By: centraljersey.com
Three-sport athlete Dana Sensi picked up another trophy, this one for the Most Valuable Player in the Redbird Holiday Tournament last Thursday.
"It felt good to get it," said Sensi who scored 19 points in Allentown High School’s 53-44 championship win over Robbinsville, "but I don’t think I was the MVP because our team all worked together to win the game."
The team title made the Allentown junior happiest. The Redbird girls basketball team had also won its holiday tournament last season.
"It meant a lot for us to win it," Sensi said. "It was one of the goals on our list. It gives us momentum going into this week."
The Redbirds were 4-1 going into Tuesday’s scheduled game against Hamilton West. They host Princeton High School 7 p.m. Friday in another Colonial Valley Conference matchup. Allentown is already halfway to last year’s win total, and confidence is rising.
"That’s what it helps to build," said Redbird head coach Linda Weise. "It’s nice to see."
Allentown gave a balanced effort again in its tournament wins, right down to scoring 53 points in both games. The Redbirds opened their own tournament with a 53-33 win over Riverside. Kristal Noyan had 15 points and 12 rebounds with five steals. Karlee Corvasce came a point away from a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Sensi started her tournament in promising fashion with two 3-pointers on her way to 12 points. She also had three assists and three steals.
"With her, when she’s shooting well, the rest of the parts of her game she works harder at," Weise said. "When she knocks down a few shots to start, it really gets her going. She’s really matured this year and is playing really well for us."
In the final, Sensi connected on four 3-pointers on her way to 19 points, while backcourt mate Heather Gurdon nailed three 3-pointers for 13 points. Noyan had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with five points and four assists. Leah Ogrodnik had seven assists and five points.
"I feel like we played really well," Sensi said. "Our team worked well together. Everyone did their job."
For Sensi, her job description is simple.
"My job on the team is just to shoot as well as I can," she said. "Hopefully I can keep shooting well."
Said Weise: "She’s a really good shooter. She’s a good foul shooter. She’s a smart player. She knows the game."
Sensi fits basketball in between her two better sports of field hockey and softball. The Redbirds are happy to have her experience back for another season.
"She’s an all-around great athlete," Weise said. "I’m just happy that she’s choosing to play basketball. I know she enjoys field hockey and softball is her main thing. But she’s a great basketball player. We’re thrilled to have her playing with us."
Sensi is off to a terrific start to her junior year. She is building on the experience gained over the past two years on the court.
"When I play basketball, I just play it to win and to compete," Sensi said. "I enjoy doing it. Softball is my top sport. Field hockey is next. When it comes time for the season, they’re all just as important."
The Redbirds have also started strong. They were confident coming into the season that they had the makings of a competitive team. They pulled away from Riverside with a big first half, then put on a shooting clinic to jump all over Robbinsville early.
"Honestly, I know it’s how we’re capable of shooting," Weise said. "It was nice to watch and see it. Coming into the season, I thought we had a good shooting team. For them to shoot like that, we were up, 35-14, at the half, so it was a nice comfortable lead. In the second half, we were able to play a lot of the kids."
What has fueled the Redbirds early success is a balanced attack that has been held under 53 points just once this season. While the 4-1 start has come at a surprise to some, it’s what Sensi and AHS had hoped they’d see this year.
"I think our team thought we’d do pretty well because everybody works well together and we have good chemistry," Sensi said. "Everybody on the court is able to score a high amount of points any game. It can be different every game.
"Our team, we’re very good at shooting," she added. "We work on it at practice a lot."
The Redbirds are trying to make themselves even tougher to stop. The focus in the last week has been on improving the fast break, strengthening their boxing out for rebounding and continuing to improve their shooting.
"Our next big goal," Sensi said, "would be to come out of this week with two wins against Hamilton West and Princeton."
To do so, Allentown will need Sensi to stay in the zone with her shooting. It helped her and the Redbirds pick up some awards at their own tournament, but the wins are all that Dana Sensi is shooting for each game.
"I had my luck the past couple games and I’ve been able to shoot and the rest of the team has done well in getting the ball to open people," Sensi said. "Hopefully I keep shooting like that."

