By: centraljersey.com
A sixth straight Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division title.
A fourth seed in the Mercer County Tournament. A second seed and first-round home game against Burlington Township in the Central Jersey Group III Tournament.
A glittering 16-5 record entering Wednesday’s MCT quarterfinal game with Princeton Day School.
That is the ledger thus far for the Hopewell Valley High girls’ basketball team. And while the lion’s share of the attention has gone to standout guard Kelly Williams and high-scoring forward Sarah Gronet, the Bulldogs have thrived because their supporting cast.
It is said that teams do not win by stars alone, and that is truly the case here.
The remainder of the Bulldogs rotation has been critical to the season, including Emily Sing, Casey Schoenholtz, Whitney Bickford, Leigh Applestein, Nellie Tanguay, Jen Didun and Kara Hageman.
Sing is the team’s third leading scorer and second leading rebounder, and supplies an added emotional spark with her all-out play. "Emily will regularly dive on the floor for loose balls or cause a tie-up with an unexpected opponent," coach Jeff Losch said. "She does a nice job around the basket and surprises a lot of teams with her anticipation on defense."
Schoenholtz is that classic player whose appearance in the boxscore pales in comparison to what she actually does on the court. Find any good team, and you’ll find a Schoenholtz.
"She plays solid defense, she’s willing to take a charge, she boxes out and goes to the floor for loose balls," Losch said. "She’s really one of the toughest players in the conference.
"On offense, Casey does a nice job helping us bring the ball up, makes good decisions and can hit the open shot. Most importantly, Casey is a great leader on and off the court."
Then there are the soccer players, who already know how to win championships and who are pretty good on the hardwood as well. Particularly on the defensive end, where they draw the other team’s toughest offensive player, be it a point guard or a forward.
"Whitney Bickford and Leigh Applestein are both extremely valuable," assured Losch. "They do a great job getting deflections on defense and work hard to get loose balls and rebounds.
"The past few weeks, as Whitney and Leigh have been getting more comfortable with basketball, they have been using their excellent soccer vision to help them on the basketball court. When our offense gets moving, they do a great job of seeing a gap and finding an open teammate."
There are also subtle contributions from Tanguay, Didun and Hageman, whose depth provides valuable rest for the frontline players without causing the Bulldogs to drop off in performance.
"Nellie is an excellent mid-range shooter and our fourth leading scorer," Losch said. "She has improved her ball handling and defense throughout the year. Jen shares time in the post with Emily and really works hard getting proper position on defense and boxing out. She’s improved her ability to finish near the basket lately."
That is illustrated by the fact that after averaging 2.6 points in the season’s first 14 games, she is averaging 6.6 over the past seven.
As for Hageman, she has made quite an impact in her first season.
"She can do just about anything on the basketball court," Losch said. " She gives us great flexibility because we can put her anywhere on the floor and allow other players to play where they are most comfortable."
One other player who deserves mention is senior captain Danielle Stout, who is out for the season with an injury.
"She is still a major part of the team," Losch said. "She’s put more time into our program the past four years than anyone. The team really feeds off her. We miss her on the court but are still reaping the benefits from her off it."
The kind of benefits all winning teams have to have.

