Young North girls fall in state hoops play
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Chances for the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls basketball team this season didn’t look that promising.
The Knights, however, erased all doubts on their way to a 17-7 year that finally ended in the Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals Wednesday. Second-seeded Rancocas Valley pulled away from seventh-seeded WW-P North, 67-48, but getting to the quarterfinals was quite a ways from where they were last offseason.
”We played in a summer league at North,” said Knights head coach Bob Boyce. “They only won two games in that summer league. They were like 2-15. They played in the fall league in Monroe. They won one game. They didn’t have a lot of confidence coming in, plus there’s a lot of young kids. I said, if you hang in there and learn, we’ll get there. I didn’t think they’d get there to the tune of 17 wins.”
No. 18 was a tall order, but for a half, the Knights were right there with a Rancocas Valley team that improved to 27-3. WW-P North trailed by just four at the half, and was within two points when Kerry McNeilly scored to start the second half.
”It kind of got away from us in the second half,” Boyce said. “It was a good game in the first half. They wore us down a bit. They beat on us. They’re pretty good.”
Rancocas Valley didn’t really stretch their lead until the Knights were forced to come out of their matchup zone.
”We were able to stay with that until the second half,” Boyce said. “You should see how fast it went from an eight-point game to, when I looked up, a 26-point game. That’s when we went to man.”
Jacquie Klotz finished a stellar sophomore campaign with a game-high 24 points to lead the Knights. Sarah McNeilly and Kayla Foster had five points apiece. Kerry McNeilly and Marilyn Allen had four points apiece. Christina Isnardi, who along with Isha Aggarwal make up the entire senior class for the Knights, scored two points.
”Klotz must have had 16 at halftime,” Boyce said. “They did a much better job on her in the second half. They didn’t change their defense, they just were more intense.”
Klotz had 37 points in the Knights’ 56-43 opening-round win over Monroe on Monday. WW-P North jumped all over Monroe in a 19-7 first quarter. They never let them back in it. Allen had eight points and Kerry McNeilly added six points.
Rancocas Valley eliminated 15th seeded Montgomery on Monday, 73-29, despite 12 points from Bridget O’Donnell. The Cougars finish their season 12-13.
Fourteenth-seeded WW-P South fell to No. 3 Howell, 55-50, Monday. The Pirates put together a big 24-12 fourth quarter to make it interesting before falling to 10-13.
In CJ III action, Molly Barber’s game-high 32 points weren’t enough to stop 14th-seeded Princeton from an 83-50 loss to third-seeded Holmdel. The Little Tigers finish 7-14. WW-P North, in winning a first-round game, advanced farther than anyone in the Packet area.
”They had a good year,” Boyce said. “They won a lot of tight games, which is surprising considering the youth factor. All in the all, the future looks good if everyone hangs in there and plays together and keeps improving.”
If everyone returns, the Knights will face some higher expectations, regardless of how the offseason goes.
”The thing we lacked this year was the experience of playing varsity,” Boyce said. “Even though they’ll still be young next year, they’ll have experience.”
The Knights also have another offseason together, one that should produce more promising results and an even better starting point to next year.