Grubb helps lift PHS to first win

By: Bob Nuse
   Cranbury’s Stephanie Grubb doesn’t want to leave the Princeton High girls’ basketball program in worse shape than it was when she arrived.
   That’s why these final weeks of the season are so important to the Little Tigers’ senior.
   "It’s hard because I remember when I was a freshman and the past few years we have been building and increasing our record every year," said Grubb, who scored seven points on Friday as Princeton won its first game of the season, 32-15, over Robbinsville. "So it’s hard being your senior year and our record not being that good.
   "But we know there are a lot of good, young players and the future looks good for the program. As long as we can help that, it will be a good senior year. Hopefully the last couple weeks will build for the future."
   Grubb and Kelly Curtis are the only two seniors on a Little Tiger team that started three sophomores in the win over Robbinsville. With a lineup loaded with younger players, there is hope that a good final couple of weeks of the season can lead to better results next year.
   "Hopefully we can give a good last two weeks and continue that on to next year," said sophomore point guard Casey Moran. "We want to have a really good summer and carry that on into next year.
   "We felt like we would get a win tonight. We still had confidence. Hopefully now our confidence will stay up and carry through the last few weeks of the season."
   It carried over for at least one more game, as the Little Tigers won their second straight with a 54-42 victory over Lawrence Tuesday. Princeton still has regular season games left against Notre Dame, Ewing and Princeton Day School, as well as three games in the Mercer County Tournament. So, even though the Little Tigers opened the season with 14 straight losses, there is still hope they can finish the season on a positive note.
   "We knew one of these days we were going to get a win," said Princeton coach Nikki Inzano, whose team jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter and controlled the game against the winless Ravens. "We had a rough game against Stuart (Thursday) and that took a lot of energy out of us. But we came back strong tonight.
   "We only have two seniors and one junior. Everyone else is either a sophomore or a freshman. So we have a lot of hope as far as building the program up in the future."
   Grubb won’t be around for that future. But that doesn’t mean she can’t help lay the groundwork for what she hopes will be future success.
   "It was nice to finally win," Grubb said. "It was frustrating, but I was never mad at anyone. I knew that as seniors, Kelly and I had to step up. We didn’t have a lot of experience coming into the season. Casey and Rachel (Basie) played last year, but this year we had a lot of new players on the team. I think in our first couple games, we didn’t mesh well together. But I think our hard work started paying off and we got a win tonight. With all of the young players we have, the future looks good."
   Moran and Basie joined Keisha Brown in the starting lineup on Friday night. Kia Santoro is the lone junior and was the first player off the bench for the Little Tigers. Beyond that, it is a mixture of freshmen and sophomores, all of whom are learning on the job at the varsity level.
   "We have a lot of new people this year and hopefully next year it won’t take as long for the new players to get used to playing on the varsity," Moran said. "We’ll have experienced players at the start of the season."
   The Princeton players know that for the success to come next year, the work has to continue from the time this season ends until next season begins.
   "Our whole team plays in the Trenton Summer League and with AAU basketball teams, so we play a lot in the summer and in the spring," Brown added. "We’re going to keep working over the summer and do whatever we can to get better for next year."
   But before they begin to focus too much on next year, the Little Tigers still want to try to finish this season on a positive note.
   "I think with the energy they have now, we can continue against Lawrence on Tuesday," Inzano said. "I really think that every game, even though we have struggled offensively, we have always been in the games. Defensively, I think we’re strong. We need to do a better job here and there with our transition defense, but we’re always in the game. I think tonight we showed that we have other people who can score."
   Curtis led the team with 10 points, while Basie added eight for the Little Tigers.