Girls basketball
By: Mike Molaro
With almost two weeks off between games, The Pennington School’s girls basketball team has had time to look back on the season to date but also keep focused on the upcoming Prep B state tournament.
The Red Raiders (11-3) last played Jan. 17, when they defeated Prep B opponent Saddle River. Monday’s home game against Purnell was postponed because of inclement weather and rescheduled for next Monday, Feb. 2. Pennington was scheduled to face Solebury on Wednesday, weather permitting. That game was a make-up date from Dec. 5.
Pennington had a long stretch off from Dec. 28 through Jan. 8 for the holiday recess and then had to shut down because of exams. If the weather would cooperate, the Red Raiders are ready to add to their three-game winning streak.
Although some veteran observers may have thought this was going to be a rebuilding season, the Red Raiders had other ideas.
"I’m a little bit surprised with our record," Pennington coach Dean Waters said. "We lost a lot to graduation, but we had a lot of talented athletes coming back. Plus we knew we had a strong freshman class coming in."
A balanced lineup makes it extremely difficult for opponents to key on one player. It’s been a nice blend of veterans and youngsters combining to put up that 11-3 mark.
"(Forwards) Anitra (Tucker) and Gabby (Wallace) are playing the way we expected," Waters said. "They are our only seniors and have provided leadership in addition to solid play. (Junior guard) Kylee (Rossi) has turned up her game.
"Our three freshmen have been more than expected. Ali Kliment, Meghan Reed and Keri Washington have really stepped up for us."
Although the Red Raiders could’ve held voluntary practices during exam week, Waters knew attendance wouldn’t warrant rolling out the balls.
"Our girls are academically oriented and grade conscious," Waters said. "With exams going on, we don’t do much. We probably wouldn’t get many girls to come to practice.
"We tried to hold practices in the past, and it didn’t work. This year (assistant coach) Joe (Fanning) and I decided to forget about the voluntary practices. We didn’t hold a practice until last Friday (Jan. 23), which was the last day of exams. We had a good 2-hour practice last Saturday. We are trying to get back into the swing because we have some tough games coming up."
Pennington has three Prep B games remaining: Purnell and Wardlaw-Hartridge (Jan. 31) at home and a road game Feb. 5 at Rutgers Prep.