By: centraljersey.com
The record says 1-9, but the improvement on the floor says so much more.
It’s no secret the Hightstown High girls basketball team is struggling this year, having won just once in its first 10 games.
But progress is being made under coach Randi Roohr and near-misses are becoming the norm.
This past week, Hightstown lost to Stuart by seven points and dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker to Ewing by one point last Friday.
On Tuesday, Lawrence took a 22-point victory as the Rams hurt themselves with 23 turnovers against a vastly improved Cardinals team.
"The offense wasn’t there tonight," Roohr said after the Lawrence game. "We gave them too many possessions on our turnovers."
They also fell behind 8-0, which has become a problem this year. The Rams fall behind then expend so much energy trying to come back, they give themselves little margin for error.
But things are heading in the right direction, according to the coach.
"Oh yeah, there’s definitely been progress," Roohr said. "It’s the little things now that we have to get right. The little turnovers, panicking in pressure situations.
"As a team overall I think we’re progressing each game. We’re in a lot of games. We have a lot of juniors, a lot of returners, but we’re still young. We’re all juniors. It’s about them learning. They have to calm down, keep their composure in tight situations."
Hightstown has been getting strong play from Jenna Marcus and Erin Sobkowiak this year. Marcus is averaging 13 points per game and Sobkowiak is averaging nine. Marcus had nine rebounds against Lawrence while Sobkowiak had 13 points despite playing out of position.
"Jenna’s learning to take it to the hoop a little more now," Roohr said. "Now she has to balance that with her shooting, get it equal.
"Erin has really stepped up as a leader for us. (Against Lawrence) we had to move her to point guard because our point guard (Sam Santos) is not here because of a family matter. That kind of took her out of her game. But she’s been getting double doubles and controlling things for us."

