Tag: Giull St. Bernard’s

by Mike Pavlichko

Somerset County Tournament Boys’ Final Preview: No, it’s not “Groundhog Day,” as Gill St. Bernard’s, Rutgers Prep clash for SCT title for fourth time in five years

You can hear the words coming out of Mergin Sina’s mouth: “It’s gonna be anotha wahhhr.”

No doubt about that.

For the fourth time in five seasons since the COVID year of 2021, it’ll be Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep squaring off for the Somerset County championship.

Each team has won a pair since then, with the Knights beating the Argos in 2022 and 20205, while Prep beat Gill in 2023, and Montgomery in 2024.

You can hear Saturday afternoon’s championship game between top-seed and defending champion Gill St. Bernard’s and second-seed Rutgers Prep live on Central Jersey Sports Radio at 3 pm, following the 1:00 girls’ title tilt between top-seed Rutgers Prep and third-seed Franklin, with pregame at approximately 2:45. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will call all the action. Click here to listen.

Nearly every meeting between these two teams tends to be epic. In the last eleven meetings between the teams since the COVID-shortened 2021 season, Gill has won seven, Prep has won four. Each team has knocked the other off in the finals, Gill twice, Prep once.

This year’s meetings were both close, if different games entirely. The Knights won the first meeting by six, 90-84, on January 10th, then won the second by five, 73-68 on February 5th. Six of their last eleven meetings have been decided by ten points or fewer.

MORE ON THE SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT BOYS’ FINAL:

(1) Gill St. Bernard’s (23-2) vs. (3) Rutgers Prep (16-8)
When: Saturday, 3 pm
Where: Montgomery Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas (LISTEN HERE)

COACHES:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Mergin Sina, 15th season (303-101)
Rutgers Prep: Matt Bloom, 8th season (170-57)

STATE RANKINGS:
Gill St. Bernard’s: #3 NJ.com
Rutgers Prep: #12 NJ.com

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

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

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Gill St. Bernard’s: The Knights blew past 8th-seed Ridge in their opening game, in the quarterfinals following a double-bye, 71-55 behind 21 points from Prosper Sonkoua. (Yes, previously-known as Prosper Highlander, he’s now going by another part of his given last name.) He had a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds, along with three treys in that game. Dorsett Mulcahy had 15 and seven assists, while Connor Junker added 11, with a pair from downtown. In the semis, they beat a very strong fifth-seed in Immaculata, 67-53, getting 26 points and seven rebounds from Dorsett Mulcahy, plus 16 points and six boards from Sonkoua.

Rutgers Prep: The Argonauts – behind a 31-point afternoon from Will Brunson, who nailed six triples in the game – topped seven-seed Bridgewater-Raritan in the quarterfinals, 85-58. Nicolas Nsenkyire added 12 and five boards in the victory. In the semis, Prep beat third-seed Montgomery, 65-57, with four players scoring in double figures, led by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double from Brunson, who also dished out six assists. Nsenkyire added 15, Logan Franz 12 and Rocco Loomis another 10 points.

TOP SCORERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Dorsett Mulcahy (20.1 ppg, 57 treys), Prosper Sonkoua (15.8 ppg, 32 treys), Connor Junker (13 ppg, team-best 58 treys)
Rutgers Prep: William Brunson (23.1 ppg, 50 treys), Rocco Loomis (16 ppg, team-best 67 treys), Nicolas Nsenkyire

TOP REBOUNDERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Prosper Sonkoua (7.5), Niko West (6), Jahmal Dixon (5.7)
Rutgers Prep: William Brunson (8.3), Nicolas Nsenkyire (5.4)

MISCELLANEOUS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Jahmal Dixon (111 assists, 81 steals), Prosper Sonkoua (22 blocks)
Rutgers Prep: Nicolas Nsenkyire (137 assists, 62 steals), William Brunson (29 blocks)

RECENT MEETINGS: These games have always been a battle, generally close and highly competitive. Gill won moth meetings this year – 90-84 on January 10th in Peapack, and 73-68 on February 5th down in Somerset. They also met in the 2023 and 2022 SCT finals. The Argonautus won 69-67 in ’23, while the Knights won the year before, 84-63. Gill also beat Prep in three prior SCT finals meetings in 2011, 2017 and 2018. All three years, Gill was the No. 1 seed; Prep was the two in 2011 and 2018, and the third-seed in 2017.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Gill St. Bernard’s (9-4):

  • 2010     (2) Ridge beat (4) Gill St. Bernard’s 63-52
  • 2011:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
  • 2012:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Bridgewater 88-72
  • 2013:    (1) Ridge beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-56
  • 2014:    (3) Hillsborough beat (1) Gill St. Bernard’s 53-52
  • 2015:    (3) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (1) Ridge 48-39
  • 2016:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Somerville 66-51
  • 2017:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
  • 2018:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
  • 2019:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Watchung Hills 73-53
  • 2022:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
  • 2023:    (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67
  • 2025: (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep, 52-46

Rutgers Prep (3-6):

  • 1988:     (1) Bridgewater West beat (2) Rutgers Prep 94-66
  • 2011:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
  • 2017:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
  • 2018:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
  • 2020:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (3) Watchung Hills 71-57
  • 2022:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
  • 2023:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67
  • 2024:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Montgomery 64-61
  • 2025: (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep, 52-46

OTHER NOTES:

Gill is Perfect Again: Last year, Gill hadn’t lost to a Skykland Conference opponent all year. Their four losses came to powerhouses like Don Bosco Prep in the New Year’s Jump Off, St. Peter’s Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, St. Rose in the Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase, as well as Roselle Catholic and The Patrick School’s national team in standalone contests. This year, same deal, but with only two losses – one to St. Peter’s Prep out of Jersey City, 59-43, in the Big Jersey Showcase on December 20th, while also falling to Linden on December 29th at the Jingle Bells Jubilee, 73-52. That gives them a 27-game win streak against the Skyland Conference and 23 straight against Somerset County competition since their loss to Rutgers Prep in the 2024 SCT final. Back to the beginning of that 2023-24 season – in which they split with Prep in the regular season – Gill is 30-2 against Somerset schools, 36-2 against the Skyland Conference over the last three years.

Non-Publics Always In It: This will be the 17th straight season the Somerset County Tournament championship game will have at least one parochial school participating. The last time two public schools square off, it was 2008, when third-seed Watchung Hills beat fourth-seed Ridge for the title, 58-49. Since then, at least one parochial has been in it every year – all featuring Gill or Rutgers Prep except 2009, when top-seed Immaculata beat second-seed Ridge, 58-49. And in those 17 years, six of those meetings have seen the Knights and the Argonauts face off, including five of the last eight.

From One Finalist to Another: Junior Andrew Kretkowski was a big loss for Rutgers Prep in the off-season, as he transferred to St. Joseph-Metuchen. But he would have been just fine in Somerset, too. Both schools have made their respective conference/county tournaments, as St. Joe’s faces Piscataway Friday night at 8 pm in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final, which you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

No sweep? Gill St. Bernard’s swept the girls’ and boys’ Somerset County titles last season, but with the girls knocked out in the semifinals this year by Franklin, we won’t get a chance at it again this year. Rutgers Prep swept in 2024 and 2020, while Gill did it previously in 2012, and Bridgewater-Raritan did it in 1995. There also was another quasi-sweep in 1998, with different high schools, but from the same district. The Bridgewater-Raritan West boys won the title that year, while the Bridgewater-Raritan East girls won as well.

Rare loss for Prep: When Rutgers Prep lost at Hillsborough on February 10th, 82-79, their lone game in between the Saturday-schedule SCT quarterfinals and semifinals, it was their first regular season loss to a Somerset County public school since 2019, when they lost to Montgomery twice. That snapped a 34-game win streak. Head coach Matt Bloom said of that game: “Any game in this league is tough. We have to have a short memory and get over it. Give credit to Hillsborough, they take advantage of our weaknesses.” Short memory indeed, as they bounced back with a 65-57 win over Montgomery in the county semifinals to get to Saturday’s championship against Gill St. Bernard’s

by Mike Pavlichko

Somerset County Tournament Boys’ Final Preview: It’s Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep for the ‘chip, yet again

After two years of seeing the Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep boys’ basketball teams battle it out for the Somerset County title, Montgomery came in and crashed the party with a stellar 2023-24 season, and fell just short to the Argonauts in the championship game.

But this year, for the third time in four seasons, it’ll be the Knights and Argonauts battling it out for county supremacy, when they two meet at Montgomery High School in the 2025 Somerset County Tournament finals.

Both teams are right near the 20-win mark. Both can shoot, defend, and race up and down the floor. Every time they meet, it’s a battle that probably requires a few more ice packs and bandages than your typical high school game.

An all out war.

You can hear Saturday afternoon’s championship game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio at 3 pm, following the 1:00 girls’ title tilt between top-seed Gill and third-seed Hillsborough, with pregame at approximately 2:45. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action. Click here to listen.

The similarities between the teams are striking, and both teams have grown immensely since last year.

Rutgers Prep was younger. Andrew Kretkowski, Jacob Canton, and Rocco Loomis – huge contributors for the Argonauts – were just freshmen last season, and led by a junior in Myles Parker. He’s now a senior, leading the team at 16.1 points per game, not too far ahead of Kretkowski – averaging 15.5 – and Canton at 15.2 points per game. And then there’s Loomis, playing great defense, and taking charges, including a couple of big ones in the semifinals against Montgomery.

As much as Rutgers Prep was able to play through the youthful inexperience last season, Gill had a more difficult time with a good deal of roster turnover. It was a rare off-year for Mergin Sina’s program, but they’re reaping the benefits this season. Kind of like when you start shaving every day: it just comes back stronger the next time.

Dorsett Mulcahy is the point guard, and if that name means anything to you, yes, it’s the younger brother of Bayonne native and former Rutgers standout Paul Mulachy, who’s also helping Sina on the bench this season. By the way, he also missed several weeks last season due to injury, stunting the Knights’ cohesiveness.

But here’s how tough Gill is to play: they have just a single player averaging double-figures in scoring, but seven players are averaging at least six points a game, and a total of 59 points per. That’s balance, and it makes it difficult to hone in on any one player defensively. Trying to defend Gill is like whack-a-mole.

MORE ON THE SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT BOYS’ FINAL:

(1) Gill St. Bernard’s (19-5) vs. (3) Rutgers Prep (18-8)
When: Saturday, 3 pm
Where: Montgomery Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel (LISTEN HERE)

COACHES:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Mergin Sina, 14th season (273-72)
Rutgers Prep: Matt Bloom, 7th season (151-47)

STATE RANKINGS:
Gill St. Bernard’s: #5 NJ.com
Rutgers Prep: #12 NJ.com

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

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

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Gill St. Bernard’s: The Knights cruised past 9-seed Watchung Hills in their opener, in the quarterfinals, 52-32, matching their lowest point total of the year in a victory. (They did it twice before in a road win at Hillsborough in Late January, and against Ramapo earlier in the Month at the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic Showcase.) They followed it up last Saturday with a 56-45 win over fourth-seed Ridge in the semifinals.

Rutgers Prep: The Argonauts had to pull off some magic to make it to a fourth straight Somerset County Tournament final (2020, and 2022 through ’24 – there was no SCT in 2021 due to COVID). After blowing past sixth-seed Hillsborough in their opener, in the quarterfinals, 80-44, they found much more difficulty with a Montgomery team they had beaten by four just two weeks prior at home. Prep trailed by 14 at one point in the third quarter, but started chipping away, and really made their push after a Bohdan Biekietov elbow in the final five minutes and change sent him packing with his fifth foul. The Cougars still had the lead at that point, but collectively could not hold on to it.

TOP SCORERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Kobe Closiell (10.7 ppg, 15 treys), Connor Junker (9.5 ppg, team-leading 36 treys), Dorsett Mulcahy (9.3 ppg)
Rutgers Prep: Myles Parker (16.1 ppg, team best 63 treys), Andrew Kretkowski (15.5 ppg, 25 treys), Jacob Canton (15.2 ppg, 38 treys)

TOP REBOUNDERS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Dorsett Mulcahy (6.0), Kieran Quinn (3.9)
Rutgers Prep: Andrew Kretkowski (5.5), Myles Parker (5.3)

MISCELLANEOUS:

Gill St. Bernard’s: Kobe Closiell (55 assists), Stanley Njekwe (30 blocks), Jahmal Dixon (36 steals)
Rutgers Prep: Jacob Canton (124 assists), William Brunson (32 blocks), Myles Parker (77 steals)

RECENT MEETINGS: These games have always been a battle, generally close and highly competitive. Gill won moth meetings this year – 77-64 on February 4th at home, and 78-73 down in Somerset on January 9th. But Rutgers Prep won both meetings last season, 61-43 and 63-53, close games even though Gill is much stronger this year. They also met in the 2023 and 2022 SCT finals. The Argonautus won 69-67 in ’23, while the Knights won the year before, 84-63. Gill also beat Prep in three prior SCT finals meetings in 2011, 2017 and 2018. All three years, Gill was the No. 1 seed; Prep was the two in 2011 and 2018, and the third-seed in 2017.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Gill St. Bernard’s (8-4):

  • 2010     (2) Ridge beat (4) Gill St. Bernard’s 63-52
  • 2011:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
  • 2012:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Bridgewater 88-72
  • 2013:    (1) Ridge beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-56
  • 2014:    (3) Hillsborough beat (1) Gill St. Bernard’s 53-52
  • 2015:    (3) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (1) Ridge 48-39
  • 2016:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Somerville 66-51
  • 2017:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
  • 2018:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
  • 2019:    (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Watchung Hills 73-53
  • 2022:   (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
  • 2023:    (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67

Rutgers Prep (3-5):

  • 1988:     (1) Bridgewater West beat (2) Rutgers Prep 94-66
  • 2011:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 68-59
  • 2017:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (3) Rutgers Prep 71-61
  • 2018:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 56-54
  • 2020:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (3) Watchung Hills 71-57
  • 2022:     (1) Gill St. Bernard’s beat (2) Rutgers Prep 84-63
  • 2023:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Gill St. Bernard’s 69-67
  • 2024:     (1) Rutgers Prep beat (2) Montgomery 64-61

OTHER NOTES:

Perfect, and Almost Perfect, in the Skyland: Gill hasn’t lost to a Skykland Conference opponent all year. Their four losses have came to powerhouses like Don Bosco Prep in the New Year’s Jump Off, St. Peter’s Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, St. Rose in the Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase, as well as Roselle Catholic and The Patrick School’s national team in standalone contests. Rutgers Prep lost its opener to Manasquan, then dropped games to St. Rose, Don Bosco, St. Peter’s Prep and Roselle Catholic, as well as Bergen Catholic in the same Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II. And, of course, their two losses to Gill are their only conference losses. What’s that about trying to beat a team three times in one year?

Karma Came Into Play? Having nothing to do with Rutgers Prep, other than the Argonauts being the opponent, Manasquan beat them in their opening game on December 14th, at the Tip-Off Classic at Montgomery, 64-61 on a buzzer-beater. Was there anything Rutgers Prep could do about it? Sure, Matt Bloom will talk about his team and what they did or didn’t do well, but remember the Warriors were the team who lost in controversial fashion to Camden at the buzzer, when it appeared ‘Squan hit the game winning shot, but after the officials conferred, it was waved off. Still, who could have seen that coming in their next time on the court? Even Steven, anyone?