Little Tigers’ Cook leads way to second win
By: Justin Feil
If Erin Cook’s play doesn’t make her stand out, the Princeton High sophomore forward’s socks certainly do.
Knee-high, with baby blue stripes sandwiching a black stripe at the top, they’re more likely to be seen over the heavy padding of a Little Tiger ice hockey player. But for Cook, they’re a daily thing on the basketball court.
"I wear them every game," Cook said. "They’re kind of good luck. They’re good luck for me."
Maybe the entire PHS squad should sport them. Cook, who’s been the Little Tigers’ leading scorer in five of their first 11 games, led the way again with 11 points in a 41-26 win over Stuart Country Day on Wednesday, just the second win of the season for PHS. Stuart fell to 3-3.
"It was tough but we still played hard," said Cook of the Little Tigers, who bounced back from a 55-32 loss to two-win Hightstown the night before. "I’m not sure we knew much about (Stuart), but we were all confident.
"We played defense well. We all shot the ball well, something we don’t do a lot. We all worked together."
Cook led a second-quarter charge with seven of her 11 points in that frame as PHS took control of the game and never relented, though there were some scares. PHS, which trailed, 5-4, after the first quarter, held a 15-10 lead that seemed bigger than five points just because both teams’ offenses were struggling so.
Stuart trimmed the lead to three points on two occasions in the third quarter on the first basket of the second half, a layup by Kelly Bruvick, who led the Tartans with seven points, and on a layup by Kathryn Kitts with 59 seconds left.
Cook answered the second threat with a quick layup of her own, and the Tartans never drew closer than five points.
"I was getting a little nervous when they cut it to three," admitted Cook, who has averaged 7.4 points per game this season. "But I figured we could do it.
"It feels a lot better after so many losses. This feels better. This is going to boost our confidence."
Not everyone was so sure that the second win was coming Wednesday, if only because PHS hasn’t been able to finish games off many times this season.
"Our team is not used to winning yet," said first-year head coach Nikki Inzano, whose team improved to 2-10 heading into tonight’s game at Ewing. "They’re moving to the next step of learning how to win. Tonight was a big step. When they got close, they stepped it up a notch."
Cook scored her final points on a rebound and putback that she was fouled on with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter, and it stretched the PHS lead to its biggest of the game at that point. Less than a minute later, she and the starters got a well-deserved curtain call as Inzano emptied the bench.
"They’re very excited to win this game," Inzano said. "They were up for this game. Every game, we’ve been improving. They’re working on the little things that count. We missed a lot of layups, and so did they, but (PHS) played their hearts out. I ask for 100 percent and they give me 110."
Inzano is particularly happy to think how the team can develop with that attitude and young players like Cook around for two more years. Cook has mirrored the progress of the team.
"She’s been improving every game, every step of the way," Inzano said. "She gets a lot of loose balls, and she takes them and goes and no one can stop her.
"She’s doing a heck of a job. So is Kelly Curtis. She’s playing great defense and she’s just a freshman. I told them after, everyone contributed down the line, everyone on the court and on the bench."
Stuart also had a balanced attack, but the attack just wasn’t enough. It was the second straight game that the Tartans have struggled on offense. They scored just 18 points in a loss to Pennington last week.
"We couldn’t make layups," said Stuart first-year coach Tony Bowman, whose team hosts Gill 4 p.m. today. "We missed five or six open layups in the first quarter. We didn’t run our offense well and we had a lot of turnovers. Those are ingredients of the game and until you get them, you can’t win."
Maybe some green-and-white-striped socks would do the trick. Wednesday, the high-striped look worked well enough for the second win of the season for Erin Cook and the PHS girls.