Tag: Courtney Tierney

Franklin Girls Basketball celebrates the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title on March 5th, 2026 (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
by Alec Crouthamel

Franklin wakes up with monster fourth quarter, defeats Hillsborough for first sectional title in six years

It might have been apparent which team was playing for its third straight sectional title, and which team was playing in its first in six years heading into the fourth quarter in the Central Jersey Group 4 final.

In the final eight minutes, though, that perception flipped 180 degrees.

Top-seeded Franklin claimed its first sectional title since 2020, rallying from a nine-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to stun third-seeded Hillsborough 52-41. The Warriors (22-8) turned up the heat exponentially in the final frame, holding the Raiders (21-7) without a field goal in the entire fourth quarter, with just two free throws, leading to a 22-2 scoring margin in the final eight minutes.

Senior guard Alissa Myers proved to be the hero, tying her career high with 20 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter alone. She knocked down a trio of three-pointers and got Franklin back into the game with her shooting, while the Warriors’ swarming defense stifled Hillsborough the entire way.

Franklin had three scorers in double figures, as star forward Aleah Sunkins shook off a slow start and apparent third-quarter hand injury to finish with 11 points, six coming in the fourth quarter. She knocked down four consecutive free throws in the final minute to put the game out of reach. Sophomore guard Jamila McRiney scored ten points, including two three-pointers in the first quarter to help kickstart the Warriors’ offense.

Juniors Kayla Cebedo and Victoria Liedl each scored 12 points to lead the Raiders, as Liedl converted on four big-time three-pointers to help Hillsborough build its lead to begin with. Cebedo hit two free throws in the final 45 seconds for the Raiders’ only fourth-quarter points. Isabella Ruh scored ten points before fouling out late, attempting to extend the game. Junior guard Nevya Loniewski also fouled out early in the fourth quarter, finishing with five points.

The physicality and athleticism on both sides were apparent from the jump ball, as Franklin ended the first quarter with a 13-11 lead, but Hillsborough continued to play solid defense to open the game as Ruh nailed two treys. Loniewski hit another to open the second quarter to put the Raiders back in the lead, and neither team scored for the next four minutes as the championship pressure appeared to speed up both teams.

Hillsborough eventually gained an edge with two minutes left in the half, but the Warriors managed two straight baskets in the final minutes to head into the locker room with a slim one-point lead.

The Raiders’ championship experience and poise both shone through in the third quarter, outscoring Franklin 19-9 as Cebedo controlled the pace with the ball in her hands, and Liedl knocked down two more three-pointers. Ruh added two baskets at the rim of her own, while containing the Warriors’ offense by speeding them up and forcing turnovers. By the time the dust settled, Hillsborough sat with a 39-30 lead with eight minutes to play, and all of the momentum headed in the visitors’ direction.

But Franklin never lost faith.

The Warriors cranked up the energy on defense, forcing several turnovers in the fourth quarter with its full-court pressure, and the shots finally started to fall. Franklin made four three-pointers in the final period, three from Myers and McRiney added another, while forward Alivia Stewart got downhill and scored four key points. The trio of McRiney, Myers, and senior Kayla Duncan wreaked havoc in the backcourt and carried Franklin back into the game.

By the time the Raiders knew what hit them, the Warriors had ripped off a 20-0 run and taken a double-digit lead.

It wasn’t totally over just yet, as Hillsborough’s strategy to foul with 90 seconds left worked to perfection with six straight missed Franklin free throws, but it ultimately didn’t matter as the Raiders still couldn’t get anything to go on offense. The Warriors then gave the ball to Sunkins to bring the ball up, and she calmly knocked down four straight at the charity stripe, even with a wrap on her hand.

Franklin clinched its first sectional title since a run of four straight from 2017-20, when Audrey Taylor had the Warriors rolling as one of the top teams in the state. Now, in Year One under head coach Jimmy Kreie, Franklin has climbed one mountain and has a chance for another in the state tournament.

The Warriors will face off against the winner of the South Jersey Group 4 finalists, top-seeded Lenape and third-seeded Howell, in the Group 4 semifinals on Tuesday at Deptford Township High School.

