By: John Powers
The stretch run of the high school basketball season the countdown to the Feb. 5 state-tournament cutoff date is looming.
And the South Hunterdon Regional High School girls basketball team is playing like a team intent on making the cut.
The Eagles raised their record to 7-5 Thursday night with a 59-50 comeback win their fourth straight at Somerville. The Eagles had lost to Somerville 65-52 at home Jan. 2. South avenged another early-season loss with a 50-45 win over North Warren last week.
"The kids have stepped up and played our game," said first-year head coach Lori Daniel.
Junior forward Breanna Fulper finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five steals for the winners.
Somerville took a 28-19 lead into halftime, but Fulper and senior guard Jenna Yannarella came up big in the second half. Yannarella scored 12 as the Eagles outscored Somerville 40-22 to earn the win. Yannarella sank two 3-pointers.
Junior forward Casey Slack and junior guard Amanda Garefino pitched in with seven points apiece, and senior forward Erin Buchanan and senior guard Amanda Muscatell each had six points.
"We just adjusted to them," Daniel said. "I thought Somerville played a better game the first time. One of the keys was the way we played (Dorian) Jackson. We fronted her. We really prepared for them."
South knocked off North Warren Tuesday as Fulper came through with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Slack had 10 points and five rebounds.
"It was just a matter of looking at the Somerville game as a winnable game," Daniel said. "I think we’re better than this, and our record doesn’t really show how good we are. We can play, and now we’re getting better. We’ve had some tough losses."
The Eagles were scheduled to play Belvidere (10-1) Tuesday, Phillipsburg (0-10) Thursday and Delaware Valley (6-7) Friday. The Eagles lost to Belvidere 58-46 and Delaware Valley 49-44 Jan. 7 and 11.
"We’re getting some revenge, and this is a really good time to do it," Daniel said. "We played Belvidere very tough the first time we played. They are beatable."

