Tag: Matt Melesurgo

by Mike Pavlichko

Lauber joins 1,000 point club, hits 11 straight late free throws for No. 6 Somerville to cement 52-44 win at in-town rival Immaculata

Scoring 1,000 points in a career is a milestone. Reaching a new career high is another great accomplishment.

But in a game where neither team could seed to hit a free throw late – Immaculata to get closer or Somerville to pull away – senior Kaylee Lauber took over, and hit 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch, including 11 in a row, to give the No. 6 Pioneers a 52-44 road win Thursday night, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was the ninth straight win in the series for Somerville, and only the second in that stretch decided by more than ten points between the in-town rivals.

Lauber led all scorers with 30 points, a new career high. She needed five to reach the 1,000 mark in her career, and got it on a basket in the second quarter. Held to just two made free throws in the second half, she had 15 at the break.

The early going was tight, with three ties and four lead changes in a first quarter that saw Immaculata take a 17-9 lead through the first eight minutes. But Somerville outscored them 17-5 over the next eight, and led 26-22 at the half.

They never lost the lead, but there was one more tie at 27 in the third. The rest of the way was tight, too – 38-35 at the end of three – before Lauber’s free throws put the game away.

Besides her effort, Somerville was 0-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter; Immaculata was 4-for-11.

A high school basketball game in progress, with players from both teams actively engaging on the court. The player in the foreground wearing a red jersey prepares to pass the ball while two opponents in blue jerseys are positioned nearby. Cheerleaders are visible in the background.
Somerville plays at Immaculata in a Skyland Conference Mountain Division game on December 18, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Amaya Miller finished with 11 for the Pioneers (2-0, 1-0 Skyland Mountain Division), their only other player in double figures.

Immaculata got 15 from Alexa Regan, but Rhainya Brown was held to six on a pair of treys, one each in the third and fourth quarters.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with Somerville senior Kaylee Lauber and head coach Matt Melesurgo, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 6 Somerville visits Immaculata Thursday night in latest edition of in-town rivalry

Any sport, any level, Somerville-Immaculata is one of the great rivalries in Central Jersey.

So, when their two girls’ basketball teams step on the floor Thursday evening in just the second game of the year for both schools – and their first of two scheduled meetings this year – expect another tight game full of physicality and emotion.

The Pioneers have won eight straight in the series and ten of the last eleven, with seven of the eight victories in that streak coming by ten or fewer points. They met twice last year, including a 16-point Somerville win in December, and a 60-56 victory in mid-January.

The Spartans’ last win came in 2015, a 58-46 win.

You can hear Thursday night’s game between No. 6 Somerville (1-0) and Immaculata (0-1) live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off set for 7 pm and pregame at 6:45. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action; click here to listen.

Somerville loses thousand-point scorer Charlotte Taylor (Wilkes University) to graduation with her 11.5 point per game and team-best 146 assists, but there is plenty of talent back. Top scorer Kaylee Lauber (16.4 ppg, 5.09 rpg, 30 treys) returns for her senior season, along with Amaya Miller, the third player from last year’s starting five to average over ten points a game. They’ll be relied upon to score even more this season.

Lauber is just five points away from joining the 1,000-point club herself.

For Immaculata, top-scorer Alex Regan is back; as a sophomore, she led the team in scoring with 12.3 points and ten rebounds per game, plus a team-best 46 treys. And now, another year older, she’ll be even more of a leader, along with Caroline Duffey, who’s back for her senior year after scoring 9.5 points per game, and hitting 44 threes in her junior campaign. They also add thousand-point scorer Rhaiyna Brown, who played the last two seasons at Timothy Christian, and is the daughter of Rutgers women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington.

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

Somerville head coach Matt Melesurgo
Immaculata head coach Jeff Sullivan
by Mike Pavlichko

Somerville figured it out early, still looking to improve as Pioneers visit Bound Brook in rare Saturday morning divisional tilt

Coming off a 17-11 season, Somerville head coach Matt Melesurgo knew his team would have some things to work on coming into 2023-34.

And yet, the ninth-ranked Pioneers are 8-1 heading into Saturday morning’s clash at No. 10 Bound Brook, a game originally scheduled for this past Tuesday night, but postponed due to the strong storms that battered the Northeast.

Melesurgo believes the defense will feed the offense, and even though they’re not where they want to be yet, well, just look at the record.

It’s been nice to have success while figuring it all out, for sure. There’s Kaylee Lauber, who’s averaging 12 points a game, but also has 26 steals. And Charlotte Taylor, who’s averaging 13 a game, and has 18 threes, along with a team-best 28 steals.

That the top offensive stars are getting it done on defense speaks volumes.

They’ll need similar efforts Saturday morning against the Crusaders, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Tip off is at 11 am, pregame at 10:40 with Mike Pavlichko on the call; click here to listen.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Somerville head caoch Matt Melesurgo: