Tag: Jimmy Kreie

Franklin Girls Basketball celebrates the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title.
by Alec Crouthamel

Jimmy Kreie’s first-year success earns Franklin girls’ mentor CJSR’s Somerset County Girls’ Coach of the Year honors

Franklin girls’ basketball is a program built on tradition and plenty of winning, benchmarks set not too long ago in the 2010s. Former coach Audrey Taylor had the Warriors rolling, with four group state titles and two Tournament of Champions trophies, including the famed 34-0 2018-19 squad.

After a six-year hardware drought, Franklin brought back the shine that put the Warriors on the map across the state, under the leadership of first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie.

Following a run at Montclair Immaculate – capped by a Non-Public B title in the school’s final year of operation last season – Kreie headed south and took the job at Franklin.

All he and the Warriors did was reach the Somerset County Tournament final for the first time since 2019, and win a sectional title for the first time since 2020. They had to battle to do it, rallying from a nine-point deficit after three quarters in the Central Jersey Group 4 final against Hillsborough, and outscored the Raiders 22-2 in the final eight minutes.

Their season came to a close in the next round against eventual Group 4 champion Lenape, but the resounding success Franklin saw in Year One has earned Kreie Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Girls’ Coach of the Year for the 2025-26 season.

Heading into his first year at the helm, Kreie had some familiarity with the Warriors’ roster — all but one player (Rutgers freshman forward PreciousGem Wheeler) remained from Montclair Immaculate’s 47-39 win over Franklin in December of 2024 — and had seen plenty of star junior forward Aleah Sunkins and sophomore guard Jamila McRiney from his work in the AAU ranks.

Franklin came out of the gates a bit slow with a 1-4 start, but not a single Warrior was fazed. That tied back to Kreie’s philosophy and message: These challenges will make us better.

Whether it was the victory over Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, or the comeback win over Hillsborough to win the sectional title, the program’s focus never wavered from the ultimate goal of development and gaining experience, while being around success.

Sunkins enjoyed a terrific season as a junior, averaging a 17-point, ten-rebound double-double per game while being held to single-digit points just twice. The team’s top seniors — guards Alissa Myers, Gianna Mattia, and Kayla Duncan — each had their own game-changing moments when the lights were brightest, and as Kreie put it after the sectional final, put the Warriors on the map.

Following the first breakout season, the future is bright as well. Sunkins will enter her senior campaign next year as one of the premier wings in the area. Kreie is not shy about his praise for rising juniors McRiney and Nola Bright, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. And there is more development to be had for some of the other underclassmen who may not have seen the most action on the floor, but have the talent to compete next season.

Add in a full community and administrative effort to support the program in droves — as Kreie raved about all season — and the Warriors appear to have put themselves squarely back in position as one of the area’s top teams.

Click below to hear Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie talk about the 2025-26 season, the program’s future, and his coaching philosophy with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Mike Pavlichko

Franklin’s title season comes to an end with 54-35 loss to Lenape in state Group 4 semifinals

In baseball, sometimes you can get a good bat on the ball, but if you hit it right to a fielder, it’s an out. Sometimes you just can’t “hit it where they ain’t,” as they say.

In basketball, sometimes the shots don’t fall.

And that’s what happened to the Franklin girls’ basketball team Tuesday night in Deptford, where the Central Jersey Group 4 champions fell to South champ Lenape, 54-35, in the group semis, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying. Drives to the basket, mid-range jumpers, threes; none seemed to fall for Franklin.

They only trailed 12-6 after one quarter, and in an even lower scoring second quarter, cut it to 20-18 at the half.

But Lenape’s star, senior El-Anita Joe-Samuel, turned out to be the biggest factor in the game. Even when the Warriors switched defenses, and gave the Indians some different looks, all she did was score. Joe-Samuel finished with 39 points, one shy of a career high the junior set in mid-February.

For Franklin, the Warriors’ very successful season comes to a close at 22-9. They had signature wins at Hillsborough in the regular season, over the defending CJ4 champs in the sectional finals, and even beat Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals to get to the championship for the first time since 2019.

