PRINCETON: Any role fine with Johnson

Soph helps PDS girls rally past Hun

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Mika Ryan knows the value of a player who does all the little things for a basketball team.
   The veteran coach, who is in her first year as the head girls coach at Princeton Day School, has one of those players in Lauren Johnson.
   The sophomore only scored two points in Tuesday’s 44-41 win over the Hun School, but her value was not lost on the Panthers’ head coach.
   ”She was key in the third and fourth quarters,” said Ryan whose team improved to 9-4 with the win. “She gave us a spark when we needed it. She does the things that don’t show up in the stats. She had some key rebounds. She also recognized that we had fouls to give at the end and she did a good job there disrupting their flow on offense. She has done a great job for us.
   ”Lauren has been coming off the bench and has accepted her role. Whatever I ask her to do, she accepts. Says just says OK and goes about her business.”
   The Panthers have plenty of offensive weapons with a pair of 1,000 point scorers — Tiffany Patterson and Janie Smukler — as well as Sarah Godwin. Johnson knows she doesn’t need to score big to help the Panthers win games.
   ”Defense has always been my strong point,” said Johnson, a Branchburg resident. “I try to help out as much as I can. I want to be the best defender I can be. And I also want to be an offensive player as much as I can.”
   In the win over Hun, Godwin led the way with 16 points, while Smukler had 13 and Patterson added 10. Jackie Mullen has 12 points and Ashley Ravelli added 10 for the Raiders, who fell to 8-5 with the loss.
   PDS trailed by four in the fourth quarter, but close the game with a 10-2 run to pull out the win.
   ”We just kept playing and playing,” Ryan said. “I think our pressure wore them down. I don’t think we took first lead until there were about four minutes left in the fourth.
   ”This was a game we really wanted to win. Tiff said she had never beaten Hun. They had played on a couple of occasion. They are very good and that made it an even better win for us. They’re young, so I don’t look forward to play them next year.”
   Johnson should get at least two more chances to face the Raiders. As a sophomore, she still has room to grow as a player.
   ”I was a swing player last year, so I played a little varsity,” Johnson said. “I am really enjoying this season. (Ryan) is a good coach. I enjoy getting playing more playing time. We have a lot of great players like Tiffany, Janie and Sarah. We work well together as a team.
   ”We all want to win the Mercer County Tournament and get back to the Prep B championship. We want to do it because we know we can win. We want to do it this year for Tiffany. She said she has never won anything and we want her to win something.”
   The Panthers have shown they can beat good teams, especially larger prep teams. The win over Hun gives the Panthers wins over Hill and Lawrenceville this season, as well as a scrimmage win over Peddie.
   ”We’re playing better and better,” Ryan said. “Defensively, we have made remarkable strides. Our offense is coming along a little slower. I can see the pieces to the puzzle starting to come together. You can’t rush player development. You have to be patient and work every day. I see a lot of good things coming to fruition. If we push too quickly we have to go back and do it over again.”