Viking hoop teams ready to jump it up

By: Rich Fisher
   The basketballs have been rolled out and now the Cranbury School teams are ready to roll as the middle school season gets underway today (Friday) with a girl/boy doubleheader at home against Community.
   Here’s an early look at the Viking squads
BOYS
   The Vikes will be looking up at a lot of teams this year as they try to out-scrap them.
   "We have no height," coach Jay Gilligan said. "We are working on conditioning and speed.
   "The team is relatively inexperienced. We have eight sixth-graders and we’re building for the future. Once again, I’m hoping for a .500 season."
   Gilligan says he does not have a starting lineup figured out as yet. The varsity roster includes Anthony Donadio, Conor Finn, Matthew Golubieski, Jon Hornyak, David Keyser, Omar Yousef, Russ Mawn, Drew Reifinger, Scott Schwartz, Matt Weidner and John Marsh.
   The JV team features Rich Burke, Steve Jacobi, James Lindberg, David Maselli, Cliff Mawn, Nico Mercurio, William Wiseman, Derek Moody, Alex Rifkin, Karteek Tummula, Alex Mitko and Robbie Dowers.
GIRLS
   The Viking girls will have some experienced guards, including returning 8th-graders Kate Johnson, Amanda Chen and Sarah DiLella and returning 7th-graders Lexi Stasi and Carly O’Brien. Also in the backcourt is 6th-grader Logan O’Meara.
   The forwards are all veterans, featuring 8th-graders Clara Maselli, Angela French, Hailey Walsh, Kelly Chambers and Joanna Casey.
   According to coach Cathy Elliott, Stasi, O’Meara, O’Brien and French should supply some scoring.
   "I’m looking for them to put points on the board," Elliott said. "And the combination of Sarah DiLella, Amanda Chen and Kate Johnson are really moving the ball well to create shot opportunities."
   The Vikings also have some talent underneath.
   "I’m looking for a lot out of Angela French in terms of going hard to the basket and also creating fast break opportunities," Elliott said. "I’m also looking at Clara Maselli to be tough under the boards and giving us second shot opportunities."
   The tentative starting lineup has DiLella at point guard, Chen at the two guard, Johnson or Stasi at a third guard spot, O’Brien at small forward and French at the other forward.
   The JV roster consists of Madison Andres, Kylie Bichsel, Deanna Boehm, Angela Cao, Devin Chambers, Maggie Fullajtar, Rebecca Harvey, Mary Kennedy-Moore, Alexa Reifinger, Bianca Scheer and Hannah Zink.