And with a good core back – including top scorer Aleah Sunkins, junior Alivia Stewart, and sophomores Jamila McRiney and Nola Bright, all part of the starting five – the future appears to have just begun for this group.

Lenape will go on to face Westfield, a 56-52 winner over West Orange in the other semifinal, in the state Group 4 title game at noon Saturday at Rutgers.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel with Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Franklin girls seek trip to Group 4 title game when Warriors make long trip down to South Jersey for state semis against Lenape

While Tuesday’s Group 4 girls’ state semifinal game will officially be at a neutral site, Deptford High School is a lot closer to Lenape High School than it is to Franklin. So this one will be more like a “road” game for the Warriors than the Indians.

But as far as Franklin is concerned, who cares?

Just look at two of their key wins this season.

On January sixth, they pulled off a huge win at Hillsborough, 72-44, against the same team they rallied against to beat at home last Thursday in the Central Jersey Group 4 final.

Nine days later, they beat Westfield, 46-41, also on the road. The Blue Devils are also in the Group 4 semis, the North 2 champs facing North 1 winner West Orange, the team Hillsborough beat in last year’s state final.

So what’s one more quasi-road game?

Tuesday night at 7:00, Central Jersey Group 4 champ Franklin (22-8) will play South Jersey Group 4 winner Lenape (27-4) for a trip to the state finals which will be Saturday at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena. The game can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame at 6:45, following our live broadcast of the boys semi between Montgomery and Cherry Hill East. Both games can be heard live at this link.

Lenape has won eleven straight coming in, including a 59-40 win over third-seed Howell in the South 4 final last Friday. Junior El-Anita Jo-Samuel led all scorers with 20 points in that game, and is averaging 28.5 points per game in the state tournament, more than four above her average. She even dropped 40 on Moorestown in the Burlington County Tournament Final.

However, she was held to just two first-half points against Howell.

But Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie believes Lenape has played better games than that one, and he prefers to look at some of their other wins – like perhaps the Moorestown contest – to game plan for the Indians. He wants to figure it out based on their best games.

But Franklin has some outstanding players, too. And against Hillsborough last Thursday, it was the whole cast of characters.

The team’s top scorer – junior Aleah Sunkins, averaging 18.4 per game – was not the high scorer in that game, but that’s okay. After all, she had 11 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double – a regular feat for Sunkins – while Jamila McRiney and Kayla Duncan were noted by Kreie as really helping to fuel the comeback with their stellar defensive efforts.

Click below to hear Franklin coach Jimmy Kreie talk about the Warriors’ journey to the Group 4 semifinals, and the matchup against Lenape, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Franklin Girls Basketball celebrates the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title on March 5th, 2026 (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
by Alec Crouthamel

Franklin wakes up with monster fourth quarter, defeats Hillsborough for first sectional title in six years

It might have been apparent which team was playing for its third straight sectional title, and which team was playing in its first in six years heading into the fourth quarter in the Central Jersey Group 4 final.

In the final eight minutes, though, that perception flipped 180 degrees.

Top-seeded Franklin claimed its first sectional title since 2020, rallying from a nine-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to stun third-seeded Hillsborough 52-41. The Warriors (22-8) turned up the heat exponentially in the final frame, holding the Raiders (21-7) without a field goal in the entire fourth quarter, with just two free throws, leading to a 22-2 scoring margin in the final eight minutes.

Senior guard Alissa Myers proved to be the hero, tying her career high with 20 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter alone. She knocked down a trio of three-pointers and got Franklin back into the game with her shooting, while the Warriors’ swarming defense stifled Hillsborough the entire way.

Franklin had three scorers in double figures, as star forward Aleah Sunkins shook off a slow start and apparent third-quarter hand injury to finish with 11 points, six coming in the fourth quarter. She knocked down four consecutive free throws in the final minute to put the game out of reach. Sophomore guard Jamila McRiney scored ten points, including two three-pointers in the first quarter to help kickstart the Warriors’ offense.

Juniors Kayla Cebedo and Victoria Liedl each scored 12 points to lead the Raiders, as Liedl converted on four big-time three-pointers to help Hillsborough build its lead to begin with. Cebedo hit two free throws in the final 45 seconds for the Raiders’ only fourth-quarter points. Isabella Ruh scored ten points before fouling out late, attempting to extend the game. Junior guard Nevya Loniewski also fouled out early in the fourth quarter, finishing with five points.

The physicality and athleticism on both sides were apparent from the jump ball, as Franklin ended the first quarter with a 13-11 lead, but Hillsborough continued to play solid defense to open the game as Ruh nailed two treys. Loniewski hit another to open the second quarter to put the Raiders back in the lead, and neither team scored for the next four minutes as the championship pressure appeared to speed up both teams.

Hillsborough eventually gained an edge with two minutes left in the half, but the Warriors managed two straight baskets in the final minutes to head into the locker room with a slim one-point lead.

The Raiders’ championship experience and poise both shone through in the third quarter, outscoring Franklin 19-9 as Cebedo controlled the pace with the ball in her hands, and Liedl knocked down two more three-pointers. Ruh added two baskets at the rim of her own, while containing the Warriors’ offense by speeding them up and forcing turnovers. By the time the dust settled, Hillsborough sat with a 39-30 lead with eight minutes to play, and all of the momentum headed in the visitors’ direction.

But Franklin never lost faith.

The Warriors cranked up the energy on defense, forcing several turnovers in the fourth quarter with its full-court pressure, and the shots finally started to fall. Franklin made four three-pointers in the final period, three from Myers and McRiney added another, while forward Alivia Stewart got downhill and scored four key points. The trio of McRiney, Myers, and senior Kayla Duncan wreaked havoc in the backcourt and carried Franklin back into the game.

By the time the Raiders knew what hit them, the Warriors had ripped off a 20-0 run and taken a double-digit lead.

It wasn’t totally over just yet, as Hillsborough’s strategy to foul with 90 seconds left worked to perfection with six straight missed Franklin free throws, but it ultimately didn’t matter as the Raiders still couldn’t get anything to go on offense. The Warriors then gave the ball to Sunkins to bring the ball up, and she calmly knocked down four straight at the charity stripe, even with a wrap on her hand.

Franklin clinched its first sectional title since a run of four straight from 2017-20, when Audrey Taylor had the Warriors rolling as one of the top teams in the state. Now, in Year One under head coach Jimmy Kreie, Franklin has climbed one mountain and has a chance for another in the state tournament.

The Warriors will face off against the winner of the South Jersey Group 4 finalists, top-seeded Lenape and third-seeded Howell, in the Group 4 semifinals on Tuesday at Deptford Township High School.

Click below to hear postgame reactions with Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie and senior guard Alissa Myers with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Franklin and Rutgers Prep tip off in the Somerset County Tournament final.
by Alec Crouthamel

Neighboring towns, Hillsborough and Franklin, battle for Central Jersey Group 4 crown

5.6 miles. Ten minutes (or fewer, depending on the amount of lead in your right foot).

That’s the distance on Amwell Road in Somerset County between Hillsborough High School and Franklin High School. And those two schools will face off in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game on Thursday evening, with the top-seeded Warriors (21-8) playing host to the defending Group 4 champions and third-seeded Raiders (21-6).

It’ll be a battle of experience levels, as Hillsborough looks for its third straight sectional title — winning North 2 Group 4 in 2024 and Central Jersey Group 4 last season — while Franklin reached its first sectional final since 2020 under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie.

It all goes down in Franklin on Thursday evening. You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Alec Crouthamel, with pregame starting around 5:45 pm and tipoff at 6. Click here to listen.

Even after the Raiders lost a group of seniors from that title-winning squad, Hillsborough’s program culture kept some of the underclassmen ready for important action.

They’ve been needed, especially of late. Almost the entire rotation had to shift roles and/or positions with the absence of second-leading scorer Alexa Gaspar in the semifinals against East Brunswick. That preparation helped fuel a come-from-behind victory on the road, to help get Hillsborough to this point.

The Warriors have had mostly smooth sailing in the sectional tournament, winning three games against Shore Conference foes by an average of 40 points.

Junior forward Aleah Sunkins has continued to stake her claim as a top talent in the state, stacking the stat sheet while continuing to improve as a perimeter threat, paired with her ability to get downhill with force. She added a career-high 33 points against Jackson Township in a semifinal victory.

Franklin has a style — and plenty of athleticism and versatility to boot — as things are fully coming together down the stretch of Kreie’s first year at the helm.

It’ll be a heavyweight battle in the sectional title, and a rematch at that. The Warriors defeated the Raiders in Hillsborough 72-44 back on January 6th, but both coaches agree their respective teams have improved and evolved in the two months since that game.

Hillsborough may have the championship experience, but Franklin brings a title-winning coach himself — Kreie won the Non-Public B title with now-closed Montclair Immaculate last season — and a team hungry to reach the heights of the late 2010s, in its first sectional title appearance in six years.

Both teams will look to run and gun, but in the end, whichever team sticks to its plan and stays calm under pressure will likely walk away with the trophy.

Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:


Hillsborough head coach Courtney Tierney

Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie

by Mike Pavlichko

Top-seed Franklin gets complete game from entire cast to top Jackson Twp., 72-44, reach first sectional final since 2020

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:

by Alec Crouthamel

Franklin rallies from early deficit, survives in Somerset County Tournament semifinal win over Gill St. Bernard’s

Franklin girls basketball saw a turning point on its home floor in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.

The third-seeded Warriors (17-7, 2-2) trailedsecond-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s 14-3 in the game’s opening minutes. The Knights (18-5, 3-1) were racing up and down the floor, and got whatever they wanted with their full-court trapping pressure.

But all it took was seeing one shot fall.

Franklin rallied from the early deficit and used a strong second quarter to keep the game in contention, before controlling the possession late to come away with a 53-49 victory.

Junior forward Aleah Sunkins personified the comeback as well as anyone, finishing with a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds after scoring just one point in the first quarter.

Senior guard Addy Platt did much of the scoring and playmaking early on, as Gill St. Bernard’s continued to up the pace and sped up its opposition. The Warriors managed to slow things down a bit towards the end of the opening quarter, and cut the 11-point deficit to eight.

That’s when Franklin took over.

Sunkins scored 11 of the Warriors’ 18 points in the quarter, while senior guard Alissa Myers knocked down two three-pointers. They worked a quick 8-0 run to tie the game back up midway through, and kept close to go into the locker room ahead by two points.

The third quarter was much of the same on both sides, albeit a higher-scoring frame. The Knights retook the lead by a point after 24 minutes, led by seven points from junior guard Melina Miller and six from fellow junior Kaity Platt.

Neither team was able to pull ahead as they each traded blows, but five points from sophomore guard Jamila McRiney proved to be a much-needed scoring boost when the offense started to slow.

McRiney finished with seven points — all in the second half — and nine rebounds as one of Franklin’s more important contributors next to Sunkins.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the fourth quarter, and the Warriors attempted to slow the game down, clinging to a one-score lead. They knocked down a trio of three-pointers to help keep control of the lead, with one from Sunkins and two from Myers.

Franklin made its free throws late — with McRiney and senior Nola Bright each hitting a pair late — to come away with the hard-fought victory.

Addy Platt led Gill St. Bernard’s with 20 points, tying Sunkins for the game lead, while Kaity Platt added 12, and Miller scored 11 in the loss.

The Warriors have now won six straight games, and ten of 11 after a slow start to the year.

They also move on to their fifth Somerset County Tournament final, looking for their second title. They won their most recent appearance over Rutegrs Prep in 2019.

Franklin will face off against the top-seeded Argonauts in the final next weekend, on Saturday at Montgomery High School at 1 pm.

Click below for postgame reaction with Franklin junior Aleah Sunkins and head coach Jimmy Kreie, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Alec Crouthamel

New No. 1 Rutgers Prep looks to build off opening win in Monday tilt against new-look No. 7 Franklin

The only thing unfamiliar for the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball new No. 1 Rutgers Prep girls basketball team this year is how last year’s tournament season unfolded, missing the Somerset County Tournament final for the first time since 2014. Pretty much everything else — down to the players on the roster, with no outgoing seniors or transfers — has remained the status quo. And that’s a very high bar to maintain.

Meanwhile, for No. 7 Franklin, there is plenty of unknown to anticipate, with a new championship-winning head coach and players stepping into elevated roles, while developing the existing talent from the recent two years.

The teams will clash in an inter-township battle on Easton Avenue for the Warriors’ season-opener under new head coach Jimmy Kreie, who takes over for former coach and assistant Darryl Robinson, while the home Argonauts already have a game under their belt. That game will tip off at 5:30 pm from Rutgers Prep, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Alec Crouthamel calling all the action, and coverage starting at 5:15. Click here to listen.

The Argonauts come into this matchup at 1-0 on the year after a 52-40 win over Morris Catholic on Sunday in the NJBCA Tip-Off Showcase. That victory gave the Crusaders their first in-state loss in nearly three years, since a 76-44 loss to Paul VI and Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo in January of 2023.

The winning effort did not come without its fair share of adversity, either. Morris Catholic stormed ahead on a 12-2 run to open the game, and eventually ended the opening quarter up 12-4. Rutgers Prep hit back with its own response immediately after, however, going on a 16-2 run to head into halftime with a lead. The Argonauts ultimately pulled away to win by double digits, led by senior point guard Ava LaMonica’s 15 points and a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double from sophomore forward Hailey Benbow.

42nd-year head coach Mary Coyle-Klinger has plenty of talent at her disposal as per usual, all of which return from last year. That includes seniors Ava Frith and Sophia Georgiades — who sits just six points away from 1,000 in her career — and plenty of underclassmen contributors such as juniors Natalia Valdez and Hannah Fraser, as well as sophomores Maeve Hoebich and Brooke Bredeson, who Coyle-Klinger is “thrilled” to have on board after a breakout season for the Argonauts’ top-ranked soccer team.

The Warriors, on the other hand, open the season after an exciting summer, with scoring talent and athleticism all over the roster.

Leading the way is junior Aleah Sunkins, who finished as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder as a sophomore, and continued to improve over the offseason. She won’t do it alone, though.

Franklin’s senior guard trio of Kayla Duncan, Gianna Mattia, and Alissa Myers will all be trusted to handle the opposing defensive pressure late in games. Junior Alivia Stewart and sophomore Nola Bright will handle the grunt work, playing hounding defense and rebounding the ball, and junior Anaiyah Martin serves as the team’s “lightning rod of energy.”

Much like their opponent, the Warriors also have their fair share of strong soccer players who “never run out of gas,” according to Kreie.

Speaking of, Franklin’s new coach joins the fray after a Non-Public B title at now-closed Montclair Immaculate, including a defeat of upcoming Somerset County foe Gill St. Bernard’s in the semifinals. Kreie racked up an impressive 116-42 record in six years at the Essex County school, and has an even longer track record spanning nearly two decades in the AAU ranks.

Most important to Kreie? The community has fully bought into his new program, as he and Athletic Director Anthony Brito have been in lockstep since taking the job over the summer.

But all of that goes out the window once the ball is lofted into the air Monday night, as two talented teams in Somerset County will battle it out for early-season bragging rights.

Click below for previews of the Rutgers Prep-Franklin game in the opening game of CJSR’s girls basketball season with both head coaches, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

Franklin head coach Jimmy Kreie
Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Coyle-Klinger