Terebey leads balanced effort
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
It took the West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls’ basketball team a little while to get going.
But once the Pirates started rolling, they were pretty tough to stop.
Trailing, 19-9, against WW-P North midway through the second quarter, the Pirates closed the half with a 7-4 run to get to within 23-16 at the break. North extended its lead to 29-21 early in the third quarter, but from that point it was all Pirates, who went on a 22-3 run and never looked back. It was a smothering defense that created six turnovers in the quarter that made the difference in what turned into a 54-39 win.
”We were just all over them,” said South senior Amanda Terebey, who finished with a team-high 15 points. “Our adrenaline was just going. When our backs were against the wall, we just got it going. We were looking for each other more and our shots were falling. We just did not want to lose at all.”
The Pirates had opened the season with a loss to Trenton, then didn’t play all that well in the first half against North. But in the second half on Tuesday, they looked much more like the veteran team they are.
”Everyone is back,” Terebey said. “And we know how to play with each other now. We had a whole year together and we’re building off of it. We played in summer league and we had our camp. We always play together. We have an older team now, so it’s a lot easier to play together.”
Becky Peters added 14 points and Liz Huttner had 12 in a balanced offensive effort for the Pirates, who will host Robbinsville today before playing in the Moorestown Tournament next week.
While the offense kicked it up a notch in the second half against the Knights, South coach Lisa Guarneri had little doubt what got the Pirates going.
”It was all defense,” Guarneri said. “That’s our bread and butter. We’re not the tallest or most talented team, but we work hard. We have gotten more athletic. Becky Peters had a great summer. Amanda Terebey has improved tremendously. Tory Sharpless is my rock. All the seniors are tough.”
With a coach in her third year and players who have been at the varsity level just as long or longer, the Pirates seem to have the right mix in place to have a big year.
”It’s all about chemistry,” Guarneri said. “They know my system and I know a little bit more about them. We really came out strong in the second half. We came out in the beginning maybe with a little too much intensity. Then we got rid of the jitters and played much better. The second half we played just awesome.
”This was the last home game against North for the seniors, so it was real important for them.”
Terebey was glad she had a chance to be a big part of the win. She’s worked a lot on her game since the end of last season, giving the Pirates a solid second scoring option to Peters.
”I’ve been working on my shot and I’ve been working on getting faster,” she said. “We’ve all been working really hard in practice to get ready for the season. We just had it all together.”
For WW-P North, the loss was a frustrating one. The Knights played well in building their halftime lead, but in the second half they could not continue that momentum.
”We did what I thought we would have to do to stay in the game,” said North coach Bob Boyce, whose was scheduled to host Union on Thursday night and will host Hopewell Valley today. “Our only hope was to pressure them into mistakes and take advantage in transition. In the second half we just got tired.”
The Knights have been hindered at the start of the season by some nagging injuries, including one that has kept Megan Pisani off the court.
”We have some problems that we can’t solve right now,” Boyce said. “Pisani has a bad back. (Kathy) Ruiz is sick as a dog. We have some thing that only time will take care of. Pisani just got cleared so she’ll start practicing. We’ll be a different team with her on the floor. She has leadership, she’s a shooter, she’s the whole deal.”
Ruiz led the Knights with 15 points in the loss to South, while Lexie Forsell chipped in with 10 points.

