All across the state of New Jersey, every year, dozens upon dozens of players will graduate and play at the college level. But only a handful get to go play for a major college program that has won multiple national championships.

But that’s the future for Gandy Malou-Mamel, the Gill St. Bernard’s senior who is the 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Malou-Mamel didn’t start playing basketball in earnest until she was 12, and in her native Ireland. But playing for the Huskies and the legendary Geno Auriemma was her dream. Now that her career at Gill is over, that’s her reality.

She earned the chance to play in Storrs over the span of three seasons, in which she averaged almost 14 points per game in her career – 1,144 total – and a career-best 17 points a game this season, her senior year. She had double-doubles in 18 of her 28 games this season, and averaged a double-double, at 10.2 boards a game this season. She also recorded almost 200 career blocks (60 this year) and 40 steals.

At 6′ 6″, she was dominant much of her career, and especially this season, leading Gill St. Bernard’s to its first Somerset County Tournament title since 2014, as well as the Non-Public North B finals, where they lost to Immaculate Conception of Montclair, which is closing at the end of the school year.

Unfortunately – for us, not her! – Gill is on Spring Break this week and next, and Malou-Mamel is back home in her native Ireland, where coach Mark Gnapp says she often disconnects and recharges. So we had Gnapp speak on her behalf to talk about her season and career at Gill.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp talk about Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year Gandy Malou-Mamel:

Here are our Honorable Mentions for Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year:

• Aleah Sunkins, Franklin: Sunkins had an impressive freshman campaign, and there was no hint of a sophomore slump in 2024-25. While Precious Wheeler is a tenacious defender, Sunkins averaged 15.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds in her second season as a varsity starter, and eight double-doubles this season for a squad that may have gone 11-16 this year, but they also played in perhaps the toughest girls’ basketball division in the state, losing three times to Gill St. Bernard’s and twice to Rutgers Prep – both state sectional finalists – as well as twice to Hillsborough, the state Group 4 champs and No. 4 team in the final statewide rankings. That’s seven losses – almost half their overall total – to state-ranked teams just in their division alone.
• Francesca Schiro, Hillbsorough: A talented all-around team, the Raiders don’t do what they did without “Cesci.” With back-to-back Central Jersey Group 4 titles, and this year the state Group 4 title – Hillsborough’s first ever – Schiro was instrumental in it all. This Siena-bound senior averaged 21.1 points per game this season, 6.3 rebounds, and led the tea, in assists (156) and steals (120). She was the undisputed leader of the team, and had big buckets down the stretch of the state finals against West Orange, along with fellow senior Mya Loniewski.
• Taylor Francis, Pingry: The all-time leading scorer in school history, she finishes with 1,793 points before heading off to Georgetown to play softball. She averaged 27.3 points per game this year, with 66 treys, on a team that went 19-8 this season, and won the Skyland Conference Raritan Division by running the table to a 10-0 record.
• Ava LaMonica, Rutgers Prep: Just a junior, it just seems like LaMonica has been an Argonaut for the last five years. A fierce competitor not afraid to hit the deck if she’s fouled hard or diving for a loose ball, she led a young, inexperienced group with 65 steals this season while averaging 13.4 points and 5 rebounds per game. And if the band stays together – last year’s team lost three starters to graduation, while another moved to Florida – next year’s group, with another year under its belt – could be primed for something big.
• Charlotte Taylor, Somerville: While junior Kaylee Lauber also had a fantastic season, and was the team’s leading scorer, Taylor gets the nod here as a senior who’s been consistent her entire career. Averaging 11.5 points, four rebounds, and five asissts per game, Taylor played the senior leader role to a tee on a 23-6 team that went to the North 2, Group 3 semifinals.