Junior, Stuart hoops battle losses
By: Justin Feil
The Stuart Country Day basketball team is starting to put everything together.
So is Caitlin Spratt, a junior on the team who has been a valuable part for the Tartans after coming back from hardship.
Last year was a rough year in general for me, Spratt said. My motivation this year is my father, who passed away in August. He was my motivation through everything. He got me into basketball. This year, Ive tried to step it up. I want to make him proud.
Charles Spratt would have been proud of the way his only daughter has been a consistent force for the Tartans, one of the three-pronged attack that includes senior Kathryn Kitts and fellow junior Kelly Bruvik.
They do carry the team, said Stuart head coach Tony Bowman. Those three are our main scorers. Kitts, she can do a little of everything. Caitlin, thats my outside shooter. Kelly is my person who goes to the basket.
If you play to your strengths, good things happen. If you start to go to your weaknesses, things get more difficult. When weve been successful, weve played more to our strengths. We play better together. And there arent as many lapses.
Spratt had nine points, four in the second quarter as Stuart built a 26-6 halftime lead on their way to a 57-34 win over their Great Road rival Princeton Day School on Tuesday.
Whenever we have PDS, we look for that on the schedule. Its to see who owns the Great Road. Theyre a good team and a good program. Its good to have them right across the road.
Weve never lost to them home or away, which is good. Hopefully we can keep it up.
The win was their sixth in their last seven games and second in a row after beating Morristown-Beard, 46-31, Monday.
Basically, Spratt said, weve been working better as a team since the beginning of the year. Were running our plays and were looking for the open spots rather than just where the play is supposed to be run.
And we always, always play a good 2-3 zone. It seems to be working for us.
There was never any doubt that the Tartans had control of the game against PDS. It was a fast improvement over the day before. They had trailed Mo-Beard by three at halftime before pulling away with a strong fourth quarter.
Three-quarters of the game against Mo-Beard, we didnt play that well, Bowman said. Then in the fourth quarter, we showed up. We built off that (Tuesday).
If we had played (Monday) like we did (Tuesday against PDS), it would have been easier. They were looking up and finding each other. Everyone got to score. Thats huge. Other kids are excited that other girls are scoring.
Stuart used early defensive pressure and capitalized on PDS miscues to surge to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter. The defense was even better in the second quarter when it held the Panthers to just two points.
What I expected was last time we played them, they were scrappy and we had a lot of problems with them, Bowman said of Stuarts 52-49 win two weeks before. This time, we came off a win over Mo-Beard and we put pressure on them in the first half right away. I told the girls, if you want to win games quickly and hard, you have to put a lot of pressure on people right from the start.
It definitely affected the Panthers game. PDS stayed with Stuart in a high-scoring third quarter in which the Panthers held a 20-17 edge.
We didnt show up to play, said PDS head coach Sue Repko, whose team slipped to 4-11. We kept even with them in the third quarter, but it was too late by then.
We werent catching the ball and passing the ball well to start. We were better in the second half but we just traded baskets with them. We had a younger lineup in the second half. It was the same lineup that played a real positive game on Saturday when we won. I chalk it up to youth. We have to get consistent.
It will help the Panthers when they can get a full game out of Keely Langdon. The powerful junior missed the first half of the season while recovering from concussions suffered in the soccer season. She came back two weeks ago only to sprain her ankle. The Panthers could have used her inside presence against a towering Rutgers Prep team they were scheduled to play Thursday.
She saw a quarter of action today, said Repko, whose team plays at Gill St. Bernards on Monday. Well give her a little more time each game. Shes still not at full strength. But any little bit well take of Keely any day.
And it was nice at the end of the game that Hannah (Epstein with 15 points) took charge. We need her to step up like that when were not playing well in the first half.
Spratt has shown the ability this season to step up when the Tartans have needed it. It comes from being a three-year varsity player, one that made up her mind to be a stronger player this year.
I was dedicated 24/7 to basketball over the summer, she said. I got my career high this year, 19. Im trying to help my teammates on the floor but also help myself by making some outside threes and driving more. Ive been driving more to the basket this year.
Spratt is trying to develop into a more well-rounded player, the type that she sees in Kitts, who led Stuart with 25 points Tuesday, be becoming a better driver like she sees in Bruvik, who added 15 points. This is the final year she and Bruvik will be playing with Kitts.
Were the three musketeers, Spratt said. Ive worked with both of them since my freshman year. Over the years, weve gotten even closer. We want to help each other out as much as we can. Whether its Kitts going inside or outside, or Kelly always having the drive, or them looking for me on the outside with the three or coming inside to the foul line for my jumper, were trying to help the team.
Spratts role has increased every year. The Tartans are looking for her to show her experience even more this season.
Shes overcome some personal obstacles, Bowman noted. Were looking for her to be more of a leader. Were looking for her to go more to the basket and continue to be a good outside shooter.
Bowman has seen his team as a whole gain a lot of confidence with its recent stretch of wins. Its something the players are hoping to build more in the two weeks leading to the start of the Prep B state tournament.
Were running our plays now, Spratt said. In the beginning games, wed panic and not focus as a team. With all the wins weve had, were now focused and we know what we want to do on the floor. Our coach gives us good offenses and they work when we use them. Were using all our advantages on the floor.
What we need to work on is our inside game and when we run a play, we need to make sure we take the right shot. It has to be a great shot, not just the first one we see. And if were up against a good team that we have to play man (defense), we have to stick with our girls better.
Those things will be the focus for the Caitlin Spratt and the Tartans over the next two weeks. But after their sixth win in seven games, Stuart is confident that its all coming together just in time.