Rutgers Prep tops Gill St. Bernard’s to capture Somerset County title

FRANKLIN (Somerset) – The Rutgers Prep School girls basketball team has spent the final Saturday of February in each of the past two seasons claiming the Somerset County Tournament championship, and this year was no different.

And although several members of the Argonauts roster have been there for all three titles, and though Rutgers Prep will have an eye on an even bigger prize once the state tournament gets underway Monday, the feeling the top-seeded Argonauts experienced after Saturday’s 62-35 victory over sixth-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s at Franklin High School is something they’ve certainly not tired of.

“This really never gets old,” said senior four-year starter Gabi Redden, who tallied a team-high 16 points, adding 11 rebounds. “We know all the hard work we put in to get here, so you can’t get used to this feeling.”

“We work to be here and this is just another stepping stone and another goal that we have every year,” said four-year starter Olivia Dabney, who added 10 points to go with 12 points from sophomore Leilani Correa. “I think we use this tournament to build for the state tournament, so this game is always very important to us.”

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Already a decided favorite after having beaten Gill St. Bernard’s by 20 and 40 points, respectively, in a pair of regular-season meetings, and having not lost since the season’s second game, Rutgers Prep (25-1) found life that much easier when it arrived Saturday to find the Knights would be without point guard Nisani Santiago, who suffered a relapse of an ankle injury that had sidelined her earlier this year.

Still, Rutgers Prep had to execute its game plan, and after starting a little tentative, found its rhythm pretty quickly, building a 14-5 lead after one quarter and 30-14 by halftime. And with the Argonauts scheduled to open its run through NJSIAA Tournament on Wednesday, also against Gill St. Bernard’s, despite the margin of victory Saturday, Rutgers Prep expects the contest to pay dividends.

“It’s a big championship,” said Rutgers Prep coach Mary Klinger, who watched Sydnei Caldwell pace Gill St. Bernard’s with a game-high 22 points. “Anytime you get a chance to play someone of Gill’s caliber, it’s going to prepare you. They’re a little down, which is unfortunate for them, but we prepared whether they had Nisani (Santiago) or not. And I think, for the most part, we did a good job.”

Of course, Rutgers Prep has some experience with big injuries, itself, having lost superstar point guard Jahsyni Knight to a season-ending knee injury three weeks ago. But that hasn’t changed the expectation for a club that went to the Tournament of Champions semifinals last year.

“Obviously, losing Jahsyni, it took us by surprise,” Redden said. “But we practiced and we worked hard and we came together as one and we kind of flourished from it. We embraced her injury and we ran with it. Really, we’re as close as we can get.”

“Obviously we miss her, she’s a great player and she makes us go,” Klinger said. “But I think what we’re seeing is other kids step up, and they’re quite callable of it. They’re playing a role, doing their part and I think that’s why this is a really good team.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atCNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN