Basketball teams hope to build on positives
By: Bob Nuse
While both Tony Bowman and Sue Repko would have liked to have seen their respective girls’ basketball teams come away from the Stuart Tip-Off Tournament with at least one more win, each coach did come away with plenty to feel positive about.
Bowman, the first-year head coach at Stuart Country Day, saw his team generate plenty of offense in a 56-53 win over Princeton Day School in the opening round. Repko, in her first full season as the head coach at PDS, saw her team battle back from big deficits twice in two games.
Both Stuart, which went on to lose the championship game of the tournament to Hun, 63-34, and PDS, which lost the consolation game to Abington Friends, 61-45, showed signs of good things to come as the season goes on.
"We’re just getting acclimated to the way I want us to play, and that’s a big thing for the kids," said Bowman, whose team will not return to action until Jan. 6 against Ranney. "I thought (the PDS game) was better than (the final against Hun). We have to play harder. When they get used to my system we’ll do better.
"Right now we’re still learning. I call it Basketball 101. I think we’re coming along and playing better as a team, but it’s going to take some time for us to get to where we want to be. That comes with experience and with playing on a regular basis."
In Tuesday’s opening round, the Tartans jumped out to a 24-11 lead after the first quarter, only to see PDS rally to get within one by halftime. In the championship game against Hun, Stuart trailed, 8-7, in the opening quarter before the Raiders scored 21 straight points to take control of the game.
"I think with experience we’ll do better," Bowman said. "The first game we had a big lead and we let them get back into the game. Tonight, we got way down early but the girls kept playing hard. It’s two games and we’re 1-1. PDS was a big win for us. We played hard and smart. Today we didn’t play as smart."
PDS showed it has a team that can shake off early problems and get back into a game. In the loss to Stuart, the Panthers dug an early 13-point point hole after one quarter, only to get within 32-31 by halftime.
"It was good to be tested and see what we have to work on," said Repko, whose team will play at Solebury 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. "We had a tough first game with Stuart. We got down early but we were able to come back. I think tonight, coming back and playing the next day, we were a little fatigued. Abington Friends is a real solid team. They’re not flashy, but they do all the fundamental stuff well.
"I was very pleased with our team. I thought Kathryn Batchelor had a strong game against Stuart and showed her potential. Ellen Cook also had a real nice game. I was pleased with her ballhandling and composure. We have a somewhat balanced offense, but we need to work on our conditioning and our defense."
With so much basketball still to be played, Repko is exciting about the season ahead.
"The kids hustled and did a lot of the fundamental things right," Repko said. "I saw some good things in these two games and I’m optimistic about the year ahead."
Batchelor and Marla Pfenninger each were named to the All-Tournament team for PDS. Maya Thompson and Katharine Kitts were named to the All-Tournament team from Stuart.
In Stuart’s win over PDS, Thompson scored a game-high 24 points and Kitts added 18 points. The Panthers were led by Batchelor with 17 points and Cook with 13. In Stuart’s loss to Hun, Kitts led the way with nine points for the Tartans. Katie Levine had 11 points to lead PDS in its loss to Hun.