Tag: Gill St. Bernards

by Mike Pavlichko

As Top Ten keeps winning, minimal change to Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball rankings

With only two losses by the entire Top Ten to Central Jersey Sports Radio-area teams, there was minimal change in the Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball rankings, with Gill St. Bernard’s holding at No. 1, while Edison swaps in for Spotswood in the tenth spot.

Gill St. Bernard’s (16-2) kept the top spot after a 2-1 week. The Knights – who picked up the No. 1 seed in the Somerset County Tournament Monday night – beat Franklin on Tuesday, 70-45, then picked up a non-conference wins, 55-46, over Bayonne at home Thursday, before falling 52-41 Sunday to Red Bank Catholic in the Coaches’ Choice Shore Challenge at Holmdel High School. Gill opens SCT play Saturday at home against 9th-seed Mount St. Mary in the quarterfinal round.

Holding in second is Rutgers Prep (14-3). The Argonauts had a 2-0 week after getting the second seed in the SCT, where they have won four county titles in a row going back to 2020 (there was no tourney in 2021). They beat Phillipsburg Tuesday, 61-13, then topped Trinity Hall on Sunday in the Coaches’ Choice Shore Challenge at Holmdel on Sunday. They’ll play in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals Saturday at home against 7th-seed Bernards.

Third is still St. Thomas Aquinas (16-5). The Trojans had a 2-2 week, but won both their GMC games, Thursday over Colonia, 77-45, and Saturday at Old Bridge, 72-37. Those victories were surrounded by a couple of losses to highly-ranked Shore conference squads. Tuesday, they lost 61-43 at St. Rose in Belmar, then fell Sunday, 56-51, to Manasquan in the Coaches’ Choice Shore Challenge at Holmdel High.

Steady in fourth is Hillsborough (15-3), which went 2-0 this week, picking up a 53-44 win at Hunterdon Central Tuesday, then a 75-27 win at Old Bridge on Thursday night.

Bernards (15-2) stays put in fifth, also after a 2-0 week. The Mountaineers won 50-35 at Roselle Park Tuesday, then came back Saturday with a 58-40 win over 10-seed Watchung Hills in the Somerset County Tournament’s second round. Seventh-seeded Bernards travels to No. 2 seed Rutgers Prep Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup.

Holding at six is Somerville (15-4). The Pioneers won 65-52 Tuesday at Montgomery, before losing Friday at Holmdel, 46-31. But The ‘Ville rebounded with a 41-36 win over 11th-seed Ridge Saturday in the SCT’s second round. They’ll visit third-seed Hillsborough in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Staying in seventh is Pingry (14-4), which picked up a 64-3 win at Ridge Tuesday, then took a 64-46 loss to University (Newark) Thursday, before topping 12-seed Bound Brook 47-26 in the second round of the Somerset County Tournament on Saturday. They’ll visit 4th-seed Franklin in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The last three teams are from the GMC, including Middlesex (16-4) at No. 8. The Blue Jays beat Edison 58-46 Tuesday, then won at North Brunswick 72-49 Thursday, which – coupled with Spotswood’s loss to Edison that night – gave them the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division title. The Blue Jays finished off a 3-0 week Saturday with a 57-53 win at East Brunswick.

Monroe (12-7) holds steady in ninth. IN a 2-1 week, the Falcons lost 46-44 at home to South Brunswick on Tuesday, but came back with two straight road wins: 53-42 at East Brunswick on Thursday, and 53-51 at North Plainfield on Saturday.

But in the tenth spot, Spotswood got bounced after a second loss to Edison (12-8), which took the Chargers’ place after beating them Thursday, 56-50, for a second time this season. That followed a loss to Middlesex, 58-46, on Tuesday.

Below is the complete Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Girls’ Basketball: No. 1 Rutgers Prep 61, No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s 38

Top-ranked Rutgers Prep had three players score in double figures – led by 13 from junior Natalia Valdez, including three treys – in a 61-38 win over No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s. Freshman Hailey Benbow added 11 – including a triple – while junior transfer Sophia Georgiades also added 11, including three triples. UConn-bound senior Gandy Malou-Mamel led all scorers with 21 for the Knights.

Click below to listen to the full game broadcast as heard on December 16, 2024, from Rutgers Prep in Somerset, NJ, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino on the call.

by Dom Savino

Experienced Gill St. Bernard’s ready for big year, latest battle with Rutgers Prep

Experience. Talent. Chemistry. Depth.

The third-ranked Gill St. Bernard’s girls basketball team has all the components needed for a big year.

The Knights (1-0) will play their first New Jersey game of a highly-anticipated season Tuesday at 6 pm in Somerset against a familiar foe: Rutgers Prep. You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action; click here to listen.

The Knights are looking for even more after last year’s 24-5 campaign, highlighted by a run to the North Jersey Non-Public B semifinals and a runner-up finish in the Somerset County Tournament.

Gill returns more than 75 percent of its scoring, including All-State center Gandy Malou-Mamel. The 6-foot-6 UConn signee led Gill with 16.5 points per game, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks.

The Knights pack even more punch this season with the addition of Pope John transfers Addy and Kaity Platt. The sisters combined to average 23.5 ppg last year and led the Lions to both North Jersey, Non-Public A and Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament crowns.

They’ve settled in at Gill, where their new team’s goal is hoisting trophies, too. Addy — the elder Platt — led Gill in the first game of its championship quest, collecting a team-high 12 points Saturday in a 58-31 win over Albertus Magnus (NY) at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa. Malou-Mamel notched her first double-double of her senior season, compiling eleven points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino about Tuesday’s battle with Rutgers Prep:

by Mike Pavlichko

With rare “complete exodus,” Gill St. Bernard’s expects success, but has a lot of questions

After five straight Somerset County Tournament wins from 2015 through 2019, Gill St. Bernard’s took another three years before they’d hoist another trophy.

They did it last season with a star-studded lineup that racked up frequent flier miles jetting off to showcase tournaments across the country.

This year, however, the Knights will stay a little closer to home.

Denver Anglin is gone to graduation and seeing a few minutes here and there as a freshman at Georgetown. Mackenzie Mgbako moved on to Roselle Catholic. Naasir Cunningham – who hails from Atlanta – signed with the Overtime Elite pro league, but declined a salary to keep his college eligibility. Others have gone as well, with only one starter back.

That’s senior Nick Losada, who averaged 4.6 points per game last year.

Gill will surround him with a host of new players, including a 6-5 sophomore point guard from Kosovo – Jon Ismasjli (pronounced “iss-my-EEL-ee”) – who Sina believes eventually will be one of the best point guards in New Jersey.

With those headline names gone, Gill won’t be in all those national showcases this year, but Sina says that will allow his team to focus on its main task of gelling and improving.

The Knights tip off their 2022-23 season Thursday night at 7 when they host Bridgewater-Raritan in Gladstone.

Gill is set to appear on Central Jersey Sports Radio on Tuesday, January 24th as part of a girls/boys doubleheader at Rutgers Prep.

Click below to hear CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Gill head coach Mergin Sina about the upcoming season: