Tag: semifinals

by Mike Pavlichko

East Brunswick, surging Piscataway to meet in GMC Tournament semis Tuesday, seeking first finals trips in a while

In the last six years that St. Thomas Aquinas has won the GMC Tournament, they have faced Monroe and Colonia twice, South Brunswick and Edison once.

And while they’re a heavy favorite to get back to the finals again this year – and win it all – there’s one certainty: they will finally face someone new if and when they get there.

Second-seed East Brunswick (20-4) and third-seed Piscataway (15-7) haven’t seen the title game in a while, but one of them will be there Friday night down at Monroe Township High School. To get there, they’ll have to win the opener of Tuesday night’s GMC Tournament semifinal doubleheader, also at Monroe.

You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen calling all the action. Coverage begins at 4:45 with the pregame show, and tip-off between the Bears and Chiefs at 5:00. Click here to listen. The game will be immediately followed by top-seed and six-time defending champ St. Thomas Aquinas playing fourth-seed Colonia at 7 pm.

East Brunswick has been fantastic all year long, in a season that has been the culmination of the vast majority of the team playing together for the last several years, even before they got to high school. They’re fast and athletic, can play “D” and shoot the three. Ava Catanho leads the team in scoring at 18.3 points per game, and has a team-high 49 treys on the year, with juniors Zoey Alexio and Sophia Tannura not far behind, with 46 and 42, respectively. They are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the state, with 188 on the year coming into the game.

Julianna DelosSantos-Branson – “JDB,” as she’s known to her teammates, is the team’s top rebounder at 8.3 per game, and also has a team-best 19 blocks and 15 steals. Sophomore Ava Krzywdzinski dishes out 5.3 assists per contest.

Thanks to Piscataway Township and Mayor Brian Wahler for sponsoring tonight’s Piscataway game!

They’ll face a Piscataway team that scores a little less – just under 54 points per game, while EB scores 59 – but can also hit from beyond the arc, with 135 on the season, led by sophomore Caelyn Cook, who has 47 treys, while leading the team in scoring at 13.5 and assists with 67. Sophomore Alyssa Iduh averages a double-double – 11.8 points and 14.1 rebounds, while also rejecting a team-best 64 shots. He has 15 double-doubles in 22 games played this season. Another sophomore, Violet Azcona, has 54 steals to lead the team, averaging 11.5 points a game.

Notice a trend here? This team is young. There are no seniors on the roster, one junior, and two freshmen. The starting lineup is all sophomores, as are their top six scorers.

East Brunswick may have a little more depth in what has been a tremendous season, the Bears’ first 20-win campaign since 2017-18. They lost in the GMC Tournament semifinals that year, and were knocked out of the state tournament in the first round. They are hoping for a better outcome this year, seeking their first finals berth since 2016, when they beat Monroe for their sixth county title overall.

Piscataway is seeking its first trip back since 2018, when they also won it, beating Edison for their 14th overall crown.

The Bears and Chiefs combined have won 17 of the 39 GMC Tournament titles, heading into this, the 40th edition. Two of Piscataway’s and one of East Brunswick’s crowns came in the old Middlesex County Tournament, before the formation of the GMC in 1985-86.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

East Brunswick head coach Travis Retzlaff with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
Piscataway head coach Brian Tuskan with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen
by Mike Pavlichko

Gill’s the top-seed and favorite, but Ridge can play with the best of them as Knights, Red Devils get set to battle in SCT semifinals

The first boys’ semifinal to be played Saturday afternoon at the Somerset County Tournament in Franklin is a rematch of last year’s title game between Montgomery and Rutgers Prep.

But the second one should be a really good game, too.

Top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s (18-4, 10-0, Skyland Delaware champs) has had a very nice rebound season after an uncharacteristic 2023-24 that saw a slew of roster turnover, with the results showing on the court. The Knights have won eleven straight heading in, including back-to-back wins over Watchung Hills, 52-32 in last Saturday’s quarterfinals, and 56-45 in a regular season meeting on Tuesday, just three days later.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, are having one of their best seasons in years. They’re 17-5, and finished 8-2 in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division, second only to Ridge, against whom they took both of their division losses, the most recent coming on Tuesday, but only by three, 48-45. The first was also a one-possession defeat, 55-52 back on January 14th.

