By: John E. Powers
The last two years have been terrific for the South Hunterdon Regional High School girl’s basketball team.
Last year, the Eagles won the Central Jersey Group I championship and finished the season with a sparkling 16-9 record. Two years ago, the team went to the CJ Group I title, losing to Jonathan Dayton of Springfield in the and finished at 14-10.
This year will be different.
The Eagles will have to make up for graduated forwards Breanna Fulper and Casey Slack and point guard Amanda Garefino, That won’t be an easy task since those girls accounted for 77 percent of the points the team scored.
"We’re going to do things right," head coach Lori Daniel said. "Everybody has a real positive attitude, and we’ve always stressed fundamentals. Our goal is the .500 mark. I would never tell them (the players) that they would never make (the state playoffs), but if we do, we’ll very, very, very elated."
The season opens Saturday with a road game at Mount St. Mary Academy in Watchung. Mount St. Mary along with Bernards, Bound Brook, Manville and North Plainfield, will be new schools playing in the Skyland Conference.
"We might struggle with our record, but our record might not show how well we’ve played," Daniel said. "I guess you can say it’s rebuilding with some experience."
Consider this: Fulper scored 526 points (21 points a game) and pulled down 199 rebounds and made 90 steals. Slack scored 404 points last year (16.2 points per game) and pulled down 237 rebounds, and Garefino scored 5.8 points per game, had 85 assists and made 69 steals.
Senior forward Chelsea Fulper (5-foot-10), Breanna’s sister, is back and will be a focal point of the team. She averaged 6.04 points a game, had 129 rebounds and had a team-high 16 blocked shots.
Senior guard Nicole Sturick (5-foot-4) had 63 assists last year and averaged three points per game. She’ll run the offense.
Fulper is a potential double-figures scorer, and Sturick is a pure shooter.
"Nicole has stepped up," Daniel said. "Her aggressiveness and drives toward the basket have been good, and Chelsea won’t be playing in the shadow of her sister anymore."
Daniel has been very impressed with freshman 5-foot-10 guard Kaylin Campbell and sophomore guards Stephanie Davis (5-foot-4) and Allie Coleman (5-foot-5). Sophomore small forward Brittany Ennis is another player that will contribute.
"Campbell is really a promising freshman, and once she gets the basics down, she’s going to be very good," Daniel said. "Stephanie Davis and Allie Coleman will be stepping up, and Brittany Ennis will probably slip into the three (forward position). We’ll pull together."
Another positive is the Eagles appear to have more depth than they have had in the past. Sophomore Angelique Platas, a 5-foot-3 guard; sophomore 5-foot-6 forward Sarah Mohn; freshman 5-foot-10 forward Taylor Pecarelli; and freshman 5-foot-11 forward Tessa Hoyer are other players who’ll contribute as the season goes on.

