North champion The Gill St. Bernard’s girls’ basketball team got a combined 28 points from the Platt sisters – 15 from senior Addy, and 13 from junior Kaity – in a 62-39 loss to South champ Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public Group B state final. It was the second straight and second overall title for the Rams.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers University in Piscataway on March 12, 2026.
Central 4 champion Franklin couldn’t find its shot, and fell to South 4 champion Lenape 54-35 in the state Group 4 semifinals. The Warriors were led by Nola Bright, who narrowly missed a double-double with ten points and nine rebounds.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Deptford High School on March 10, 2026.
Senior Addy Platt scored 16 points and had eight rebounds, while four Knights scored in double figures, as top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s beat second-seed Saddle River Day, 57-40, in the Non-Public North B championship game, giving Gill its first sectional title since 2012.
Click below to listen to Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from JFK High School in Paterson on March 9, 2026.
It’s a Gill St. Bernard’s sweep in Paterson!
Hours after the boys won a sectional title of their own, the top-seeded Knights (23-5) on the girls side finished the job at JFK High School, with a 57-40 win over second-seeded Saddle River Day in the North Jersey Non-Public B final.
Gill took control early on, executing at a high level on both ends of the floor. The Knights took a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and never looked back, comfortably taking the sectional title with a workmanlike effort on offense and defense.
Addy and Kaity Platt led the way for Gill, with 16 and 15 points, respectively. They both got to the basket, shot the ball, and defended at a high level, especially given the Rebels’ (19-10) ability to shoot the ball at a high level.
Point guard Melina Miller also scored in double figures with 10 points, with much of her scoring and passing production coming off drives. Junior Sadie Finn added eight points.
Emily Mattson and Grace Darling each scored 13 points to pace Saddle River Day in the loss, as Giada Celetti and Harper Cohn each scored six.
The Rebels were able to stay within arm’s reach throughout much of the first with some tough shotmaking, led by seven points in the opening frame from Darling.
The elder Platt matched that with seven of her own to open the game, as the Knights took a five-point lead.
That advantage grew incrementally throughout the second quarter, as Gill tightened up its defense and passing to operate like the well-oiled machine it’s turned into in March. It took its first double-digit lead of the night, and eventually took an eight-point lead at the half. Both Platts combined for 19 of the Knights’ 27 points, and matched the Rebels’ team total.
Gill kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter, fully taking control and pulling away with some more ball movement and drives to the rim. Miller converted on three baskets in the paint in the frame, the younger Platt added seven more points. Finn proved to be a major piece to the puzzle as well, as a switchable defender and connecting passer in both the Knights’ transition offense and half-court sets.
That all led to a 17-point lead after three quarters, and Gill cruised to the finish to win by that same number. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, as Saddle River Day kept up the energy and cut into the lead with its pressure and pace. The Knights never faltered, though, and eventually forced some turnovers in the back half of the fourth quarter to fully bury the Rebels.
Gill St. Bernard’s will advance to the Non-Public B title game, where it will face South Jersey Non-Public B champion Gloucester Catholic, which beat Rutgers Prep 44-31 Monday night. This will be the second time the two teams face off this year, with the Rams winning 60-45 at the Shore Games in December.
Click below to hear postgame reactions with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp and guards Addy and Kaity Platt, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Gill St. Bernard’s had plenty of re-tooling to do.
That’s to be expected when losing a senior class with as much talent and accolades as that previous class. But the Knights (21-5) trusted the development of their younger players ready to shine, and the trust was reciprocated as those same players stuck around, even in a reduced role, with the hope of starring on the floor in the near future.
The future has arrived.
Top-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s heads into the Non-Public North B final against second-seeded Saddle River Day with a versatile and dangerous group that’s also finding its stride right when it needs to. You can hear the game on Monday at 7 pm, with pregame coverage starting at roughly 6:45, as Alec Crouthamel will call the action. Click here to listen.
Addy and Kaity Platt get the primary attention — as they should, as two of the team’s top options on both ends of the floor — but it’s been a full team effort for the Knights all year long.
Other contributors, such as junior point guard Melina Miller — who paces the team with nearly six assists per game — and junior wing Sadie Finn had to wait their turn and work behind the scenes. What the rest of the public didn’t see, Gill St. Bernard’s coaching staff did. They knew they had depth waiting in the wings and it has paid off at the right time.
The Knights are playing some of their best basketball of late, working through their first two games of the sectional tournament with ease in dominant wins over Pioneer Academy and Villa Walsh.
The Rebels (19-9) present a new challenge in the sectional title. While not the deepest team, Saddle River Day does have the top-end talent to compete. 88 percent of the Rebels’ scoring comes from their top four options, and they all have stepped up to the task as a dangerous team rebounding the ball and shooting it from the perimeter.
This won’t be the first time they’re featured on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as they fell to St. Thomas Aquinas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, but their go-to stars have only gotten more dangerous. Point guard Harper Cohn has fully re-acclimated to action after missing the early weeks of the season due to injury, and sophomore guard Grace Darling has turned up the heat scoring the basketball.
Both teams come into the matchup with plenty of tradition and history — Saddle River Day as one of Bergen County’s top programs, and Gill St. Bernard’s the same in Somerset County recently — but only one will come out victorious.
The Knights look for their first sectional title in 12 years, without now-closed Montclair Immaculate in the fold, who had defeated Gill in three of the last four years.
The bracket’s top two seeds have met the task all year long, and each have one more with a sectional title on the line.
Click below to hear a preview interview with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:
Senior Annie Conover scored 22 points – including six threes – part of a barrage of 12 triples on the day, to power top-seed New Providence past second-seed Bound Brook, 57-42, to win its second straight Central Jersey Group 1 title, and third sectional championship in four years.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play from New Providence High School on March 7 2026.
Top-seed Franklin won its first sectional title since 2020, beating third-seed Hillsborough 52-41, behind 20 points from Alissa Myers and a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds from Aleah Sunkins, to win the Central Jersey Group 4 championship.
Click below to listen to Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Franklin High School in Somerset on March 5, 2026.
After a light Wednesday, it was a busy Thursday for girls basketball in the NJSIAA state tournament, highlighted by Franklin’s win over Hillsborough in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game.
The Warriors won their first title since 2020 and ended Hillsborough’s two-year run as sectional champions, with one in North 2, Group 4 in 2024 – the school’s first ever – and another last season in Central Jersey Group 4.
Meanwhile, Pingry pulled an upset in Non-Public North A, as the 6th-seeded Big Blue beat second-seed Immaculate Heart, sending them to their first ever title game. Rutgers Prep rolled in the South B semis to make their 6th straight title game. And Gill St. Bernard’s cruised as well to go to the North B final.
However, St. Thomas Aquinas fell to Red Bank Catholic in the South A semifinal down the Shore.
Scroll through for recaps, audio, and links to separate stories, followed by an updated upcoming schedule with dates and times.
Central Jersey Group 4
Top-seed Franklin is back on top, with a coach who’s been there before. Before coming to the Warriors this season to bring the program back to Audrey Taylor/Diamond Miller levels, Jimmy Kreie was at the controls at Montclair-Immaculate, which ended Gill St. Bernard’s season last year in the North B title game, then won the state Group B title over Gloucester Catholic. This year, he has the Warriors at 22-8 – coming off an 11-16 season – and they’re champions for the first time since 2020, when they beat Ridge to win CJ4. They also won their state semifinal game against Randolph before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the tournament early.
Non-Public North A
Pingry is in a sectional final for the first time ever, as the sixth-seeded Big Blue knocked off second-seed Immaculate Heart on the road, 46-43. Pingry (17-10) led 13-11 after one, but went into the locker room at the half tied at 23, before taking a four-point lead heading into the final quarter, and they held on to win. Charlotte Huntzinger led all scorers with 14, while Sadie Dalmon added 11 and Val Triana chipped in ten. They’ll play in the North A final at Franklin High School Monday at 7 pm against either top-seed Morris Catholic or fourth-seed DePaul.
Non-Public South A
Fourth-seed and seven-time GMC Tournament champion St. Thomas Aquinas (24-7) saw its season come to an end with a 68-31 loss at top-seed and perennial state power Red Bank Catholic. Down 14-6 after one, the Trojans trailed 29-12 at the half, and only managed single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters, with the Caseys pulling away in the first eight minutes after halftime on a 22-8 run. Leah Kearney was the only Aquinas player in double figures, finishing the night with ten points. Addy Nyemchek led all scorers with 37 points, and had 14 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
Non-Public North B
Top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s is back in the sectional finals for the second straight year, after beating fourth-seed Villa Walsh, 78-37, at home. The Knights put up a whopping 37 points in the first quarter and led by 22 after one, then 62-22 at the half to kick in a running clock for the entire second half. The Knights will face second-seed Saddle River Day in the North B Final at 7 pm Monday at Paterson Kennedy.
Non-Public South B
Make it six straight sectional finals for Rutgers Prep, as the top-seeded Argonauts were 79-46 winners over 5th-seed Stuart Day Thursday night. Prep cruised from the beginning, jumping out to a 24-9 lead at the end of one, and Natalia Valdez was a big reason why. She hit six treys in the game and finished with 21 points, while Cali McCoy added 14. Prep will rematch with second-seed Gloucester Catholic in the South B final Monday night at 7 at Jackson Township (formerly Jackson Liberty) High School.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Central Jersey Group 1 Final
MONDAY, MARCH 9
Non-Public North A Final
Non-Public North B Final
Non-Public South B Final
What a run by Colonia.
The four-time defending North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 boys’ basketball champions are back looking for a fifth straight state title, after a win in the sectional semis Wednesday night, while the Bound Brook girls came back from a disastrous start at home against Roselle Park to reach the Central Jersey Group 1 final, its first since the 2020 season, which came to an end in the midst of the state playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the four Central Jersey Sports Radio-area teams in action Wednesday night, the Patriots and Crusaders moved on, but the South Plainfield boys lost in the North 2, Group 3 semis at Chatham, while the Somerville girls also lost to Chatham, at home, in their North 2, Group 3 semifinal.
Read on for recaps and links to game stories, plus results, then the upcoming schedule for the boys and girls heading into sectional championships this weekend.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 (Boys)
In a rematch of last year’s sectional final, top-seed Colonia trailed 6-1 after the first quarter against fifth-seed Mendham. That’s right: 6-1. That’s not even a football score. But great teams find a way, and the Patriots did just that. They rebounded with a 15-7 second quarter to take a 16-13 lead at the break, and led 28-20 going into the fourth. The first part of the quarter was a stalemate. Slowly, the Minutemen chipped away. All of a sudden, with about two minutes to go, the game was knotted at 28. But down the stretch, the Patriots hit their foul shots, and ratcheted up the defense. In the final minute, they forced Mendham – looking for a three to tie, down 33-30 – into a well-defended triple that missed, got the rebound, and hit one of two at the other end to put the game out of reach with four seconds and change to go.
Jayce Rodriguez finished with 12 points, and had two big free throws down the stretch. Desmond Rudanovic added eight and four rebounds, while Dylan Chiera chipped in with five.
It’ll be the sixth straight trip to the North 2, Group 3 final for Colonia (19-10), and head coach Jose Rodriguez – the GMC Coach of the Year – has now made the finals in every single year one was held, the only exception behind the 2021 COVID season, when the state tournament was not played. They are 5-1 in finals, winning in Rodriguez’ first year, losing in the final in 2020, then winning four straight from 2022 through 2025. Now they have a chance to win their fifth straight and sixth in seven trips to the finals since Rodriguez took over.
Meanwhile, sixth-seed South Plainfield fell at second-seed Chatham in the other North 2, Group 3 semifinal, 65-57. A tight game throughout, the Tigers and Cougars were tied 17-17 after one, and led 26-25 at the half. Down two going into the fourth quarter, 49-47, South Plainfield got outscored 16-8 over the final eight minutes to take the loss. Their season ends at 18-11, and they still have the distinction of being the only team to beat GMC Tournament champion St. Joseph-Metuchen this year, 55-54 back on January 27th. The Falcons are still alive in the Non-Public South A playoffs, facing Paul VI Thursday night at 7 at home in the semifinals.
Central Jersey Group 1 (Girls)
Second-seeded Bound Brook will play in their first sectional title game since 2020, after a 62-41 win. But it didn’t look good from the start, as the Crusaders found themselves in a 17-2 hole against sixth-seed Roselle Park, which features the top girls’ scorers in the state, Sidney Smith, averaging 30 points a game. But Bound Brook rallied big, and took a double-digit lead into the locker room at halftime.
Freshman Peytan Pugh finished with 17 points for Bound Brook (25-3), while Jayden Campbell grabbed 12 rebounds, and Pugh fueled the comeback with 16 steals. Smith – who scored her 2,000th point in an opening round rout of Florence last week – still got her points, finishing with 25 in her final high school game before heading off to Elon.
Bound Brook will visit top-seed New Providence in Saturday’s sectional final.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 (Girls)
Top-seed Somerville got stunned at home by fifth-seed Chatham, falling 45-26 in the sectional semifinals. This was another one with a slow start, as the Cougars led 7-2 after one. But unlike the Colonia boys, the second quarter also belonged to Chatham, which extended its lead to 22-10 at the half, then sealed the deal over the final eight minutes. Amaya Miller finished with 17 points, while Kaylee Lauber was next up with four. The Pioneers finish their season at 21-17.
Central Jersey Group 1 (Boys)
Manville’s season came to an end in the sectional semifinals, as the sixth-seeded Mustangs (19-9) fell at second-seed Point Pleasant Beach, 49-35.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MARCH 5
Central Jersey Group 4 Final
Non-Public North A Semifinals (Girls)
Non-Public South A Semifinals (Girls)
Non-Public North B Semifinals (Girls)
Non-Public South B Semifinals (Girls)
Non-Public South A (Boys)
Non-Public North B (Boys)
Non-Public South B (Boys)
FRIDAY, MARCH 6
Central Jersey Group 4 Final (Boys)
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Final (Boys)
Central Jersey Group 1 Final (Girls)
Some of the more eye-popping individual stat-holders in the state of New Jersey will all face off in Bound Brook on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Crusaders (24-3) head into a battle of star guards, taking on upset-minded Roselle Park, the sixth seed, in the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals. Bound Brook can secure a spot in the sectional final for the first time since 2020, while the Panthers’ (18-7) third-year head coach, Staci Hartzler, has led the program to new heights recently, in the sectional semifinal for the first time in at least 20 years — as far back as this writer could find the records.
This upcoming matchup features the state’s top scorer and three-point shooter (Roselle Park’s Sidney Smith), second-leading rebounder (Panthers’ sophomore Emma Gregoire), and top steals leader (Crusaders’ freshman guard Peytan Pugh). They’ll all take the court in Bound Brook on Wednesday evening for a 5:30 tipoff. You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Alec Crouthamel, with pregame starting around 5:15. Click here to listen.
The Crusaders come into the matchup with a gaudy win-loss record and a nail-biting 66-61 win in the quarterfinals over seventh-seeded Thrive Charter in the quarterfinals, avenging a loss in that same matchup last season in the sectional semifinals.
Two of their three losses came in the same week against local powers, falling to Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals before losing to Gill St. Bernard’s seven days later. But Bound Brook has nearly run the table against the entire rest of its schedule.
Pugh has burst onto the scene as a freshman, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, and, of course, steals. She’s also finding her stride at the right time, fresh off her second triple-double of the season with 26 points, ten rebounds, and 13 steals to tie her season-high, even dishing out five assists, as well.
Surrounding Pugh are two other productive guards, with Ti’asjah Ferguson serving as the top slasher on the team and Lauren Polakiewicz leading the way from the perimeter. Both scored in double-figures in the quarterfinals and will certainly be relied on to come up with big-time buckets if another close game goes down.
But Roselle Park will have revenge on its mind, just as the Crusaders did against Thrive.
The Panthers lost in this very matchup in the sectional quarterfinals last year, their first appearance in the round since 2009, as part of the first winning season for Roselle Park since that same year.
Smith, signed to play Division I basketball at Elon next year, gets plenty of attention for her scoring, especially after her fifth 40-point performance of the season in an upset win over Keansburg in the quarterfinals. But the Panthers feature some dangerous size and rebounding as well.
Both Gregoire and senior Madison Wilkes average double-digits on the boards per game, and they’ve put up video game numbers of their own, including six games with 20 or more boards this year for Gregoire.
A handful of the Garden State’s top individual performers will do battle in Bound Brook, as each team looks to snap multi-year sectional title droughts led by their respective star guards.
Click below to hear a preview interview with Bound Brook head coach Jen Derevjanik, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel: