Tag: Rutgers Prep

by Mike Pavlichko

With another two titles, Mary Klinger named CJSR Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year

One might say it’s easy to win when you have the talent Mary Klinger has at Rutgers Prep. Mikayla Blakes, Katie Ledden, Gigi Battle, and on and on.

But harnessing that talent, getting more and more out of it every day, is the task she really has, and once again, in 2022-23, Klinger was a success.

This is a coach who considers the regular season the preseason, the warm-up, the long stretch to constantly improve. She can be heard bemoaning a defensive effort in a game where her team might win by 30.

That comes from growing up in hardscrabble Philly, along with her twin sister Patty, where during their run to the 1982 AIAW Championship with the Rutgers Lady Knights’ the Coyle twins could be found playing pick-up ball on the city’s courts the night before the title game at the Palestra against vaunted and heavily-favored Texas – who, of course, they wound up beating – just to let off some nervous steam.

That spirit and quest for excellence fuels her to push her team to its limits, and maybe even a little more.

It’s why her Lady Argonauts have won two straight sectional titles, three straight Somerset County Tournament titles, and five of the last seven SCTs.

It’s why Central Jersey Sports Radio once again has named Mary Klinger Coach of the Year, her second such honor from CJSR. She also was so honored in 2021, when her team went undefeated, 13-0, in the COVID-shortened season, our debut year.

Rutgers Prep’s Mary Klinger runs practice on the even of New Jersey’s final Tournament of Champions on March 15, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino talk with Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger, our 2022-23 Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year:

One more thing: this won’t be the biggest award the Rutgers Prep coach picks up this month.

Klinger, who earlier this season was named by NFHS as New Jersey Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year for 2021-22, will pick up another coaching honor this weekend when the New Jersey Basketball Coaches’ Association All-State Game is played at Rutgers Prep. This Sunday, she’ll be recognized as a John Wooden Legacy Award Winner by the National High School Basketball Coaches’ Association.

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

St. Thomas Aquinas finishes the season where it began: No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

On the strength of a 25-4 season – and its third straight GMC Tournament Championship – the St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ basketball team finishes the year at No. 1 in the final Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, never budging from the top spot from the preseason rankings all the way through to the end.

The Trojans have been the dominant boys’ team in Middlesex County for the last several years. Though their three-year run as full county tournament champs was interrupted by a loss in the GMC’s COVID-year, one-off, Karl-Anthony Towns/Jay Williams four-team postseason pod to Colonia, they have won 31 straight games against Greater Middlesex Conference opponents since.

St. Thomas Aquinas has won 57 straight divisional regular season games, with the Trojans’ last loss coming in January 2018 at Carteret, back when they were in the Blue Division. And they are now 103-23 in five seasons with head coach Dave Turco at the helm.

Checking in at No. 2 in the final rankings is Colonia, which had a fantastic year, going 22-9 this season. Though they didn’t win the Red Division (STA did) or make the GMCT Final, they were the only boys’ basketball team in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coverage area to win a sectional title this season, beating Snyder to win its second straight North 2, Group 3 title, and third in the last four playoff seasons.

St. Joseph of Metuchen finished third, checking in at 18-11, rising all the way from No. 10 in the last rankings before the playoffs. The Falcons finished the year strong, reaching the Non-Public South A title game, where they lost to eventual Group A state champ Union Catholic.

Rutgers Prep (22-8) finishes fourth, having won both the Somerset County Tournament championship – beating defending champ Gill St. Bernard’s in a thriller – and the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title.

South River (26-4) checks in at No. 5, the darling of the GMC all year long. The Rams won the Blue Division title, but got the attention of Central Jersey basketball fans in late December, when they knocked off St. Joseph in Metuchen the day after Christmas. They picked up the third seed in the county tournament, and reached the semifinals. In the states, they went to the Central Jersey Group 2 final, losing to eventual state Group 2 champion Manasquan.

Gill St. Bernard’s finished 19-8 and comes in sixth in the final rankings. The SCT finalist had a successful season considering a Mergin Sina’s squad had almost a complete roster turnover of key players from last year’s team, and its highly-touted point guard returned to Europe just a couple of weeks into the season.

South Brunswick had a nice run all the way to the County finals, as well as the Central Jersey Group 4 final, and finished 20-7 on the season, checking in at No. 7.

In eighth is South Plainfield (23-6), which won the GMC White Division, and had one of the county’s top scorers in Brandon Dean.

