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For a program to reach heights it had never seen before, it usually takes a player like it had never seen before, and that has certainly been the case for the Hillsborough High School girls basketball team.
Cesci Schiro’s accomplishments on the court, both individually and for her team, have been a first for Hillsborough. She has started every game the past four years, helping the Raiders go from sectional finalist her freshman year to the program’s first-ever sectional championship last season, to winning the state Group 4 crown this year.
She finishes her career with 2,106 points, most in Hillsborough basketball history -- for girls or boys – and one of only 130 players in state history to pass the 2,000-point mark.
Schiro is the 2024-25 Courier News Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“Cesci has started every game since freshman year and I knew from the start what a great player she was and what a great player she was going to be, and I knew she was going to take our program far,” said Hillsborough coach Courtney Tierney, who passed the 200-win mark during the playoff run, reaching the coaching milestone with the sectional semifinals victory over Franklin. “And she really did that. She took our program even further than I even thought. She was a dominant player, she took over games for us, and she continued to improve every single year.”
“Definitely, during high school, I became way more into basketball and realized I wanted to take it more seriously,” said Schiro, who is headed to play her college ball at Division 1 Siena. “I started to do more training and train after practice for two hours and train in the offseason. Not that I wasn’t doing things in the offseason previously, but I definitely took it to a much higher level.”
Girls basketball index: Links to Courier News, Home News Tribune All-Area honors package
More: Girls basketball: Hillsborough outlasts West Orange to win first state championship
Schiro’s development from standout to superstar shows on her stat line, as she went from averaging 13.6 points per game as a freshman to 16.4 the next season, to 20.6 last year. She turned it up a notch this season, netting 21.1 points per contest.
But as special a player as Schiro is, she certainly didn’t do it alone, and it was her ability to fit nicely into the team concept is another factor that makes her so effective as a player and as a leader. Fellow senior Mya Loniewski shared the leadership role with Schiro and gave Boro another bigtime weapon in the backcourt. The Raiders also featured a trio of experienced sophomores in Isabella Ruh, Nevya Loniewski and Alexa Gaspar, all of which started as freshmen, and senior Reghan Bice, who missed all of last year with an injury, returned to the starting lineup.
Hillsborough, which went 26-6, its winningest campaign this century, also played in its first Somerset County Tournament final since 2006, giving Gill St. Bernard’s all it could handle in the before the Knights pulled away. Along the way, the Raiders beat Rutgers Prep in the semifinals, denying the Argonauts a trip to the final for the first time in 11 years.
Schiro not only put up the points, but she led the team in every other major category except blocks, averaging 6.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.7 steals, while the 5-foot-8 guard’s 25 blocked shots were second on the club to Ruh, who plays in the frontcourt.
“Basketball is not just a game where you have to score points, you have to do all the other things,” Schiro said. “I was always just trying to help my team win. That was what I cared about. So, if that was needing to go for 10 rebounds or find the open people, I was willing to do whatever. I could always trust my teammates to give them the ball.”
“She’s such an unselfish player,” Tierney said. “She’s always looking to pass first, and we’d even encourage her to shoot more. But to lead us in (nearly) every single category, that’s amazing. Most scorers are just that. She was able to make big plays for us whenever we needed them.
“She’s such a competitive athlete on the court, but she’s such a laid-back kid. She’s fun, she’s funny, and she loves her teammates and always wants to encourage them. I think her leadership has just been tremendous.”
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Hillsborough’s Cesci Schiro CN Player of the Year
Continue reading...
Cesci Schiro’s accomplishments on the court, both individually and for her team, have been a first for Hillsborough. She has started every game the past four years, helping the Raiders go from sectional finalist her freshman year to the program’s first-ever sectional championship last season, to winning the state Group 4 crown this year.
She finishes her career with 2,106 points, most in Hillsborough basketball history -- for girls or boys – and one of only 130 players in state history to pass the 2,000-point mark.
Schiro is the 2024-25 Courier News Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“Cesci has started every game since freshman year and I knew from the start what a great player she was and what a great player she was going to be, and I knew she was going to take our program far,” said Hillsborough coach Courtney Tierney, who passed the 200-win mark during the playoff run, reaching the coaching milestone with the sectional semifinals victory over Franklin. “And she really did that. She took our program even further than I even thought. She was a dominant player, she took over games for us, and she continued to improve every single year.”
“Definitely, during high school, I became way more into basketball and realized I wanted to take it more seriously,” said Schiro, who is headed to play her college ball at Division 1 Siena. “I started to do more training and train after practice for two hours and train in the offseason. Not that I wasn’t doing things in the offseason previously, but I definitely took it to a much higher level.”
Girls basketball index: Links to Courier News, Home News Tribune All-Area honors package
More: Girls basketball: Hillsborough outlasts West Orange to win first state championship
Schiro’s development from standout to superstar shows on her stat line, as she went from averaging 13.6 points per game as a freshman to 16.4 the next season, to 20.6 last year. She turned it up a notch this season, netting 21.1 points per contest.
But as special a player as Schiro is, she certainly didn’t do it alone, and it was her ability to fit nicely into the team concept is another factor that makes her so effective as a player and as a leader. Fellow senior Mya Loniewski shared the leadership role with Schiro and gave Boro another bigtime weapon in the backcourt. The Raiders also featured a trio of experienced sophomores in Isabella Ruh, Nevya Loniewski and Alexa Gaspar, all of which started as freshmen, and senior Reghan Bice, who missed all of last year with an injury, returned to the starting lineup.
Hillsborough, which went 26-6, its winningest campaign this century, also played in its first Somerset County Tournament final since 2006, giving Gill St. Bernard’s all it could handle in the before the Knights pulled away. Along the way, the Raiders beat Rutgers Prep in the semifinals, denying the Argonauts a trip to the final for the first time in 11 years.
Schiro not only put up the points, but she led the team in every other major category except blocks, averaging 6.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.7 steals, while the 5-foot-8 guard’s 25 blocked shots were second on the club to Ruh, who plays in the frontcourt.
“Basketball is not just a game where you have to score points, you have to do all the other things,” Schiro said. “I was always just trying to help my team win. That was what I cared about. So, if that was needing to go for 10 rebounds or find the open people, I was willing to do whatever. I could always trust my teammates to give them the ball.”
“She’s such an unselfish player,” Tierney said. “She’s always looking to pass first, and we’d even encourage her to shoot more. But to lead us in (nearly) every single category, that’s amazing. Most scorers are just that. She was able to make big plays for us whenever we needed them.
“She’s such a competitive athlete on the court, but she’s such a laid-back kid. She’s fun, she’s funny, and she loves her teammates and always wants to encourage them. I think her leadership has just been tremendous.”
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Hillsborough’s Cesci Schiro CN Player of the Year
Continue reading...
