KJS ice hockey team wins state final

Brian Sisti was forced to make one final save as time expired, but that stop put an exclamation point on Kinnelon/Jefferson/Sparta’s 4-3 victory over Marlboro/Holmdel in the championship game of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Public Co-Op Tournament on Monday, March 10.

KJS United won its final five games of the season - all tournament contests - to finish with a 15-8-2 record this winter.

The tri-op team also had to rally for victory at the Prudential Center in Newark as it struck for three third-period goals to win the program’s first state title.

In a face-off with 1.1 seconds remaining in the final period, the puck found its way to a Marlboro/Holmdel player whose shot was swallowed up in Sisti’s glove as time expired.

Sisti, a senior, finished with 31 saves for KJS United, which fell behind, 2-1, after two periods.

Braydon Sisco scored two straight goals to give KJS United a lead that it didn’t relinquish. He finished with two goals and two assists for the game and 50 goals and 22 assists for his senior season.

KJS United pushed its lead to 4-2 when Cormac Gibbons deflected a shot in with 3:08 remaining.

Sasha Saks scored his second goal of the game seven seconds later to bring the Monmouth County program within one, 4-3.

A final power play opportunity for Marlboro/Holmdel didn’t yield the tying score, and KJS United was able to limit any other shots on goal until the final second.

Michael Pandiscia scored with 3:37 remaining in the first to erase a 1-0 deficit for KJS.

In the North Jersey, Public Schools Co-Op Tournament on Thursday, March 6, Sisco collected five goals and an assist; Eddy Brown totaled two goals and three assists; Gibbons also scored; and Pandiscia assisted four goals to power eighth-seeded KJS United to an 8-3 victory over 11th-seeded West Milford/Pequannock/Pompton Lakes.

West Milford scored just 49 seconds into the first period, but KJS United responded with seven straight goals to take control of the contest at Mennen Arena in Morris Township.

Sisco, who had four of those tallies, scored five goals for the second time this season and scored a hat trick for the seventh time in the 2024-25 season.

Sisti anchored the defense with a 32-save performance for KJS United (14-8-2).

Jefferson, as a single program, last reached a state final in 2008, when it bowed to Kinnelon.

Here’s how other Jefferson Township High School teams fared recently:

Boys wrestling

Frank Figel competed well at the NJSIAA state tournament, losing twice in two matches at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Thursday, March 6.

Figel, a sophomore, was seeded 27th in the 113-pound bracket and was narrowly edged, 7-5, by sixth-seeded Owen O’Leary of Ridge in the preliminary round.

Figel then came up just short in a 9-8 loss to Dylan Hetzel of Washington Township in the first round of wrestlebacks.

He had qualified for the state tournament by placing fourth in his weight class at the Region 1 championships March 1 in West Milford.

Also competing in the region tournament for Jefferson were Jacob Campbell (106 pounds), Christopher Frank (126) and Joseph Connolly (157).

Campbell, Figel, Frank and Connolly each placed second in their respective weight classes in the District 1 tournament Feb. 22 at Phillipsburg High School.

Girls wrestling

Alexa Scholz (107 pounds), Reilly Callan (114) and Alyssa Aiello (126) all competed at the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, District/Region Tournament on Feb. 23 at Vernon Township High School.

Boys basketball

Junior John Campbell scored 14 points and junior Noah Dela Cruz added 12 points, but 10th-seeded Jefferson bowed to seventh-seeded Westwood in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament there Feb. 27.

Jefferson (11-15) held a 24-10 halftime lead before Westwood closed with a 37-21 second-half showing.

The Falcons were led this season by Campbell (14 points per game, 8 rebounds), Dela Cruz (11.3 ppg), senior Calen Reid (7.6 ppg, 4.5 assists) and juniors Jaden Foster (7.3 ppg) and Nick Currie (7.3 ppg, 6 rebounds).

Girls basketball

Emma Barone and Kailey Strauch each had 11 points, Riley Strauch netted eight points, Alexa Juba scored seven points, Kiley Shatzel had six points and Madison Manco dropped in three points, but second-seeded Jefferson bowed to sixth-seeded Pascack Valley in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament at home March 6.

The Falcons finished 21-8 this winter, including a perfect 10-0 mark in winning the NJAC Freedom Division title under head coach James MacDermid.

Seniors Shatzel (10.6 ppg) and Manco (5.8 ppg) and juniors Barone (10.3 ppg), Kailey Strauch (8.5 ppg), and Riley Strauch (4.3 ppg) led Jefferson in scoring this winter.