UNION COUNTY, NJ — The top four seeds don’t always make it to the semifinal round of the girls basketball Union County Tournament, but that’s exactly what happened this year.
Lower seeds Cranford and Arthur L. Johnson high schools did their best to prevent two of the top four seeds from advancing, both losing close quarterfinal round decisions, Cranford by four to Roselle Catholic High School and Arthur L. Johnson by two to Plainfield High School.
The semifinals were scheduled to be contested on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at Arthur L. Johnson, with fourth-seeded Roselle Catholic facing top-seeded New Providence High School in the first game and third-seeded Plainfield going up against second-seeded Westfield High School in the nightcap.
The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 23, at Kean University’s Harwood Arena in Union. The starting time was not yet released as of Monday, Feb. 17.
Defending champion Elizabeth High School, the ninth seed, was defeated by New Providence, 61-42, in one of the four quarterfinal round games that were played at Arthur L. Johnson on Saturday, Feb. 15. Elizabeth defeated top-seeded New Providence in last year’s semifinals to prevent the Pioneers from winning a third straight crown.
Instead, New Providence is going for a third title in four years and a fourth overall. New Providence won its first title in 1990 and then its next two in 2022 and 2023.
Westfield last won the title in 2020, with its only other crown coming in 2008.
Roselle Catholic and Plainfield have both won six titles. The last year Roselle Catholic won was in 2018 and Plainfield in 1984. Plainfield won all six of its crowns in a row from 1979 to 1984.
Plainfield’s first UCT win this year was against much-improved Roselle Park High School, 72-48, in a first-round game played at Plainfield on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Roselle Park standout junior guard Sidney Smith, who earlier this year passed 1,000 career points, led all scorers with 41.
Roselle Park, which began the week at 14-3 and had three regular season games remaining before state tournament play begins for the Panthers in North 2, Group 1 next week, was the last Union County girls team to lose this year, after a rare 12-0 start.
Roselle Park clinched its first winning season in at least 15 years.
Two of Union County’s top seniors stood out in Roselle Catholic’s 48-44 quarterfinal win against Cranford on Saturday, Feb. 15, at Arthur L. Johnson. Jasmin McKay led all scorers with 35 points for the Lions, who began the week with a record of 14-7. Bella Curanovic paced the Cougars with a 27-point performance.
Earlier this season. McKay became Roselle Catholic’s all-time leading girls scorer, passing the previous mark set by present Cranford head coach Allison Skrec in 2010.
New Providence began the week at 22-2 and on a 16-game winning streak. The only Pioneer losses were to Teaneck and Chatham high schools. New Providence swept Roselle Catholic in Union County Conference–Watchung Division play, en route to another Watchung Division championship.
Westfield began the week at 19-5 and Plainfield at 15-9. They split against each other in Watchung Division play.
2025 UCT girls basketball
Seeds: 1-New Providence. 2-Westfield. 3-Plainfield. 4-Roselle Catholic. 5-Cranford. 6-Union Catholic. 7-Scotch Plains–Fanwood. 8-Oak Knoll. 9-Elizabeth. 10-Summit. 11-Arthur L. Johnson. 12-Jonathan Dayton. 13-Governor Livingston. 14-Roselle Park. 15-Linden. 16-Rahway.
17-Union. 18-Kent Place.
Preliminary round
Saturday, Feb. 8
Union 53, Rahway 39 – at Rahway
Linden 50, Kent Place 21 – at Linden
First round
Wednesday, Feb. 12
New Providence 55, Union 24 – at New Providence
Elizabeth 55, Oak Knoll 46 – at Oak Knoll
Roselle Catholic 54, Governor Livingston 46 – at Roselle Catholic
Cranford 47, Jonathan Dayton 32 – at Cranford
Westfield 52, Linden 20 – at Westfield
Arthur L. Johnson 54, Union Catholic 41 – at Union Catholic
Scotch Plains–Fanwood 55, Summit 38 – at Scotch Plains–Fanwood
Plainfield 72, Roselle Park 48 – at Plainfield
Quarterfinals
Saturday, Feb. 15
At Arthur L. Johnson
New Providence 61, Elizabeth 42
Roselle Catholic 48, Cranford 44
Plainfield 67, Arthur L. Johnson 65
Westfield 49, Scotch Plains–Fanwood 25
Semifinals
Wednesday, Feb. 19
At Arthur L. Johnson
4-Roselle Catholic vs. 1-New Providence
3-Plainfield vs. 2-Westfield
Finals
Sunday, Feb. 23
At Kean University
Semifinal winners
Photo by JR Parachini