Buono adjusting to new role
By: Justin Feil
When Giovanna Buono looks around on the basketball court, there aren’t a lot of familiar faces. A starter the last two seasons for a veteran West Windsor-Plainsboro High South girls’ squad, Buono is learning a different role this season.
"I knew I had to step it up this year," said the Pirate senior. "We’re really young and inexperienced. It meant that me and (Edwards sisters) ‘Shana and ‘Tasha had to step it up and be the leaders."
They are all that is left from last season’s 22-3 Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division champions.
"It’s a lot different," Buono confirmed. "Last year, I was like the young one. We had Laine (Jelenic), Ayesha (Fitchett), Katie (Lala) and Sara (Williams). Laine averaged like 21 a game, and Katie always came up big. It’s different now.
"I knew I had to be the one scoring the points this year. Over the summer and last spring, I played AAU. We went to all these big competitions. We played against really tough competition, and I figured it was good because that’s what I’d be up against this year. It really helped."
Buono broke out quickly this season, taking a leadership role in not only points, but rebounds and steals as well. After opening the year with a win over sister school WW-P North, the Pirates got their first major challenge when they trailed Lawrence by six Dec. 18 going into the fourth quarter before rallying to win, 50-42, behind Buono’s 20 points. Then last Thursday, she outscored all of Allentown with 19 points in a 55-18 win over the Redbirds that helped WW-P South improve to 3-0.
Giovanna Buono is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"We knew she was going to have to be our go-to person this year," said WW-PS head coach Beth Fitzpatrick, whose squad opened the South Brunswick tournament with a scheduled Thursday game and will play again Saturday in the second day of the tournament. "That can be tough. A lot of times, you see people come up short when put in that situation. She hasn’t. She’s been a leader on and off the court. When it comes to games, she’s doing so well.
"Her offense has been unbelievable, and it’s more than that. She’s averaging like eight steals a game for us. Her defense has been great. We knew with the team we had last year she just had to do the little things. She did all the intangibles for us. We didn’t have to count on her as much because of everyone else we had. But now we do, and she still does all the little things we still need on top of everything else."
Buono had to do more in soccer this fall for the Pirate girls who faced a similar situation after the graduation of a highly skilled class. Having been in the situation in the fall helped ready her for the winter basketball season, for the sport she hopes to continue next year at a nearby college. And as in soccer, she has proven to be a versatile weapon, able to go inside or outside.
"She has so much confidence now," Fitzpatrick said. "I think she has one of the best shots around. I always told her that last year, but she didn’t really believe it. She can do a lot. She plays the point, she plays the two, the three and the four. She can use anything to her advantage. If there’s a tall girl on her, she goes by her. If there’s a shorter girl, she can take her inside."
"I was usually just three or four last year," Buono said. "Sometimes now I run the point. I’m kind of comfortable with it. When ‘Shana or ‘Tasha’s not in, the sophomores can get really flustered, so I have to take charge. It’s really different. I grab a lot of rebounds now. And I’ve got these long arms so I can always get my hands on the ball."
Good thing, because the Pirates needed every inch of Buono’s reach against Lawrence as they rallied for the win.
"I got really scared," said Buono, who also plays lacrosse at WW-PS. "I didn’t think we played to our potential. In the fourth quarter, though, we put on our press, and it was like a 1-2-1-1 and I was on the ball. I’d go crazy and tip the ball and ‘Shana would get to it and lay it in. She’s so quick, she gets to everything."
The win helped the young squad see that it could come back, and should help as the Pirates get back into CVC action with games against Hamilton and Princeton in the coming week.
"The fact that we’re 3-0 is great," Fitzpatrick said. "It’s good for our confidence. The Lawrence win was really good for it. We were down and we ended up coming back. Gio was great for us. Between Gio and ‘Shana getting steal after steal and finishing them that’s how we won. With our youth, that could easily have been a loss. But we made adjustments and we were able to get the victory."
It’s how much of the year will be for Giovanna Buono. She’s learned to adjust to her new role, and it’s helped the Pirate girls’ basketball team start off 3-0.