Cherry Hill West's Kirsten Gibson scored a game-high 19 points in the Group 3 state semifinal as Cherry Hill West defeated Neptune, 52-36, in the basketball game played at Deptford Township High School in Deptford, New Jersey on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Chris Baker/D2 Sports Network
DEPTFORD - History hung in the balance after the Cherry Hill West High School girl's basketball team won its first sectional title in
program history.
Standing in the Lions' way was a matchup with Central Jersey Group 3 champion Neptune in the state semifinal.
Cherry Hill West came up victorious over the Scarlet Fliers, 52-36, punching its ticket to the state final for the first time in program history.
The first quarter ended with a 19-15 Cherry Hill West lead but the rest of the contest was fairly tame after the first eight minutes. West would go on to hold Neptune to just 21 points from the second quarter on. The Lions themselves would put up 33 points in that timeframe going on multiple unanswered runs.
Leading the way for West was sophomore Kirsten Gibson who posted a game-high 19 points which was aided by Danielle Short's 15 points. The Lions made 129 three-pointers heading into the state semifinal matchup but couldn't buy a shot from beyond the arc despite winning by 16 points.
"Throughout the season we were such a great shooting team from deep but we couldn't hit one today," Cherry Hill West coach Dan Butler said. "I think despite not being able to knock down a shot from deep, we showed that we can score from anywhere we find an open shot at. Whether it's a long two, a layup, or attacking the basket to draw a foul, the girls found ways to get it done today."
Since Cherry Hill West's inception of a girl's basketball program, no team has won a sectional title or made it to a state final until now. With five of the eight total players who checked in finding their way to the stat sheet in the points, assists, and rebounds columns, team chemistry and production come with ease.
"Every girl on this team does their job no matter what it is," Gibson said. "If one person has the most points it usually means that someone is grabbing rebounds and someone else is setting them up with assists. Or on defense, if we're all getting steals or forcing bad passes, it means that as a unit we're doing our job. That's what we've done all season and it's worked."
"We can't wait for the state final," Gibson added. "We haven't let the moment get too big for us in the playoffs and we're not going to change it at Rutgers."
Cherry Hill West will square off with Chatham in the Group 3 state final on Saturday, March 15th at Rutgers University in New Brunswick at 4 pm.Â