Tag: Gill St. Bernard's

by Mike Pavlichko

Gill St. Bernard’s may have upper hand, but after buzzer-beating win, top SCT seed up for grabs in battle at Rutgers Prep tonite

In a series that has been dominated by Gill St. Bernard’s over the years – which has won 17 of the last 19 meetings between the schools, there’s a lot legitimately on the line tonight when the 2nd-ranked Knights travel to Somerset to square off against No. 3 Rutgers Prep.

Gill (12-3, 7-0 Skyland Delaware) is in the driver’s seat, of course, thanks to a buzzer-beating three-point shot by Nick Losada that gave the Knights a 67-65 win at home back on January 5th. A win, and they lock up the Skyland Conference’s top division title, and the top-seed in the Somerset County Tournament.

But a Rutgers Prep win would likely leave them co-champs, and then you can let the debate begin.

You can hear tonight’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame beginning at 6:45 pm and tip-off at 7. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will call all the action. Click here to listen.

The Argonauts (11-6, 5-1) have not won in this series very often, but there have been some close games. In addition to this month’s previous matchup, Prep beat them in 2020, played to an eight-point game in February 2019, and lost by two in the county final the year prior.

Add to that the fact that Rutgers Prep has been without captain Cameron Piggee for a good chuck of the season, including the prior matchup this month with Gill, in which the Knights drained 12 three-pointers, while the Argos only hit one.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

Chris Tsakonas with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mergin Sina
Mike Pavlichko with Rutgers Prep head coach Matt Bloom

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernards girls play a big one Tuesday, with top seed in SCT on the line

To be clear: there is no disputing what single team has been the best in Somerset County for the last several years.

Since losing to Franklin in the 2019 Somerset County Tournament Final, Mary Klinger’s Rutgers Prep squad has not lost a single game against a Skyland Conference opponent. The streak is at 50 games and counting, and should it stretch to 51 Tuesday night, the Lady Argonauts will all but have sewn up the top seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament.

Again.

Advertisements

Standing in their way when they meet at 3:45 Tuesday afternoon – in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call (click here to listen) – will be Gill St. Bernard’s. The third-ranked Knights (11-3) could at least make a case for the top seed in this year’s SCT if they are to knock off No. 1 Prep (10-3) in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division game. A win would be monumental.

Gill is 39-11 since the start of the COVID-shortened year, but three of those loses have come to the Lady Argonauts, and none by closer than 28 points, which came in the final of the top Skyland Conference pod in 2021.

Rutgers Prep, meanwhile, has won eight of its ten games this year by 10 points or more, and the only two that weren’t double-figure margins – came two weeks ago to non-Jersey opponents Pickering Central of Ohio and South Shore out of New York.

Advertisements

They are led by junior Mikayla Blakes at 22 points per game, and backed up with Rhode Island-bound senior Katie Ledden’s 15 point per game average, while getting significant contributions from freshman Gigi Battle (9.2 ppg) and Ava LaMonica (4.8) among others.

Gill has no one pouring in points like Blakes, but they have a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging over 7 points a game, including standout junior Brooke Baisley (11.6) and sophomore Maya Abramson (9.4 ppg).

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko’s preview interviews with both head coaches:

Rutgers Prep Head Coach Mary Klinger
Gill St. Bernard’s Head Coach Mark Gnapp
by Mike Pavlichko

Aquinas continues winning, stays atop Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings

On the strength of a 3-0 week, St. Thomas Aquinas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in the Bellamy & Son Paving Week 6 Boys’ Basketball Top Ten.

The Trojans (16-1) had a 2-0 week, beating St. Joseph-Metuchen Tuesday 66-62 on the road to clinch the GMC Red Division and likely the top seed in the upcoming GMC Tournament, as well as Miami Northwestern 78-59 in a showcase game.

Advertisements

Gill St. Bernard’s (12-3) held at No. 2, with a 2-1 week that included divisional wins over Franklin and Hunterdon Central and a weekend loss to St. Benedict’s Prep. Rutgers Prep (11-6) inched up to third on a 3-1 week, with wins over Hunterdon Central, Saddle River Day and at Ranney, while losing to Manasquan Sunday 64-54.

The Knights and Argonauts will face off Tuesday night at 7 in Somerset in a game with Skyland Conference Delaware Division implications, but which also could determine the top seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament. Gill won their previous meeting on January 5 on a buzzer-beating corner three from Nick Losada.

Colonia (12-4) dropped a spot to fourth despite wins at JP Stevens and against South Brunswick, as the Patriots also lost to St. Joe’s 47-45.

Advertisements

South River (14-1) and Bound Brook (12-1) had perfect weeks and held steady in fifth and sixth, respectively.

South Plainfield (13-2) nudged up two spots to seventh on a 3-0 week, with a non-conference win over New Providence, as well as divisional wins over Perth Amboy and Edison.

St. Joe’s (10-4) went 1-1 in divisional play against the two top teams in the GMC Red, splitting with Aquinas and Colonia, while also beating Roselle this past weekend in non-conference play, and moves up to No. 8.

Advertisements

Ridge (11-3) drops to ninth after a 1-2 week that included losses to Immaculata and Phillipsburg, despite a win over North Brunswick (12-3), which dropped out of the rankings on a 2-1 week that included a loss to Ridge.

Immaculata (12-2) – tied for tenth last week with the Falcons – holds the spot all on their own, with a 3-0 week that included the win over Ridge, and victories over Watchung Hills and Koinonia.

Below are the full Week 6 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Three teams out, two new ones join Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings

It was a week of losses, some more impactful than others, in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten. Week Four saw the top five remain the same, but there were many changes in Week Four after that.

Rutgers Prep (6-3) continues to hold the top spot; their third loss of the season came by ten to McDonogh of Maryland. St. Thomas Aquinas (8-2) had a 3-0 week, while Gill St. Bernard’s (6-3) remained in third, despite a two loss-week; one came to top-ranked Rutgers Prep, which has not lost a Skyland Conference regular season game since a December 2018 loss to Franklin. The other came to statewide No. 1 St. John Vianney.

South Brunswick (8-2) holds at No. 4, while Edison (10-0) remains No 5.

Franklin (4-4) moves up from seventh to sixth despite a 2-1 week. Their two wins came in-league over Hunterdon Central and previously-6th-ranked Hillsborough.

Bernards (6-3) – which was tied for tenth with Middlesex last week – moves up to No. 7, while the Blue Jays (7-1) rose to No. 8. Mount St. Mary joins the rankings at 7-4 and in the nine-spot, while Old Bridge (6-3) debuts in tenth.

Dropping out were No. 6 Hillsborough, No. 8 Monroe, and ninth-ranked Colonia. The Raiders (4-4) went 0-3 last week against Rutgers Prep, Franklin and Watchung Hills. Colonia was 2-1 with a division loss to Old Bridge. Monroe dropped a pair of games to St. Thomas Aquinas and Colonia.

Below are the full Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Aquinas stays No. 1; Gill, South River move up in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

Despite a triple-overtime loss to state-ranked Camden Eastside in the Seagull Classic down the Shore on Sunday – its first defeat of the season – St. Thomas Aquinas remains Number One in the latest Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings.

The Trojans are now 11-1, having rolled through Monroe, East Brunswick and Piscataway in GMC play, while also defeating Rosedale Christian in the Iverson Classic at Roselle Catholic on Thursday.

Moving up to No. 2 is Gill St. Bernard’s (7-2) after beating previous No. 2 Rutgers Prep (6-4) on a buzzer-beating three by Nick Losada last Thursday night. Colonia (9-1) moves up after going 3-0 last week, while the Argonauts drop to fourth.

READ MORE: Losada’s three as time expires powers No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s past No. 2 Rutgers Prep

Advertisements

South River – a week after knocking off St. Joseph-Metuchen – beat undefeated and previously-6th-ranked Bound Brook Saturday night, and moves up to No. 5 while unbeaten Immaculata (8-0) is up to sixth.

READ MORE: No. 10 South River frustrates No. 6 Bound Brook in unbeaten clash at GMC-Skyland Challenge

After losing to previously-unranked St. Joseph-Metuchen, South Plainfield (8-1) is seventh, with Bound Brook (7-1) falling to No. 8 after the loss to the Rams Saturday. Ridge (7-1) held in ninth, while St. Joe’s (6-2) climbs back in at No. 10. Watchung Hills (6-2) drops out from the No. 5 position.

Below are the full Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Losada’s three as time expires powers No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s past No. 2 Rutgers Prep

Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mergin Sina had no timeouts left after Jadin Collins hit a 15-foot jumper head-on to put Rutgers Prep up 65-64 with 10.5 seconds remaining.

And, he says, that was probably a good thing.

The No. 3 Knights got the ball down the floor and into the right corner for senior Nick Losada, the only returning player with any real experience from last year’s Somerset County Tournament Champion squad.

Losada – with a defender in his face – took the three, falling down. It hit no rim, and plenty of twine with 1.2 seconds to go.