But what will they do against the Knights when they tip off at 4 pm Saturday?

Ridge beat them last year, 64-55, in late January. But both teams are different now. Ridge finished 15-10, and they’ve already topped than win total. Gill finished 11-16, but the roster has settled in, and is more experienced playing together as a unit.

Gill might have a size and strength advantage, but Ridge is gutty, and has taken some close losses. Their other three defeats came to Westfield by eight, Caldwell by three, and the No. 1 team in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten all year long – Colonia – by 16, the exception to the rule. Take that out, and their other four losses are by an average of 4.3 points.

They’ve also proven they know how to win tight games. They beat Immaculata on the road – a tough place to play – by three. They beat Chatham by six, Hunterdon Central by five, and Bridgewater-Raritan by seven.

On the stat sheet, they’re lead by senior Luke Kreitz, averaging 16.4 points a game, with 27 steals, and he’s hit 57 threes on the year. Fellow senior Quinn Dashefsky is their top rebounder at 5.4 per game and is scoring at a 12.3 clip.

Gill St. Bernard’s is a bit more balanced, led by Kobe Closeil at 10.8 per game. Dorsett Mulcahy – brother of former Rutgers standout Paul Mulcahy – is averaging 9.3, while freshman Connor Junker at 9.1 per contest. They can get up and down the floor, hit the three – three players have 22 or more on the season – and can battle in the paint with the state’s best.

Follow Alec Crouthamel on Twitter for live updates during the game, and he’ll have a recap postgame reaction afterwards on cjsportsradio.com.

by Mike Pavlichko

Franklin girls may be best sub-.500 team in Somerset County; but can they prove it against Gill St. Bernard’s for a trip to SCT finals?

Over the last couple of weeks, we keep hearing from area girls’ basketball coaches pumping up Franklin. They’re not in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, but you’d think they were by the way people are talking.

Granted they’re 8-14, but keep in mind the division they play in. The Skyland Delaware is loaded, with Rutgers Prep and Gill St. Bernard’s the co-champions, and defending North 2, Group 4 champion Hillsborough behind them.

Actually, they’re behind Franklin, too, even though they’re the three seed and the Warriors are the four.

Franklin has taken some losses on the chin, including 83-58 and 81-49 to Rutgers Prep. They lost 70-45 to Gill St. Bernard’s the second time around, but played then to a 13-point loss in the first week of January.

And they knocked off Hillsborough, 63-60, back on January 23rd, just four days before the county seeding meeting.

Thing is, they’ve lost to just about every team considered “better” than them, and beaten everyone they should handle

So, which team will show up when they tip off at 2:30 Saturday afternoon?

There’s one thing no one can question: Coach Darryl Robinson has one of the top, young, up-and-coming players in the area in Aleah Sunkins, a sophomore averaging 16.4 points per game and 9.6 rebounds. Junior Alissa Myers (8.7 points per game) is also a significant contributor, along with senior Precious Wheeler (5.6 per game).

On the other side, Gill – the top seed at 18-3 overall, 7-1 in the Skyland Delaware, co-champs with second-seed Rutgers Prep – is a cohesive unit that has gotten stronger throughout the season. Nowhere is that more evident than in how they played Prep, which has won the last four SCT titles and seven of the last nine.

Rutgers Prep had won 23 straight against Gill coming into this year. And they won again on December 17th, 61-38 in Somerset. But the Knights turned the tables in the New Year, with a 64-27 win up in Peapack-Gladstone, their first win over the Argonauts since the 2014 Somerset County Tournament final.

The cast is full of stars, too. Gandy Malou-Mamel is the top scorer at 17.6 points and an even ten rebounds per game. Junior Addy Platt is at 10.4 a game, and the rest of the experienced lineup includes standouts Tessa Lozner, Syndey Quinn and Maya Abramson.

Follow Alec Crouthamel on Twitter for live updates during the game, and he’ll have a recap postgame reaction afterwards on cjsportsradio.com.

by Mike Pavlichko

Last year’s final is this year’s semifinal, as Rutgers Prep and Montgomery rematch for trip to SCT championship game

If last year’s Somerset County Final and even this season’s regular season matchup are any indication, Saturday’s semifinal game in the Somerset County Tournament between Montgomery and Rutgers Prep very well may be the best game of the day.

It’s certain to be a doozy when the second-seeded Cougars and third-seeded Argonauts meet at 12:45 at Franklin High School. And you can hear it all on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame immediately following the 11 am girls’ semifinal between Rutgers Prep and Hillsborough. Click here to listen.

The last two meetings have all come down to the wire. After a 62-48 Prep win on January 30th of last season, they won the county final by three, 64-61. This year’s regular season was a 63-59 Argonauts’ victory.

In both games, Montgomery trailed at the half. They were down 37-29 at the break in the finals last season, and 40-25 at the half this year. Both times the Cougars rallied in the second half, but fell short, so getting out of the gate hot would be a good start this time around.

The Cougars had a legitimate shot at the tournament’s top seed, but that went to Gill St. Bernard’s, and the difference may have been a late win over Hudson Catholic, which Monty fell too in their opening game of the season, by four.

They have only lost three times since, coming in at 18-4 and on a five game win streak, that includes a 67-58 victory over an always-pesky Pingry squad in the quarterfinals last Saturday, and an impressive 48-45 regular season win over Ridge Tuesday. The Red Devils are the fourth-seed in the county tournament, and play top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s in Saturday’s semifinal finale, scheduled for 4 pm.

Monty’s top scorer is Ethan Lin, a junior who played in this year’s regular season matchup with Prep, but missed last year’s final after breaking his ankle a few weeks earlier. He’s averaging 19.7 points a game, while senior Bohdan Biekietov – in his second season since coming over from the Ukraine – is averaging 11.9 points per game.

For Rutgers Prep, it’s senior Myles Parking leading the show at 15.9 points per game, with sophomore Andrew Kretkowski – who had a big final last year as a freshman against Montgomery, with 17 points and eight rebounds – second at 15.5 points per game, and tops on the team at nearly 5.6 boards per contest. Sophomore Jacob Canton, with a team-best 116 assists in 24 games, can distribute the ball.

This is sure to be some hard-nosed basketball, and worth the price of admission.

Click below to hear both head coaches talk about Saturday’s SCT semifinal between 2-seed Montgomery and 3-seed Rutgers Prep:

Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy
Rutgers Prep head coach Matt Bloom

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep, Hillsborough girls to meet for third time this year, with trip to SCT finals on the line

The first of four semifinals in the Somerset County Tournament Saturday at Franklin High School will certainly have a championship flair to it.

Both second-seed Rutgers Prep and third-seed Hillsborough won sectional championships last year, the Argonauts in Non-Public South B, and the Raiders in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4.

And while Prep has won a ton of those titles lately, along with four straight SCT championships, and five of the last seven, Saturday’s 11 am matchup for a trip to next week’s county final should be a good one.

You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas calling all the action from Franklin High School. Pregame is at 10:45 am; click here to listen.

Prep comes in at 17-4, their lone loss in the Skyland Conference coming to Gill St. Bernard’s – with whom they split this year – their first league defeat since the 2019 SCT final to eventual Tournament of Champions’ winner Franklin.

Having lost four starters from last year’s team – three to graduation, while a fourth moved to Florida – this year’s squad has been more of a learning, growing one under veteran head coach Mary Klinger, who often considers the entire regular season a tune-up for postseason play, when the games “really matter.”

They’re led by junior Ava LaMonica, the most experienced of the group, at 13.3 points per game. But the other Ava – Ava Frith, a Manasquan transfer – and Ridge transfer Sophia Georgiadis have been huge, as has been freshman Hailey Benbow. Klinger says her athleticism reminds her of Mikayla Blakes, the two-time Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year who’s now at Vanderbilt.

Hillsborough has an experienced core back, but has been unable to get over the hump against Prep. In two meetings this year, the Argonauts won 66-52 on January ninth in Hillsborough, then 76-65 at home. They’ve been some of the closest meetings in the series of late. The two meetings last year, for example, were decided by an average 37 points.

The Raiders are led by Francesca (Cesci) Schiro, the all-time leading scorer in school history – girls or boys – with 1,906 points, averaging 21.1 per game. At that pace, a trip to the finals and a deep run in Central Jersey Group 4 could get her to be the first player in school history to crack 2,000.

But the rest of the lineup can score, too, including fellow senior Mya Loniewski and sophomore Isabella Ruh. And all that will be essential if the Raiders hope to end a losing streak against the Argonauts that’s at least 15 games dating back to at least 2008, the latest year for which results are publicly available online.

Click below to hear from both coaches ahead of Saturday morning’s Somerset County Tournament semifinal between 2-seed Rutgers Prep and 3-seed Hillsborough:

Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger
Hillsborough head coach Courtney Tierney

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Somerset County Tournament semifinals: (2) Montgomery

Second-seeded Montgomery advanced to its first-sever Somerset County Tournament Championship game with a 53-40 home win against third-seed Watchung Hills in the semifinals on February 15th, 2024.. The Cougars got 21 points from Bohdan Bieketov and 15 from Steve Donahue in the win.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play live from Montgomery Township High School on Central Jersey Sports Radio:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – 2024 GMC Tournament Semifinals (Boys)

Second-seed Colonia and fourth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas advanced to the 2024 Greater Middlesex Tournament championship game with wins in the semifinals on February 14th, 2024 at Monroe Township High School.

In the opening game, the Patriots defeated 6th-seed South Plainfield 70-37 behind 27 points from sophomore Aiden Derkack and 13 from senior Jaeden Jones.

In the second matchup, the Trojans beat top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen 56-51, getting 14 points and 18 rebounds from senior Rinelson Dilone, and 20 from junior Aiden Ur.

NOTE: The Aquinas-Joe’s broadcast also includes a portion of the overtime in the second girls’ semifinal at Spotswood High School between St. Thomas Aquinas and Monroe.

Click below to listen to the complete games, with play-by-play by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Game 1: (2) Colonia vs. (6) South Plainfield
Game 2: (1) St. Joseph-Metuchen vs (4) St. Thomas Aquinas
by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep boys will get to defend 2023 SCT title, clinching fourth straight finals berth with semifinal win over Hillsborough

Somerset County Tournament top-seed Rutgers Prep used the three-ball and teamwork to come from behind and advance to its fourth straight county title game, thanks to a 69-58 come-from-behind home win over fourth-seed Hillsborough on Thursday night.

The Argonauts will face Montgomery – making its first-ever trip to the county final – in the SCT title game Saturday at 3 pm, following the girls’ game at 1 pm between Rutgers Prep and Gill St. Bernards, with both games being broadcast live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was raining threes in the first half – primarily by the Argonauts (18-6) – who overcame a 10-0 deficit to start the game and successfully sunk five three-point baskets to take a 15-14 lead after the first quarter.

It was a three pointer from Jacob Canton that ended the drought for Rutgers Prep, equalizing a three point basket from the Raiders’ Zion Harrison on the other end.

There was a steady diet of fouls on both sides but plenty of aggressive movement in the paint by both offenses, stingy defense, and fast action up and down the court.

Junior Myles Parker led the way for Rutgers Prep with 12 first-half points including a pair of three pointers and a posterizing one-handed slam-dunk.

That was after he fell hard to the floor with just under 4:00 to play in the first quarter and was left holding his neck. But he came back into the game and led the charge the rest of the first half.

Parker was held in check in the second half to only five points, but had another posterizing dunk.

No Parker? No problem.

Seeing the tight defense on Parker, Jacob Canton took the baton and ran with it in the second half compiling 22 points overall on the night.

Senior Jayden Green was the bellcow for the Raiders (15-8) with ten points at the first half break, but he was held to just two points in the second half.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Vin Ebenau, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Rutgers Prep’s Jacob Canton and head coach Matt Bloom

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls headed to fourth straight SCT final with 57-24 home win over Franklin; Gill advances with home win over Hillsborough

Make it 9 straight finals appearances in the Somerset County Tournament for the Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team.

The top-seeded Lady Argonauts – 20 years after head coach Mary Klinger won her first-ever county title – will now have a chance to win their fourth straight, and seventh in nine seasons, thanks to a 57-24 win over fifth-seed Franklin.

Saturday’s final will have Prep against 2nd-seed Gill St. Bernard’s, which beat 4th-seed Hillsborough 76-47 in Peapack-Gladstone Thursday evening. (Scroll down for more on that game.)

From the very first basket of the game – scored by Chloe Escanillas, who bolted like a lighting strike to the basket off the opening tip – the Argonauts were off and rolling.

It was a sign of things to come as the junior led her team with 14 points including a pair of three-pointers.

Vanderbilt commit and senior Mikayla Blakes showcased her incredible speed on the floor off a fast break to lay in a basket with just under five minutes to play in the first.

Overall, it was aggressive offense, stingy-defense, and stellar communication in the first half that had the No. 1 seed up 30-11 at the break with sophomore GiGi Battle leading the team with eight points

Franklin senior Iyanna Cotten led the Warriors (14-12) in points with 6 at the break while the team committed that many fouls in the first half and had an additional 8 fouls in the 2nd half.

Cotten finished the game with 10 points in the loss.

Sophomore guard Ava La Monica left the game midway through the first half for Rutgers Prep (20-4) after appearing to twist her left ankle. 

She didn’t put any weight on her leg and had to be helped off the floor and didn’t return. Coach Klinger said Ava will be going for x-rays and her status for Saturday is unknown at this point.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Vin Ebeneau, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Rutgers Prep junior guard Chloe Escanillas
Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger

(2) Gill St. Bernard’s 76, (4) Rutgers Prep 47: The Knights led virtually wire-to-wire, ahead 24-12 on the visiting Raiders after one quarter. Gill held a 40-19 lead at the half. Four players scored in double figures for the Knights, who got 18 from Sydney Quinn, 17 from Gandy Malou-Mamel, and 10 each from Maya Abrmson and Brooke Baisley. Hillsborough (16-8) was led by Francesco Schiro’s 23 points, a game high. It’ll be the third straight trip to the finals for Gill St. Bernard’s (23-3), which made it the last two years, losing both times to Rutgers Prep, 64-35 in 2022 and 64-39 last season. Both regular season meetings went to Rutgers Prep this year, 71-46 (as heard on CJSR) on January 4th, and 68-45 on February 6th.

by Mike Pavlichko

First time for Montgomery: Cougars drop Watchung Hills to reach first-ever SCT final

With a minute or so left in the game, the hugs started coming from Kris Grundy. First to his assistant coaches, then to his players. And a look behind the bench to injured Ethan Lin.

It was just a matter of the final 70 seconds or so ticking off the clock.

When the horn sounded, the second-seeded Cougars had a 53-40 win in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, putting them in the county title game for the first time ever.

It’s been a long journey at for Grundy, who’s had some great seasons, some okay seasons, and some not-so-good seasons – just like any other coach who’s spent nearly two decades at his or her school.

But this one feels special.

Bohdan Bieketov led the Cougars (21-2) with 21 points, his second career high in less than a week, while Steve Donahue added 15 – including 6-of-6 at the foul line in the second half – for Montgomery.

Watchung Hills (17-7) was led by Dean Smith with 12 points, and the Warriors hit seven treys in defeat.

The game was tight early, with Watchung Hills taking a pair of one-point leads in a first quarter that saw no one ahead by more than two. Monty extended its lead to seven at one point, and was up one with 0.9 seconds left before halftime when Jack Fromelt got a rebound and gave them an improbable four-point lead on a full court heave that amazingly hit nothing but net.

The game remained tight through the third quarter, before Montgomery pulled away in the fourth with a smothering defense, and Bieketov working his magic inside, thanks to good looks from his guards. The Cougars led by 14 at one points, and won by 13.

Click below for postgame reaction with Montgomery senior Steve Donahue and head coach Kris Grundy, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: