Tag: Mark Gnapp

by Alec Crouthamel

Addy Platt earns CJSR Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year honors, while her Gill St. Bernard Knights are Team of the Year after sectional title win

Outside of Gladstone, New Jersey, it looked like the Gill St. Bernard’s girls basketball team may have been headed for a retooling year.

Five seniors graduated, and all played college basketball this season as freshmen at the next level. With a solid stable of underclassmen returning, there was a relative unknown with the Knights.

On campus, though, the belief never wavered, even dating back to the summer.

Gill St. Bernard’s proceeded to go 22-6 and win its first sectional title since 2012, making it all the way to Rutgers in the Non-Public B Final.

All that has earned the Knights Central Jersey Sports Radio Somerset County Team of the Year honors, with senior leader Addy Platt named Girls’ Player of the Year in Somerset.

After playing a smaller role in her junior year, Platt burst onto the scene as a senior. She stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 19.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 4.1 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game. The future Saint Joseph’s Hawk also consistently picked up the opposing team’s top option, while drawing the same assignment on the opposite side.

But championship teams aren’t made by just one player, even a star of Platt’s caliber.

A returning junior class that developed into a dangerous supporting cast propelled Gill into the Team of the Year conversation. Platt’s sister Katie, point guard Melina Miller, and wing Sadie Finn all took advantage of the opportunities in front of them, and altogether, the Knights took another leap forward into the state’s cream of the crop.

Add in an exciting stable of younger talent, and Gill St. Bernard’s won’t be going anywhere.

But for the 2025-26 iteration of the Knights, Platt’s do-it-all leadership and ability to take over games earned her the distinction as the top Player of the Year, and the collective earned Team of the Year.

Click below to hear Knights head coach Mark Gnapp and Platt talk about the 2025-26 season, and what the future holds for both Platt and Gill St. Bernard’s with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Hailey Benbow, Rutgers Prep: There was no sophomore slump for Hailey Benbow, who averaged 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Argonauts, leading the team in both categories in her second season as a starter. She also sunk 25 triples on the year, and led a defensive-oriented squad with 60 steals.
  • Aleah Sunkins, Franklin: It may take five to play basketball, but the Warriors don’t get where they got this year – to the Somerset County Tournament final, and winning Central Jersey Group 4 – without Sunkins, a junior who averaged more than twice the next leading scorer, at 17.9 points per game. In fact, she averaged a double-double with 10.9 boards per contest, while also hitting 36 threes and tying for team-high honors in steals with Alissa Myers, at 62. A seniors, Myers will be gone next year, but Sunkins will remain the focal point next season.
  • Aletha Reynolds, Bernards: A double-double machine, with 16 during the season, Reynolds averaged 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. She helped the Mountaineers to a 10-0 start, and a trip to the North 2, Group 2 semis, where they lost to defending and eventual champion Madison. The senior will attend Catholic University in Washington, D.C. next fall.
  • Peytan Pugh, Bound Brook: Just a freshman, Peytan and Company nearly knocked off Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 title game. Why? Because she registered 254 steals, tops in New Jersey, nearly nine per game! A great focal point to build around for the Crusaders over the next three years!
  • Sadie Fleming, Manville: With 13 double-doubles this season, Sadie had another fantastic year to cap off a four-year varsity journey. She averaged 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game – helping Manville to a school record 17 wins – finishing the her time with the Mustangs as rare member of the “Double 1K Club” – with 1,238 career points and 1,217 rebounds. Sadie is just the second girls’ player at Manville to crack a thousand, but holds the record for most rebounds in a career – by far! Fleming will attend Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania next year.
Gill St. Bernard's guard Kaity Platt (14) goes up with a layup through contact.
by Alec Crouthamel

Gill St. Bernard’s girls bring good times to Rutgers for Non-Public B final against Gloucester Catholic

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:


Gill St. Bernard's celebrates a North Jersey Non-Public B championship on March 9th, 2026 (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
by Alec Crouthamel

Gill St. Bernard’s girls take control early, defeat Saddle River Day in North Non-Public B Final

It’s a Gill St. Bernard’s sweep in Paterson!

Hours after the boys won a sectional title of their own, the top-seeded Knights (23-5) on the girls side finished the job at JFK High School, with a 57-40 win over second-seeded Saddle River Day in the North Jersey Non-Public B final.

Gill took control early on, executing at a high level on both ends of the floor. The Knights took a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and never looked back, comfortably taking the sectional title with a workmanlike effort on offense and defense.

Addy and Kaity Platt led the way for Gill, with 16 and 15 points, respectively. They both got to the basket, shot the ball, and defended at a high level, especially given the Rebels’ (19-10) ability to shoot the ball at a high level.

Point guard Melina Miller also scored in double figures with 10 points, with much of her scoring and passing production coming off drives. Junior Sadie Finn added eight points.

Emily Mattson and Grace Darling each scored 13 points to pace Saddle River Day in the loss, as Giada Celetti and Harper Cohn each scored six.

The Rebels were able to stay within arm’s reach throughout much of the first with some tough shotmaking, led by seven points in the opening frame from Darling.

The elder Platt matched that with seven of her own to open the game, as the Knights took a five-point lead.

That advantage grew incrementally throughout the second quarter, as Gill tightened up its defense and passing to operate like the well-oiled machine it’s turned into in March. It took its first double-digit lead of the night, and eventually took an eight-point lead at the half. Both Platts combined for 19 of the Knights’ 27 points, and matched the Rebels’ team total.

Gill kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter, fully taking control and pulling away with some more ball movement and drives to the rim. Miller converted on three baskets in the paint in the frame, the younger Platt added seven more points. Finn proved to be a major piece to the puzzle as well, as a switchable defender and connecting passer in both the Knights’ transition offense and half-court sets.

That all led to a 17-point lead after three quarters, and Gill cruised to the finish to win by that same number. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, as Saddle River Day kept up the energy and cut into the lead with its pressure and pace. The Knights never faltered, though, and eventually forced some turnovers in the back half of the fourth quarter to fully bury the Rebels.

Gill St. Bernard’s will advance to the Non-Public B title game, where it will face South Jersey Non-Public B champion Gloucester Catholic, which beat Rutgers Prep 44-31 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 Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp and guards Addy and Kaity Platt, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Alec Crouthamel

Gill St. Bernard’s girls peaking at the right time for Non-Public North B title bout against Saddle River Day

Gill St. Bernard’s had plenty of re-tooling to do.

That’s to be expected when losing a senior class with as much talent and accolades as that previous class. But the Knights (21-5) trusted the development of their younger players ready to shine, and the trust was reciprocated as those same players stuck around, even in a reduced role, with the hope of starring on the floor in the near future.

The future has arrived.

Top-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s heads into the Non-Public North B final against second-seeded Saddle River Day with a versatile and dangerous group that’s also finding its stride right when it needs to. You can hear the game on Monday at 7 pm, with pregame coverage starting at roughly 6:45, as Alec Crouthamel will call the action. Click here to listen.

Addy and Kaity Platt get the primary attention — as they should, as two of the team’s top options on both ends of the floor — but it’s been a full team effort for the Knights all year long.

Other contributors, such as junior point guard Melina Miller — who paces the team with nearly six assists per game — and junior wing Sadie Finn had to wait their turn and work behind the scenes. What the rest of the public didn’t see, Gill St. Bernard’s coaching staff did. They knew they had depth waiting in the wings and it has paid off at the right time.

The Knights are playing some of their best basketball of late, working through their first two games of the sectional tournament with ease in dominant wins over Pioneer Academy and Villa Walsh.

The Rebels (19-9) present a new challenge in the sectional title. While not the deepest team, Saddle River Day does have the top-end talent to compete. 88 percent of the Rebels’ scoring comes from their top four options, and they all have stepped up to the task as a dangerous team rebounding the ball and shooting it from the perimeter.

This won’t be the first time they’re featured on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as they fell to St. Thomas Aquinas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, but their go-to stars have only gotten more dangerous. Point guard Harper Cohn has fully re-acclimated to action after missing the early weeks of the season due to injury, and sophomore guard Grace Darling has turned up the heat scoring the basketball.

Both teams come into the matchup with plenty of tradition and history — Saddle River Day as one of Bergen County’s top programs, and Gill St. Bernard’s the same in Somerset County recently — but only one will come out victorious.

The Knights look for their first sectional title in 12 years, without now-closed Montclair Immaculate in the fold, who had defeated Gill in three of the last four years.

The bracket’s top two seeds have met the task all year long, and each have one more with a sectional title on the line.

Click below to hear a preview interview with Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

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 Mike Pavlichko

Addy Platt’s career game boosts No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s past No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas, 67-62, in GMC-Skyland crossover

In some ways, it was a tale of two halves.

While the lead bounced back and forth between No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas and No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s in Gladstone Tuesday night, it was the Trojans leading most of the way in the first 16 minutes of a GMC-Skyland Conference crossover.

That, despite the fact the game saw five first half lead changes.

One more came in the third quarter, and Gill never looked back, en route to a 67-62 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The Knights (15-4) – who had a 12-game win streak snapped back on Tuesday at No. 1 Rutgers Prep, got the lead back in the game for good on a team effort and an individual effort: the team getting the ball to senior Addy Platt, and Platt putting it through the net nearly every time she touched it.

The elder Platt finished with a new career high of 31 points. Held to just three first quarter points – all in the first quarter – she scored 14 in the third quarter, including a trey, and added 14 more in the fourth.

If big players make big plays in big games, Addy Platt is a big-time player.

Her younger sister, Kaity, a junior, added nine, while Nadia Mikalainis came off the bench to score 12, including a pair of treys.

St. Thomas (17-4) – which will get the No. 1 seed in the GMC Tournament when it’s seeded Friday morning – was led by Jordan Barnes with 15, and Trista Whitney with 14.

Gill will begin Somerset County Tournament play – and defense of its 2025 crown – Saturday at home at 11 am when the second-seeded Knights host 7th-seed Bernards at 11 am.

Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s senior Addy Platt and head coach Mark Gnapp, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Final CJSR regular season broadcast pits No. 2 vs. No. 3 as St. Thomas Aquinas girls visit Gill St. Bernard’s

A matchup between St. Thomas Aquinas and Gill St. Bernard’s is rare.

While the two prominent girls’ basketball programs met last year, with Gill claiming a 67-54 win last January 12th in the Coaches’ Choice St. Thomas College Challenge on the Trojans’ home floor, the last time they had played was in 2008, a three-point win for the Knights.

Gill has a different look this season, graduating a slew of talent like Gandy Malou-Mamel (UConn), Sidney Quinn (Naval Academy) and others. But yet, they’re back where they’ve always been – near the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, with a good shot at defending their Somerset County Tournament crown.

St. Thomas, on the other hand, has a lot of they key parts back, with a starting lineup that is averaging at least ten points per game each, a team which Gill St. Bernard’s coach Mark Gnapp knows you can’t just limit one or two girls, you have to play the whole team.

It’s an intriguing late-season regular season matchup, a good tune-up for the county tournaments and state tourney that are just down the road. And you can hear it on Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday evening, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call. Tip off is at 5:30 pm up in Peapack-Gladstone, with pregame at 5:15. Click here to listen.

The one big question is whether junior point guard Lauryn Downing will play. She’s been bothered by an ankle injury, and has missed the last two games at Columbia and against Rumson-Fair Haven Sunday. Both were wins, and the Trojans did just fine, but head coach Tim Corrigan calls her “one of the best point guards in New Jersey,” and he’d sure like to have her Tuesday night.

Senior Jordan Barnes paces the Trojans in scoring, with a 16.5 point per game average. The rest of the leaders are spread out. Downing averages 6.4 assists per game, and leads the squad with 68 steals and 24 triples. Then Leah KEarney (11.1 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (10.4 per game) and has a team-best 28 blocks.

For Gill, senior guard Addy Platt has taken the scoring baton, averaging 18.3 points per game, while also leading the team with 42 blocks and 77 steals. Younger sister Kaity, a junior, leads at 6.8 rebounds per game, while Melina Miller has a team best 96 assists, and freshman Naima Morales-Solivan has a team-best 20 treys.

St. Thomas hasn’t lost at all in 2026, having won 11 straight, all in the New Year, while Gill had won a dozen in a row before last Thursday’s 51-44 loss at Rutgers Prep, in a game that decided the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title. Aquinas is the GMC Red American champion, its ninth straight division title dating to 2019. (Division champs were not crowned in the COVID-shortened season of 2021.)

Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches:

St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Tim Corrigan with Chris Tsakonas
Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp with Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

Always a battle, No. 1 Rutgers Prep, No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s square off Thursday night on CJSR

With the way the Skyland Conference changed its scheduling matrix this year – going away from home-and-home division series an instead playing once through, with more crossovers – Thursday night’s big clash between Rutgers Prep and Gill St. Bernard’s will be their first this season.

And while it won’t matter for the Somerset County Tournament – in which the Argonauts were voted the top seed by the coaches Monday night – it still matters. It’s a huge game between two county powers, the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title is on the line, and there are tons of power points at stake, too.

No. 1 Rutgers Prep will host No. 3 Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday at 5:30 pm, with Mike Pavlichko bringing you all the action live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame starts at 5:15; click here to listen.

The overall results have been very similar this year, even though both have had very different goals. The Argonauts are 14-2, the Knights 14-3, and both are 3-0 in the Skyland Delaware. This winner gets the division crown.

Rutgers Prep’s goal heading into the years was to atone for what, for head coach Mary Klinger’s program, was a disappointing season. She often calls the regular season “the pre-season,” a time to be challenged and work out the kinks en route to a County and State championship. But Prep was ousted in the semifinals of the SCT by Hillsborough last year, and fell to Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public Group B title game. Though they finished 20-7, they wanted more.

The good news? Every key player returned, including four-year starter Ava LaMonica – who’s nearing 1,000 career points – as well as Hannah Fraser, Sophia Georgiades, Ava Frith, and sophomore Hailey Benbow, the tea’s top scorer.

And while Gill’s won last year’s Somerset County Tournament – their first in a decade – their goal was a bit different: to replace the more than 70 percent of its scoring that graduated, a group headlined by Gandy Malou-Mamel, who’s now at UConn, along with Sindey Quinn, Cassidy Moore, Tessa Lozner and Maya Abramson.

Senior Addy Platt is the team’s top scorer now, with her sister Kaity not far behind. Others, like junior Sadie Finn and freshman Naima Morales Solivan have been among those making significant contributions.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko preview the matchup with both head coaches:

Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger
Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp

by Mike Pavlichko

“It’s their time”: All is not lost for Gill St. Bernard’s girls, as Knights look to counter graduation losses with returning, new talent

The last time the Gill St. Bernard’s girls’ basketball team won the Somerset County Tournament before last year’s title was in 2014. But winning it again in 2026 will be quite the challenge.

Every year, it’s a challenge, of course. But this year in particular, considering the losses The Knights have endured to graduation.

First, there’s Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year Gandy Maloou-Mamel, who’s now up at UConn. Then there’s Maya Abramson, Ressa Lozner, Sidney Quinn and Cassidy Moore, all moved on to bigger and better things in college.

And it was not just the pure talent that core had, but the fact that they all played together for four years, with the exception of Malou-Mamel, who spent three years at the Gladstone school.

So who will take the baton and run with it? The athletic and coachable Addy Platt (10.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 15 treys) is back for her senior season, and then it’s a “strong returning” group of juniors, of whom Knapp says “it’s their time to shine.”

Skilled, talented – and there’s that word again, “coachable” – about the next crop of future Gill stars

The point guard will be junior Melina Miller, who Knapp says is “really good at everything.” Addy’s sister Kaity Platt may have been “their best player this summer” and led the team in scoring in the off-season. He also likes junior Sadie Finn, a guard who can “defend, shoot, rebound, finish.”

Sophomore Nadia Mikalainis also is expected to contribute, as well as 5-9 incoming freshman Naima Morales Solivan.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s girls’ basketball coach Mark Gnapp preview the upcoming season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Gill opens its season Sunday against Westfield at noon, and will appear on Central Jersey Sports Radio on Thursday, January 29 at 7 pm when they visit Rutgers Prep.

by Alec Crouthamel

Gill St. Bernard’s girls face off in Non-Public North B final against Montclair Immaculate in first sectional since 2014

Gill St. Bernard’s has not made it to a sectional final in eleven years, but the Knights’ experience this season goes beyond their years.

Led by a quintet of seniors, four of whom playing college basketball at the next level, Gill St. Bernard’s has had one of its banner seasons and currently boasts an eight-game win streak.

Coming off a dominant 85-39 win over Hudson Catholic in the semifinals, the Knights will face off against a familiar foe in the finals on Monday.

In 2023 and 2024, Gill St. Bernard’s played Montclair Immaculate in the Non-Public North B quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The Lady Lions won both matchups, before falling to Morris Catholic in the championship in both years. With the Crusaders moving to Group A this season, it left a void in the title game.

This year? The natural progression continued, as the two will face off in the title game, Monday at 7 pm at Paterson Kennedy High School.

Led by UConn-bound Gandy Malou-Mamel, the Knights bring a fierce transition attack led by their defense, winning the Somerset County Tournament title before its sectional tournament run.

While Malou-Mamel’s numbers in scoring and rebounding already show her impact on the floor, what the numbers don’t show profiles her impact as well, as the defensive hub in the middle and setting up everything at the rim.

In the backcourt, senior Tessa Lozner directs traffic on offense with plenty of wing depth, led by forwards Sidney Quinn and Maya Abramson.

Montclair Immaculate (22-6) brings a balanced scoring attack led by forward Nila Giraud, who is playing her best basketball at the right time. She comes into the title game with four straight double-doubles, including a 32-point, 12-rebound performance in the Lady Lions’ semifinal win over Saddle River Day.

Giraud is one of five players scoring at least 200 points this season, with Giraud (15.8 points per game) doing so in only 16 games.

Is the third time the charm for Gill St. Bernard’s with its experience and pace, or will Montclair Immaculate reach the mountaintop on Monday?

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s Head Coach Mark Gnapp talk about the Knights and the Non-Public North B final against Montclair Immaculate: