WW-P North, Salerno stop Hopewell

Junior has become Knights’ defensive specialist

By: Bob Nuse
   Justine Salerno doesn’t get defensive when she talks about her lack of offensive output for the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls’ basketball team. In fact, it’s her defense where she takes the most pride in her game.
   "I like playing defense and that’s what I think I do the best," said Salerno, a junior who had a pair of steals in the final minute to help preserve the Knights’ 44-35 win over Hopewell on Tuesday night. "I’ve got about 20 steals this season. I know I’m not a good offensive player, but I know there are still things I can do to help the team win.
   "I was a better offensive player when I was younger. And I think if I had to score more I could. But with the team we have, I don’t need to score that much."
   WW-P North has three solid scorers in Laura Trzasko, Cynthia Kao and Claire Dysart. With those players combining to average nearly 34 points a game, there is certainly room on the court for a player who specializes in stopping the opposition.
   "Justine is a very good defensive player," said North coach Brett Charleston, whose team improved to 6-3 with the win over Hopewell. "We ask her to shut down the other team’s best player and she is able to do that. Anything she gives us on the offensive end is a plus.
   "When we played Steinert, she held Nicole Brown to single digits. She did similar things to the top scorer from Piscataway and Ewing. She thrives on being asked to do that and she’s done a real good job for us."
   When called on to score, Salerno can put the ball in the basket. She scored a season-high five points on Tuesday night, with three of them coming on four shots in the final minute. But whenever she takes the court, Salerno always has defense on her mind first.
   "One of the things that motivates me is one of our seniors from last year, Mo Haggerty," Salerno said. "She was one of our best defenders last year. When she graduated, I knew I had to fill her role. Last year her role was to be the defender that played against the other team’s best player. When she graduated, I knew that would be my role this year."
   And rather than back down from the challenge, Salerno has welcomed it.
   "Justine knows what her limitations are and she thrives on stopping whoever she is guarding," Charleston said. "At the same time, if you leave her open she is capable of scoring. But the way our team is this year, with Laura, Cynthia and Claire, we have three pretty good scoring options. And Samantha Yang has really come on this season and shown she can score. So we have people who can do that."
   Salerno doesn’t mind being the fourth — or sometimes fifth — scoring option. Her main goal is helping the team win, which North has been doing better than ever before.
   "I think there are things I can do to improve, especially on offense," Salerno said. "I’ll work on that over the summer. If the team needs me to score more next year, that’s something I’ll work on to be able to do. I enjoy playing defense. It’s a lot of pressure, but you just have to play your game and concentrate on doing your best."
   After opening the season with a six-point loss to Steinert, North has won six of its last eight games. The last two losses have come in overtime.
   "I’m very happy with being 6-3 at this point," Charleston said. "Two of the losses were in overtime, so we’re close to being even better than 6-3. We know we have a tough game coming up (tonight) against Trenton. We’ll just go out and do the best we can.
   "I’m happy with the way the girls have played all season. Everybody knows their role and we’re playing well right now."
   Justine Salerno knows her role is to stop people from scoring. The fact she doesn’t score much doesn’t bother her at all.