Following a 3-5 start to open the season, which included a pair of losses by a total of two points, the New Egypt High School girls basketball team looked at last week as a possible turning point in its season.
“We needed to play reallywell lastweek,” New Egypt coach Matt Brogan said. “We have struggled a little bit this season.We’ve had some tough luck in a couple of games, too. But we had three games we could be extremely competitive in. A couple of victories would put us back on track.”
Brogan and his corps got thewins they so needed. New Egypt registered victories over Medford Tech, Morristown Friends and Asbury Park to improve to 6-5 on the season.
“We played with intensity and avoided turnovers,” Brogan said. “Those were the keys to sweeping those games.”
Robynn Frank scored 12 points as the Lady Warriors posted a 40-19 win over Medford Tech.
In a 33-29 win over Friends, senior Kristie Martino scored 10 points, and Emily Straneiro added two steals down the stretch and four points to seal the win.
New Egypt routed Asbury Park 42-24. Martino again led the teamwith 10 points as the Lady Warriors used a balanced scoring attack to win their third game of the week.
“It was a great week for us,” Brogan said. “We had been struggling along and needed a stretch like that.”
In the annual New Egypt Christmas Tournament, the LadyWarriors advanced to the championship game before falling to Keyport High School. New Egypt held a one-point lead in the closing seconds when a Keyport player tossed up a desperation shot that beat the buzzer for a dramatic 26-25 victory over the Warriors.
“That was a tough way to lose,” Brogan admitted. “We thought we had the game won when one of their kids just tossed the ball at the rim and it went in. It really took the air out of us. The disappointing thing about it was that we played great team defense in that game. To lose like that on a fluke was hard to swallow.”
Morgan Knigee sank two free throws with four seconds remaining to put New Egypt ahead, 25-24.
“They inbounded the ball and started up court,” Brogan said. “We actually deflected the ball into the hands of one of their kids, who shot it. She heaved it and the ball banked off the glass and went in.”
Martino paced New Egypt with 11 points. Frank added eight points.
“We played well in this game,” said Brogan, whose team led by eight points at the half. “We made clutch shots and defended well.”
In the opening round, New Egypt needed some last-second heroics by Cora Delfini to post a 39-37 win over South Hunterdon. With the score knotted at 37- 37, Delfini took a pass from Martino and converted a layup for the win.
“They pressed us, and Kristie tossed a perfect bounce pass to Cora, who was wide open,” Brogan said. “All she had to do was lay it in. It was a pretty exciting win.”
New Egypt actually trailed by a point with less than a minute left when freshman Emily Bausher showed senior poise and connected on a 3-pointer. Bausher finished with a total of nine points. Bausher’s shot capped a 16-5 run New Egypt used in the final period to win the game.
“For a freshman to step up and make a shot like that says a lot about her,” Brogan said. “She is doing an outstanding job for us. She showed a lot of guts to take that shot.”
Martino was the leading scorer in this game, too. She netted a game-high 13 points to lead her squad to victory.
“We played frombehind thewhole game,” Brogan said. “The girls never quit. They chipped away at the lead and then put themselves in a position to it. That’s what good teams do. We need to keep this kind of intensity level for the duration of the season.”