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.
Lisa Gedaka, the head coach in her 37th year at Gloucester Catholic, had 760 wins coming into Thursday’s Non-Public Group B girls’ title game.
But coming into last year, the Rams had never won a sectional title.
Well, now they have two, and two state titles as well, as they beat Gill St. Bernard’s 62-39 Tuesday night in the state finals at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway – in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – led by 22 points from senior Jahzara Green, and 13 from junior Amanda Eggers, who also had four treys.
Gill had a tough time getting shots to go down early, and had a tough time finding open looks, even as they would double- and triple-team senior Addy Platt, who finished with 15 points in her final game before heading off to St. Joseph in Philadelphia.
The Knights (22-6) made a bit of a run early in the second half. The difference is they hit their first couple of shots, and were able to set up their pressure and defense. But the run was short-lived, even though they trimmed what was a ten-point halftime deficit to seven midway through the third.
Junior Kaity Platt, Addy’s younger sister, had some key threes in the third as the Knights tried to come back. She finished with 13 and three treys.
The Rams finish their season at 25-4.
Click below for postgame reaction from Gloucester Catholic head coach Lisa Gedaka, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen.
Think back to March of 2012.
Adele and Flo Rida ruled the music charts, the Big East Conference was finishing up its penultimate year in its prime form before realignment destroyed it (nope, definitely not bitter), and the Gill St. Bernard’s girl’s basketball team stood at the top as Non-Public state champions, and sectional champions for the third straight year, under former head coach Aaron Gratch.
Now in 2026, the Knights (22-5) are back near the peak of the mountain in the state final, though no Tournament of Champions to follow like the 2012 team, so this is it.
Gill plays for all the marbles on Thursday at Jersey Mike’s Arena on the campus of Rutgers University, in the Non-Public B final against Gloucester Catholic. Tip-off time from Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway is at 5 pm, and we’ve got live coverage on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel calling all the action. Pregame starts at 4:45; click here to listen.
The boys’ game for the Non-Public Group B title against Holy Cross Prep of Delran against will also be broadcast live on CJSR at 7 pm.
Gill has played efficient, workmanlike basketball throughout its path to its first sectional title since the three-peat from 2010-12, but now faces one of its toughest tests yet against the Rams (25-4).
Addy and Kaity Platt once again steal the headlines, and combined for 31 points in the sectional final win over Saddle River Day, but it’s been a team-wide effort to get to this point for the Knights. With point guard Melina Miller setting the table and wing Sadie Finn doing the dirty work with tough defense and extra passes, it’s no wonder Gill has responded with a deep run after a tremendous senior class graduated.
This also won’t be the first time these two teams have seen each other this season. Way back in December — where three months ago feels like three years ago — Gloucester Catholic responded from an early deficit and put the clamps down on Gill for a 60-45 victory at the Shore Games in Colts Neck.
But both teams have evolved in the time since, and are playing at their best at the right time.
It’s a battle of similar but contrasting styles. Neither team goes particularly deep into their bench — both stick with a main six in the rotation, with a seventh usually mixed in somewhere — and both will send pressure in the backcourt. But Gill wants to get out and run, while the Rams are happy to play in a slower, grind-it-out type game.
That’s exactly how Gloucester Catholic — the second seed and champion of South Jersey Group B — won its second straight sectional title against top-seeded Rutgers Prep back on Monday night. The Rams were able to slow the game down and, combined with plenty of missed shots from the Argonauts, hold Rutgers Prep to its lowest scoring total of the year.
They also have continuity on their side, with no graduating seniors from a team that made it to this same stage last year. Senior trio Jalyn Moore, Jahzara Green, and Talia Shumate all played in that state title — a 41-30 loss to Montclair Immaculate, led by now-Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie before the school closed at the end of the year — and all played pivotal roles in Gloucester Catholic’s December win over the Knights.
Add in a leader with over 700 career wins in 37th-year head coach, and Rams graduate herself Lisa Gedaka, and Gloucester Catholic will not be fazed by the bright lights. The Rams will battle for their first state title since 1983, Gedaka’s junior season.
But Gill is executing at some of the highest levels ninth-year head coach Mark Gnapp has seen in his time in Gladstone. With the state crown — and two long championship droughts — on the line, it may come down to who has the ball last at Rutgers.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp about the Knights’ Non-Public B title matchup against Gloucester Catholic:
Make it back-to-back wins for Gloucester Catholic in South Jersey Non-Public B, as the Rams beat Rutgers Prep Monday night – also for the second straight year – in the sectional final at Lenape High School in Medford Lakes, 44-31. win over Rutgers Prep.
The first half was tight all the way. Each team continuously traded buckets underneath the basket.
Early on, it was Ava La Monica of Rutgers Prep and Jahzara Green of Gloucester Catholic doing the damage to each other’s squads. It was a classic back-and-forth game, consisting of transition buckets and highly contested defensive stops.
At the end of the first quarter, Rutgers Prep had the lead at 12-11, thanks to a six-point effort from La Monica. Gloucester Catholic came alive in the second quarter and had the lead going into halftime at 21-20.
Through the first half of play, it was apparent both teams wanted to establish an inside game — only three three-pointers were made in the game, all coming from Gloucester Catholic.
The second half is where the game started to slip away from Rutgers Prep, and Gloucester Catholic took full advantage. The Argonauts were outscored 23-11, mainly because of too many missed shots in the paint from several Argonauts and because of the Lady Rams’ stout defense.
Monet High – a name that may not stand out in the box score due to only scoring one point – certainly showed off her defensive prowess. Leading to numerous steals in the half-court that led to transition buckets for Green and Talia Shumate, who finished with six points.
Combine Green’s 14-point effort with relentless dribble drives from Jalyn Moore and outside shots from Amanda Eggers, who both finished with eleven points, and it was enough for the Lady Rams to put the game out of reach late in the fourth.
The offensive stars from Rutgers Prep simply went cold, scoring just five points in the fourth. La Monica finished with ten points, Georgiades with seven points, and no one else eclipsed more than four.
It’s the end of an era for seniors Ava La Monica, Sophia Georgiades, Ava Frith, and Cali McCoy. La Monica and McCoy are the only two of the four to win a South Jersey Non-Public B final in their time at Rutgers Prep, with Georgiades and Frith both transferring in after the 2024 season.
Gloucester Catholic will advance to the Non-Public B title game, where it will face North Jersey Non-Public B champion Gill St. Bernard’s, which beat Saddle River Day 57-40 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 Rutgers Prep’s head coach Mary Klinger presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Jahzara Gren led all scorers with 21 points in helping top-seed Gloucester Catholic to a 46-33 win over second-seed Rutgers Prep in the Non-Public South B Girls Championship Game. Sophia Georgiades and Natalia Valdez were to scorers for the Argonauts, with nine points apiece.
Click below to listen to all the action as called by Mike Pavlichko live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Jackson Liberty High School on March 10, 2025.
Two things can happen when the shots just aren’t falling for a basketball team.
A little break at halftime might be just what the doctor ordered. Then again, maybe it’s just that kind of night.
For the Rutgers Prep girls Monday night in Jackson, Option Two is what happened,
The second-seeded Argonauts’ season came to an end at Jackson Liberty High School, as they fell 46-33 to top-seed Gloucester Catholic. Juinior Natalia Valdez and sophomore Sophia Georgiades each finished with nine to lead Prep, which ends its season at 20-7.
Gloucester Catholic was led by Jahzara Green, who – like Rutgers Prep, and really, the rest of her team, also struggled mightily to score in the first half. It was just 18-14 Rams at halftime.
And yet, they were able to find their shot in the second half, and most of that was from Green. She finished with a game-high 21 points, 17 of which came int he second half.
Click below for postgame reaction from Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger:
Jackson Liberty High School was good to Rutgers Prep last year.
So was Seneca the year before that, and Long Branch back in 2022.
The Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team hasn’t lost a sectional final since COVID at any of those three venues, and Mary Klinger’s 2024-25 team doesn’t plan to start now.
Monday evening, they’ll play in their fifth straight Non-Public South B title game – the first in that stretch was in 2020, when they fell to Trenton Catholic – as the second-seeded Argonauts take on top-seed Gloucester Catholic at 5 pm, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko has the call, followed by the Prep boys at 7 pm against St. Rose in their final, with pregame for Game One starting at 4:45. Click here to listen.
Rutgers Prep is 20-6 on the season, still a solid year despite graduating three starters, and losing a fourth plus two others to transfer.
That left Ava LaMonica as the lone starter back, but with transfers like Ava Frith and Sophia Georgiades, freshman Hailey Benbow, and others, the Argonauts maybe haven’t picked up where they left off, but are right back where they belong: playing for hardware in March.
LaMonica is the leading scorer this season at 13.7 points per game, but Georgiades and Benbow have been stellar in two state tournament games so far, averaging 20.5 and 15 points per game, respectively. And Georgiades has hit ten threes in two games – five each against Holy Cross Prep in the quarterfinals and Wildwood Catholic in the semis.
For the Argonauts, the issue has been consistency. But head coach Mary Klinger scheduled their last game before the states against Morris Catholic, the team that beat them in the last two Non-Public Group B state finals.
They lost that one 90-52, but it gave her program one more look at how they stacked up against they best – at 25-0, they’re the top team in the state – but they won’t get to play them this year. The Crusaders moved up to Group A this season.
