Hun hoops off to a perfect start
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
LAWRENCEVILLE — Cara Fiori spent the first two years of her Hun School girls’ basketball career coming off the bench for the Raiders.
It was a role the junior excelled in, helping Hun win 43 games the last two years. Now, Fiori has moved into the starting lineup and has helped the Raiders start the season about as well as they could have hoped.
”I was sixth man freshman and sophomore year,” said Fiori, a Ewing resident. “This year I’m starting and getting a lot more time. We lost two of our starters, but everyone is older and more mature now. Everyone is stepping it up this year.”
The Raiders won their fourth straight game when they topped Lawrenceville, 74-41, on Tuesday. The win was actually the closest game Hun has played so far this year, averaging a 35-point a game winning margin in its four games.
”We like to run the floor,” said Fiori, who scored 10 points and was one of five Raiders in double-figures in the win over the Big Red. “Our game is a fast-paced game. My favorite thing is running the floor. We have girls who can handle the ball. We have girls who can post up. We have a good, all-around team.
”We’ve won all of our games by a lot. We have some big competition coming up. Right now we’re 4-0 and we’re happy with the way we’ve come out. We have Peddie, Germantown (Academy) and some other tough teams coming up. So we have some good competition we’re going to be playing. It’s always fun when it’s a close game. Those are the most exciting.”
Tuesday’s game wasn’t close for long as the Raiders jumped out to a 9-0 lead, which grew to 30-6 by the end of the first quarter. Megan Rigous led a balanced scoring attack for Hun with 17 points. Emily Gratch had 16 points, while Cyndra Couch had 14 and Lexee Liaskos added 10.
”The girls are very supportive of each other and have done well so far,” said Hun coach Bill Holup, whose team plays at Living Faith in Cherry Hill on Saturday before hosting Shawnee on Monday. “People have been playing both the guard and forward positions. It gives more of the kids an opportunity to play different positions. It’s a nice group of girls. They’ve worked real hard to get ready for the season and we’ve started well.”
Fiori has gotten off to a nice start this season as a starter. He scoring average is right at 10 points a game, while she has also helped with her play on the defensive end of the floor.
”She gives us a very good perimeter game,” Holup said. “She has a better head on her shoulders and that just comes with her development the last few years. She is becoming a smarter ballplayer and stronger ballplayer. I think when she was younger she would be a little quicker about things. Now she is letting it come naturally. She’s extremely unselfish and she can make shots.”
Since last season ended, Fiori has constantly been working on her game. It’s effort that she is more than willing to put in.
”I played AAU all summer with the Philadelphia Belles,” Fiori said. “I traveled a lot and this fall, the girls who did not play a fall sport, we did pre-season. We played pick-up almost every single day, so we were ready for the season.”
It’s helped the Raiders start the season well. And they’ve started the season well because they’ve started games well.
”We’ve been up real big in the first couple minutes of all of our games so far,” Fiori said. “It gives everyone a chance to play. We’re excited about the games we have coming up.”

