New Year’s Eve Standouts in New Jersey

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year's Eve as we ring in the new year, hopefully another great year for basketball in the Garden State, and quite a few teams finished up the calendar year on the court. Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey will be recapping the final day of 2023 below with a look at Sunday's best, NYE edition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='601407' first='Mackenzie' last='Vellis'] - Rutherford (2026)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vellis had what we thought was the most complete performance of Rutherford's 44-17 over Hoboken on Sunday, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, a block and three steals. This season has been a breakout one for her so far, currently averaging 14.8 points per game through her first five games, five-straight double-digit scoring performances at that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='588710' first='Madison' last='Palek'] - Middle Township (2024)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Palek proved to be the big key cog in the machine for Middle Township in a tight 52-49 win over Middle Township. She got to the line, she split up her shot selection between inside and outside the arc and she finsihed with a team-high 17 points for the Panthers. Make that a 5-2 start to the season and 11+ points per game that Palek is averaging.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='858800' first='Cianni' last='Thompson'] - Trenton Catholic (2024)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thompson, despite a losing effort from Trenton Catholic, was the big story of a close-fought game at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood on Sunday. She knocked down a career-high five three-pointers, scoring a game-high 19 points for the Iron Mikes. That's now three double-digit performances for Thompson this season as she looks to set career-highs across the board as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='525308' first='Sabrina' last='Little'] - Holy Spirit (2025)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It wasn't the biggest game of her career or even her season, but a 12-point performance from Holy Spirit junior [player_tooltip player_id='525308' first='Sabrina' last='Little'] was plenty to help the Spartans take down Olympic Conference power Camden Catholic on Sunday. Little is having herself a season thus far, with three 20+ point performances and an impressive 17 PPG so far, tracking for career-highs in scoring for Holy Spirit.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='583956' first='Hailey' last='Zirpoli'] - Waldwick (2025)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waldwick got a big win to get to 2-4 on the season, and Zirpoli was the story of the day, scoring a season-high 19 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the process and shooting 8-of-9 from the foul line. She also had seven rebounds and two steals to her name, as complete a performance on the floor that we've seen from her in her high school career to date.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='488839' first='Cate' last='Weinberger'] - Northern Highlands (2024)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A rather underrated senior to keep your eyes on this season, Weinberger was automatic from three on Sunday, hitting five to finish with a career-high 20 points for Northern Highlands. That's now four-straight double-digit performances from her and six in her first seven games of the season for the Highlanders, scoring 13.6 PPG thus far as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->