Tag: Mikayla Blakes

by Mike Pavlichko

Three key Rutgers Prep seniors talk about ending their HS careers right where they started: No. 1

Mikayla Blakes, Chloe Escanillas and Zahra Alexander have a bond that few classmates at a non-public school ever have, one that saw them play together for years before they ended up at Rutgers Prep.

But what the soon-to-be-graduating seniors have done on Easton Avenue is immeasurable. A few facts:

In the four-year history of the Bellamy & Son Paving/Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, they are the only team to hold that ranking, for a streak of 37 consecutive weeks in the No. 1 spot.

They won the first-ever, one-off top Skyland Conference pod in the 2021 COVID-shortened season. Since, they have won all three Somerset County Tournaments, and all three Non-Public South B titles in the state playoffs. They won the Group B title in 2022 and went to the Tournament of Champions.

Rutgers Prep with its third straight Non-Public South B trophy, after beating St. Rose at Jackson Liberty HS on March 4, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

They never lost a single game to a Skyland Conference opponent, continuing a streak that started in 2019, and shows no sign of ending any time soon.

Blakes will be playing at Vanderbilt next fall, Escanillas at Marist, and Alexander at NYU. All three have contributed in varying ways to Rutgers Prep’s success, and all three helped lay the groundwork for and instill the values of hard work in younger players like Ava LaMonica and GiGi Battle – who will be juniors next season – as well as those who’ll arrive in the coming years.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mikayla Blakes, Chloe Escanillas and Zahra Alexander talk about Rutgers Prep’s 2023-24 season, and their careers with the Argonauts:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls face toughest battle all season, but prevail 58-55 over Gill in SCT title tilt

The Rutgers Prep girls basketball team had beaten Gill St. Bernard’s twice this season, both times by large margins.

But Saturday, in the Somerset County Tournament title game at Montgomery Township High School, it was much closer.

In a game that featured nine ties after 0-0, and 14 lead changes – and saw the Argonauts trailing at halftime for the first time since the 2019 SCT final, a loss to Franklin that remains their most recent defeat to a Skyland Conference opponent – Rutgers Prep ultimately came out on top.

The No. 1 seed Argonauts beat second-seeded Knights 58-55.

Prep was without sophomore Ava LaMonica, who injured her ankle early against Franklin Thursday in the semifinals. It forced head coach Mary Klinger to adjust her rotation.

And early on, Prep wasn’t hitting shots. But they did down the stretch, and that was the difference. That and Gill’s Gandy Malou-Mamel fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Mikayla Blakes led Prep (21-4) with 18 points, eleven after halftime, and with two three-pointers in the fourth, following another in the third. Chloe Escanillas also had three treys, finishing with 13. Two of those triples came in the fourth quarter.

Brooke Baisley led the Knights (23-4) – and all scorers – with 20.

The win gives Rutgers Prep its 10th county title in program history, and fourth straight, having won in 2020, 2022, 2023 and this season. In between they won the Skyland Conference’s top pod in the 2021 COVID-shortened season.

Click below for postgame reaction with Rutgers Prep’s Mikayla Blakes and head coach Mary Klinger, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep five-star Mikayla Blakes talks her commitment to Vanderbilt, career goals, and finishing strong senior season

It’s been a couple of weeks since Mikayla Blakes announced her commitment to play college basketball at Vanderbilt University, but we’re just now catching up with her!

The senior from Rutgers Prep, one of the top targets in the nation, had a slew of big college offers, eventually choosing the Commodores over Rutgers, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, Stanford and UCLA, all of whom were amonbher final seven.

Locally, Blakes has been the Central Jersey Sports Radio girls’ basketball Player of the Year the last two seasons, and, to be frank, it would be hard to imagine her not winning a third straight.

But she doesn’t just want to play high-level basketball and turn pro someday. She also wants to be a doctor, possibly working with children in some fashion.

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko got a chance to talk to Mikayla one-on-one the past Thursday after her Lady Argonauts beat Franklin “on the road” at the Metro Classic at Franklin High School.

Click below to listen:

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s off to Vanderbilt for Rutgers Prep five-star Mikayla Blakes, and it’s not all about basketball

Yes, Mikayla Blakes can do amazing things with the basketball.

But, one day, she may be doing amazing things in the medical profession.

