Little Tigers earn long-awaited upset
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
It was the win that Casey Moran and the Princeton High School girls basketball team has been waiting for all season.
An upset. A big upset, and the Little Tigers got it as a 12th seed when they opened the Mercer County Tournament with a 43-41 win over No. 5 Steinert on Tuesday.
”We did come in confidently,” said Moran, one of the Little Tiger seniors. “We were really set on getting an upset this season. All of our wins have been sort of expected. We wanted to get one that wasn’t.”
Some saw this one coming. Rachel Basie’s layup in the final minute was the difference at the offensive end before Moran helped PHS get a stop at the defensive end to wrap up the win, its sixth of its last eight games.
”We were so excited because it came down to the end,” Moran said. “It means we’re on a roll.
”The way we’ve done recently has put confidence in us. In the back of our minds, all of us were saying that we could be doing better. It just took a couple wins to know we could do it. We’ll take that confidence into the next few games”
PHS will play at fourth-seeded Allentown in today’s scheduled MCT quarterfinal game. The winner would likely play top-seeded Hamilton on Wednesday, and nothing is a given with the way PHS is playing now.
”We’re going into Allentown saying we can do it,” Moran said. “One thing we said was that Steinert beat Trenton, so anything is possible. We have confidence we can do it.”
It was a balanced effort from the Little Tigers that earned them Tuesday’s upset win. Keisha Brown had 11 points and Basie and Julia Maltby had 10 apiece for PHS, which improved to 7-13 overall. PHS again got the defense it needed in the end. They outscored Steinert, 12-4, in the fourth quarter.
”Our coach has placed a lot of emphasis on defense,” said Moran of second-year coach Stephanie Shoop. “She’s taught us what it can do for us. Our trademark has been our 1-3-1. We’re able to keep a lot of pressure on and energy on defense. It’s helped us a lot.”
Moran typically plays the top of the 1-3-1 where she can use her quickness to bother other team’s ball handlers. The Little Tigers had to turn up their defense after falling behind, 27-19, at the half to the Spartans.
”Someone said the halftime score was exactly the same as when we played them before,” Moran said. “We were saying, let’s not do what we did last game.
”We lost by about 15 the first time. We kept it close until the fourth quarter. This game, we played all four quarters great. We had a few slumps, but we got out of them quickly.”
The win is the biggest to date for the Little Tigers, who have gotten out of an 11-game losing streak that would qualify as a major slump. They didn’t turn it around in time to make the state tournament, but they have it working in time to go after a county title.
”Sometimes when you have states to look forward to, you let counties fall by the wayside,” Moran said. “These last games together have an effect on us. It’s sad. We just said, we can’t walk off the court with any regrets.”
Moran has none at all. After four years in the Little Tigers program, her scholastic career is coming to an end, but it’s a happy ending.
”Me and Rachel have had the longest run,” she said. “We played all four years of varsity together, and through middle school and some travel. It’s been a long run.
”It’s really great now. I had some moments where I was worried I wasn’t going to leave with much of a bang. I’m satisfied with how we’re ending up and I’m sure we’ll end the season well.”

