By: centraljersey.com
Molly Barber wasn’t feeling 100 percent last Thursday, but it didn’t show.
The senior guard poured in 23 points to lead the Princeton High School girls to a 40-38 win over Notre Dame. The win pushed the banged-up Little Tigers to 3-0 on the season.
"We have a long way to go, but so far it’s pretty good," said Barber, a captain along with Talya Nakash. "We’re not even playing to our full potential."
The Little Tigers returned without Barber to the Hopewell Valley Molinelli Memorial Tournament, where they lost to Lawrence on Tuesday, then fell to Pennington on Wednesday in the third-place game. Barber had been playing through a pulled groin muscle, but they saw plenty of big plays from her teammates to hold off Notre Dame.
Said PHS head coach Steffanie Shoop: "Tara Thomas, she’s been hurt. She can’t move around the court like she wants to, but she went into the game and hit two incredible free throws. She could have let her quad bother her and say it threw off her balance, but she went out and made them. And Talya hit a big three-point shot. Julie Barry hit an incredibly crucial shot off a drive, then ran back and took a charge when the game was on the line. For any girl to be able to take a charge, and at such a crucial time, it shows the mental drive they have.
"It just came down to everybody working together," she added. "That’s what the essence of the team is. They’re not individuals. They’re a team. If one person’s not in that equation, someone else is going to step up and fill those shoes until that person is ready to go again."
Barber has been a critical part of the Little Tigers’ resurgence over the last two seasons. She’s been the steadiest player on offense, but the most encouraging thing for PHS’ season was that they didn’t have to lean solely on her at the end of their win over Notre Dame.
"It could have come down to give the ball to Molly," Shoop said. "They realize that their role on the team is more important than themselves. There are kids playing hurt for every other person out there.
"I don’t think I’ve ever coached a group that’s literally so unselfish."
The Little Tigers showed the strength of a team that returned four starters from last year’s team that broke through with a 10-15 season that included a second-round Central Jersey Group III appearance. They came back with higher goals for this season.
"Definitely to do better than last year," Barber said. "We’ve been playing in the summer and working a lot in the offseason so we have really high expectations. We’re not just going for 50-50. We want a good record and to do well as a team.
"We’re confident, but we’re also cautious," she added. "After every game, we say to enjoy it for this night, but then we have to come to practice and stay focused and not take anything for granted."
Barber felt like the Little Tigers started to get a little too confident after a few wins early to start last season. They enjoyed those wins a little too long.
"We would win a game, and then come back to lose," Barber said. "For us, it’s really mental. I would say it’s a practice thing and coming into games mentally ready."
With a veteran group, the Little Tigers are better prepared to handle success – and failure. PHS has not started its last two games well. They trailed Nottingham before rallying to win, then did the same against Notre Dame.
"We’ve had some mental lapses in the first and second quarter," Barber said. "We’ve been picking it up in the second half. We need to work on keeping it the whole game."
Getting off to faster starts is a focal point for the Little Tigers as they head into their holiday tournament, but Shoop has been pleased with the fight that PHS has shown with two straight rallies.
"Given the start we had with Nottingham, it would have been easy to roll over," she said. "My kids were playing hurt. They could have said 0-8, but they fought back harder and harder and harder. The same thing happened against Notre Dame. I’m happy to see my kids held it together in two road games. One was a division game. They’re playing with a type of very controlled urgency."
Part of that stems from the strong leadership they are getting from Barber and the senior class. She and Nakash were captains last year, and she’s always been a scoring leader for the Little Tigers. Barber is a more complete player this season.
"Molly can drive and Molly can shoot," Shoop said. "Molly can be a role player or the lead player. Not a lot of top-notch girls can do that. They’re either the lead or nothing. The reason that Molly is so good at leading the team is because she knows when to pass and she knows when to keep it. The thing about Molly is she’s coachable. She’s receptive.
"I think Molly has just come into her own in terms of the type of leader she is. She’s grown more confident in her teammates. That gives her a sense of strength and confidence. The best thing about Molly is she allows others to make her better."
That trust started to build after last season. PHS didn’t rest on one better year. They tried to make sure that they would take another step this season.
"Most of the kids played in the summer," Shoop said. "That’s a huge part in basketball. There are so many other sports, especially in Princeton, that seem to take precedent – soccer and lacrosse – and my girls made a commitment to themselves and each other. It gets them to work on their skills, and they play together. It really encourages the ability to look for another player when they’re covered."
If the Little Tigers were fully healthy, they could develop together even quicker now during the season. Kate Kerr, Barry and Thomas join Barber as slowed by injuries, but there are no complaints from a team that believes in whichever five players are on the court.
"There are no egos on the team," Shoop said. "Every last one of them is always talking about the other kids and how they’re playing. It’s never about individuals. It’s about the team. They’re quite an impressive group of young ladies.
"It’s a really unselfish team," she added. "They shoot when they need to shoot. They pass when they need to pass. They come through when they need to come through. We’ve got seniors stepping up into roles that they should be setting up into. And the younger kids, they’re buying into it. They’re seeing how much the seniors want to set the pace."
Molly Barber would like to be one of the big pacesetters this year. The only thing holding her back right now is her health, but she has a whole team backing her up as she recovers this week.
