Tag: North Plainfield

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 10 Middlesex gets career high from Aguilar on Senior Night to sweep No. 8 North Plainfield, take second in GMC White

Senior Night is always a special evening, but it got the exclamation point Tuesday from Neysa Aguilar, who scored a career-high 34 points – including a career-best seven triples – to power her Middlesex Blue Jays past North Plainfield 60-56, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The win will allow Middlesex (14-4) to finish second in the GMC White behind Edison, at 12-3 currently in the division. North Plainfield (13-5) drops to 11-4 in the White.

It was a back-ad-forth affair all night in a game that saw nine lead changes, and which was tied at 46 with under six minutes to go in the game.

Devine – all-GMC a year ago and averaging 19.9 points a game coming in – had a balanced game: nine points in the first quarter on a trio of treys, ten in the second quarter, eight in the third, and seven in the final eight minutes.

North Plainfield gave it all they had, literally and figuratively, as Aguilar wasn’t the only player on the floor having a career night. Nyla Felton had 30 for the Canucks surpassing her previous best of 22. And she had 17 of those in the second half of a game where neither team led by more than six all evening.

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The problem was, North Plainfield got in foul trouble in the second half, with senior Yaz Zafar and freshman Layla Gutierrez both picking up their fourth fouls in the third quarter, while junior Avani Jones reached that mark in the fourth.

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Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Senior Neysa Aguilar
Head Coach Kevin Harper
by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex girls don’t run deep, but can run up and down the floor and put it in the hoop

The rotation employed by Middlesex girls’ basketball coach Kevin Harper in his sixth season with the Blue Jays isn’t deep. It never really has been at such a small school, which seemingly teeters every year on the edge between Group 1 and Group 2.

But it hasn’t kept Middlesex from having success moving up to the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division.

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Nor has the graduation of a slew of players who contributed significantly a season ago, namely Mackenzie Marsh, Madison Robel, and Kaylin Nepton, among others.

And despite having a 50-game divisional winning streak snapped with a loss to Edison back on January 3rd (with 47 of those coming in GMC Blue play over the past several years), the Blue Jays just keep on keepin’ on.

The vast majority of the offense has come from two players who average a combined 38.1 points per game, on a team scoring just under 63 per contest, and they nearly split it down the middle.

One is a senior Neysa Aguilar, who’s averaging 19.9 points per game, and gets to the foul line a lot, for a team-leading 55 attempts. the other bodes well for the future: sophomore Jess Devine. She contributed as a freshman last year, but has been asked to pick up her scoring this year, and obliged to the tune of 18.2 points per game. But she can also dish it out, and take it – as in the following two team-leading stats: 109 assists, and 111 steals.

That leaves Middlesex ranked No. 10 this week, with an overall record of 14-3, 11-3 in the GMC White, tied for second place with No. 8 North Plainfield, which has identical records, and which they will play tonight in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Tuesday’s tip-off time is 5:30 pm , with pregame set for 5:15. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action. Click here to listen.

A win will determine the second-place team behind Edison in the White Division, an Eagles team which the Lady Canucks beat earlier this year, handing Edison its only division loss this season.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Middlesex head coach Kevin Harper:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ranked North Plainfield girls continue great season in rematch game at Middlesex Tuesday

While at one end of the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten, Rutgers Prep sits atop the pile with its 25th appearance at No. 1 in as many weeks, North Plainfield has made its first list in all that time.

And it’s a remarkable turnaround.

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Consider that since 2015, when the Lady Canucks went 12-13, they had not won more than four games in a single season, even going 0-12 in the COVID-abbreviated 2021 season.

But that year, the sophomore season for second-leading scorer Yasmen Zafar and top-rebounder Brianne Presley, was one of the formative years for them and the other seniors on this squad, who now find themselves 13-4 in their first year in the Greater Middlesex Conference, and 11-3 in the GMC’s White Division, good for a second place tie with Middlesex.

And that’s who they’ll play Tuesday night in a game that could have GMC Tournament seeding implications when the field is picked this coming Friday morning.

You can hear that game – No. 8 North Plainfield at No. 10 Middlesex (14-3, 11-3) – at 5:30 pm Tuesday, with pregame set for 5:15. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action. Click here to listen.

A win will determine the second-place team behind Edison in the White Division, an Eagles team which the Lady Canucks beat earlier this year, handing Edison its only division loss this season.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with North Plainfield first-year head coach Derrick Eatman:

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s 25 straight weeks atop the rankings for Rutgers Prep, with two new teams joining Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week 7

On the strength of a 3-0 week, and a win that solidified their position as the team to beat in the Skyland Conference – a 75-36 thumping as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio last Tuesday afternoon – Rutgers Prep held on to the No. 1 spot in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten for Week 7.

The Lady Argonauts (13-3) had a 3-0 week, which also included an 80-19 rout at Bridgewater-Raritan, and a 76-56 win over Montclair-Immaculate on Sunday. They’re on a seven-game winning streak heading into the final week of the regular season, with the Somerset County Tournament seeding coming up a week from tonight.

St. Thomas Aquinas (15-4) holds in second, while Gill St. Bernard’s (12-4) stays put in third.

Edison (15-2) moves up to No. 4 on the strength of a 3-0 week, while South Brunswick (13-5) moves up two spots to No. 5, despite a 1-1 week in which they beat North Brunswick, but dropped an out-of-conference game to Morristown 54-51.

READ: Edison community and beyond comes together to “Fight For Allie,” help local 11-year old girl beat brain tumor

Bernards (12-5) had a 1-2 week and dropped to sixth, after a win over Delaware Valley, but losses to Belvidere and Dayton.

In seventh is Watchung Hills, which went 3-0, sweeping a week of games from Phillsipburg, Montgomery and Hunterdon Central.

North Plainfield (13-4) makes its debut this season at No. 8, with wins in the past week over Woodbridge and South Plainfield, but a loss to former Skyland Conference foe Bound Brook. (North Plainfield joined the Greater Middlesex Conference this season.)

Hillsborough (10-7) – which fell out of the rankings in Week 4 – rejoins the Top Ten at No. 8 after a three-win week that included victories over Franklin, Hunterdon Central, and previously-No. 9 Mount St. Mary (13-6), which dropped out, along with previous No. 10 Spotswood (15-4).

Below are the full Week 7 Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

You – the fans – get to pick again! It’s the Jersey Central Sports Radio 2022 “Highlight Reel Play of the Year.” Watch the video, and vote!

Central Jersey Sports Radio is giving YOU the chance to weigh in on your favorite play of the 2022 high school football season!

We received a lot of entries from high school football coaches all across the Big Central.
And after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, we narrowed it down to eight!

Watch the video below, then scroll down
to vote for your favorite!!
Voting ends at 11:59 pm on Monday, Dec. 12.
Remember: Vote early, vote often!

by Mike Pavlichko

For Soumeillant, Cruz, Basilone Bowl takes on a little extra meaning

For the 80 players on the two rosters for the 9th annual Basilone Bowl at Bridgewater-Raritan’s Basilone Stadium Tuesday night, the game is one last chance to take the field, and for a good cause – the Basilone Memorial Foundation – which helps support the Robert Wood Johnson Cancer Center and the Fisher House Foundation for military families.

For some of those 80, it’s not their last time on a football field; they’ll be playing in college.

But for defensive end Andre Soumeillant of Montgomery and wide receiver Marvin Cruz of North Plainfield, the game is something even more special. They will be serving in the military before too long.

Soumeillant is joining the Army ROTC down at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Cruz will be joining the Marines.

These are not snap decisions. These are plans that have long been in the works for both of them. A lot of hard work, and a lot of discipline, and they’re 110-percent ready for it.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko speak with both seniors as they get ready to strap it up one last time before they embark on life in the military:

Montgomery’s Andre Soumeillant
North Plainfield’s Marvin Cruz

Central Jersey Sports Radio will carry the 9th Annual Basilone Bowl live Tuesday night, with kickoff from Basilone Field set for 7 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action; click here to listen.

by Mike Pavlichko

Teammates go down, Bird steps up; North Plainfield senior wins CJSR’s “Leadership Award”

The North Plainfield football team entered the 2021 season with three captains. But it wasn’t long before two of them were down for the count: Keiahn Grenald, and Khan-Yae Stevens.

Stevens was Central Jersey Sports Radio’s “Jack-of-All-Trades” last year – and an honorable mention for Two-Way Player of the Year – meaning he does a little of everything, and now that was missing. And Grenald is one of the more electrifying players in the league as well.

In stepped senior linebacker/H-back Jordan Bird, who may helped keep the team together after a 1-3 start to go 5-1 the rest of the way, finishing 6-4, to go 13-5 the past two seasons. It helped the Canucks go .500 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.

Click below to listen to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino talk with Jordan Bird:

Honorable mentions in the “Leadership Award” category include Connor Tracy of Governor Livingston and Josh Oluremi of Colonia.

Tracy is the son of GL offensive coordinator Bill Tracy, the former Ridge coach. As the starting quarterback the last two years, he’s thrown for 1,129 yards and 10 TDs. But more importantly, he was a “consummate leader” all year, and came in early before practice to work with a young ballclub in a rebuilding year. His coaches call him “a great role model and leader for our program regardless of circumstance,” referring to the Highlandeers winning just one game this year.

Oluremi, a QB/CB for the Patriots, rushed for 1,594 yards and 20 TDs this year, while throwing for 954 yards, but more notably led by example. A two-year captain, he has a 3.9 GPA and is a member of two honor societies. He also participates in the “Heroes and Cool Kids” mentorship program in the district middle schools.

by Mike Pavlichko

You – the fans – get to pick again! It’s the Jersey Central Sports Radio “Highlight Reel Play of the Year.” Watch the video, and vote!

Central Jersey Sports Radio is giving YOU the chance to weigh in on your favorite play of the 2021 high school football season!

We received a lot of entries from high school football coaches all across the Big Central. We spent days, even hours, until we finally narrowed it down to six.

Watch the video below, then scroll down to vote for your favorite!!
Voting ends at 11:59 pm on Monday, Dec. 13.
Remember: Vote early, vote often!

by Mike Pavlichko

North Group 3 Week 9 Breakdown: Cougars are locked in as overall top seed, do Summit and North Plainfield have must-wins?

There’s a lot people don’t know about the playoff formula New Jersey uses for high school football – even though it’s completely available to the general public. But what we do know is that Cranford – with a 7-0 record – appears to be the only Big Central team locked into its playoff position. Here’s a team-by-team unofficial breakdown of Big Central teams in playoff contention in North Group 3:

Cranford: We believe Cranford is locked in as the overall Number One seed. And though top versus second overall seed matters little – since the regional champiosnhips will be at a neutral site at MetLife Stadium – the Cougars can take that bragging right. By our math, even if Cranford should lost at Montgomery (3-4) Friday night in Skillman – and even if River Dell, West Morris, Sparta, and West Essex behind them all win – Cranford should still be the number one seed. Go ahead. Move along. Nothing else to see here. Believe it or not, they could end up with an all-Big Central first round game at Memorial Field next Friday night. Read on…

MORE CUTOFF WEEKEND COVERAGE: A team-by-team breakdown of every Big Central team’s postseason standing and chances heading into Week 9

Summit: The Hilltoppers (5-3) are in 15th place, with a tough opponent this weekend in Somerville (6-2). The Pioneers have won five straight on the field (with a forfeit loss to Phillipsburg sandwiched in the middle) and are really hitting their stride, with Ethan MacNair steamrolling opponents since moving from tight end to runningback; he’s rushed for 544 yards and six touchdowns in just the last two games, against St. Joseph-Metuchen and Warren Hills. But enough about the Pioneers. Should Summit pull off an upset – though they’re a team that always gives the ‘Ville fits, the only team to beat them in the 2019 regular season – they could end up anywhere from 12th to 14th depending on who else wins, like Nutley, Vernon, Warren Hills or Wayne Valley (the more of them that win, the lower Summit finishes). Could the unthinkable happen, and Summit get knocked out of the playoffs with a loss? Somerville is a strong opponent with a solid OSI and worth a good deal of power points, so on its own, the defeat leaves them in 15th place. We believe if Demarest, Morris Hills and North Plainfield all win this weekend, it would knock Summit out. There may be other combinations, too, but those are the three directly behind the Hilltoppers, if they lose to Somerville. Bottom line: Summit has a lot to play for Friday night at Brooks Field, in the Big Central Game of the Week driven by Autoland. Game time is 7:00, pregame is at 6:45. Click here to listen.

North Plainfield: The Canucks (5-3) are less cut and dry, currently sitting in 16th place. And a win or loss at South River (5-3) Saturday afternoon, will bring about the same result; they’re going to need help in the form of all three teams currently behind them losing. That’s Morris Hills, Roxbury and Demarest. Should any of them win, regardless of what happens at Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon, the Canucks can bring their axes home.

by Mike Pavlichko

Undefeated Cranford still holds top spot in North 3; North Plainfield win puts them inside the bubble

There was little surprise at the top of the North Group 3 standings after Friday night’s games, as Cranford – now 7-0 after a 42-13 win over Linden – held on to the top spot, according to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s exclusive unofficial UPR calculations.

The Cougars – who maintain a 1 UPR, tops in both power point average and OSI, with their regular season finale at Montgomery next week – remained firmly in place, with West Morris in second at 2.4 UPR, but with a Saturday game at Morris Knolls this week still pending. Both teams are 5-2, but a West Morris win shouldn’t bump them up enough to overtake the Cougars, and third place River Dell remains there, even with a Friday night win.

Summit dropped a spot on the bye wee, jumped by Wayne Valley, which won Friday night.

At the bottom, North Plainfield’s 35-13 win over Johnson – coupled with Demarest’s 49-28 home loss to Westwood – climbed into the 16th spot in the standings with a UPR of 17. But the lead over Morris Hills is narrow. Still, they already played this weekend, losing big Friday night to Sparta, so it’ll likely come down to next week.

The Canucks are at 3-4 South River next Saturday afternoon. Morris Hills (3-5, 17th) is at Randolph (5-2) next Saturday. Demarest (3-5, 18th) is at Bergenfield next week, not a huge pickup for the Norsemen, should they win.

But let’s put it plainly: we believe the Canucks will clinch a postseason berth with a win at Bill Denny Stadium next Saturday afternoon.