Tag: Somerset County

by Alec Crouthamel

Highlander’s big second half helps lead No. 1 Gill St. Bernard’s to emphatic win over No. 3 Pingry – and likely the SCT’s top seed

When you think of Gill St. Bernard’s basketball, you think uptempo, flying across the floor, and plenty of victories.

Through one half against No. 3 Pingry, those three factors were present at times, but not enough with a 21-15 lead.

Once both teams emerged from the locker room for the second half of play, things changed.

The Knights (11-2, 5-0) raced out of the gate and never looked back, pulling away for a 69-38 win, outscoring the Big Blue (7-3, 3-0) 48-23 in the final 16 minutes of play.

Fresh off a 33-point, ten-rebound performance in a thrilling win over Rutgers Prep on Saturday, Gill St. Bernard’s forward Prosper Highlander led the way once again, with a 20-point, 12-rebound follow-up performance. After scoring just two points in the first half, he came alive with 12 points in the third quarter with an array of drives to the basket and a three-pointer.

Oh, and he also picked up the tough assignments on defense, stuffing the stat sheet with three steals and two blocks.

Pingry controlled the tempo early on, scoring the first five points of the game and keeping close for much of the first half. Even after the Knights responded to the opening run with ten unanswered points of their own, the Big Blue ended the quarter with six unanswered to stay within a point at 12-11.

That momentum continued into the second quarter. Even as Gill St. Bernard’s appeared to be on the verge of pulling away, Pingry continued to stack up timely buckets to stay within arm’s reach, as head coach Jason Murdock and his team looked to build off the momentum of back-to-back wins over Immaculata and Rutgers Prep last week.

But the Knights’ intensity and pace on both ends of the floor eventually became too much to overcome. They methodically built up their lead as the third quarter went along, turning defense into offense plenty, before the lead eventually ballooned to 17 points to end the third quarter, and 31 points by the end of the game.

Gill St. Bernard’s standouts Connor Junker and Dorsett Mulcahy kick-started the offense in the opening quarter with six points apiece for all of the Knights’ scoring in the opening eight minutes. Junker finished with ten points with two three-pointers, while Mulcahy finished second on the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Dylan Cowell led Pingry with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with three blocks, and was the Big Blue’s only double-digit scorer.

With the win, Gill St. Bernard’s now puts itself in an excellent position for the top seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, as the Knights look to defend their title from a season ago. Last week, they won their only matchups before the seeding meeting with Montgomery and Rutgers Prep, with the Argonauts also having lost to Pingry.

Amid a schedule head coach Mergin Sina calls one of the toughest in the state, Gill St. Bernard’s passed yet another test as the calendar flips to 2026.

Click below for postgame reaction from Gill St. Bernard’s senior forward Prosper Highlander and head coach Mergin Sina, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

First Saturday of New Year adds some wrinkles in GMC, Somerset County boys’ hoops

Saturday was blustery cold in Central Jersey, but boys’ high school basketball is clearly heating up.

In the Greater Middlesex Conference, there was the first big clash between 2025 GMC Tourney runner-up Piscataway and the new-look St. Joe’s, South Plainfield and Sayreville tussled in a critical Red National Division game, and Metuchen put its perfect record on the line.

Over in Somerset County, unbeaten Bridgewater-Raritan was idle, while Montgomery put its perfect record on the line, and Rutgers Prep faced some top-flight competition.

So, let’s take a look at how it all shook out…

SOMERSET COUNTY

Cougars take first loss down the Shore…

Two-time defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion Montgomery took a perfect 8-0 record into the New Year, but that went away Saturday with a slim two-point loss.

In their first eight games, the Cougars – now 8-1 – had been averaging almost 71 points of game, winning by an average of 28.4 points. But the closest game of the year for the fifth-ranked team in the state (No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten) turned out to be a two-point loss to the state’s No. 9 team, Linden.

Monty fell behind 14-9 after one, played a solid two middle quarters – rallying to go into the break up 24-22 – but got outscored by six in the fourth to fall 53-51 to the Tigers. Penn-bound senior Ethan Lin led all scorers with 20. It shouldn’t have too much of an impact in the race for a top-seed in CJ4, with Montgomery in first heading into the weekend.

Rutgers Prep falls, too…

The No. 2 team in the Bellamy Top Ten – the Argonauts – also suffered a close loss Saturday, this one to St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. Rutgers Prep was tenth in the state this week, the Marauders third. And the boys from Somerset did more than hang in there.

In fact, they led 23-15 after one, but that lead shrunk to one by halftime, and the third quarter was the decisive one, as the Argos got outscored by eight, and wound up losing 78-72 to fall to 5-2 on the season. Five players scored in double figures, led by William Brunson with 18, and Rocco Loomis with 16.

The game was a good test for Prep, which is in Non-Public Group B and wouldn’t play St. Peter’s in the states, and the loss shouldn’t hurt them much as they look to improve their standing in the South B section, where they made the sectional finals last year, falling to St. Rose of Belmar

But Gill St. Bernard’s wins again…

After the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic win and two league victories, the Knights have played all showcase games, including a fifth straight Saturday, then a sixth on Sunday when they play Trenton (4-2) up at Newark Collegiate in the New Year’s Jump Off. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase II, getting 22 points from Dorsett Mulcahy.

The Ironmen are just 2-5 on the season, but interestingly, three of their losses have come to the Skyland Conference Delaware Division’s top three teams: Montgomery in the Tip-Off Classic opening weekend, Rutgers Prep on December 20th, and now Gill, which improved to 6-2 on the season.

Big Week Ahead in the Delaware Division…

The week of the 12th, Bridgewater-Raritan (currently 7-0, and idle this weekend) will get its turn against the best in Somerset County, but this coming week will be a big one with major implications for Somerset County Tournament seeding, which takes place January 26th, three weeks from Monday.

First, on Tuesday night, Montgomery travels to Rutgers Prep for a 7 pm game. Thursday night, Gill travels down to Skillman to take on the Cougars in a 5:30 tilt you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Bookmark this link to listen on gameday.

Bridgewater-Raritan, meanwhile, visits Watchung Hills Tuesday, then has home games with Immaculata and Hillside Thursday and Saturday before getting their crack at the non-publics: at Rutgers Prep on Tuesday, the 13th, and hosting Gill at 5:30 Thursday, the 16th.

Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan won’t play until February 5th, after the SCT is already seeded.

GREATER MIDDLESEX CONFERENCE

St. Joe’s lands a big punch in race for GMC Tourney top-seed…

Despite a 6-16 record a year ago, once St. Joseph-Metuchen brought back Mark Taylor – and he began bringing in some new pieces to the puzzle – expectations shot through the roof. It was hard to tell what they would look like after a season-opening rout of Wesley College out of Australia on December 8th, which they won 103-36.

They won at Old Bridge by 19, then looked good, but not great, in a 58-40 home win over Colonia. Next was the Winter Showcase at Paul VI up in Wayne, where they beat Middle Township 69-37 and St. Mary’s Ryken (MD) by 21. All of those still weren’t great measuring sticks.

Saturday, they traveled to Piscataway for a battle of unbeatens against the 2025 GMC Tournament runner-up. And we got a much better idea of how the Falcons fit in the conversation this winter.

A high school basketball game in action, featuring players from St. Joseph's and Piscataway. The player in the foreground dribbles the ball while teammates and an audience watch in the background.
Alijah Murphy of St. Joseph-Metuchen controls the ball in a GMC Red American game at Piscataway on January 3, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Though the Chiefs led by 18 at the half on stifling defense, forcing turnovers seemingly every other possession, St. Joseph turned the table as first-year (of his second stint) head coach Mark Taylor whipped out some zone defense, a 1-3-1, and it befuddled Piscataway. More than the execution was the height advantage, and extra long wingspan of guys like junior Andrew Kretkowski (6′ 7″) and sophomore Joel Patrick (6′ 10″), the second of whom was a monster on the boards, and had 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, while blocking six shots.