Ninth is Bound Brook (22-5), the Skyland Conference Valley Division champs, followed by Hillsborough (19-8).

Below are the full final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings for 2022-23:

by Mike Pavlichko

Post-halftime Morris Catholic surge dooms Rutgers Prep as frenetic comeback falls short in Non-Public B Final

“They punched us in the mouth,” said Rutgers Prep coach Mary Klinger, in the season’s post-mortem.

It didn’t look like it would be that way, though, especially with a much better start this time around than an early season loss to Morris Catholic in December.

Prep got the start it wanted, leading by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, and ending it with a 21-11 lead. Morris Catholic chipped away and got it to five by halftime, but it was after that when the Crusaders played their best basketball.

A 29-13 run through the next eight minutes gave the Crusaders a 55-45 lead at the end of three. While Rutgers Prep would eventually tie the game at 63 on a drive to the basket by Mikayla Blakes, the junior missed the and-one free throw, then got called for a reach-around foul at the other end of the floor, her fifth.

And from that point on, the Crusaders pulled away with Mya Pauldo hitting all her free throws down the stretch, sending the Lady Argonauts to a 71-63 defeat in the Non-Public Group B Final at RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Blakes finished with 24, while senior Katie Ledden – in her last high school game before heading up to Kingstown to play for Rhode Island – finished with 17, including a pair of first-quarter treys during Prep’s early run.

Rutgers Prep finishes its season as the Non-Public South B Champions – their second straight sectional title – with a record of 25-6, while Morris Catholic finishes at 26-3, the Group B state champs.

The win also makes a strong case for state-ranked No. 4 Morris Catholic to finish as the No. 1 team in the state, with top-ranked St. John Vianney losing in the Non-Public A final Saturday to Immaculate Heart, No. 2 Paul VI out of the tournament, and Morris Catholic beating No. 3 Rutgers Prep

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:

by Mike Pavlichko

Experience of regular and postseason has Rutgers Prep ready for another state championship

When Mary Klinger’s team takes the floor for the opening tip-off Sunday afternoon against Morris Catholic in the quest for a second straight state title – and her program’s fourth overall – it will be much improved from the last time the Argonauts faced the Crusaders.

That was December 17th – Game Two of the season for both squads – in the She Got Game Classic down at St. John Vianney in Holmdel. Klinger will tell you it was not one of Prep’s best.

And the numbers bear it out, too. The Argonauts like to start hot, hitting baskets, then falling back into that full-court press, creating turnovers, and do it all over again. But they trailed after the first quarter.

And while they came back to go ahead by 13 with just three minutes to go in the third quarter, the next eleven minutes saw the Crusaders rally for a three-point win, 72-69.

Klinger doesn’t think it will happen again, and she’s got good reason to feel that way. It was only the second game with last year’s seniors gone, with this year’s senior Katie Ledden and junior Mikayla Blakes taking on additional roles. It was only the second start for GiGi Battle, a freshman who – along with fellow rookie Ava LaMonica – has been a key contributor this year.

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Now with a full season behind them, a Somerset County Tournament title and a Non-Public South B trophy on their resume, they are a much different team.

And so it will be when Rutgers Prep (25-4) takes on Morris Catholic (26-3, North B Champ) Sunday at Toms River North’s RWJBarnabas Arena for the Girls’ Non-Public Group B title. Tip-off time is 2 pm, and you can hear all the live play-by-play on Central Jersey Sports Radio beginning at 1:45 with the pregame show. Justin Sontupe and Raj Shah will bring you all the action. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger:

How They Got Here:

Rutgers Prep: #3 seed, beat #14 Moorestown Friends 76-25 in first round, beat #6 Trenton Catholic 91-43 in the quarterfinals, beat #3 St. Rose 70-47 in the semifinals, beat #1 Wildwood Catholic 70-40 in the sectional final

Morris Catholic: #2 seed, first round bye, beat #7 Wardlaw-Hartridge 89-16 in the quarterfinals, beat #5 Lodi Immaculate 88-57 in the semifinals, beat #4 Montclair-Immaculate 55-49 in the sectional final

State Championship History:

Rutgers Prep is seeking its second straight state title, and fourth overall, though unlike the other three, this is the end of the line. All three times, the Argonauts went on to the Tournament of Champions, but that was eliminated this year by the NJSIAA across all sports.

  • 2016: Non-Public Group B Champion over Saddle River Day
  • 2017: Non-Public Group B Champion over Queen of Peace
  • 2018: Non-Public Group B runner-up to Saddle River Day)
  • 2022: Non-Public Group B Champion over Saddle River Day

Morris Catholic has won the group title twice, and been to this game eight times, but is making its first appearance since 2014.

  • 2004: Non-Public Group B Champion over St. Rose
  • 2005: Non-Public Group B runner-up to Sacred Heart
  • 2006: Non-Public Group B Champion over Trenton Catholic
  • 2007: Non-Public Group A runner-up to Red Bank Catholic
  • 2008: Non-Public Group A runner-up to St. John Vianney
  • 2012: Non-Public Group B runner-up to Gill St. Bernard’s
  • 2013: Non-Public Group B runner-up to Paramus Catholic
  • 2014: Non-Public Group B runner-up to St. Rose
by Mike Pavlichko

Morris Catholic brings two highly-touted sophomores, win over Rutgers Prep into rematch with Argonauts for state title

Head coach Billy Lovett sees a lot of parallels and similarities in his life right now.

Having played for the legendary Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s in the 1990s, he has given his team the same experiences, playing in national showcases far from New Jersey that create great moments for his players, and top-notch exposure – like the John Wall Holiday Invitational.

He played in that tournament before it was even called that, back when it was the Raleigh Times Holiday Festival, which celebrated its 50th year this past December.

Other similarities are less intentional, like the fact this his team is very much like the Rutgers Prep team they will meet Sunday in Toms River for the Non-Public Group B state title.

Both focus on defense, which fuels their offense, which wins them championships.

Sunday’s game between Non-Public South B winner Rutgers Prep (25-4) and North B Champ Morris Catholic (26-3) tips off at 2 pm at Toms River North’s RWJBarnabas Health Arena, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Justin Sontupe calling all the play-by-play, and Raj Shah providing the color. Click here to listen to the live broadcast.

The Crusaders began the season in the national rankings, and though they’ve since dropped out, they and Rutgers Prep are both Top 5 teams, with Morris Catholic No. 4, and Rutgers Prep No. 3. Only Paul VI (which both lost to this season) and St. John Vianney (which neither has played) are ahead of them.

Sophomore twins Mia and Mya Pauldo lead the way – two of the top point guards in the sophomore class – with Mia averaging a team-leading 17.3 points and 5.7 assists per game, while grabbing a team-best 91 steals. Mya is averaging 10.9 points a game, but just behind her sister in assists, with six fewer on the year.

And they can shoot the three. Surely, everyone knows Rutgers Prep can, and they have hit on 192 this season, but Morris Catholic has hit on a whopping 275, and average just a shade under 10 per game.

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

And then there’s the fact these two played each other in Game 2 of their respective seasons. The Crusaders won 72-69 in the She Got Game Classic on December 17th, wiping out a 13-point deficit with three minutes to go in the third quarter.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Morris Catholic head coach Billy Lovett:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: Girls’ Non-Public South B Final: #3 Rutgers Prep 70, #1 Wildwood Catholic 40

Third-seed Rutgers Prep won its second straight Non-Public South B title, beating top-seed Wildwood Catholic 70-40 in the sectional title game at Seneca High School in Medford Lakes. Junior Mikayla Blakes led the Lady Argonauts with 22 points, while Katie Ledden followed up with 22.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action on March 1, 2023 on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

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

Lady Argonauts, looking for repeat, travel south for Non-Public South B final against Wildwood Catholic

This is the real season. The second one.

Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger considers the regular season the preseason. Not to demean it, but other than a division championship, which is nice, there’s no trophy for the regular season.

There is for the Somerset County Tournament. Check.

There is for the Non-Public South B section of the state tournament. 32 minutes remain.

The defending champion and third-seeded Lady Argonauts (24-4) will play for back-to-back titles this evening when they take on top-seed Wildwood Catholic (24-4) down at Seneca High School in Medford Lakes, NJ. You can hear the game broadcast live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, beginning with pregame at approximately 4:45 pm; tip-off is scheduled for 5:00.

Click here to listen to the live broadcast tonight, starting at 4:45 pm.

Rutgers Prep has been the dominant girls’ basketball team in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area for several years now. In the last seven seasons, they have only lost seven games to four different New Jersey schools: Paul VI, Morris Catholic and St. Rose once each, and Trenton Catholic and St. John Vianney twice.

They haven’t lost to a public school since falling to Franklin in the Somerset County Tournament final in 2019, a year the Warriors finished just 34-0, winning the Tournament of Champions.

Prep is led by junior Mikayla Blakes and senior Katie Ledden, but has plenty beyond that. Blakes, though, leads in most statistical categories: 21.9 points per game, 72 threes, 126 made free throws, 92 assists, 87 steals. The Rhode Island-bound Ledden – the only senior in the starting lineup and who sees significant playing time, meaning don’t expect much to change in Prep’s dominance next season – averages 14.6 points per game, second on the team, and is the top rebounder at 6.6 per game.

Scroll down to hear Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, and for prior coverage of the Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team.

Then there’s a freshman who’s made serious contributions as a starter: GiGi Battle. She’s scoring a shade under 10 points per game, and is second on the team in rebounds (5.5 per) and third in steals with 47.

Zahra Alexander (7.8 ppg) and Chloe Escanillas (7.3 ppg) round out the starting lineup.

As for Wildwood Catholic, junior Kaci Mikulski is the leading scorer at 14.9 points per game. The point guard also has a team-leading 81 assists and can shoot the three-ball, hitting 70 times from downtown. As a team, they’ve hit just a handful fewer threes than Prep (175, compared to 184 for the Argonauts) but they are content to play a lower scoring game, averaging just 48.2 points on offense. Prep scores about 72 per game on offense.

Rutgers Prep was able to beat St. Rose of Belmar on the road in the semifinals despite ending the first quarter without a lead, something they had not done since January 8th, when they trailed 16-12 after one against McDonough of Maryland, and lost 53-43. They also trailed after one in losses to Montverde (FL) and Morris Catholic in the She Got Game Classic on December 17, as well as in wins over Pickering Central (OH) and South Shore (NY).

But mostly, Prep likes to start games hot. Besides the sectional semis, when they trailed St. Rose 10-9 after one quarter but wound up winning by 23, they shutout Moorestown Friends 27-0 in the opening quarter of their first round game, and had a 29-8 lead in the first 8 minutes over Trenton Catholic. Still, those leads will be harder to come by in the later rounds.

A win would put Rutgers Prep in the Non-Public Group B Final for the second year in a row, down at Toms River North’s RWJBarnabaas Arena, Sunday at a time to be determined. They won there last year, beating Saddle River Day 62-51 to move on to the Tournament of Champions, which was eliminated last season by the NJSIAA in order to give student-athletes more down time between seasons.

Click below to hear Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger talk about the Lady Argonauts, and the matchup with Wildwood Catholic:

PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF RUTGERS PREP

by Mike Pavlichko

Strong second half propels St. Joe’s to another win over Rutgers Prep, bid in Non-Public South A final

St. Joseph-Metuchen shocked Rutgers Prep just two days into February. They did it again with two days left in the month, this time to put them just a win away from a sectional title.

On the heels of a strong third-quarter rally, and an equally strong final eight minutes, the 6th-seeded Falcons beat visiting 7th-seed and defending Non-Public South A champion Rutgers Prep, 69-66.

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

Rutgers Prep controlled early on a big first quarter, but St. Joseph eventually crawled back into the game. Down by six with 1:43 left in the third, two baskets cut the Argonauts’ lead to two, then a pair of Falcon free throws tied it at 54-all, before Jadin Collins stopped the bleeding with a buzzer-beating three at the buzzer to make it 57-54 Prep.

But in the critical final eight minutes, Joe’s simply made the bigger buckets, the bigger free throws, grabbed the bigger rebounds – and drew two charges, to boot – giving them a hard-earned win.

The win moves the Falcons on to play Wednesday in the Non-Public South A final against 5th-seed Union Catholic, which upset top-seed Camden Catholic in the other semifinal in the section Monday night, 61-53. The title game will be Wednesday at 7 pm at Lenape High School in Medford, with tip-off set for 7 pm.

The Falcons will be playing for their first sectional title since the Karl Towns-era, when they won three Non-Public South A titles in a row from 2012 to 2014, capped by the Tournament of Champions title in the last of those three seasons.

They last appeared in a final in 2018 under head coach Mike Thompson, when they fell to Camden Catholic.

Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joseph head coach Jan Cocoziello with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: