Girls basketball
By: Matt Nalbone
Even though the Hopewell Valley Central High School girls basketball team started the year with five straight wins, no one expected them to go undefeated.
The Lady Bulldogs hit their first tough stretch of the year when they lost three straight games against Trenton, West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Steinert before beating Princeton Day School and Allentown.
After a loss to Trenton, the girls went to take on West Windsor-Plainsboro North, one of the teams they will be fighting with all year in the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division.
The Lady Bulldogs fell to the Knights 43-35 in a game that was a slight disappointment to coach John McGinley.
"I was a little upset with the effort," McGinley said. "We didn’t show up. We played hard for about eight minutes, and if we played that way the entire game, we would have won."
The Lady Bulldogs then had to play at least their next two games without their top two scorers. Kristy Cramp was out with an ankle injury, and Lauren Manley was out due to illness.
This is a flashback for McGinley, as Hopewell Valley was devastated by injuries last year, never playing with a full roster.
Hopewell Valley then lost to Steinert 54-26. Marie Goyden led the way with eight points, as they were playing without their two leading scorers.
"The score was not indicative of how we played," McGinley said. "We played the second and third quarters even, but by the fourth, we were done.
"We decided to go for it and push the tempo. We just couldn’t hit shots. With Lauren (Manley) and Kristy (Cramp) out, we need to look for others to score."
The Lady Bulldogs got back on the winning track against PDS with a decisive 70-30 win. Senior Leslie Maurer took control of the game, scoring 20 points, while Emily Newport chipped in with 11.
Hopewell Valley led 37-15 at halftime and kept up the pressure before pulling some starters and easing up.
"It was a carryover from Friday night (against Steinert)", McGinley said. "We didn’t play that bad. The difference was, in the PDS game, the shots were falling. We got rolling Friday (against PDS), and now we are back on target.It’s just a matter of confidence."
The roll continued against Allentown, as the Lady Bulldogs came away with a 71-25 win.
"It was more of the same, we got a lot of people involved and made shots," McGinley said.
Newport and Cramp scored 13 each, while Maurer had 11 and Katie Jackson added 10. Hopewell Valley (7-3), back at full strength, will take on Stuart Country Day and West Windsor-Plainsboro South this week and Ewing next Tuesday.

