All-Group 3 Returning Players

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Less than a month until tryouts. As we get ready for the 2025-26 season, let's take a look at the All-Group 3 returning players from last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">1st Team</span></strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='835898' first='Kirsten' last='Gibson'] - Cherry Hill West</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Simply put, [player_tooltip player_id='835898' first='Kirsten' last='Gibson'] led Cherry Hill West to the best season in school history. They won their 1st ever sectional championship and their first ever group championship finishing with a 25-4 record. The core of this team was 4 seniors and a sophomore. The sophomore was Kirsten and she had an epic season. She led the team in points, 3-pointers and steals. She was 2nd in rebounds and blocks and 3rd in assists. She scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games played, had 20+ points in 11 games and had a career high 33 points in a win over rival Cherry Hill East. She hit 60 3-pointers in her sophomore season and is already over 100 for her career. She enters her junior season just 176 points shy of 1,000 for her career. She will also go over 100 career steals this year. Though, they lost 4 key seniors including Julia Lewis who is playing at Mercyhurst, with Kirsten back Cherry Hill West will have their superstar with them in hopes of defending their title as they look to hold off last year's South Group 3 runner-up Moorestown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='559044' first='Synai' last='Blychanton'] - Red Bank Regional</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Red Bank Regional finished last season at 18-10 and was the #2 seed in sectionals before finishing as the runner-up in the Central Group 3 section to #5 Neptune. Along with departed senior Caroline Polloway, [player_tooltip player_id='559044' first='Synai' last='Blychanton'] led the charge for Red Bank Regional. Synai led the team in scoring, was 2nd in assists and steals, 3rd in rebounds and 4th in 3-pointers and blocks all while only playing in 21 of their 28 games. She scored in double figures in 15 of 21 contests, had 4 games of 20+ points and a career high of 32 points in a win over Freehold Township. Losing Polloway in the middle leaves a bit of a hole in the lineup but the rest of the lineup returns from last year's team so Synai senior season will have a strong supporting cast of fellow seniors as they look to the Central Group 3 sectional. Joining Synai will be senior [player_tooltip player_id='559821' first='Kristen' last='Connors'], senior [player_tooltip player_id='1352569' first='Caitlyn' last='Courtney'], senior [player_tooltip player_id='559823' first='Zoe' last='Gulley'], senior [player_tooltip player_id='559822' first='Riley' last='Joyce'], and senior [player_tooltip player_id='559074' first='Riley' last='Wheeler'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='601276' first='Analyse' last='Intenzo'] - Moorestown</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='601276' first='Analyse' last='Intenzo'] led Moorestown to a 23-8 record and the #2 seed in South Group 3 where they advanced to the sectional final before falling to eventual Group 3 State Champ Cherry Hill East. Analyse led her team in scoring, 3-pointers, rebounds, assists blocks and steals for the season. The FDU commit hit 74 3-pointers in her junior season. She scored in double figures in 25 of 31 games, had 20+ppg 8 times and had a season high of 25 against Shawnee. She is already over 1,200 career points in her 1st three years. She should go over 250 career 3-pointers, 1,500 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals in her senior season. Julia Blong, the 2nd leading scorer from last season, returns to for a powerful duo with Intenzo. Though they lost 2 starters from last year's team, Analyse will look to lead Moorestown to take down Cherry Hill West for the sectional title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">2nd Team</span></strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='559047' first='Lexi' last='Carnegie'] - Teaneck</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In her return to the court after suffering a torn ACL as a sophomore, [player_tooltip player_id='559047' first='Lexi' last='Carnegie'] did not miss a beat in her junior year. Teaneck was 21-7 and earned the #3 seed in the ultra-competitive North 1 Group 3 section. After back to back sectional titles they fell to #2 Morris Knolls who wound up as the North 1 Group 3 Sectional Champion. In her junior season, the Monmouth commit led her team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. She scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games, had 20+ in 10 games including a career high 27 points in a win over Old Tappan. She is already over 1,000 career points ans should surpass 1,500 career points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 400 steals in her senior season. Though they lose two key contributors from last year's squad, they are a deep roster who returns 5 other key contributors from last season's team. Lexi will be joined by sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1202375' first='Sydney' last='Ayala'], senior [player_tooltip player_id='600896' first='Jillian' last='Carter'], junior [player_tooltip player_id='1352567' first='Aniya' last='Celestin'], junior [player_tooltip player_id='1158019' first='Leayana' last='Dorville'] and sophomore Jordyn Taylor as they look to battle Demarest, West Essex, Old Tappan and Ramapo to win the North 1 Group 3 sectional title for the 3rd time in 4 years. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">3rd Team</span></strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='600897' first='Gabriella' last='Mittelman'] - Demarest</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Demarest was 23-6 in the 2024-25 season and, as a #6 seed, earned a trip to the Bergen County finals. They were the #1 seed in the North 1 Group 3 sectional where they had a big lead entering the 4th quarter before falling to #2 Morris Knolls in overtime. Gabriella led Demarest in scoring assists and steals in her junior year. The Smith commit scored in double figures in 22 of 29 games, she had 20+ 6 times and had a career high of 39 in an overtime win over West Essex in the sectional semifinal. She is already over 1,100 career points and should go over 1,500 career points, 150 3-pointers, 400 rebounds, 350 assists and 250 steals in her senior season. They lose 2 seniors from last year including Angelina Tirado who is playing at Monroe University JUCO. In her senior season Gabriella will be joined by returnees, junior [player_tooltip player_id='651513' first='Deana' last='Finkelstein'], sophomore Caitlyn Fontana, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='964294' first='Ava' last='Francica'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='835246' first='Ella' last='Peck']. Once again, coach Jenny Jurjevic has found some transfers in junior [player_tooltip player_id='789186' first='Zoe' last='Wasserlauf'] from Tenafly and [player_tooltip player_id='959847' first='Nassiah' last='Cole-Haricha'] from IHA to add even more depth to an already talented roster as Demarest looks to get over the hump this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='913916' first='Tyeera' last='Howard'] - Neptune</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Neptune finished the season at 17-12. They entered sectionals as a #5 seed and took down #4 Colts Neck, #1 Westampton Tech and #2 Red Bank Regional on their way to the Central Group 3 Sectional Championship before falling to Group 3 champion Cherry Hill West in the Group 3 semifinals. [player_tooltip player_id='913916' first='Tyeera' last='Howard']'s performance in her freshman season was a big reason for this impressive postseason run. She only played 15 games but her team 6-8 without her in the lineup and 11-4 with her in the lineup. She scored in double figures in 12 of her 15 games, had 3 double doubles and had a career high 21 in a win over Hopewell Valley. In a little more than half the games her teammates played she finished 1st in rebounds, 2nd in blocks, 3rd in scoring, 4th in steals and 5th in assists. Neptune lost two seniors from last year's team including Christa Ramos who is playing at CCSU. In addition to Tyeera, they return junior [player_tooltip player_id='831942' first='Lana' last='Ellington'], sophomore Bryanna Edgerson and senior [player_tooltip player_id='601516' first='Majiah' last='Quarles'] from last year's rotation. With Tyeera for a full season, Neptune will once again battle Red Bank Regional for the secton. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='559136' first='Camden' last='Epstein'] - Ramapo</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ramapo finished the season 22-6 last year and, as the #4 seed in North 1 Group 3, fell to #5 West Essex at home in the quarterfinals. Epstein led Ramapo in scoring, 3-pointes and assists and finished 2nd in steals. She went over 1,000 career points late in her junior season. The Holy Cross commit scored in double figures in 21 of 26 games played, had 6 games of 20+ points and a career high 30 points against Montville. She enters her senior season chasing 1,400 career points, 150 3-pointers, 350 rebounds, 250 assists and 150 steals. Ramapo lost 3 seniors from last year including 2 starters. They also had their 3rd leading scorer transfer to IHA. Along with her fellow seniors, Washington &amp; Lee commit [player_tooltip player_id='564268' first='Toni' last='Pernetti'] and UPenn soccer commit [player_tooltip player_id='600887' first='Grace' last='Saxton'] as the key returnees, Epstein and Ramapo will look to chase the postseason success that has eluded them the past three seasons. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->