Top-seed Hillsborough got 15 points each from Jack Toth and Aaron Feath – with Feath hitting three times from downtown – to beat fifth-seed Jackson Township in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, 73-44, sending the Raiders to their first sectional title game since they won their only championship, in 2015.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play from Hillsborough High School on March 3, 2026.
The Franklin girls’ basketball program has had a few tough years since COVID, when you consider they had won the Tournament of Champions in 2017, then again in 2019 with a perfect 34-0 record, and might have done it a third time had the entire planet not been hit by a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.
This year, not so much, under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie, who has picked up quickly what the rivalry games mean down here in Central Jersey, having grown up in Bergen County.
His top-seeded Warriors will face another rivalry game Thursday night, thanks to a 66-34 home win over fifth-seed Jackson Twp. Tuesday in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals of the state tournament, to send them to their first sectional final since 2020.
Junior phenom Aleah Sunkins scored a career high 34 points in the victory, but it was the balance the rest of the way that stood out to Kreie: another 11 from Alivia Steward, eight from Gianna Mattia, and four each from Nola Bright, Jamila McRiney, and Kayla Duncan.
Franklin got out to an 18-7 lead after one, and was up 36-21 at the half before breaking the thing wide open with a 25-8 third quarter before the benches emptied and the starters had some time to rest.
Now, in the final, the Warriors will meet third-seed Hillsborough, a 60-49 winner at two-seed East Brunswick Tuesday night. The final initially was set to be Friday, but had to be moved because Franklin’s gym is hosting District 9 wrestling for the NJSIAA on Friday. Start time will be 6 pm.
Click here to listen to postgame comments from Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
If you watched the first half of top-seed Hillsborough’s Central Jersey Group 4 semifinal against fifth-seed Jackson Township Tuesday night, then left and looked at the final score later, you might wonder what in the world happened.
Or think it was a typo.
Well, it wasn’t. In fact, for the Raiders, it was picture perfect and nearly flawless.
The first half saw seven ties, at two, six, eight, ten, 12, 14, then – after Jackson took a six point lead and threatened to pull away – at 28-28 late in the half. Hillsborough led by two at the break, 30-28.
In the second half, things just changed. The Raiders hit more shots, clamped down on defense, and – when Jackson did get to the basket – made them miss, and scooped up rebounds, then got in transition and scored. That all fueled a 19-6 third quarter for ‘Boro, and ultimately a 73-44 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Bigger than a win, it got the Raiders back to a sectional final for the first time since they pulled off a miraculous run in 2015, when they were 11-12 heading into the state tourney, but won the Central Jersey Group 4 title, stunning Freehold Township on the road, 66-58, with a team led by late head coach Ian Progin.
Sophomores Aaron Feath and Layne Pawlowski each had game-highs of 15 points in the win, with Feath coring ten after the break, and Pawlowski 13. Aaron also hit a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third to give his team a 49-34 advantage, it’s biggest of the game at that point. They led by 27 later, in the fourth.
Another tenth-grader, point guard Jack Toth, ran the offense like a well-oiled machine, and finished with 13, all in the first half.
The win puts top-seed Hillsborough (22-7) in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game Friday night at home against third-seed Montgomery (24-4), which beat second-seed Marlboro on the road Tuesday night, 61-49.
The Cougars are the two-time defending champions in the section, and beat Hillsborough twice this year: 53-37 on January 13th in the regular season, and 53-38 on February 7th in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.
Click below for postgame reaction from Hillsborough sophomore Aaron Feath and head coach Tim Palek, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
The 2013-14 Hillsborough boys’ basketball team will be remembered as one of the greats in school history, going 22-3 and beating Gill St. Bernard’s to win the Somerset County Tournament championship.
But the 2014-15 team was a pleasant surprise.
While they didn’t get close to winning the SCT that year, they made an improbably run in the state tournament, stunning Freehold Township on the road in the Central Jersey Group 4 championship game. Their record at the time was 15-12, and they were knocked out in the state semifinals a few nights later by Cherry Hill East.
Tuesday night, the Raiders – the top seed in Central 4 this season – will look to get back to a title game for the first time since 2015 when they play fifth-seed Jackson Township out of the Shore Conference. You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off set for 5:30 and pregame starting around 5:15. Click here to listen.
Hillsborough (21-7) picked up its first state ranking in years last week, checking in at No. 20, and this week is up to 19. They have a signature win over Rutgers Prep, which came late in the season, on February 10th, right after losing at Montgomery in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.
That’s a Montgomery team they could face again in the finals, but one game at a time.
The Raiders are led by sophomore Aaron Feath, who’s averaging nearly 19 points per game, while his older brother Derek, a senior, keeps adding to a school record for three-pointers in a single season, now at 77 and counting.
Meanwhile, Jackson Twp. (18-6) began the season in a unique situation, with the talents of the district’s two former schools, Jackson Liberty and Jackson Memorial coming together. Declining enrollment led the announcement last spring the two schools would merge this year, and use the Jackson Liberty campus.
That left Jackson Memorial coach Randy Holmes taking on some Liberty players, as well as head coach Don Connor, who’s an assistant. But the starting five is essentially Memorial’s starting five from last year. The Jaguars are led by senior George Boley – a two-time transfer who started out at Roselle Catholic, then followed Dave Boff to College Achieve before coming back home last year for his junior season. – who’s averaging 17.8 points per game. Senior Jimmy Pappalardo is second in scoring at ten a game, with a team-best 45 treys.
The winner moves on to Friday night’s championship game against either third-seed Montgomery or second-seed Marlboro.
Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: