Stuart falls in Prep B hoops
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Tony Bowman can’t help but wonder what the season would have been like for his Stuart Country Day School basketball team if the Tartans had been at full strength all season.
”The injuries hurt us,” said Bowman, whose team was eliminated from the state Prep B tournament with a 54-41 loss at Pennington on Sunday. “Not just today, but all year. Amber (Bowman) is hurt and probably missed three quarters of the game. We had two other starters who have been out for a couple weeks now with concussions. It’s just hard to make up for that loss.”
Stuart fought hard and trailed the Red Raiders by just eight entering the fourth quarter. But Pennington scored five quick points to pull away and Stuart did not have enough left to mount a comeback.
”We’re only seven deep and then I have to bring players from the JV up,” said Bowman, whose team finished the season 6-11. “Amber hurt her knee so she’s out right off the jump. I expect the girls to play hard in the games and in practice and they do that. My whole team wasn’t there, so we couldn’t run. That’s why in the second half we had to slow it down.”
With Bowman slowed by a knee injury, the Tartans relied on the play of seniors Jasmine Smarr and Julianne Carson. Smarr finished with 18 points, while Carson had 12 points and had a big game on both ends of the court.
”She had 12 points,” Bowman said. “The last few games she has been playing big. She is a senior and I am happy for her. I needed someone else to step up and she stepped up.”
In the end, what was supposed to be a promising season was simply slowed down by the injury big. Jen Diaz and Parris Branker have been out with concussion issues, while Bowman and Smarr have been slowed by injuries for a large part of the season.
”Without injuries we’re averaging 67 points a game,” Bowman said. “With injuries we’re averaging 40. But the girls always played hard and I am proud of them. We have a great group of seniors and we’ll miss them. Next year we’ll be starting all over.”