Category: High School Basketball

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: No. 1 Rutgers Prep 75, No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s 36 (Girls)

Mikayla Blakes scored her 1,000th point and the junior finished her night with 1,026 as top-ranked Rutgers Prep kept the pedal to the metal all day on defense, en route to a 75-36 home win over 3rd-ranked Gill St. Bernards, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. The win locked up the Skyland Conference Delaware Division for the Lady Argonauts, and the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament.

Blakes had game-high honors with 29, including five threes, while Katie Ledden chipped in 14 – including two treys – and Chloe Escanillas added 13, helped by three from downtown.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tasakonas call all the play-by-play on January 24, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 66, No. 10 St. Joseph-Metuchen 62 (Boys)

Top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas fended off every push by No. 10 St. Joseph Metuchen, and clinched the GMC Red Division title with a 66-62 road win, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. The victory also virtually locked up the top-seed for St. Thomas in the upcoming GMC Tournament.

Senior Terrell Pitts led the way with 16 for the Trojans (15-1, 8-0), while fellow senior Jalen Pichardo added 15 and ten rebounds. Junior Jeremy Clayville led St. Joe’s (8-4, 6-2) with a game-high 25, including four threes.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino call all the play-by-play on January 17, 20

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 69, No. 3 Colonia 46 (Boys)

Top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas used a 15-5 second-quarter run to take the lead, and clamped down on defense in the third quarter top beat No. 3 Colonia 69-46 in North Edison, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Junior guard Deuce Jones led the way with a game-high 16 points for St. Thomas (12-1) while Samir Thomas added 14, including four treys in the second quarter, and Terrell Pitts added 10. Senior Anthony Gooden led Colonia with 15 points.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play on January 12, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: No 10. South River 66, No. 6 Bound Brook 61 (Boys)

Sophomore point guard Alex Grospe was the game MVP for South River, as the 10th-ranked Rams knocked off 10th-ranked Bound Brook on the road in the finale of the GMC-Skyland Challenge, 66-61, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Grospe finished with 18 points, as South River improved to 9-0 for the first time since the 1977-78 season, when they won their first 11 games before getting upset by New Brunswick.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play on January 7, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: Hillsborough 64, Montgomery 43 (Boys)

Hillsborough used an onslaught of nine three pointers – six in the first quarter – to power past Montgomery for the first time in nearly six years with a 64-43 home win in Skyland Conference Raritan Division play, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Zion harrison led the assault with three triples in the first quarter, four overall, and led all scorers in the game with 22 points. Four other players hit from beyond the arc as the Raiders matched a season-high from downtown.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play on January 3, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: #4 South Brunswick 43, #5 Colonia 40 (Girls)

Fifth-ranked South Brunswick used stellar defense and got ten points apiece from senior Cynai Price and junior Meher Vig en route to a 43-40 home win over fourth-ranked Colonia in GMC Red Division girls’ basketball action, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The Vikings defense held the Patriots without a field goal for most of the first half. Colonia’s Taylor Derkack had 22 points in defeat.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play on December 22, 2022:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: #1 Rutgers Prep 86, #7 Franklin 44 (Girls)

Top-ranked Rutgers Prep got 26 points from junior Mikayla Blakes and used a stifling full-court press to beat #7 Franklin 86-44 at home Thursday night, in the season opener played at Rutgers Prep. Blakes led all scorers and five of her team’s eight three-pointers. Senior Katie Ledden chipped in 14, while freshman Gigi Battle added 10 for the Lady Argonauts (1-0).

Franklin got a team-leading 15 points from sophomore Precious Wheeler, while junior point guard Iyanna Cotton added 11 for the Warriors (0-1).

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the action on December 12, 2022:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY-Girls’ TOC Final: (1) St. John Vianney 72, (3) Rutgers Prep 52

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The 3rd-seeded Rutgers Prep Lady Argonauts fell to top-seeded St. John Vianney, 72-52, as the Lady Lancers won their eighth TOC title, and third under head coach Dawn Karpell.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action from Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on Sunday, March 20, 2022:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY-Girls’ TOC Semifinals: (3) Rutgers Prep 64, (2) Manasquan 48

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The 3rd-seeded Rutgers Prep Lady Argonauts beat the 2nd-seeded Manasquan Warriors 64-48, behind 17 points Rutgers-bound senior Antonia Bates, and nine team treys. Rutgers Prep moves on to the TOC Finals for the first time ever, and will face top-seed St. John Vianney, which beat 4-seeed Sparta in the other semifinal Friday night, 75-54.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action from Toms River North’s RWJBarnabas Health Arena on Friday, March 18, 2022:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY-Girls’ TOC Quarterfinals: (3) Rutgers Prep 68, (6) University 56

Click the ad above for more on Kean University’s next open house.

The 3rd-seeded Rutgers Prep Lady Argonauts beat the 6th-seeded University Phoeniz 68-56, behind 23 points from Katie Ledden, and another 18 from Mikayla Blakes, winning their first ever TOC game in three tries. Rutgers Prep moves on to the semifinals against 2nd-seed Manasquan Friday night.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action from Toms River North’s RWJBarnabas Health Arena on Wednesday, March 16, 2022: