Girls basketball
By: Matt Nalbone
The Hopewell Valley Central High School girls basketball team had another successful week, winning two out of three games.
The Lady Bulldogs’ one loss was to Hamilton, the team that clinched the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division and kept Hopewell Valley in second place this year.
A very slow start domed the Hopewell girls (16-6), who found themselves down 17-2 after one quarter of play. A good second quarter helped the Lady Bulldogs get back in the game, but they never took a lead in the 56-50 defeat.
"It was the start that was the problem," coach John McGinley said. "At one point, we got to within one, but we just couldn’t finish it off."
Kristy Cramp led the offense with 18 points, while Leslie Maurer had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"We had our chances to score," McGinley said. "We had open looks, but we just couldn’t knock them down. We were right in the game and to some back was good, but it was their senior night and they just kept hitting big shots."
Hopewell Valley got its sixteenth win of the year against Allentown in a make-up game. Cramp was high-scorer again with 12 points, and Emily Newport chipped in with 11 points.
"We had another bad start," McGinley said. "We were actually down 14-11 at the half, which is much below our scoring average."
For the year, the Lady Bulldogs are averaging just under 51 points a game.
"The team came and back and won which, was the important thing," McGinley said. We pulled away late in the third and the fourth quarter. Maybe we came out overconfident, or we tried to win it all in one play. Once we settled down and focused on the little things, we won."
A few days earlier, on Hopewell’s senior night, the team beat struggling Ewing 62-28. Seniors Maurer, Katie Jackson, Lauren Manley and Marie Goyden all started and contributed to the win. Cramp was the recipient of some good passing, pouring in 20 points to lead all scorers, while Maurer added nine.
"It was nice for them (the seniors)," McGinley said. "They were all unselfish and moved the ball around nicely."