Click below to hear postgame reactions with Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie and senior guard Alissa Myers with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Franklin and Rutgers Prep tip off in the Somerset County Tournament final.
by Alec Crouthamel

Neighboring towns, Hillsborough and Franklin, battle for Central Jersey Group 4 crown

5.6 miles. Ten minutes (or fewer, depending on the amount of lead in your right foot).

That’s the distance on Amwell Road in Somerset County between Hillsborough High School and Franklin High School. And those two schools will face off in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game on Thursday evening, with the top-seeded Warriors (21-8) playing host to the defending Group 4 champions and third-seeded Raiders (21-6).

It’ll be a battle of experience levels, as Hillsborough looks for its third straight sectional title — winning North 2 Group 4 in 2024 and Central Jersey Group 4 last season — while Franklin reached its first sectional final since 2020 under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie.

It all goes down in Franklin on Thursday evening. You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Alec Crouthamel, with pregame starting around 5:45 pm and tipoff at 6. Click here to listen.

Even after the Raiders lost a group of seniors from that title-winning squad, Hillsborough’s program culture kept some of the underclassmen ready for important action.

They’ve been needed, especially of late. Almost the entire rotation had to shift roles and/or positions with the absence of second-leading scorer Alexa Gaspar in the semifinals against East Brunswick. That preparation helped fuel a come-from-behind victory on the road, to help get Hillsborough to this point.

The Warriors have had mostly smooth sailing in the sectional tournament, winning three games against Shore Conference foes by an average of 40 points.

Junior forward Aleah Sunkins has continued to stake her claim as a top talent in the state, stacking the stat sheet while continuing to improve as a perimeter threat, paired with her ability to get downhill with force. She added a career-high 33 points against Jackson Township in a semifinal victory.

Franklin has a style — and plenty of athleticism and versatility to boot — as things are fully coming together down the stretch of Kreie’s first year at the helm.

It’ll be a heavyweight battle in the sectional title, and a rematch at that. The Warriors defeated the Raiders in Hillsborough 72-44 back on January 6th, but both coaches agree their respective teams have improved and evolved in the two months since that game.

Hillsborough may have the championship experience, but Franklin brings a title-winning coach himself — Kreie won the Non-Public B title with now-closed Montclair Immaculate last season — and a team hungry to reach the heights of the late 2010s, in its first sectional title appearance in six years.

Both teams will look to run and gun, but in the end, whichever team sticks to its plan and stays calm under pressure will likely walk away with the trophy.

Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:


Hillsborough head coach Courtney Tierney

Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie

by Mike Pavlichko

Hillsborough girls knock off East Brunswick, 60-49 in CJ4 semis, earn chance to three-peat as sectional champions

Tuesday night’s Central Jersey Group 4 semifinal for the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team was a roller coaster, and from the start they were a little out of sorts.

But by the second half, the Raiders figured things out, and the rest of the game was like coasting to the ride’s finish line on a straightaway.

It all amounted to a 60-49 win for second-seeded Hillsborough at third-seed East Brunswick, sending the Raiders to a third straight sectional final, after they won North 2, Group 4 in 2024, and Central Jersey Group 4 last season, along with the overall state Group 4 Championship.

Isabelle Ruh notched her 18th double-double of the season in 27 games – and second straight in the state tournament – with a 17-point, 15-rebound night, while Morgan Bice added 13 and Kayla Cebedo added 15.

Head coach Courtney Tierney said with Gaspar out, some players had to slip into different roles, and it took a little while to get accustomed to that. But once they did, the Raiders (21-6) looked like the championship team they’ve been the last two seasons.

But they will have a stiff test Thursday night in the final at top-seed Franklin. To begin with, the game was moved one day earlier to accommodate a state wrestling event Franklin is hosting on Friday. Tip-off will be 6 pm.

That also means they’ll have one less day to prepare for the Warriors (21-8), who beat them in their only regular season meeting this year, 72-44, back on January 6th in Hillsborough.

East Brunswick’s season ended at 23-6. Sophomore Ava Catanho finished with 17 points – tying Ruh for game-high honors – and added nine rebounds.

Click below to hear postgame comments from Hillsborough girls’ basketball coach Courtney Tierney with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Hillsborough tops No. 6 East Brunswick, 70-52, as Lady Raiders take Skyland-GMC battle

It was the rematch of a sectional quarterfinal playoff game last year, one in which Hillsborough had cruised – winning by 34 over East Brunswick – en route to the Central Jersey Group 4 title and a state Group 4 championship, the first in program history.

That Bears team finished 13-14, but this year’s was much improved, coming into Thursday night’s GMC vs. Skyland Conference matchup at 12-3.

But this one also went to the Raiders.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, No. 4 Hillsborough picked up a 70-52 win over visiting No. 6 East Brunswick, improving to 13-2 on the year, thanks in large part to a huge game from junior Alexa Gaspar, who finished with a career high 29 points.

That included 13 in the second quarter, in which the Raiders built a 19-point advantage, and led by 18 at the break.

East Brunswick would cut it to ten twice, with 2:45 left in the third, and 4:15 left in the game. But both times, Hillsborough countered with runs of their own, and never let the lead get back down to single digits.

Gaspar also had three triples in the game, while junior Victoria Leidl finished with 12, and Isabella Ruh had 11.

Sophomore Ava Catanho had 26 to lead East Brunswick (12-4), and was the only double-figure scorer in the game for the Bears.

The second quarter proved decisive, giving Hillsborough enough cushion to withstand a couple of second-half runs by East Brunswick.

Click below for postgame reaction from Hillsborough junior Alexa Gaspar and head coach Courtney Tierney, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

by Mike Pavlichko

Huge Thursday night GMC-Skyland crossover has No. 6 East Brunswick at No. 4 Hillsborough in rematch of 2025 CJ4 quarterfinals

Last season – the only one in Travis Retzlaff’s first six seasons as head coach besides the COVID year to finish under .500 – the East Brunswick girls basketball team reached the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals.

Maybe they were a little early, but this year they seem right on schedule.

With their roster mostly in tact from last year – plus the return of a standout from injury – the Bears are now ranked No. 6 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten, and Thursday night, they’ll make the return trip back to Hillsborough to face the No. 4 Raiders, who haven’t seemed to be affected by major graduation losses at all.

You can hear that game Thursday live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame set for 5:15 and tip-off at 5:30 pm as Mike Pavlichko brings you all the action. Click here to listen.

The Raiders are 12-2 on the season, winners of six straight, a stretch in which they have held five opponents under 40 points, and two under 30.

With the school’s all-time leading scorer Cesci Schiro now at Siena – after scoring 2,106 points, more than any boy or girl in ‘Boro history – and Mya Loniewski and Regan Bice gone, those waiting in the wings have stepped up to complement key returnees like Isabella Ruh, the team’s leading scorer (11.8 ppg) and rebounder (11.9), with 26 blocks.

Nevya Loniewski – Mya’s younger sister – returns, while Alexa Gaspar is chipping in 11 points per game, and Victoria Leidl another 10.1 and a team-best 32 treys.

But it’s Ruh – who killed East Brunswick (12-3) last year with 12 points, six rebounds, and a 4-of-6 night at the free throw line in last season’s Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinal meeting – who will be part of the key matchup to watch on the night, going up against the Bears’ Julianna DelosSantos-Branson.

“JDB,” as they call her, may give up two inches, but she’s the team’s best rebounder. She’d be a four-year varsity player except that she missed all but five minutes last season recovering from an ACL injury. She’d be rehabbing, and tried to get in an early season game, but it didn’t go well, and she missed the entire rest of the year.

Ava Catanho is the scoring star, a 5-10 sophomore averaging 17.8 points per game with a team-best 28 treys, but also ten blocks to lead the team, and 28 steals, third best among the bears.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko preview the game with both head coaches:

Hillsborough head coach Courtney Tierney
East Brunswick head coach Travis Retzlaff
by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Girls’ Basketball Team of the Year: Hillsborough Raiders

For the past two years, the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team has been rewriting the record books.

Last year, they won the program’s first-ever state sectional title. Last year’s team finished 21-9, and beat Elizabeth in a surprise North 2, Group 4 title game at home, thanks to upsets elsewhere in the bracket.

This year, they rewrote more history. Cesci Schrio became the all-time leading scorer in school history, girls or boys. The won another sectional title, this time as the No. 1 seed, and this time in Central Jersey Group 4, beating the No. 2 team in the Greater Middlesex Conference, Monroe, in the finals.

And for good measure, they had more up their sleeve. After topping Cherokee in the Group 4 semifinals, they went to the state Group 4 championship game and faced a familiar opponent: a West Orange team they’d beaten on the road, 58-54, less than a month earlier.

And they won again, this time by three, to finish as Group 4 champions, the No. 1 public school in the NJSIAA’s group of biggest schools in the state.

Where they finish in the state rankings is irrelevant. They went from start to finish, to the last game of the entire season in the state, and brought home another piece of hardware.

Hope they’ve got a bigger budget for the trophy case.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Hillsborough’s three key seniors – Cesci Schiro, Maya Loniewski, and Reghan Bice – as well as head coach Courtney Tierney:

by Mike Pavlichko

History for Hillsborough! Raiders win first-ever state title, edging West Orange 55-52 in Group 4 Girls’ Final at Rutgers

Last year, the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team won its first ever state sectional title.

This year, they did it again, and again rewrote this history books.

The Lady Raiders held off West Orange – for a second time this year – 55-52 to win the NJSIAA Group 4 Girls’ Basketball Championship at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena, as heard Sunday afternoon on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Senior Cesci Schiro finished with a team-high 18 points, while fellow senior Mya Loniewski finished with 17. They were the only two ‘Boro players in double figures.

Seniors Cesci Schiro (left) and Maya Loniewski get the state Group 4 championship trophy from NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

What was more impressive was that Schiro played much of the fourth quarter with four fouls. Coach Courtney Tierney after the game said she was worried about that, but “Cesci wasn’t.”

And she didn’t have to. The game didn’t see a ton of lead changes or ties, but it was tight throughout, as no one led by more than two possessions the entire way.

Click below for postgame reaction from head coach Courtney Tierney and senior Cesci Schiro, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s a GMC-Somerset clash when Monroe visits Hillsborough in Central Jersey Group 4 final

The Hillsborough girls’ basketball team reached the Somerset County final this year, for the first time since 2006, falling to Gill St. Bernard’s.

The Monroe girls’ basketball team reached the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final this year, falling to St. Thomas Aquinas.

So, essentially, since they’re also the top two seeds in their section, Saturday’s Central Jersey Group 4 final – which will feature the Falcons and Raiders – could be billed as a battle for public school supremacy and bragging rights between Somerset County and the GMC.

Could, and should.

Top-seed Hillsborough (23-6) and second-seed Monroe (20-9) will play for the title at 1:30 pm Saturday, and you can hear all the action here on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Alec Crouthamel calling the play-by-play. Pregame start at 1:15. Click here to listen.

The two don’t have much recent history, only meeting twice in the past ten seasons. Hillsborough won their last meeting, in the 2020 Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals, 45-41, but no one from those teams is still in school. Monroe beat the Raiders in the first round in 2015, 72-30.

‘Boro won its first-ever state sectional title last year, fueled by defense, and the ability to hit the three, attributes that are common to this year’s squad. While they were champions a year ago, the Raiders technically aren’t “defending” champs, as they were in the North 2, Group 4 last season. The NJSIAA’s new classification cycle moved them back to Central for this year.

Monroe, meanwhile, is back in the title game for the second time in three seasons. They made it in 2023, falling 53-45 to Jackson Memorial. They last won a title in 2016, going 26-4 and beating Hunterdon Central, 48-35, before falling to Lenape in the Group 4 semifinals.

That all happened under Leigh Vogtman, who stepped down after last season and was replaced by Brian Hinz, who had been an assistant under Jeff Warner on the boys’ team, but moved to the girls’ side as an assistant last year. So he was already well familiar with the squad.

The teams are remarkably similar. Each has a star guard – Monroe’s Evangelina Francisco and Hillsborough’s Cesci Schiro – and a solid supporting cast. Both can hit threes and get up and down the floor. Neither has tremendous height.

Schiro is the all-time leading scorer at Hillsborough – girls or boys – with 2,051 points, and counting. To put that in perspective, that’s already 161 more points than the Raiders have scored all year. She’s averaging 21.4 points per game this season, and 18 per in the states, including a 29-point, eight-rebound, six-assist game against Franklin in a 68-55 semifinal win, after the teams split their regular season matchups, Hillsborough winning by three, the Warriors winning by four.

Francisco is eerily similar, averaging an even 21 points per game this season, 17 per contest in the states. She’s scored 18, 14 and 19 in the three CJ4 games so far. She’s also gone perfect twice from the foul line shooting more than ten, including a perfect 10-for-10 against Middlesex in the GMCT semifinals, and 13-for-13 a few weeks earlier in a road win at East Brunswick.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

Hillsborough head coach Courtney Tierney
Monroe head coach Brian Hinz
by Mike Pavlichko

Hillsborough girls win rubber match with Franklin in CJ4 semis, will face Monroe at home Saturday seeking second straight title

Last year, the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team won its first state sectional title in school history, beating Elizabeth to win North 2, Group 4.

One more win, and they’re going to go back-to-back.

Senior Cesci Schiro scored a game-high 29 points – including 15 from the free throw line – as the top-seeded Raiders beat fifth-seed Franklin, 68-55, Wednesday night in Hillsborough in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals. The teams had split their two regular season meetings, ‘Boro winning by three, the Warriors later winning by four.

But this Hillsborough team has gotten even better since the start of the season, and they were already pretty good to begin with. They beat Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semis to make their first county final since 2006.

Now, they’re in the sectional finals for a second straight year, albeit in a different section.

Hillsborough had trouble hitting from beyond they arc, but they made up for it getting in the paint, drawing fouls, and hitting free throws. They were 29-of-38 from the stripe.

Hillsborough (23-6) will take on second-seed Monroe (20-9) Saturday at 1:30 pm in the final, after the Falcons topped third-seed Hightstown, 53-30.

(Note: The Central Jersey Group 4 final had been announced at Hillsborough High School as a noon start, but the game was moved to 1:30 pm to accommodate SAT testing.)

Franklin’s season ends at 11-16.

Click below for postgame reaction from Hillsborough senior Cesci Schiro and head coach Courtney Tierney, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Hillsborough stuns Rutgers Prep, advances to SCT final for first time since ’06 with 58-54 win, powered by defense, three-point shooting

They say good defense fuels a good offense, when a team can get steals and get out in transition.

For Rutgers Prep, it’s almost the opposite. When they make baskets, they can set up their pressure. And once the second-seeded Argonauts did that Saturday afternoon against third-seed Hillsborough in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, they started to take the game under control, and look like the team they were before losing four starters to graduation.

They built up a 14-point lead in the second quarter, and led 36-26 at the break.

But then a funny thing happened. In the third, second-seed Prep stopped hitting shots. Third-seed Hillsborough started making them, then turned on the pressure. And by the late third quarter, they’d wrested the lead back.

And in the end, the Raiders made more big shots than Rutgers Prep, including big threes in the fourth quarter from Reghan Bice and Francesca Schiro, who led all scorers with 23. It also helped that Hillsborough shot an excellent 11-of-13 from the foul line.

The result was a mammoth 58-54 win that will send shockwaves through the state rankings.

The win was the first for Hillsborough (18-5) over Rutgers Prep in 25 tries, dating back to at least 2008. It also sends the Raiders to the SCT title game for the first time since 2006, when they won their second of back-to-back titles, and their third of three overall.

For the Argonauts (17-5), they had won four straight SCT titles, but will miss the finals for the first time since 2014.

Hillsborough will face the winner of Saturday’s 2:30 pm semifinal between top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s and fourth-seed Franklin in next Saturday’s 1 pm SCT title game at Montgomery.

Click below for postgame reaction with Hillsborough’s Cesci Schiro and head coach Courtney Tierney, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen: