan Pugh – finishes at No. 7, thanks to a Mountain Division championship, going 8-0 in divisional play. They nearly knocked off Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 title game, falling on the road to top-seed New Providence.

Finishing eighth is Bernards (24-5), which started the year 10-0, and was the Skyland Conference Valley Division champion at 11-1. They lost to defending champion Madison in the North 2, Group 2 semifinals.

At No. 9, it’s Colonia. After a down season, head coach Jill Bachonski has the Patriots looking solid, finishing 20-4, and going 8-0 to win the GMC Red National Division. They reached the GMC Tournament semifinals, falling to eventual champion St. Thomas Aquinas.

And No. 10 is Piscataway, making its season debut in the final rankings of the year. The Lady Chiefs finished 17-9, and went 6-0 to win the White American Division title, reaching the GMC Tournament semifinals, where they lost to East Brunswick.

Below are the complete final Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten rankings for 2025-26:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ocean City capitalizes on late turnovers in tight game, tops Colonia 55-46 in NJSIAA Group 3 final

This season, the Colonia boys’ basketball team went further than any other Patriot team in program history in the state tournament, all the way to the state finals at Rutgers for the first time in eleven previous sectional championship season.

But they will have to wait one more year for a chance to take it one step further and win it all.

Some uncharacteristic late turnovers in the final four minutes of the NJSIAA Group 3 final at Rutgers ultimately cost Colonia, and the North 2 Group 3 champs fell 55-46 to South 3 champ Ocean City, in a game heard Sunday afternoon on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was a tight game throughout. Colonia led 14-12 after one quarter, and led most of the second half, but found itself trailing the Red Raiders by one, 29-28 at the break. The Patriots had ten from Jayce Rodriguez in the first eight minutes to lead the way, but also had 10 points off the bench, including six from Jayden Johnson.

In the second half, head coach Jose Rodriguez tightened his rotation. And despite no bench points through the first 12 minutes, the game was still close with the final four minutes on the clock – despite three early-fourth quarter treys from junior Josh Lenko – as Rodriguez called a time out to settle the troops.

But then came the turnovers. A poke away here, an errant pass there, and Ocean City capitalized on the other end, going five-of-six from the foul line. All of a sudden, in a game no-one led by more than seven, the Red Raiders pulled away to win by nine.

Lenko, who had 30 in the group semifinals against Central 4 champion Westhampton Tech, went off for 24 to lead all scorers. Sixteen of those points came in the second half. Luke Tjoumakaris finished with 15.

Colonia’s Tyler Herman goes in for a layup in the second half of the Group 3 title game at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 16, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Jayce Rodriguez led Colonia with 20, and he had ten in each half. But no one else scored in double figures, as the Patriots were held to just two fourth-quarter field goals: an and-one from Jayce, and a bucket by senior Dylan Chiera, who finished with five, all in the second half.

For Ocean City, which finished the season 26-6, it’s their first state title since they won Group 3 in 1964, just three years into the sectional era. They also won Group 1 in 1955.

Colonia ends its season at 21-11, sectional champs for the sixth time in seven playoff seasons under Jose Rodriguez, who was named GMC Coach of the Year by the league coaches last month. (There were no state playoffs in the COVID-shortened 2021 season.)

They’ve also won five sectional titles in a row, tying a Middlesex County mark set by Odie Page’s New Brunswick teams, who won nine sectional crowns under his tutelage, and five straight from 1983 to 1987.

The Patriots won North 2, Group 3 in 2019, lost in the 2020 title game, but have been victorious in every final going back to 2022.

Click below for postgame reaction from the NJSIAA Group 3 Boys’ Championship Game, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel
Ocean City head coach John Bruno with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Group 4 Finals (Boys): Plainfield 49, Montgomery 40

Despite a 20-point game from Penn-bound senior Ethan Lin, Central 4 champion Montgomery lost 49-40 to North 2, Group 4 Champion Plainfield in the NJSIAA state Group 4 title game. It was Plainfield’s second straight state championship.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on March 14, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Group 3 Semifinals (Boys): Colonia 67, Montville 57

North 2, Group 3 champion Colonia got 27 points from sophomore Jayce Rodriguez – including 14-of-14 from the foul line, all in the second half – and another 20 from senior Dylan Chiera, as the Patriots beat North 1, Group 3 champion Montville in the Group 3 state semifinals. The win sends Colonia to the state Group 3 finals for the first time ever, where they will take on Ocean City at Rutgers.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from the Dunn Center in Elizabeth on March 11, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery falls to Plainfield for 2nd year in a row in Group 4 final, as Gordon helps Cardinals pull away in 4th for 49-40 win

The Montgomery boys’ basketball team felt good about its chances coming into Saturday afternoon’s NJSIAA Group 4 state final at Rutgers, and they had plenty of reason to.

All season long, they have gotten outstanding performances from different players every night, with Ethan Lin running the show, Shriyans Mallavarapu blocking shots, Xavier Harrigan coming off the bench to play lock down defense, and Connor Benedict and Mike Simborski connecting from beyond the arc.

And they got that again, with the teams playing a tight first three quarters. Plainfield led 13-9 after one, with the second quarter seeing the lead change four times. It was 22-20 Cardinals at the half.

Whenever it looked like Plainfield was going to pull away, Monty would hit a big shot, whether it was a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first to trim a five-point deficit to two, or Simborksi from the college range on the left wing at the third-quarter horn to slash a seven-point deficit to four.

But the matchup zone defense of Plainfield caused Monty headaches all night, and by late in the game, their long possessions were stretching longer, and with a few misses, The Cards won the rebounding battle in the second half. It was tied 11-11 at the break, but the Cougars were left with a lot of one and dones, and they had a 12-5 advantage on the glass over the last 16 minutes.

And the exclamation mark was a thunderous one-handed jam by Gordon, streaking to the basked from the left wing on a break off a pretty feed from Kamai Lowery with 4:26 left. If it didn’t mathematically put the game out of reach, everyone in the building could sense that it was a harbinger of the celebration that would come when the clock finally winked down to :00.

Lin finished with 20 in the game – including four treys, and two in the fourth quarter – tied for game-high honors with Gordon, a junior who is uncommitted, but has offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State and North Carolina state, among others. Lin, meanwhile, in his last game as a Cougar, will be headed down to The Palestra to play for Penn.

Senior Kamai Lowery finished with 12 for Plainfield (26-5), while fellow senior Rashawn Williams added ten, including a pair of triples.

Sophomore Connor Benedict finished with nine for Montgomery (26-5), while Mallavarapu had six, but all were in the first half.

Click below for postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel with head coach Kris Grundy, presented by Sportsplext at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia battles Ocean City for Group 3 title at Rutgers Sunday, as Patriots, Red Raiders both seek first state ‘chip

The Colonia boys’ basketball program made history Wednesday night, but there’s still some more ink in the pen, and more to write.

The Patriots’ 67-57 win over Montville sent them to the state finals for the first time ever. And now, a program that has won eleven sectional trophies – six of which have come under current head coach Jose Rodriguez – will look to claim its first state championship when it plays Sunday in the NJSIAA Group 3 final at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway.

They’ll take on Ocean City at 2 pm, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame starts at 1:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Colonia comes in at 21-10, with their season trajectory well-documented. They won just two of their first eight games, but are 19-4 since, their last two defeats coming right before the state tournament. After losing so much off-season talent, including two-time GMC Tournament MVP Aiden Derkack, R.J. Wortman and Zach Smith, it took a little while to figure out roles and adjust to the changes.

To say they “figured it out” might be the understatement of the year, as they eventually earned the top-seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3, then four games later claimed their fifth straight sectional title.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about their semifinal win over Montville was not the 27 points Jayce Rodriguez – the team’s top scorer – poured in, or they early lead they built that they never lost the rest of the way, or even the outstanding effort from Nfa Clyne with an 11-point four-rebound night.

No, it was probably the fact the Patriots went 22-of-24 from the foul line, including 13-of-15 in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs attempted to come back. Of those, Jayce Rodriguez went 8-for-8 in the final quarter, and his last 14 points came from the foul line.

All that spells a team that knows the game, and knows the plan: draw contact, get to the line, score.

It was the kind of all-around team effort that maybe wasn’t happening in those first eight games, but certainly has been since.

Ocean City is a very similar team. The Red Raiders come in at 25-6, 9-3 in their Cape-Atlantic League American Division, which got them a second place finish behind Middle Township. They were a CAL Tournament finalist, falling by one to Atlantic City in the title game.

And while they may not have won five straight sectional titles like Colonia has, they have played in big games.

Ocean City won South Jersey Group 4 last year before tragedy struck in the state semifinals against Colts Neck. Senior point guard Ben McGonigle was injured early on and couldn’t return. The Red Raiders built a lead, and were up ten with two minutes to go in the third, but lost by two, 47-45.

So, just like Colonia, they know the hurt of just missing a state final.

It can be a different player for Ocean City every night. Senior forward Josh Lenko was the one who came up big in a 56-43 win over Central 4 winner Westhampton Tech in the state semifinals. A 14 point-per-game scorer on the season, he dumped in 30 points and hit six treys in the state semifinals Wednesday night, and as coach John Bruno said afterward, “you wouldn’t necessarily have prepared for that.”

The team’s top scorer is Luke Tjoumakaris, who’s averaging around 15 points a game all season, and in the states. The senior is a tough scorer around the rim, while senior Tighe Olek who averages xi points – “does the dirty work,” according to Bruno, drawing the opposition’s best defender.

And then there’s Bruno, a veteran coach who’s been at Ocean City for 37 years, and has won over 500 games in America’s Greatest Family Resort town. He’ll be pacing the sideline at Jersey Mike’s in

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez
Ocean City head coach John Bruno

Quirky/Useless Stat of the Day: While this will be Ocean City’s first game at Rutgers, Colonia has been there before, most recently playing in the 2018 GMC Tournament final. That was the last season under former standout Brandon Hall as head coach, and the tournament has since moved on to play the finals at other league venues. But maybe not for long. GMC officials recently met with new Rutgers Athletic Director Keli Zinn, and it’s possible – like how the NJSIAA recently struck a deal to hold all its state basketball finals at Rutgers, and recently announced baseball finals will be held there, too – that the tourney could come back to the “RAC” in the near future.

LINKS TO PREVIOUS COLONIA STATE TOURNAMENT COVERAGE:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gill’s defensive effort in Non-Public B Final win over Holy Cross was best in nearly three decades, matches program best win streak

If you ever want this reporter to go down a rabbit hole, ask him a question he doesn’t know the answer to.

Then again, sometimes you don’t even have to ask.

The Gill St. Bernard’s boys’ basketball team won its first-ever state title Thursday night when the Knights beat Holy Cross Prep of Delran 39-28 at Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers University, and may have made a little history in the process besides picking up that first state championship trophy.

We looked back through the record books, and the 28 points allowed was the lowest scored in a state non-public final since at least 2011, when South B champion Cardinal McCarrick of South Amboy (now closed) lost to powerhouse and North B champ St. Anthony of Jersey City, 75-28 in the Non-Public B Final. No one else has allowed fewer points dating back to the 2000 championships.

That Friar squad finished that season 33-0, with a 61-49 win over Plainfield in the now-defunct Tournament of Champions final.

St. Anthony would go on to play its final season six years later, as the school closed in the summer of 2017 with a record 13 TOC wins. Plainfield, which also lost to the Friars in a rematch in 2012, will face Montgomery Saturday afternoon in the Group 4 finals, a rematch of a game they won 65-48. You can hear that game live at 2 pm, with pregame at 1:40 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel; click here to listen.

The game also was the lowest combined score of any non-public/parochial final in the last 25 seasons in which group finals were held. The emerging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ended up truncating the NJSIAA state tournament before the non-public finals could be held, and there were no state playoffs at all the following season, in 2021.)

Gill St. Bernard’s led Holy Cross 20-2 at the half, though the Lancers rallied to cut it to six points and a two-possession game, at one point in the fourth quarter, with the Knights pulling away at the end.

The combined 67 points beat out the second-lowest scoring game since 2020, a 38-35 win for Union Catholic over St. Peter’s Prep in the Non-Public A final in 2023, with a combined 73 points scored between the teams.

Scores that low are rare in games where a lot of offensive firepower tends to rule the day. In that time span, only seven of 50 non-public finals saw combined scores under 100, with three of them coming since COVID. In 2024’s Non-Public A final, Don Bosco Prep beat Paul VI 56-29, a combined score of 85, and the second fewest points allowed in a final since 2000.

For the “record”…

With the win, Gill St. Bernard’s finished the 2025-26 season on a 24-game win streak, tying what is believed to have been the longest win streak in school history, or at least its longest since becoming a member of the NJSIAA in 2004-05. The 2010-11 team finished 26-3, and won its last 24 games after a 2-2 start that includes losses to St. Anthony and St. Benedict’s.

While those Knights won the Somerset County Tournament championship – their first of ten, now tied for that mark with Bridgewater-Raritan after this season’s win – they bowed out in the sectional semifinals of the state tournament to St. Patrick of Elizabeth, 69-41.