No amount of excellent Piscataway defense – and they are very good – can combat that length when the tallest player on the floor is Donald Nwaigwe at 6′ 4″. It all led to a 64-53 overtime win for St. Joe’s, keeping them unbeaten at 6-0, while the Chiefs drop to 9-1.

So, where does this leave things in the GMC?

Piscataway took Colonia out before the holidays in double overtime for its first win over the Patriots in 13 years, but now has its first loss, and it’s in the Red American Division. With no guaranteed seeds, the seeding will be all about head-to-head. St. Joe’s won’t get any easier to deal with when 6-7 transfer Aiden Carter becomes eligible this weekend, and they’ve really fired the first salvo. The rematch is less than two weeks away, when the Chiefs visit the Falcons on January 15th.

With the Red split into American and National divisions, but mandatory crossovers (ideally for better comparisons at the seeding meeting) on the schedule, watch out for East Brunswick. The Bears host St. Joseph on Thursday, January 22, and while they don’t have a lot of height either, they can knock down the three – something the Chiefs couldn’t do Saturday.

The Bears have beaten the two teams right behind them in the division on their first pass-through – Sayreville on December 18th and South Plainfield on the 20th, both by five points – and will rematch with them in the same order next Saturday at 1 and on the 13th at 7, both on the road. They also

Right now, the Falcons seem to have the early inside track on the top-seed in the county tournament. A second win over Piscataway could really lock it in, unless East Brunswick can knock them off. The Bears also visit Piscataway Tuesday, January 27th, a week before the seeding.

Assuming no head-scratching losses, Piscataway would likely have to beat the bears and split with St. Joseph to have a shot, while East Brunswick would likely have to win out by sweeping Sayreville and South Plainfield, and beating both St. Joe’s and Piscataway.

And the only other unbeaten team left in the GMC is…

Metuchen! The Bulldogs beat Carteret on the road Saturday, 53-43, to improve to 6-0 on the season, and haven’t won a game by fewer than seven points, as happened against Voorhees back on Tuesday, a 59-42 win that gave them the championship of their own Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament.

Cameron Hayes-Durina – also an excellent football player, and a Borden’s Baller – scored 14 to lead all scorers in Saturday’s victory. He’s averaging 22.7 points per game this season and nearly nine rebounds; the 14 was his lowest output all year, and the first time under 20, but the Bulldogs won anyway, and led by nine at the half.

The Bulldogs go back on the road for two more this week – Monday at North Plainfield and Thursday at Middlesex, before returning home for JFK Saturday afternoon.

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls hoops in unfamiliar, yet familiar territory heading into 2025-26 season

On the one hand, this is new, or at least different for Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball coach Mary Klinger. The Lady Argonauts are coming off a season in which they did not play in the Somerset County Tournament final, their first miss since 2014.

On the other hand, everyone who played a significant contributing role in 2024-25 – a season in which Klinger didn’t have a single senior to rely on – is back for this season. That’s also a rarity in this day and age of transfers and player movement.

In fact, she has a few newcomers from the nationally top-ranked Argonauts’ girls’ soccer program joining the team now.

Senior Ava LaMonica is the most experienced player back. She’s started since she was a freshman, and while she’s not the biggest scorer, she did average 13.4 points per game last season, but also gets to the line a lot as she hustles and boxes out for every rebound and loose ball. She also led the team with 81 assists and 65 steals a year ago.

Sophia Georgiadis was the second leading scorer a year ago as a junior, at 11.6 points per game, while adding 37 treys, one fewer than classmate Natalia Valdez, who had 38 and scored at an 8.3 point per game clip.

Sophomore Hailey Benbow and junior Hannah Fraser will be key contributors as well.

For this year’s club, the past is the past and it’s time to write a new chapter. And Klinger will have her team ready using the regular season as their pre-season, to gear up for another SCT run, and some more NJSIAA hardware as well.

