Tag: JP Stevens

by Mike Pavlichko

Usual suspects Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s among some different faces who are undefeated in girls’ hoops heading into holiday tourneys

There are ten girls’ basketball teams from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area who are undefeated heading into the short Christmas break, and then the holiday tournaments between December 25th and the New Year.

The Skyland Conference has five undefeated teams – with four in our coverage area, from Somerset County- while the Greater Middlesex Conference the other has five, and not all are the usual suspects. Scroll through for a closer look.

North Plainfield knocks off last GMC Red Division unbeaten…

It’s the first time in at least a decade no GMC Red Division team will go into Christmas unbeaten. Monroe was the last one, but got knocked off by White Division leader North Plainfield on Saturday. They’re one of three GMC White teams still without a loss, including 4-0 JP Stevens and 3-0 Woodbridge.

The Canucks trailed Monroe after a quarter, but led by three at halftime, and four going into the final quarter of a 50-36 win, in which the defense clamped down and allowed just two points over the final eight minutes. That may be their big key this year, with the average margin of victory of 27.4 points through five games; no one has scored more than 36 points, and in 20 quarters, they have held the opposition to single digit scoring in at least 14 of them, with a full box score not available for one of them. No one has scored a ton of points, but five have scored at least 30 through the first five games, so the Lady Canucks have some balance, too. North Plainfield is in the West Orange Holiday Showcase Wednesday against Teaneck at 3 pm, then will play either Paterson Eastside or host West Orange Friday; the consolation game is at 1 pm, the title game at 3 pm.

As for JP Stevens, they opened up with three straight road wins at South Plainfield, Middlesex and North Brunswick, before playing their first home game Thursday, topping JFK 53-29. Senior guard Katherine Bogutskyy is leading the way with an eye-popping 20.8 points per game, along with 13 steals, tied for the team lead with junior forward Chloe Chan. The Hawks have the next week off, and are back in action January second at Perth Amboy. They won’t meet North Plainfield until they travel there for a big January 11th showdown.

The third team that’s unbeaten is Woodbridge. The Lady Barrons claim road wins over Perth Amboy and Sayreville, as well as a home win over Edison sandwiched in between. It’s their best start since 2016-17, when they won their first six under Bobby Timinski, who’s still the head coach. The top scorer is Angel Smith, a sophomore averaging just under 20 points a game (62 points in three contests). Senior Aliyah Folarin is averaging 10.7 points, and leads the team in rebounding with 9.3 a contest. Woodbridge is in the Lady Chiefs Showcase at Piscataway, a three-day event with six teams. They play host P’way in the third game, at 1 pm, Tuesday. Then they get Old Bridge Wednesday in the 11:30 middle game, and play the opener Friday against Colonia at 10 am.

In the Blue Division, it’s Spotswood at 3-0. The Chargers had high expectations coming into the year and so far have not disappointed. Like North Plainfield, there are no astronomical scoring stats for any individual. It’s a young team, with one senior, and so far it’s junior Lizzie Calandruccio leading the way with 15 points and 5 rebounds per game. And freshman guard Gabby Hill has 15 steals already (five a game) to lead the Lady Chargers. There’s a good test ahead when they also go to the Lady Chiefs Holiday Showcase at Piscataway this week, where they’ll play three bigger schools: Colonia Tuesday at 11:30 am, host Piscataway at 10 am Thursday, and Old Bridge on Friday in the showcase finale at 1 pm.

Finally, Dunellen of the Gold Division also is unbeaten at 3-0. The Destroyers claim wins over Piscataway Magnet, South Amboy and Timothy Christian, the first and last of those being on the road. They held the first two to under 30 points defensively, and on the offensive side of the floor are lead by sophomore forward Wendy Woll with a 17 point per game average, while also averaging 8.7 boards. Freshman Brielle Villanueva-Jadotte is averaging 9.3 rebounds a game to lead the team. Dunellen will host its own event, the Clem Santy Holiday Tournament, at the Faber School in town, taking on Dunellen at 4 pm Wednesday after Middlesex and Highland Park square off in the 2:30 opener. Friday is the consolation at 2:30, final at 4:00.

Two pairs of rivals unblemished in Somerset County…

In the Delaware Division, it’s no surprise as Gill St. Bernard’s (5-0) and Rutgers Prep (4-0) remain unbeaten, while rivals Bound Brook (4-0) and Somerville (2-0) are undefeated in the Mountain Division.

The Knights have three division wins already, having beaten Franklin, Watchung Hills and Hillsborough, while also claiming a victory over Trinity Hall in the She Got Game Classic and Newark Central this past Saturday. Junior Gandy Malou-Mamel is the top scorer with 18.8 points per game, followed by a balanced supporting cast of senior Brooke Baisley (13.6), Tessa Lozner and Sidney Quinn. If those names sound familiar, they should; it’s a veteran group. Gill will play in the KSA Events Holiday Tournament down in Kissimmee, Florida this week. They’re in the “Red Bracket” and play Tuesday against Horizon (FL) at 7 pm, Thursday against Perkiomen Valley (PA) at 7, and Friday against Metropolitan Campus (NY) at 10 am to close it out.

As for Rutgers Prep – the only team that has been No. 1 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio/Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten since its inception in 2021 – the Lady Argonauts are 4-0, 2-0 in divisional play with wins over Watchung Hills in their opener (by 45) and Hillsborough (by 22) last Thursday. They also have out-of-conference wins in the She Got Game Classic over St. Mary’s (NY) and West Orange. This may be one of the best teams veteran coach Mary Klinger has had in recent years, with only one senior graduating, all the returnees improving, and newcomers filtering in. Sophomore GiGi Battle is the leading scorer at 15.5 points per game, while senior Mikayla Blakes is at 13.8 points a game, and Aquinas transfer Leah Crosby is crashing the boards to the tune of 7.5 a contest. Senior Chloe Escanillas has hit ten triples already, and as a team, they have registered an average of nearly 16 steals per game, typical for a Klinger-coached squad. They go to the John Wall Invitational at William Peace University this week. In the Frances A. Pulley Bracket, they take on Terry Sanford (NC) at 1:30 Friday afternoon, followed by Grace Christian School (NC) and South Meck (NC) at 3 pm. Friday is the consolation at 3:00 and the final at 6 pm.

As for Gill and Rutgers Prep facing each other? They’re back in New Jersey to play Thursday, January 4th at 6 pm in Somerset, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The other two unbeaten teams from Somerset County are in the Mountain Division together, and we’ll have their first matchup of the season when they square off on January 9th at 7 pm in the Brook as well.

The Lady Crusaders are 4-0 overall, and 3-0 in the division. Their games have been somewhat close, including back-to-back home wins to open the season against Belvidere and Middlesex, then a road win at Manville and a home victory against South Hunterdon back on Thursday last week. Coach Jen Derevjanik’s squad is led by senior Brooke Cooper and her 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, while senior Jamaiya McLeod already has 13 steals. Bound Brook hosts its very own Crusader Classic Wednesday and Thursday. The Brook hosts Koinonia at 1:00 Wednesday afternoon, followed by Oak Knoll and Union Catholic at 3 pm. The consolation is at 1:00 and the finals at 5 pm on Thursday.

Somerville is undefeated as well, but has played just two games. They’re coached by Matt Melesurgo, whose brother, Anthony, is the Bound Brook boys’ coach. The Pioneers cruised past South Hunterdon in their opener, 40-14, on December 14th, then won 37-29 at Del Val last Thursday. Junior Charlotte Taylor leads the team with 26 points in two games, including six threes, while senior Emily Kolodziej is the top rebounder with 19. The Pioneers play in the three-day West Windsor-Plainsboro North Tournament, starting Wednesday in Game D at 4:15 pm against Matawan. The rest of the matchups depend on the results, with four games each on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood squeaks by JP Stevens to clinch first playoff berth since 2015

It was a close one, yet again, but the one thing the NJSIAA playoff formula doesn’t factor in are style points.

If that were the case, it could be a different story in Spotswood Saturday afternoon. Then again, the Chargers have never been about style, and more about toughness, grit and embracing an underdog mentality.

They may not have been the underdogs either in their game against JP Stevens, even though the Hawks are a Group 5 school; after all, they had lost 38 straight games coming into Chargers Stadium.

But the two played each other tight last year – Spotswood won 18-7 a year ago – and this Saturday was no different, a 22-18 win, but with one major difference: this one got them in the playoffs.

The Chargers had six wins at last year’s cutoff, but a weak schedule kept them out. It almost did this year, but they made it – at 8-1, and needing a win on the final weekend – but they made it, and entirely on merit.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

“The Big Central in 2 Minutes” – Week 6: Titan Tussle, Monty’s Monsters

Things are heating up in the Big Central Conference. It’s the last three weeks of the season and big games continue to abound. Montgomery won a big battle with Watchung Hills, led by the dynamic duo of QB Michael Schmelzer, Jr., and WR Matt D’Avino. There are five unbeaten teams left in the league, and Phillipsburg and Summit could be primed for top seeds come the playoffs.

CJSR veteran reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week Six edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

by Mike Pavlichko

Thomas’ 4 TDs, perfect first half, proper Carteret to 46-7 win over JP Stevens

The night belonged to Jakir Thomas.

The Carteret junior runningback – already over 2,000 yards coming into the game for his career – scored four touchdowns in the first half – and the Ramblers scored the ball every time they touched it except for the final drive of the game where the clock ran out – en route to a 46-7 win over visiting JP Stevens Friday night, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Thomas had TD runs of 29, 31, 11 and 35 yards, finishing with 10 carries for 154 yards.

Carteret’s game plan was to pound the rock, and they did; the Ramblers only attempted one pass all game, going for three yards to Sir Hezekiah Ragland.

It’s the fourth time this year Carteret scored 40 or more points in a game, one off the all-time school mark of five set during 2012’s undefeated state championship season, the last time the Ramblers won a title.

Carteret improves to 5-1, while JP Stevens drops to 0-5 and has now lost 37 straight games, the second longest active streak in New Jersey.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Carteret runningback Jakir Thomas
Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman
by Mike Pavlichko

JP Stevens taking it one step at a time in first year under head coach Jason Goerge

When it comes to J.P. Stevens, it’s easy to talk about the streak. Five losses to start this season and 36-straight dating back to the last win on October 26, 2018, against Monroe.

But for new head coach Jason Goerge, it’s not something the Hawks let hang over them like a dark cloud.

Sure, it’s out there. It exists. But J.P. doesn’t entertain it. Becoming more competitive, winning games, eventually winning lots of games – those are big picture things, and right now J.P. is focused on just trying to get better with every passing day.

“We’re looking to isolate every single rep,” Goerge says. “We’re believing in the process and that the results will come if we do that every day.”

An example: a 12-play, 60-plus-yard touchdown drive in the first half last week against South Plainfield that brought the Hawks back within striking distance. Goerge wants his guys to chase that feeling.

The Hawks will look to keep taking things step-by-step as they visit red-hot Carteret (4-1, 2-0 Big Central – United Silver) Friday night. Coverage begins at 6:40 on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe on the broadcast. Kickoff is slated for 7:00. Click here to listen.

Click below to listen to Justin Sontupe talk with J.P. Stevens head coach Jason Goerge:

by Mike Pavlichko

Carteret back on track, looking to finish strong down the stretch as JP Stevens visits “The Pit”

To say Carteret came out to start the 2023 high school football season on fire would be disrespecting fire itself.

The Ramblers – who have played football since 1925 – did something they’ve never ever done in their history: score 40 or more points in three straight games.

Now, that run came to an end when they were held to a single touchdown in a 35-7 loss to much-improved Plainfield at Hub Stine Field two weeks ago, but they got right back on the horse and took it out on North Plainfield the following week, picking up a shutout win.

Now, a team led on offense by quarterback Tyrece Parrott and a disruptive defense led by Antwaun Jackson – a recent Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week honoree – is ready to keep it going in Week 5 as the Ramblers (4-1) take on JP Stevens (0-5) at The Pit Friday night.

It’s a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 6:45 and kickoff at 7 as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the action. Click here to listen.

JP Stevens comes in with a 36-game losing streak that dates to 2018 and is the second longest such streak in the state – behind only Highland Park, currently at 46 games and counting. But that doesn’t mean Carteret will take them lightly.

“We’re not satisfied,” says head coach Kevin Freeman, who believes the Plainfield loss helped his team take more accountability for its mistakes.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman about the Ramblers’ season and the matchup with JP Stevens Friday night:

by Mike Pavlichko

“The Big Central in 2 Minutes” – Week 5: Upsets, Near Upsets and Unbeatens

We’re now officially at the mid-point of the high school football season, and things are heating up – from Hillsborough’s big upset of Phillipsburg at Rutgers to this week’s cash of titans between Watchung Hills and Montgomery, both of whom are 5-0.

CJSR veteran reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week Five edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

by Mike Pavlichko

Who’s streaking? After three weeks, Spotswood holds Big Central’s longest active win streak

The Big Central’s longest active winning streak is now up to six games, but Spotswood is all alone.

The Chargers and Summit both had five-game winning streaks heading into Week Three, but while Spotswood blanked Highland Park in a rare home night game – they brought in temporary lights – the Hilltoppers fell to the juggernaut that is St. Thomas Aquinas, 44-20, for their first loss of the season.

There’s less of a chance to carry a long winning streak into another season these days, since the NJSIAA last year played its first-ever group championships. Before expanding to “regional championships” – essentially group semifinals without a group title game – in 2018, there were 20 public schools that could carry a winning streak to the next year after winning a sectional crown.

Now that those teams can potentially play two more rounds, only five public schools (who made the playoffs) can go into the next season on a win streak. (There are others, but more on that later.)

After Spotswood, no one in the Big Central has a five game winning streak, but six have won four in a row. The only streak of those six that carries back to last season is Phillipsburg, which is 3-0, and beat Easton in its last game of 2022 after getting knocked out of the state playoffs in the North 2, Group 5 title game by West Orange.

The others who have won four straight are all 4-0 this season, uncluding HUnterdon Central, Montgomery, Watchung Hills, Bernards, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Statewide, Caldwell still owns the longest active winning streak in New Jersey, currently at 31 games. After winning their last three games of 2020, they went 13-0 last year and won the state Group 2 title over Rumson-Fair Haven, and are now 3-0 this year. The Indians host West Essex (2-2) Friday night.

The second-longest streak in the state ended Friday night when Toms River North lost 21-7 to Donovan Catholic. That streak ended at 17, and to add injury to insult, star quarterback Micah Ford went down with an injury, the extent of which is not yet known.

The next-closest streaks are nine games, owned by three teams. Old Tappan won its last six last year en route to the state Group 3 title; they’re 3-0 this year. Woodbury – last year’s Group 1 champ – won its final five last year and is 4-0 this season.

Meanwhile, Fort Lee also has won nine-in-a-row. Though just 2-0 this year, they won their last seven games last year, en route to an 8-1 season. How?

They’re in the NJIC’s Ivy White division, a division allowed by the NJSIAA where struggling programs can play each other, but are not permitted to make the state playoffs due to the intentionally weak schedule they play. There are two such divisions in the NJIC and another two in the Super Football Conference.

As for losing streaks, Highland Park and JP Stevens remain the longest and second-longest statewide.

The Owls are at 45 games after a 34-0 loss to Spotswood Friday. They’re 0-3, and host Roselle Park (1-2) this Friday.

The Hawks are at 35, with an 0-4 record this season after a 34-0 loss THursday to Governor Livingston. They host South Plainfield (2-2) Friday.

Behind them is Ferris, whose streak swelled to 26 with a 43-8 loss at KEarny on Friday. They host Dwight Morrow/Englewood (2-0) on Friday.

by Mike Pavlichko

Yascko gets first win at alma mater; everyone gets involved as Edison wins 10th straight against arch-rival JP Stevens

Edison had a disappointing opener to 2023 with a 44-12 loss at Bridgewater-Raritan last Friday night.

It may not have been unexpected. While the Eagles are certainly talented, new players are adjusting to leadership roles and positions that had been manned by several three-year starters on last year’s Central Jersey Group 5 championship team. And that might take some time.

But Thursday night, they made sure there wasn’t another disappointment in Game Two.

Edison blew past JP Stevens 57-0 with everyone getting into the act, scoring early and often, as they built a 39-0 lead before halftime, activating the running clock for the second half.

Nyekir Eato rushed for touchdowns of five and six yards. Tori’ahn Rattray had a three-yard touchdown run and brought back the second half kickoff for a score. Aidan Woomer had a one-yard touchdown run and returned two punt blocks for touchdowns, once in the first quarter and again in the third. And Anthony Calantoni threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Harvey for the third score of the game.

Edison’s game MVP, Justin Reid, also recovered two fumbles on defense.

The Eagles improved to 1-1 with the win, the first for new head coach Matt Yascko at his alma mater, after three years as offensive coordinator. That followed 14 years leading Carteret, where he was 82-67 with two state championships and three finals berths.

JP Stevens fell to 0-2 with the loss, and has lost 33 straight dating back to 2018, the second-longest active losing streak in New Jersey behind Highland Park, which sits at 42, and opens the 2023 season at Tenafly Friday night.

Click below for postgame interviews by Marcus Borden with Edison head coach Matt Yascko and game MVP Justin Reid: