Positive season ends for MHS girls

Cougars girls look to be bigger, better

By: Justin Feil
   MOUNT HOLLY — Following their season-ending loss to Rancocas Valley in the Central Jersey Group IV state tournament Monday, the Montgomery High School girls’ basketball team shared some homemade goodies.
   Beefing up the lineup is one thing that will help the Cougars as they look to grow — literally and figuratively — into a CJ IV power. Monday’s game was their first at the Group IV level.
   "Seeing this speed and physicality is a lot different than what we’ve seen in Group III and Group II teams," said MHS head coach Kevin Kretschy after his 11th-seeded team absorbed a 67-45 loss to the No. 6 Red Devils. "This is the best competition you’ll see in the state — Central Jersey Group IV. We’re excited. The kids understand what it’s going to take. We expect to be back."
   MHS loses just two seniors from a team that went 11-15 but qualified for the state tournament with a four-game run before the cutoff to be .500, and then reached the first Somerset County Tournament final in program history.
   "The biggest positive is that it took us a while to get to know each other," said Kretschy, who completed his first season at the helm. "I’ve only been here 90 days. The longer I’m here, the better we’re going to understand each other in a player-coach relationship, the more they’re going to understand what I expect from them and the more they’ll understand what they can do as players. It just takes time.
   "I’m not happy with the record," he added. "I thought there were some games we definitely could have won early in the year that we dropped. There’s a learning curve there. To play as well as we did to make states, to go to the county finals with our youth and inexperience was very good to see. I was very pleased."
   It helped to have two positive senior influences. Ellen Killian, whose three-pointer three minutes into the first quarter kept MHS as close as it would get at a 10-5 deficit, exits after scoring seven points in the Cougars’ CJ IV debut.
   "Ellen is our emotional leader and she’s going to be missed in the locker room," Kretschy said. "She keeps the girls up. She’s getting them going when I’m not there and she does her best to keep their focus. I’m going to need some leadership out my juniors and sophomores next year."
   Killian also battled Pittsburgh-bound Chelsea Cole, a 6-foot-3 center who scored a game-high 21 points for Rancocas Valley on Monday. It was that size and speed that has hampered the Cougars at times this year.
   "Even still, when we play our tempo and execute, we were OK," Kretschy said. "When we get caught up in other teams’ tempo, we struggle a little bit."
   MHS couldn’t control the pace when Rancocas Valley got up, 17-5, midway through the first quarter and handling the Red Devil press was no easy task. The lead swelled to 28 points in the fourth quarter before both teams substituted liberally.
   The Cougars’ other senior is Julie Feinerman, who scored her first point of the season, and MHS’ final point of the season on a free throw with 19 seconds left. Feinerman played as a freshman and returned healthy to the Cougars this season.
   "She came back this year and gave it a shot and we kept her," Kretschy said. "She was such a positive influence because it’s a girl who always smiles. For her to score, she’s one of our best free throw shooters in practice so I wasn’t surprised that it went in. I was happy she got to go in and contribute."
   The Cougars could crack a few more smiles knowing just who should return next season. Marcia Voigt, who led MHS with 13 points Monday, as well as Laura Coletti, who had eight points and also battled with Cole inside, and Lexee Liaskos who had seven points, are three sophomores.
   "I’m very excited," Kretschy said. "I’m sad the season is over, but the offseason starts now. Next season starts now. As long as we stay focused in the offseason and do what we have to do, and get our strength up and hone our skills a little bit, I expect big things next year."
   Maybe not as big as Cole, but that example was a good show of what MHS will be up against in CJ IV. In addition to Cole, Rancocas Valley had quick, strong guards and a second warrior inside in Shameerah Peterson, who delivered some back-breaking putbacks and driving shots.
   "They’re a little more athletic than some," Kretschy said. "They were disciplined too. I was surprised. Watching film on them, they weren’t that disciplined. They executed very well. I give them all the credit in the world. They played well and did what they had to do. They got a big lead and they held it.
   "We knew they would score points," he added. "We knew they would crash the boards. We knew we just had to take it one possession at a time, even if we were down, or if we were up. There was always a lot of time left until all of a sudden it was late in the fourth quarter. Things didn’t really go our way. The kids stayed with it. They never stopped trying. They should be commended for it."
   The Cougars expect to be a bigger presence next season. The experience of playing in a new sectional for the first time is a lesson that won’t be soon forgotten.
   "This is Central Jersey Group IV," Kretschy said. "This is the best competition in the state. It’s not Group III, it’s not Group II, it’s not Group I. We need to prepare ourselves physically for next year in the postseason. We’re just a step behind physically."
   Consuming a few more brownies is a start.