Advertisements

By the time he got up off his rear end, time had expired, and Gill had fired the opening salvo in the teams’ two-game series this regular season, with the Knights and No. 2 Argonauts now in the same division.

It was a 67-65 win that is just another in a long line of wars between these two squads.

Gill (6-2, 4-0 in the Skyland Delaware Division) was led by senior Mario Castro’s 36 points, while Losada chipped in 17. Rutgers Prep (5-4, 2-1) was paced by Jadin Collins’ double-double of 31 points and 14 rebounds.

While Rutgers Prep scored the opening bucket, GSB went on a run to take a double-digit lead they wouldn’t relinquish until early in the third quarter. Gill got the lead back with 4:32 to go in the game on a pair of free throws, and then it went back-and-forth down the stretch.

Advertisements

The Knights had a 62-61 lead with 1:27 left when they got called for a travel. Jordan Atkins lost it in the lane the other way for Prep, but Gill fell on it, it was called a travel, and the Argonauts got the ball back. The Knights got a tie-up on John Kelly, but the arrow favored Prep, and they retained possession yet again.

Jadin Collins hit a runner for the Argos’ to put them up 63-62 with 32-seconds to play, then Castro got fouled with 18.6 to go and hit a pair of free throws to put the Knights up one.

Collins then drove the length of the floor to hit a jumper from the foul line with 10-seconds left, leaving Gill enough time to get down the floor and put the ball in the hands of its most-experienced Knight, who became the hero as he fell to the hardwood.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mergin Sina about his team’s wild win over Rutgers Prep:

by Mike Pavlichko

Hot heading into ’23: GMC and Somerset County boys’ teams hoping to keep it going in the New Year

The Christmas break and holiday tournaments are in the rear view mirror, and now it’s five weeks of crunch time in the regular season before the county and state playoff seeding meetings.

They come just about one right after the other, with the GMC seeding meeting on Friday, February 3, the SCT on Monday, the 6th, and the NJSIAA a week later on the 13th.

Everything starts a week earlier than usual this year, after the NJSIAA shortened the season (but allowed for unlimited four-game weeks to make up for it) and lopped off the Tournament of Champions so that the state finals now end Sunday, March 5th. (Last year, the TOC Finals were on March 20th.)

So it’s a bit more of a sprint this year; blink and you might miss it!

Here is a quick look at the boys teams in the area who are in great position heading into 2023:

GMC

  • St. Thomas Aquinas (7-0): The Trojans have only played three games against GMC competition so far this season, and none have been close: they’ve beaten JP Stevens, South Brunswick and Old Bridge in Red Division play by an average of 38 points per game. But their out-of-conference games haven’t been much closer. They beat Oratory before the holidays 66-34, then won all three games in the Husky Holiday Classic, topping Manalapan by 40 and Holdmdel by 27. Their closest game of the year brought home the trophy from Matawan, a see-saw battle with Seton Hall Prep that the Trojans won 52-44, getting eight fourth-quarter points from Kamal Lee in a matchup of top-15 state-ranked teams. (This week: Monroe Monday, at East Brunswick Tuesday, Rosedale Baptist (MD) Thursday, at Piscataway Saturday, Camden Eastside Sunday)
  • South Plainfield (6-0): The Tigers lead the GMC White Division with a 3-0 mark and wins over North Brunswick, Woodbridge and Edison. They swept the Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament over the holiday break with wins over the Eagles and Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Tuesday is a big test, playing up to the Red Division and struggling St. Joseph-Metuchen, which already has two GMC losses this season – to Colonia and South River. A win against the Falcons not only would be a resume-builder, but could leave the county tournament seeding committee with a lot of questions to wrangle with next month. (This week: at St. Joseph Tuesday, at North Plainfield Thursday, at Franklin Saturday)
  • South River (6-0): Brandon Walsh’s team is in a groove heading into 2023. We saw them fend off a tough Spotswood team on December 19th in what has turned out to be their closest game of the season so far, a 73-68 win. They even beat St. Joe’s by seven in a stunner the Monday after Christmas. (Read more by clicking here. And for more on the potential impact on the GMC Tournament seeding, click here.) This week’s schedule is kind to the Rams until they get to Saturday, and a matchup with so-far undefeated Bound Brook. (This week: at Wardlaw-Hartridge Monday, Middlesex Wednesday, at Bound Brook Saturday)
Advertisements
  • North Brunswick (4-1): The Raiders are in fourth in the White Division at 1-1, but have won four straight since a 12-point opening night loss to South Plainfield at home. Alani Ajigbotosho has led the way in the early season averaging 18 points a game, and has seven steals to boot, with North Brunswick averaging nearly seven a game as a team. They have three below-.500 teams coming up after a trip to Perth Amboy Tuesday, and could very well by 8-1 heading into a potentially critical White Division home matchup with Woodbridge on January 10th. (This week: at Perth Amboy Tuesday, Edison Thursday, Sayreville Saturday)
  • Colonia (6-1): The Patriots may only be on a two-game winning streak, but they’re still one of just four GMC teams to have won six games before the New Year. Their only loss came to Westfield in the opener of the LeGrand Holiday Jubilee, and they also have a win over St. Joe’s – a triple overtime affair – 83-78. (Read more on that game by clicking here.) Freshman guard Aidan Derkack has added another dimension for Colonia, leading the team with 17 steals in seven games, while dishing out 24 assists. This week they get the bottom half of the GMC Red Division, and one more next week before a huge clash at St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday, January 12th, which we’ll have live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. (This week: at Old Bridge Tuesday, East Brunswick Thursday, at Monroe Saturday)
  • Middlesex (5-1): The Blue Jays’ five-game win streak came to an end last week in the championship game of the Crusader Classic, losing at home team Bound Brook 60-57. Nothing to be embarrassed about there with the Crusaders still undefeated. (More on them in the next section. Defense has been the name of the game for Jared Goldstein’s squad, allowing an average of 31 points per game in their four GMC wins, while scoring 72 against Perth Amboy Magnet, and 91 at Wardlaw-Hartridge. They also had narrower wins by 11 over JFK, and by five over Carteret. Wednesday is a huge one at Blue Division-leader and undefeated South River. (This week: at South River Wednesday, Metuchen Friday, at South Hunterdon Saturday)
Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

Somerset County

  • Immaculata (5-0): Two of the six teams in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division are undefeated, and three of the others are 4-1. The Spartans opened the season with wins over Conference foes Montgomery, Hunterdon Central and Ridge, then beat Piscataway of the GMC by five before coming back to Somerset County and handling Bridgewater-Raritan on the road, 76-53 last Thursday. Seniors Davis Adams (forward) and Sean Givens (guard) balance the high-low game with 19.2 and 19 points per game, respectively. Adams has notched double-doubles (points and rebounds) in all five games so far, scoring 20-plus points twice, including a near career-high 24 against Central. (This week: at Watchung Hills Tuesday, Phillipsburg Thursday, at Morristown Saturday)
  • Watchung Hills (5-0): The Warriors’ only divisional game so far was a 48-35 win over Montgomery in the Cougar/Warrior Classic on December 29th, and they jump right back in with a critical home matchup against Immaculata at 5:30 Tuesday evening. With the graduation of Elijah Lewis, Hills is much more balanced this year, with five players averaging 8.2 points per game or better, but none more than 11.4 per contest. That’s also a nice luxury to have. (This week: Immaculata Tuesday, Hillsborough Thursday, JP Stevens Saturday)
  • Hillsborough (4-1): Under second-year head coach Tim Palek, the Raiders are picking up where they left off in 2021-22, and after a two-point season-opening loss to Ridge, 55-53, take a four-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game at Montgomery, which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 6:45 and tip-off at 7. (Click here to listen. For a preview of the game with Coach Palek, click here.) Hillsborough needs to not look past the Cougars (3-4) with a key game at Watchung Hills on Thursday night. (This week: Montgomery Tuesday, at Watchung Hills Thursday, Raritan Friday)
  • Bound Brook (5-0): Head coach Anthony Melesurgo doesn’t rebuild, he just reloads, having done nothing but win the last several seasons. In fact, going back to 2019-20, the Crusaders are a combined 66-10 over a span of four seasons, including an undefeated 14-0 mark in the COVID-shortened season, in which they won the Skyland Conference middle postseason pod. This year’s edition has only won one game “comfortably,” a 67-51 victory over South Hunterdon. They’ve won their other four games by an average of three points. Still, nobody asks how, just if. Jordan Summers has been lighting it up: the senior is averaging a whopping 29 points per game. Just try stopping him. And here’s a nice way to start the new year: three straight games in The Brook. (This week: North Hunterdon Tuesday, Voorhees Thursday, South River Saturday)
Advertisements
  • Rutgers Prep (5-2): The record may not look “hot” with two losses in their last three games, but they both came to out-of-state opponents: in a regular season home game before Christmas to Devon Prep (PA) 74-70, and in the opening game of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classic against Cardinal O’Hara (PA) 73-53. They rebounded with a 69-55 win over Neumann Goretti (PA) on Friday. They’ve only played two Skyland opponents so far, edging Franklin on the road in the season opener 90-82, and beating Hunterdon Central a few days later 71-29. The Argonauts are off ’til Thursday, when they have a huge clash up in Gladstone against Gill St. Bernard’s at 7:00. (This week: at Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday, DePaul Saturday)
  • Gill St. Bernard’s (4-2): With a new look, and no household names – yet – Mergin Sina’s club may take some time to jell. But they’ve won both their Skyland games (over Bridgewater-Raritan by 26 and Franklin by 12) and have two tough losses: one to Ramapo by seven in the Jingle Bells Jubilee, and another today to St. Joe’s of Montvale. They get a conference tune-up before Thursday’s home clash with Prep – Hunterdon Central on Tuesday – as part of a four-game week to start 2023. (This week: at Hunterdon Central Tuesday, Rutgers Prep Thursday, at Christian Brothers Academy Saturday, at St. Augustine Sunday)
by Mike Pavlichko

Lady Argonauts lead preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten rankings, yet again

In Central Jersey Sports Radio’s third season of covering girls’ basketball in Middlesex and Somerset Counties, Rutgers Prep has taken the Number One preseason ranking for the third straight year.

The Lady Argonauts went wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season, and did the same last season, meaning Rutgers Prep has been in the top position in all 18 polls since its inception.

The two-time defending Somerset County Tournament, Non-Public South B and Non-Public Group B champions went 29-3 last season.

Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas – which has won three straight GMC Tournament titles – is ranked second in the preseason, coming off a 22-4 season.

Gill St. Bernard’s – the 2022 SCT runner-up, which went 18-6 last year – checks in at No. 3, while GMC Tournament runner-up South Brunswick – 15-6 last year with a young team that’s more experienced this year – comes in fourth..

Colonia, a Central Jersey Group 3 finalist which went 25-5 a year ago and has back senior Mattison Chiera and junior Taylor Derkack, checks in fifth.

Below is the full preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls continue to cruise, and hold No. 1 spot in the rankings

One of three unbeaten teams remaining in the area, Rutgers Prep remains the Number One team in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Five.

The Argonauts are 9-0 following a 2-0 week, outscoring Immaculata and Phillipsburg by a combined total of 128-40; they beat the Spartans 74-15 and the Stateliners 54-25. Prep has now held five of its nine opponents under 30 points.

Gill St. Bernard’s also is 9-0; the Knights beat Franklin in overtime last week 44-42, en route to a 3-0 week, and are in second.

Mount St. Mary rambled through a four-win week, to end the regular season 12-0, with the maximum number of games that can be played through the start of the three-game Skyland Conference Tournament. They beat Pingry and Voorhees this week, bookended by wins in both ends of a home-and-home with Somerville.

Dropping from the ranks of the undefeated was Calvary Christian of the GMC Gold, which fell to 9-1 after a 2-1 week that began Monday with a 42-28 loss to Blue Division crossover foe Metuchen.

Entering the rankings is Middlesex; the Blue Jays check in at No. 8 after beating the highest-rated GMC team, St. Thomas Aquinas, 59-50 at home on Friday.

Aquinas actually held steady in third despite a 1-2 week, having beaten 4th-ranked Franklin but losing at Saddle River Day. The Trojans did not drop, however, because they beat Franklin and a were one spot ahead of them, and two weeks ago beat No. 5 Monroe head to head.

Franklin had a 2-2 week, but their losses were to two teams ahead of them in the rankings – Aquinas and No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s. They followed those defeats with a pair of wins at Bridgewater-Raritan and Watchung Hills.

Below are the complete Week 5 rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

OT hero Fajardo, head coach Gnapp, talk gritty win over Franklin to stay unblemished

Ella Fajardo – a big hit in her home country of the Philippines – is a big hit in Gladstone tonight. Not that she wasn’t before.

The senior guard – who’s headed to FDU next year, trading one Knights’ jersey for another – scored eight points in overtime, including two treys, to send No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s to a 44-42 road victory over No. 4 Franklin, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, powered by Bellamy & Son Paving.

Her heroic efforts came after she missed a three in the closing seconds of regulation that would have won it without requiring an extra roll of Rolaids.

It was the first game all year that Gill St. Bernard’s (7-0) didn’t win by double figures.

Meanwhile, Franklin (3-4) is struggling, having lost two straight and three of its last four, including a defeat at the hands of Hillsborough last Tuesday and a drubbing Saturday at No. 1 and unbeaten Rutgers Prep.

Click below to listen to Dom Savino’s post game talks with Fajardo and Gill head coach Mark Gnapp:

Junior guard Ella Fajardo
Head Coach Mark Gnapp