Wouldn’t you agree that a 7-2 record halfway through the season would be a most satisfying accomplishment, especially for a team that finished 14- 11 last year? Well, that’s not how members of the Spotswood High School girls basketball team look at it.
The Chargers and their coach, Kevin Brady, believe they have a lot more to prove, especially within the confines of the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division, where they have dropped just one game. However, that loss was to Middlesex, 59-50, and it is the Blue Jays who represent the major roadblock standing in the way of Spotswood’s quest to win the Blue Division crown. Spotswood’s other defeat was to highly touted Keansburg during a holiday tournament.
“We’ve won the games we’re supposed to win,” said Kevin Brady, Chargers coach, “and that’s a sign that we’ve improved over last year. But when we went up against the one team who we expect to challenge for the division title, we came up short. We get Middlesex again in two weeks, and we’re hoping to avenge that loss.”
Spotswood has fashioned its early-season success with a lineup that is deep with experience but is blended with predominantly underclassmen. In fact, only one senior, Charleigh Best, plays regularly, and she has been most effective coming off the bench. So while the Chargers have progressed to where they are a formidable opponent, the future looks even brighter.
Spotswood’s starting lineup begins with junior Colleen Duffy, a guard who is averaging a team-leading 16.1 points a game. Junior point guard Melissa Kukoda is the starting point guard and provides the main spark that generates offense. She leads the Chargers with 4.5 assists per game and is second in scoring, averaging 8.6 points a game.
Juniors Katherine Jimenez (5.9), Brooke Astor (6.1) and Maeghan Adinolfi (4.4) have all started during the season, while sophomore Jill Dwyer (6.9) has recently broken into the starting lineup.
Freshmen Jen Marrazo (4.0) and Amanda Pina (1.6), junior Monica Skarzynski, and sophomores Laura Fricke and Alyson Slomko have come off the bench to reinforce the starters.
“Bishop Ahr and Cardinal McCarrick are two teams who have dominated our division,” said Brady, “but they have moved up to the White Division. So this year, it appears the title will be contested between Middlesex and us.”
While the Chargers will remain focused on winning the Blue Division, they also have their eyes set on gaining a high seed in the GMC Tournament next month.