GIRLS BASKETBALL
By: Mike Molaro
After an outstanding regular season and a tremendous run in the Mercer County Tournament, the Hopewell Valley Central High School girl’s basketball squad is ready to embark on its "third season."
The third-seeded Lady Bulldogs (17-7) host sixth-seeded West Windsor-Plainsboro North at 7 p.m. tonight at The Dawg Pound in the second round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Tournament. Both HoVal and the Knights received first-round byes.
Although the Lady Bulldogs defeated North, 42-37, during the season, they are taking nothing for granted and are focused on a deep run into the CJ III bracket.
"We played them on opening night and a lot has changed since then," HoVal head coach Jeff Losch said. "Both teams are better. North has really improved and we have, also. We told the girls before the county tournament that that was our second season. Now we are preparing for our third season. We gave the girls a few days off to re-charge. Physically the girls are ready but we’ve had quite an emotional run and it’s good for the girls to get away and mentally relax."
The Knights try to offset their lack of height by disrupting opponents’ offensive flows with defensive pressure.
"North runs a few presses because they probably won’t win the battle of the boards," added Losch. "We need to keep our composure and not get rattled. If we handle their pressure, we’ll be okay. (Sophomore point guard) Ali Hilderbrandt does a great job handling the ball against pressure. We have four or five girls who can break the press."
The sixth-seeded Lady Bulldogs fell to top-seeded Trenton, 59-27, in the finals of the Mercer County Tournament on Feb. 21 at Mercer County Community College. Senior guard and co-captain Suzie Noyes scored 14 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs, who saw their eight-game winning streak end.
HoVal earned the respect of the entire Mercer County girls basketball community with its dramatic path to its first-ever title game by knocking off 11th-seeded Hightstown, third-seeded WW-P South, and second-seeded Trenton Catholic Academy before falling to the Tornadoes. Trenton defeated HoVal, 62-23, during the regular season.
"Trenton is the best team we’ve faced all year," Losch said. "The first time we faced them, we couldn’t hit any shots and we didn’t rebound. We played poorly. In the MCT finals, I think we played well. Trenton played very well. I honestly believe that the championship game was the best rebounding effort we gave all season. That’s how good Trenton is. The margin of victory in both games was similar, but they were much different games. Trenton brought its ‘A’ game and they knew they had to play well against us to win the title. They showed respect for us. They didn’t allow us to get into our game."
HoVal also wanted to make sure people didn’t dismiss its spot in the title game as luck and that the Lady Bulldogs truly deserved to battle for the MCT crown.
"One of the things we wanted to prove was that we deserved to be there (finals) and that it wasn’t a fluke," added Losch.
Despite the finals score, those in attendance and the rest of the MCT bracket know that the Lady Bulldogs earned their due and represented their school and fans admirably in their path to the county finals.
The Lady Bulldogs concluded their regular season with a 57-28 domination of visiting New Egypt on Feb. 22. HoVal was led by a game-high 15 points each from Noyes, senior guard Katie Kolombatovich, and junior forward and co-captain Ali Newman. HoVal closed its regular season by winning of nine of its last 10 games and 13 of its final 15.
"We scheduled this game because we thought we’d have a 10-game layoff before our state tournament game," added Losch of the triumph over the Warriors. "We got the taste of the Trenton loss out of our mouths. We had a great run in the county tournament that ended with an emotional game against Trenton. It was good to be back on the court right after that loss. It would’ve been tough to practice."
HoVal held the Warriors to single digits in the first three quarters and closed the door early by opening a 13-4 lead.
"I was worried we might come out flat against New Egypt," Losch said. "That worry ended when we used great defensive pressure for that 13-4 first-quarter run. Katie scored 10 of her 15 points in the first quarter to set the tone and get things rolling for us."
The Lady Bulldogs responded tremendously during its "first" season by bringing home a 17-7 record and winning the Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division and during its "second" season with a dramatic run to the MCT championship game.
Now they are prepared for their "third" season and the one-and-done pressure of the state tournament. They’re entering tonight’s game against North healthy, confident, focused, and playing their best basketball of the season.
Things are looking good at HoVal.
NOTES: The winner of tonight’s game advances to Saturday’s CJ III semifinals against the victor of second-seeded Freehold Boro vs. seventh-seeded Willingboro. The CJ III finals are set for next Monday.