Gloucester Catholic (24-5) is also having a very good season, and since a loss in the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament to Paul VI on February 9th, they’ve won eight straight, including taking the Tri-County Tournament Flight A title over Washington Township, 72-29.
The Rams are paced by Jahzara Green, who’s averaging over 18 points per game this season, and 17 in two state tournament games against Koinonia and Ranney. Amanda Eggers is averaging 12 a game, and also leads the team in three-point shooting with 63 triples on the season.
Click below to hear Rutgers Prep coach Mary Klinger talk about the Argonauts and the Non-Public South B final against Gloucester Catholic:
Miami-bound senior Tate DeRias threw the second no-hitter of the season and his career, in a 10-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas to give Gloucester Catholic the NJSIAA Non-Public Group B title, their second in a row. Note: The final play of the game was not a home run. It appeared from a distance as to clear the fence, but stayed in the park and was ruled a hit, making the final score 10-0, not 12-0.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the game action as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans Park in Hamilton, NJ, on June 7, 2024:
And just like that, it was over.
St. Thomas Aquinas – the last Greater Middlesex Conference team standing in the state playoffs – lost 10-0 in a five-inning Non-Public North B title game, with Miami-bound Tate DeRias throwing a no-hitter for victorious Gloucester Catholic, which won by the mercy rule in walk-off fashion.
For the Rams, it was their record 21st state title – the closest teams to them have only eight – and they did it in style, scoring seven runs in the first inning, then punching across three more in the fifth to end the game, as DH Gavin Franchetti tagged a ball to left that scored Jason Bogart.
St. Thomas starter Gavin Sansone allowed six runs of the seven first-inning runs, facing seven batters, recording only one out. But it wasn’t sloppy. There was one hit batter, there were no errors; the Rams just hit the ball where the fielders weren’t – between infielders, and in the gaps.
Luis Rizzolo came in to face the No. 8 hitter, and he stopped the bleeding, allowing one run, and escaping much more damage. He the Rams off the board until the fifth, trying to give his team a chance.
But against the velocity, movement, and placement of DeRias – who threw his second career no-hitter, both five-inning games, and both coming this year – it was too much for Aquinas.
DeRias allowed only two baserunners, both on walks, and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts, all of which came before allowing a ball to be put in play. The first 13 outs he recorded were Ks, with Jack Valenzuela’s bunt in the top of the fifth with one out the only ball St. Thomas put between the foul lines. That was the second out of the fifth, then Louis Cassino flew out to first.
And Aquinas wouldn’t get to bat again as the Rams walked it off.
Gloucester Catholic finishes 27-2, winners of the Group B crown two straight years now. Aquinas finishes 19-9.
Click below for postgame reaction, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
The year was 2006, and it was the last time St. Thomas Aquinas (then called Bishop Ahr) won a sectional title, that is until this year.
It was their only piece of state hardware in baseball, again, until this season.
And then they go for their first ever state title Thursday night, they will be going up against one of the all-time great baseball programs in New Jersey scholastic history. Gloucester Catholic, the defending Non-Public B champion, has won 20 state titles, more than any other program in the Garden State, and it’s not even close.
Next on the list is Bishop Eustace, the team the Rams beat in the Non-Public South B title game this year, with a paltry eight by comparison, along with Don Bosco and Seton Hall Prep.
But Aquinas is used to the underdog role. They finished second in the GMC Blue this year, coming right down to the wire against Spotswood, which swept them in the final week to claim the division title.
Thursday night, they will be huge underdogs, as the Trojans (19-8) take on Gloucester Catholic (26-2) for the Non-Public Group B Championship down at Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton. Game time is set for 7 pm, with pregame at 6:40 on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko has the call; click here to listen.
Scroll through the article for stats, news, notes, interviews and more on both teams.
NON-PUBLIC GROUP B FINAL:
St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans
Gloucester Catholic Rams
Date and Time: Thursday, June 6, 2024 – 7 pm
Location: Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ Park, Hamilton, NJ
Coverage: Live broadcast on Central Jersey Sports Radio (Click here to listen!)
Head Coaches:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Tom D’Agostino, 7th season (82-93)
Gloucester Catholic: Dennis Barth, 23rd season (578-117-1)
Pitching Probables:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Gavin Sansone (6-0, 1.17 ERA)
Gloucester Catholic: Tate DeRias (5-2, 0.72 ERA)
Interviews:
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
St. Thomas Aquinas (#2 seed, Non-Public North B):
First Round: bye
Quarterfinals: def. (10) Timothy Christian, 10-0
Semifinals: def. (3) Gill St. Bernard’s, 7-5
Finals: def. (5) Rutgers Prep, 5-3 (RECAP)
Gloucester Catholic (#1 seed, Non-Public South B):
First Round: bye
Quarterfinals: def. (8) Princeton Day, 8-2
Semifinals: def. (4) St. Rose, 7-2
Finals: def. (2) Bishop Eustace, 2-1
PLAYOFF STAT LEADERS:
St. Thomas Aquinas:
Batting Average – Will Bethea (.833, 5-for-6), Jack Valenzuela (.600), Nikash Patel (.500)
RBIs: Gavin Sansone (5), Will Bethea (4)
HR: Will Bethea, Gavin Sansone (1)
Stolen Bases: Gavin Sansone (3), Jack Valenzuela, Declan DiCarlo (2)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Louis Rizzolo (13)
ERA: Louis Rizzolo (0.96)
Gloucester Catholic:
Batting Average: Jake Terranova (.571), Tate DeRias (.444), Noah Danza (.364)
RBIs: Jake Terranova, Tate DeRias (4) (three others with 3)
HR: None
Stolen Bases: Jake Terranova, Tate DeRias, Noah Danza (3)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Joe Vaccarella (12)
ERA: Jack Mustaro, Sal Marziana, Evan Brasberger, Tate DeRias (0.00)
THE LOWDOWN:
It wouldn’t be going out on a limb to say this will be a huge challenge for Aquinas, going up against the No. 3 team in the state. The only teams ahead of Gloucester Catholic in the statewide rankings are Delbarton at No. 1, followed by Cherry Hill West, one of the Rams’ two losses this year, coming in the 50th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic, their league’s postseason tournament.
The Trojans are having their best season in the eight years (seven seasons) led by alum Tom D’Agostino. His first three years saw a total of 20 wins, the three years before the missed COVID season. But since then, it has been a steady progression for the program, from 13-15 the year after COVID to 15-8, 15-11 and now 19-8 this season.
Will Bethea has been a big part of it. He’s 5-for-6 in three state tourney games so far with a home run and three walks, plus four runs batted in. He was having a fine season overall, hitting .293 in 27 games, with a team-best 33 RBIs, but he has upped his game in the postseason.
With a 2.64 team ERA, their pitchers give them a chance. Gavin Sansone gets the nod for this one, with a 6-0 record and a 1.17 ERA. He’s appeared in eight games this year, and the Trojans have won seven of them. The only loss in a game he started was a 3-2 defeat in the first round of the GMC Tournament to South Brunswick. But he threw nine innings, allowing no-earned runs, and the Trojans lost in 14 innings.
Gloucester Catholic has a lot of history, none of which really matters with current players other than they fact that they’re the defending Non-Public Group B champions. The title they won last year was their 20th overall, more than any other school in New Jersey.
They hit very well, batting .342 on the season, though that’s down a bit in the state tournament to .312, while Aquinas is hitting .295 overall, but .333 in the states. The Rams are a little more balanced throughout the lineup, led by Jake Terranova, who’s 4-for-7 in NJSIAA state play. On the season, he’s hitting .419, while Noah Danza leads the team at .430 with 27 runs batted in, second only to Guy Lynam, with 30 RBIs.
On the mound, it’ll be Miami-bound senior Tate DeRias, who’s 5-2 with an 0.72 ERA, his two losses coming to Cherry Hill West and Delbarton, ranked Nos. 2 and 1, respectively, in the state. He’s struck out 78 and walked 20, allowing just five earned runs all year in 48 1/3 innings pitched.
NEWS AND NOTES:
Championship History…
St. Thomas Aquinas is in the state final for just the second time ever. They lost in 2006, when they were in the Non-Public A title game, to Seton Hall Prep.
Meanwhile, defending Non-Public B champion Gloucester Catholic is 16-5 in the Non-Public B final, and before that, 4-0 in the A final. They won Group A titles in 1999, 2000, 2012 and 2013.
Group B titles came in 1973 and ’74, 1980 – a team head coach Dennis Barth was a part of as a student at Gloucester Catholic – 1984 through 1986, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2011, 2017 and 2018, and again last season. Barth has won 11 titles as a coach at GC, and one as a player.
First repeat…
Tate DeRias will be the first Gloucester Catholic pitcher to make a second appearance in the state tournament. The first three wins went to Evan Brasberger, Joe Vaccarella, and DeRias, with Jack Mustaro and Sal Marziani also seeing action. But all five pitchers have appeared in only one game, at least until today.
No Common Opponents or Recent Meetings…
There are no common opponents between the two, nor have they played anyone from their opponents’ league. And they haven’t played each other in a while. Their last meeting was in 2014, in the state tournament, with Gloucester Catholic winning 15-5. They also won their matchup the year prior, 10-0, also in the state tournament.
Non-Public Group B Championship History…