She’d like to be a doctor, her coach Mary Klinger, told us earlier this season. And that was a big reason why, when Blakes announced her college commitment Monday in Rutgers Prep’s gym, surrounded by family, teammates and her coaches, she chose Vanderbilt University.

Blakes is the first five-star girls’ basketball recruit to come out of Somerset County since Diamond Miller of Franklin, who was on the 34-0 team in 2019 that won the Tournament of Champions. Ironically, Blakes’ current team – Rutgers Prep – hasn’t lost to a Skyland Conference opponent since falling to Franklin in the 2019 Somerset County Tournament final.

Blakes – the two-time defending Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year – recently narrowed her options down to seven schools, with the other options being Rutgers, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Stanford, and UCLA.

This season, she was named one of three McDonald’s All-American nominees from her team, along with Zahra Alexander and Chloe Escanillas, and is on the midseason watch list for the Naismith Player of the Year Award. 

Blakes is ESPNW’s tenth-ranked player in the Class of 2024.

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep five-star Mikayla Blakes to announce college decision Monday

Five-star recruit Mikayla Blakes of Rutgers Prep will make her long-awaited college decision announcement this Monday afternoon.

Blakes – the two-time defending Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year – recently narrowed her options down to seven schools, including – in no particular order – Rutgers, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Stanford, and UCLA.

Her accolades are many, this season alone being named one of three McDonald’s All-American nominees from her team, along with Zahra Alexander and Chloe Escanillas.

Blakes also was named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, and is ESPNW’s tenth-ranked player in the Class of 2024.

Should Rutgers be her next stop, she would join another five-star, the highest-ranked player yet landed by Course Washington, Kiyomi McMiller, out of Life Center Academy in Burlington County. She’s ranked No. 22 in the ’24 Class by ESPNW.

Her head coach, Mary Klinger – who just earned her 700th career coaching win Thursday night with a victory over Ridge – has said that basketball won’t be the only factor going into Blakes’ decision; she wants to be a doctor.

Blakes will make her announcement from Rutgers Prep’s gym at 12:15 Monday afternoon on ESPN’s SportsCenter Next, which can be viewed on their YouTube channel by clicking here.

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep’s Mary Klinger picks up milestone 700th win as Argonauts roll past Ridge

With all due respect to the opponent, the pizza got there early.

More than a dozen boxes, all for friends, family, alumni, fellow coaches, former coaches to honor Mary Klinger after the game on her 700th win.

Of course, the game was played, and Ridge hung in tough early. But keep in mind, Rutgers Prep girls basketball hasn’t lost a game to a Skyland Conference opponent since a defeat at the hands of Franklin and her good friend Audrey Taylor in the 2019 Somerset County Tournament Final. And, of course, the Warriors went undefeated that year, winning the Tournament of Champions.

Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger (left) and her college coach, former Rutgers mentor Theresa Grentz, with whom they won the 1982 AIAW National Championship, after Klinger’s 700th win as a head coach on January 18, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

And for all the threes Mikayla Blakes sunk, or the and-ones Ava LaMonica got, or the hard trips to the foul line GiGi Battle earned, this night was about their coach, their mentor, Mary Klinger.

Whatever happened in the 85-42 win was secondary to what would happen when the final horn sounded.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE FINAL HORN, WITH POSTGAME INTERVIEWS ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

In the fourth quarter, Prep staff handed out “700” signs for the crowd to hold up. Audrey Taylor was in the house. So was former Rutgers basketball coach and color commentator Dick Lloyd. So was Mary’s college coach, Theresa Grentz, with whom they brought Rutgers the 1982 AIAW National Championship.

If you really want to know what happened in the game: Battle led Prep (12-3, 6-0 Skyland Delaware) with 16, LaMonica chipped in 16, and five-star recruit Mikayla Blakes scored 14, including four treys. The starting five came out midway through the third quarter. Sophia Georgiades led all scorers with 17 for Ridge (5-9, 3-3 Skyland Raritan).

Rutgers Prep’s GiGi Battle drives to the basket against Ridge in the game that would give her head coach, Mary Klinger, her 700th win. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Klinger has been at Prep since the 1984-85 season, almost right off The Banks. She was already an impressive 469-217, with a winning percentage of .683, over her first 30 seasons. 

Over the next ten? Well, she’s 232-37 since the start of the 2014-15 season.

The win was the Argos’ 46th straight against Somerset County opponents, and 59th in a row against the Skyland Conference. 

That’s almost as impressive.

Click below for postgame reaction after Rutgers Prep coach Mary Klinger’s 700th win, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Rutgers Prep coach Mary Klinger
Chloe Escanillas and Mikayla Blakes
by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep’s Blakes earns back-to-back CJSR Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year Honors

It’s rare for a sophomore to be named a Player of the Year in high school basketball, and that’s just what Mikayla Blakes of Rutgers Prep did last year. Which, of course, begs the question, “What do you do for an encore?”

Answer: You do it again.

Blakes – now a junior – had another fantastic season for Rutgers Prep, the clear leader of the ballclub. As she went, Prep went. And they “went” to the tune of a 25-5 record, third straight Somerset County Tournament title, second straight Non-Public South B sectional title, and a clean sweep of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten’s No. 1 ranking all year, making it 28 straight weeks over three seasons.

Individually, Blakes scored 660 points on the season, by far and away not only the team’s leader, averaging 22 per game, but also the top-scorer in the CJSR area. She also led the Lady Argonauts in threes (75), free throws made (131, shooting a cool 85-percent from the line), assists (99) and steals (97).

Rutgers Prep junior Mikayla Blakes runs the point against Wildwood Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final at Seneca High School in Medford Lakes on March 1, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Not only did she score in double figures every game – now on a 34-game streak including her last four postseason games last year – but she scored 20 or more in 21 out of 30 games this season, and topped 30 three times, with a career-high 35 at against Gill St. Bernard’s on January fifth.

But many seem to gloss over Blakes’ defensive prowess. She always seems to be in a passing lane, or forcing a bad pass into the hands of one of her teammates. That’s what makes her an all-around player, and the 2023 Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

We also have some honorable mentions. Scroll down to read more.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino talk with our Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year, Rutgers Prep junior guard Mikayla Blakes:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jessica Cooper, St. Thomas Aquinas: You could pick from a lot of great players on the Trojans – including Leah Crosby, who’s won GMCT MVP two years running as a sophomore – but the senior forward gets the nod here. She not only led the team in scoring this year at 12.6 points per game, and rebounding at ten per game, but was a model of consistency, nearly a double-double every night out. In fact, she had 18 in 29 games this season, and a stretch of nine that spanned from mid-January into early February. Cooper will be attending Albany next year on scholarship.

St. Thomas Aquinas forward Jessica Cooper takes a baseline jumper against East Brunswick in the 2022 GMC Tournament semis. (Photo: Dom Savino)

Neysa Aguilar, Middlesex: All due respect to the rest of her Blue Jay teammates, Middlesex doesn’t reach the Central Jersey Group 1 title game without Aguilar. The senior brought it every night, scoring 577 points on the year – an average of 19.9 a game – both good for second best in the GMC. She was also their top rebounder at 7.3 a game while racking up 95 steals, impressive enough except that sophomore Jessica Devine – who’ll take the wheel next year – had a whopping 172.

Middlesex senior Neysa Aguilar gets set to step into a three – one of a career-best seven she hit en route to a career-high 30 point night on Senior Night against North Plainfield on January 31, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Taylor Derkack, Colonia: The Patriots didn’t have the team year they wanted in 2022-23, after a program year a season ago, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort by the junior who wears No. 4 on her back, but finished No. 1 in Middlesex County in scoring, with 603 points, an average of 21.5 per game. She blew past the 1,000-point mark this year, and should pass graduating dynamic duo teammate Matti Chiera’s all-time school mark of 1,514 next year. She’s just 179 points behind, and 665 away from 2,000. After scoring 603 this year, that could be within reach.

Colonia’s Taylor Derkack holds the ball in the GMC Tournament Girls’ Championship Game against St. Thomas Aquinas on February 18, 2023 at Monroe Township High School. The Patriots won their opening round state playoff game Monday night. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Casey Miller, Bound Brook: Miller capped a great career with the Crusaders with a 520-point season, to put here in the 1,000-point club, finishing her four-year varsity career with 1,126 points. Even as the Crusaders slumped to an 11-14 campaign, she was out there night after night putting up big numbers, trying to will her team to a win. She averaged 20.8 points a game – second only to Prep’s Blakes – scoring in double figures in all but two games, but topping 30 four times, scoring a career-high 34 in a late January road win against a ranked North Plainfield club.

Casey Miller of Bound Brook (Source: Assistant Coach Lacey Meyer @laceymeyer on Twitter)
by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls ride defense, Blakes and Ledden to back-to-back Non-Public South B titles with 70-40 win over Wildwood Catholic

Press. Score. Defense. Rebound. Transition.

Repeat.

The same tried and true formula that has worked her entire life at Rutgers Prep worked again on Wednesday night for head coach Mary Klinger’s squad, as the third-seeded Argonauts “knocked off” top seed Wildwood Catholic in the Non-Public South B championship game at Seneca High School, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

And so, it’s back-to-back sectional titles for Klinger, Mikayla Blakes, Katie Ledden and Co. with one more game to play, the Non-Public Group B final, to be played Saturday at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River, at a time to be determined.

Rutgers Prep (25-6) will face 2nd-seed Morris Catholic (26-3), a team they lost to in December, after giving up what was a 13-point third-quarter lead to lose by three. Morris Catholic beat 4th-seed Montclair-Immaculate 55-49 Wednesday night in the Non-Public North B final.

For Rutgers Prep, it was the usual: Blakes leading on offense with 22 points, Ledden adding 20. Zahra Alexander finished with ninr.

Prep never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 9-2 lead they would never relinquish, and holding Wildwood Catholic without a field goal for most of the second quarter. The Argonauts built the lead to as many as 36 in the fourth quarter before the starters came out.

Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

Click below to hear for postgame reaction brought to you by SportsPlex at Metuchen:

Rutgers Prep junior Mikayla Blakes
Rutgers Prep senior Katie Ledden
Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger
by Mike Pavlichko

Blakes scores 1,000th point, finishes with 29 to power convincing No. 1 Rutgers Prep girls’ win over No. 3 Gill St. Bernards

It was a big moment, it just wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been.

But that didn’t keep Mikayla Blakes’ teammates from mobbing her on the court, presenting her with balloons and flowers, and celebrating the junior’s 1,000th career point, which came on a free throw less than midway through the first quarter Tuesday afternoon.

It was just the third point of the game for Blakes, who finished with 29 – and five treys – as No. 1 Rutgers Prep sprinted out to a 26-4 lead at the end of one quarter, and beat No. 3 Gill St. Bernards for the 19th straight time since 2015, by the final score of 75-36.

That 39-point lead was the Lady Argonauts’ biggest of the game, mainly because of Prep’s three-point shooting in the second half, as both teams kept their starters in well into the fourth quarter, as they are the best conference teams they will face in the regular season.

Overall in the game, Rutgers Prep (11-3, 9-0 Skyland Delaware) hit 10 times from beyond the arc, with Chloe Escanillas adding three, Katie Ledden hitting a pair from downtown, and Ava LaMonica adding another.

Brooke Baisley led the Knights with 14, and while it bested her season average of 11.4 points per game, she only had four in the first half when the game was really decided. That was more a testament to Prep’s defense than anything, which ran its full-court press the majority of the first half.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!
Junior Mikayla Blakes
Assistant coach Michelle Sharp (Note: Head coach Mary Klinger left the game after Blakes’ 1,000th point to travel to an athletic director’s conference, leaving Sharp to take over.)
by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Rutgers Prep’s defense stifles No. 7 Franklin early to win season opener

Meet the new Rutgers Prep, same as the old Rutgers Prep.

Actually, they’re not that new, with several huge pieces back from last year’s 29-3 team that made the last ever Tournament of Champions title game.

But the results were much the same: a full-court press to open the game left the Lady Argonauts up 7-0 before Franklin could score, and they pulled away to an 86-44 win on opening night at home Thursday.

Junior Mikayla Blakes led all scorers with 26 points in just three quarters of play, as the bench came in for the final eight minutes. Blakes had five treys, including a four-point play in the first quarter where she was fouled making a triple.

Rhode Island-bound senior Katie Ledden followed with 14 points, while freshman Gigi Battle finished with 10, and junior Zahra Alexander had nine. Another freshman in the starting five, Ava LaMonica, chipped in six.

Click below for postgame reaction, sponsored by SportsPlex at Metuchen:

Junior point guard Mikayla Blakes
Mikayla Blakes of Rutgers Prep. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Head coach Mary Klinger