Click below to hear Rutgers Prep girls’; basketball coach Mary Klinger preview the upcoming season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Rutgers Prep will make its season debut on Central Jersey Sports Radio on Monday, December 15m when the Lady Argonauts welcome in Franklin for a 5:30 tip off. Alec Crouthamel will have the call. Bookmark this link to listen live on the day of the game.

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s basketball coverage set to start, as 2025-26 could be one of the more interesting in years

We’re just three days away from the opening of the 2025-26 high school basketball season in New Jersey, and while only a handful of teams will play on Monday, Opening Night, we’re tipping off our coverage this weekend.

We’ll get it going with previews of some of the top boys’ and girls’ teams in the area starting Saturday, December 6th, and running through next weekend, when many teams start getting underway.

We’ll have our preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten rankings out the day after, on Sunday, and reveal our 2025-26 broadcast schedule on Monday afternoon. That will be a slate of around a dozen or so regular season games split between the boys and girls in both the Greater Middlesex Conference and the Somerset County portion of the Skyland Conference.

Of course, Central Jersey Sports Radio will be there for the GMC and Somerset County Tournaments in February, as well as the NJSIAA State Tournament as far as our local teams will go.

Season outlook…

The season proves to be an interesting one, notably on the boys’ side in the GMC, where there’s been much off-season upheaval. Colonia took its fourth straight North 2, Group 4 title, and won its second straight GMC Tournament with Aiden Derkack as MVP, but he announced over the summer a transfer to Spire Academy in Ohio.

Then, this week, R.J. Wortman signed on for a football scholarship at Rutgers, where he’ll be enrolling early in January, taking him out of the equation. That and the springtime hire and return of Mark Taylor as St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach, with a slew of newcomers, leaves things more up in the air than usual.

And don’t count Piscataway in its second year with Bob Turco at the helm, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas, whose new head coach Tom Weiler is a former Turco assistant.

On the girls’ side, the heavy favorite to win the GMC is St. Thomas Aquinas, which has won the last six county tournaments.

Over in Somerset County, the Rutgers Prep girls will look to make it back to the Somerset County Tournament final after missing it last year for the first time since 2014, snapping a streak of nine straight appearances, of which they had won seven, including four straight until last year. (There was also no tournament in the COVID-shortened season of 2020.) Gill St. Bernards won the SCT for the first time since 2014, beating Hillsborough, which knocked Rutgers Prep out in the semis. And while the Lady Raiders were the NJSIAA state Group 4 champions, they lose a ton, including all-time leading scorer Francesca Schiro, who’s leading Siena in scoring as a freshman. Gill also took some key losses, so the county could get quite interesting.

On the boys’ side, the big three still are Montgomery, Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep until someone else makes a move. The Knights topped the Argonauts in another battle for the SCT title, while Montgomery made it all the way to the Group 4 final, falling to Plainfield at Rutgers on the final day of the season. All three should be stacked again, and it could be a play here, a play there, or some x-factor newcomer who will make the biggest difference this season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Feared Ridge starter Aidan Stieglitz named Central Jersey Sports Radio’s 2025 Somerset County Baseball Player of the Year

Once in a while, there’s a pitcher no one wants to face. One who’s often dominant and unhittable, and on his worst days, just plain damn good.

That’s Aidan Steiglitz.

The Ridge senior who will head down South after he graduates today to play college ball for Elon has been a huge part of Ridge’s baseball success the last few years, even though he was limited last year due to injury, then got banged up again in football.

This season for the Red Devils – who shared the Skyland Conference Delaware Division pennant with Immaculata – the righty Stieglitz was very much more often that not, unstoppable.

And he’s our Central Jersey Sports Radio Somerset County Player of the Year for 2025.

With a 9-3 record, the wins were solid and some of the losses were hard-luck defeats:. There was a 1-0 loss in a rain-shortened five-inning game against Seton Hall Prep that was called off with Ridge still having six outs to work with on offense. (Steiglitz had pitched the top of the sixth, but the game was called a few pitches into the bottom of the inning and the final reverted back to a five-inning official game.)

And in the Somerset County Tournament final against Immaculata, he took the loss in a 3-0 defeat, striking out 12 and allowing just four hits. All three runs were unearned.

In fact, in his 13 appearances this season – with a 0.79 ERA – Stieglitz only allowed earned runs in two games: an early-season 10-4 loss to the Spartans, and that game cut short against Seton Hall Prep.

He finished the season with 99 strikeouts, and 166 in his career with an ERA of 1.15, impeccably consistent in two years and change on the varsity club.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio 2025 Somerset County Player of the Year Aiden Stieglitz talk about his season and future career at Elon with Mike Pavlichko:

by Alec Crouthamel

Team Rocky wins second annual Shaun O’Hara Bowl over Team Otto, to benefit the Shaun O’Hara Foundation

With graduation on the horizon, many of the top senior football players from across Somerset and Hunterdon counties came together to lace ’em up one last time at the high school level, and benefit a great cause.

The second annual Shaun O’Hara Bowl came and went at Hillsborough High School, where O’Hara’s No. 66 jersey number is retired. Team Rocky took down Team Otto 28-0 for their second straight victory, but the biggest impact in the game was not made on the scoreboard.

The team names give plenty of Raider history, as well. Otto Gsell was a longtime football coach at Hillsborough, becoming an assistant in 1987 and serving as defensive coordinator on state title teams in 1973 and 1980. He was head coach from 1988 to 1993, then moved back into an assistant role and head freshman coach under Mantz. He passed away in 2000, and was inducted into the Hillsborough Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

Rocky Forte was inducted into the Hall in 2011. He was Athletic Director from 1978-2003, also serving as head wrestling coach for several years, but mainly oversaw the Raiders’ successful growth from a Group 2 athletic program in 1978 into a Group 4 by 2003, as the population in town exploded over several decades. He passed away in 2009.

The game made its second straight appearance after taking over for the Basilone Bowl, the game benefits the Shaun O’Hara Foundation, which “focuses on creating awareness of life-threatening diseases for which there is little funding, helps to raise funds to support other 501(c) (3) organizations’ health and education initiatives”, with a focus on supporting research and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.

As for the game itself, both teams took a bit of time to get going, with neither team reaching the red zone until late in the first half.

Both defensive lines got off to hot starts, taking down the opposing quarterback and stuffing the run game.

Late in the first half, however, Team Rocky took its first swing.

Aided by multiple defensive penalties and fourth-down conversions, they got on the doorstep of the red zone. One play after converting on a fourth-and-three, Bound Brook quarterback Jeremiah Norwood found Watchung Hills wide receiver Brayden Kelly down the sideline for a 24-yard score to strike first. Kelly also notched a highlight-reel tip-drill interception on defense earlier in the half.

Team Otto was forced to punt with seconds left on the clock, and Team Rocky went into the locker room with the lead. At halftime, O’Hara addressed the crowd, giving thanks to all the supporters, coaches and parents. A special announcement followed, with Shaun O’Hara Foundation executive chair and Hillsborough alum Jim Ruh learning he was the newest inductee into the Raiders Athletics Hall of Fame, in the class of 2026.

After a Team Otto punt, Team Rocky got back to work. Once again close to the red zone, Norwood found Kelly for his second score of the game, this time through contact.

Three plays later, Kelly cemented his game MVP status, intercepting another pass near the sideline. It immediately turned into another score, as one play later, Norwood found Bridgewater-Raritan running back Nick DiEsso open in the scramble drill for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

Team Rocky added another score late in the fourth quarter, with DiEsso springing to the outside for a 75-yard rushing score.

After the game, the teams met at midfield and were addressed by O’Hara and both coaches, who presented the MVP awards, one for offense and one for defense, to each team. For Team Rocky, Norwood earned offensive MVP honors for his work in the passing game, throwing for four touchdowns. Kelly was given defensive MVP for his two interceptions.

For Team Otto, Hillsborough running back Jackson Jankowicz was named offensive MVP for his work in the running game and for helping kickstart the team’s passing attack with multiple tough catches over the middle. Raiders defensive lineman Garrett Meyer earned defensive MVP honors for his work getting into the backfield and disrupting Team Rocky’s running game.

In all, both teams got the opportunity to play one last game with their high school teammates, and even competed with some of their biggest rivals. The joy of football, paired with the charitable cause benefiting the Shaun O’Hara Foundation, shadows any numbers on the scoreboard.

Hillsborough defensive lineman Garrett Meyer earning Shaun O’Hara Bowl defensive MVP honors with Team Otto and Hillsborough head coach Kevin Carty and Shaun O’Hara (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)
Watchung Hills cornerback Brayden Kelly earning Shaun O’Hara Bowl defensive MVP honors with Team Rocky and Watchung Hills head coach Rich Seubert and Shaun O’Hara (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)
Bound Brook quarterback Jeremiah Norwood earning Shaun O’Hara Bowl offensive MVP honors with Team Rocky and Watchung Hills head coach Rich Seubert and Shaun O’Hara (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)
Hillsborough running back Jackson Jankowicz earning Shaun O’Hara Bowl offensive MVP honors with Team Otto and Hillsborough head coach Kevin Carty and Shaun O’Hara (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)

Click below for postgame reaction from Team Rocky head coach Rich Seubert and all four game MVPs, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Seubert
Team Otto MVPs RB Jackson Jankowicz and DL Garrett Meyer (both Hillsborough)
Team Rocky MVPs QB Jeremiah Norwood (Bound Brook) and CB Brayden Kelly (Watchung Hills)
by Mike Pavlichko

Big games on tap (maybe) heading into last weekend before SCT, GMCT seeding meetings

The baseball season itself is only about at the halfway point, having started in very late March for some teams, and ending in early June for others.

But as far as the regular season goes, the majority of the big games come before the county seeding meetings, which are coming up next week. And that means some big games today and next week, as long as Mother Nature cooperates.

The Somerset County Tournament gets seeded Monday, and who gets the top seed could be up in the air. It’ll likely be between Ridge and Immaculata. The Red Devils lead the Skyland Conference Delaware Division at 12-2 overall, 7-2 in the Delaware. Immaculata is in second, 7-4 overall, 6-3 in the division.

But the division isn’t all Somerset County teams. Of Ridge’s two losses overall, one came to Immaculata and the other to Bridgewater-Raritan. But of Immaculata’s four losses, one was out of conference (to Hun) while the others were to Ridge, Hunterdon Central and North Hunterdon, the last two of whom are not in Somerset County.

Clearly, “other” games matter; the question is how much? The SCT is seeded by the coaches, who vote on the teams, top to bottom, with point values for voting determining how the event is seeded. After the initial vote, teams can appeal to move up, one space at a time. How will the coaches vote?

More importantly, each team has one conference/county game left before Monday’s seeding. Immaculata visits Hillsborough (6-7, 3-6) Thursday, while Ridge is at Hunterdon Central (8-4, 5-4).

If you want to take rankings into consideration, the Red Devils are ranked No. 16 in the latest NJ.com Top 20 – the only CJSR-area team to be ranked – while Immaculata is listed third in the “under consideration” category. In our latest Bellamy & Son Paving baseball rankings, Ridge is No. 1 and Immaculata is No. 2.

Over in the GMC – where the seeding meeting takes place next Friday, May 9th – there’s another interesting scenario among the top two teams in the Red Division. Woodbridge is in first at 10-3 overall, 10-3 in the division. South Plainfield is 11-4, 9-3, a half-game behind the Barrons with a game in hand.

But the Tigers swept the Barrons two games, 7-3 on the 9th, and 1-0 last Tuesday in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. If they end up tied, the tiebreaker would be head-to-head, going to South Plainfield. But if they end up clearly in second place behind the Barrons, Woodbridge has to get seeded first out of the Red with a better overall division record, despite the two head-to-head losses.

South Plainfield has two division games left. They play East Brunswick today (Thursday) at home at 4 pm, then after White Division matchups against Sayreville and Spotswood, visit St. Joseph-Metuchen next Wednesday at 4. The Tigers lost the first meeting between the teams on April 4th, 14-7.

Woodbridge has just one division game left, this afternoon at home against Monroe at 4:00. A win clinches at least a tie with South Plainfield. Had they swept, they’d have the division outright at 11-2, with one less loss than the Tigers.

The bottom line is that South Plainfield controls its own fate: as long as the Tigers win out, they should be the top seed in the GMC for the second straight season.

We’ll have more analysis on county seeding in the coming days. We’ll have a closer look at Somerset County on Sunday, ahead of Monday evening’s SCT meeting. And next Thursday we’ll have a breakdown of the GMC before Friday morning’s get-together.

Plus, we’ll take another look at the NJSIAA state playoff standings this weekend, with the cutoff just two weeks away on Saturday, May 17th.

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio Somerset County Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year: Gill’s Gandy Malou-Mamel has stellar year, heads to UConn

All across the state of New Jersey, every year, dozens upon dozens of players will graduate and play at the college level. But only a handful get to go play for a major college program that has won multiple national championships.

But that’s the future for Gandy Malou-Mamel, the Gill St. Bernard’s senior who is the 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Malou-Mamel didn’t start playing basketball in earnest until she was 12, and in her native Ireland. But playing for the Huskies and the legendary Geno Auriemma was her dream. Now that her career at Gill is over, that’s her reality.

She earned the chance to play in Storrs over the span of three seasons, in which she averaged almost 14 points per game in her career – 1,144 total – and a career-best 17 points a game this season, her senior year. She had double-doubles in 18 of her 28 games this season, and averaged a double-double, at 10.2 boards a game this season. She also recorded almost 200 career blocks (60 this year) and 40 steals.

At 6′ 6″, she was dominant much of her career, and especially this season, leading Gill St. Bernard’s to its first Somerset County Tournament title since 2014, as well as the Non-Public North B finals, where they lost to Immaculate Conception of Montclair, which is closing at the end of the school year.

Unfortunately – for us, not her! – Gill is on Spring Break this week and next, and Malou-Mamel is back home in her native Ireland, where coach Mark Gnapp says she often disconnects and recharges. So we had Gnapp speak on her behalf to talk about her season and career at Gill.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp talk about Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year Gandy Malou-Mamel:

Here are our Honorable Mentions for Somerset County Girls’ Player of the Year:

  • Aleah Sunkins, Franklin: Sunkins had an impressive freshman campaign, and there was no hint of a sophomore slump in 2024-25. While Precious Wheeler is a tenacious defender, Sunkins averaged 15.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds in her second season as a varsity starter, and eight double-doubles this season for a squad that may have gone 11-16 this year, but they also played in perhaps the toughest girls’ basketball division in the state, losing three times to Gill St. Bernard’s and twice to Rutgers Prep – both state sectional finalists – as well as twice to Hillsborough, the state Group 4 champs and No. 4 team in the final statewide rankings. That’s seven losses – almost half their overall total – to state-ranked teams just in their division alone.
  • Francesca Schiro, Hillbsorough: A talented all-around team, the Raiders don’t do what they did without “Cesci.” With back-to-back Central Jersey Group 4 titles, and this year the state Group 4 title – Hillsborough’s first ever – Schiro was instrumental in it all. This Siena-bound senior averaged 21.1 points per game this season, 6.3 rebounds, and led the tea, in assists (156) and steals (120). She was the undisputed leader of the team, and had big buckets down the stretch of the state finals against West Orange, along with fellow senior Mya Loniewski.
  • Taylor Francis, Pingry: The all-time leading scorer in school history, she finishes with 1,793 points before heading off to Georgetown to play softball. She averaged 27.3 points per game this year, with 66 treys, on a team that went 19-8 this season, and won the Skyland Conference Raritan Division by running the table to a 10-0 record.
  • Ava LaMonica, Rutgers Prep: Just a junior, it just seems like LaMonica has been an Argonaut for the last five years. A fierce competitor not afraid to hit the deck if she’s fouled hard or diving for a loose ball, she led a young, inexperienced group with 65 steals this season while averaging 13.4 points and 5 rebounds per game. And if the band stays together – last year’s team lost three starters to graduation, while another moved to Florida – next year’s group, with another year under its belt – could be primed for something big.
  • Charlotte Taylor, Somerville: While junior Kaylee Lauber also had a fantastic season, and was the team’s leading scorer, Taylor gets the nod here as a senior who’s been consistent her entire career. Averaging 11.5 points, four rebounds, and five asissts per game, Taylor played the senior leader role to a tee on a 23-6 team that went to the North 2, Group 3 semifinals.

by Mike Pavlichko

Baseball is almost back! Here’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio 2025 Broadcast Schedule

Less than two weeks after the official last game of the high school basketball season saw its final horn, it’ll be time for the first pitch of baseball season.

And Central Jersey Sports Radio will be there!

This season’s broadcast schedule includes nine regular season games spread between the Greater Middlesex Conference and Somerset County, as well as coverage of the GMC and Somerset County Tournaments and additional state tournament games.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 2025 BROADCAST SCHEDULE!!

The season kicks off on Saturday, March 29th, when Spotswood hosts South Amboy on its brand new turf field at “The Swamp.” We’ll follow that up with our first Somerset County game, as defending Group 4 champion Bridgewater-Raritan – coming off its first state title in school history – visits Immaculata out at Diamond Nation in Flemington.

Additional Middlesex County teams to make an appearance this year will include GMC Tournament champion Old Bridge, runner-up south Plainfield, Edison, Woodbridge, Sayreville, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Middlesex. Additional Somerset teams to be featured include Hillsborough, Rutgers Prep, Somerville, Watchung Hills, Somerset County Tournament runner-up Ridge, and an early May matchup between Montgomery and Manville at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 2025 BROADCAST SCHEDULE!!

We’ll be there for the Somerset County Tournament as well, including the semifinals at 1 and 4 pm on Monday, May 19th, and the finals at 6 pm on Wednesday, May 21st.

Coverage of the GMC Tournament will include the quaerterfinals at North Brunswick Community Park on Wednesday, May 14, the semifinals at 12 and 2:30 pm on Saturday, May 17th, and the finals at 2 pm on Saturday, May 24th, Memorial Day weekend. The semis and finals will be at Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School.

by Dom Savino

Experienced Gill St. Bernard’s ready for big year, latest battle with Rutgers Prep

Experience. Talent. Chemistry. Depth.

The third-ranked Gill St. Bernard’s girls basketball team has all the components needed for a big year.

The Knights (1-0) will play their first New Jersey game of a highly-anticipated season Tuesday at 6 pm in Somerset against a familiar foe: Rutgers Prep. You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action; click here to listen.

The Knights are looking for even more after last year’s 24-5 campaign, highlighted by a run to the North Jersey Non-Public B semifinals and a runner-up finish in the Somerset County Tournament.

Gill returns more than 75 percent of its scoring, including All-State center Gandy Malou-Mamel. The 6-foot-6 UConn signee led Gill with 16.5 points per game, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks.

The Knights pack even more punch this season with the addition of Pope John transfers Addy and Kaity Platt. The sisters combined to average 23.5 ppg last year and led the Lions to both North Jersey, Non-Public A and Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament crowns.

They’ve settled in at Gill, where their new team’s goal is hoisting trophies, too. Addy — the elder Platt — led Gill in the first game of its championship quest, collecting a team-high 12 points Saturday in a 58-31 win over Albertus Magnus (NY) at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa. Malou-Mamel notched her first double-double of her senior season, compiling eleven points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

Click below to hear Gill St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gnapp talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino about Tuesday’s battle with Rutgers Prep: