FLORENCE—Girls basketball program forced to go without JV

By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
    Under Vince Cipriano’s guidance, the Florence High School girls have always been a good basketball team.
    Because of a shortage of players, some inconsistent play in the scrimmages and a cancellation of the opener, Cipriano just isn’t sure how good a team he has this season.
    Palmyra would have been a good team for Cirpriano to judge his girls against. Unfortunately, that game had to be cancelled when Florence had trouble arranging transportation on what was a cold and rainy night on Friday.
    Florence was scheduled to hold its season opener this past Tuesday against Collingswood. On Monday and Tuesday, Florence will take part in the Burlington Township Holiday Tournament. Those games will get Cipriano’s 27th season as the coach at Florence going.
    Cipriano has had a knack for putting his teams in the playoffs. Last year the team finished 15-9, but was eliminated in the opening game of the state tournament by Middlesex. It was the second year in a row Florence’s season was ended in the playoffs by Middlesex.
    Florence will have to replace two key graduates from last year. Jessica Foulks and Kira Boone are currently playing college basketball.
    Florence has two seniors back — Erin Sweeney (forward) and Talaya Loran (guard) — on what is a tight 11-player roster. There are two sophomores and two freshman on the team. Because of the lack of players in the program, Florence will not have a JV team this year.
    Juniors Stephanie Allison (forward) and Molly Fitzpatrick (guard) will join Sweeney and Loran in the starting lineup. The other starter on the team is sophomore Sarah Muchowski.
    The juniors coming off the bench are Tori Povia (forward), Chakera Hightower (center) and Shavonne Jenkins (forward). The other players on the team are Dezaree Fillmyer (a sophomore guard), Lynn Golden (a freshman guard) and Tiffany Jefferies (a freshman forward).
    All of the players are crucial to the success of the team. This was never more evident than this past week when a couple of players were out and Florence had trouble running practice.
    Last Thursday, Cesar Pereda, the coach of the Florence boys’ varsity basketball team, had to volunteer his services so Cipriano could run plays with an offense and a defense on the court. This past Saturday, several of the fathers on the team volunteered their services for the same reasons.
    Right now, the thing Florence has to work on is continuity.
    “I was encouraged by some of the things I saw in the pre-season,” Cipriano noted. “We played very well in quarters, but we just never put four of them together. I don’t know what to expect. We’ll see how it goes.”