BORDENTOWN: Florence, Bordentown girls hoop teams have holes to fill

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   Both the Florence High and Bordentown Regional High School girls basketball teams have lost go-to players, but both remain positive that they have good seasons ahead.
   Florence graduated all-time leading scorer Sarah Muchowski, who ended her season with 1,512 career points, a county-best 466 that came last year. She accounted for just under 50 percent of all of Florence’s offense.
   ”I lost Sarah, Dezi Fillmyer and Diamond West, who was a good leader,” said Florence head coach Carey Trayner.
   The Flashes will build around Heather Horner and Naomi Watkins-Glanville and talented sophomore Kaitlyn Poretti.
   ”Heather and Naomi, those are the two I’m looking to help me,” Trayner said. ‘They’re both juniors and captains.”
   Marina Yani is the Flashes’ third captain. Yani is one of three seniors on Florence.
   ”She’s been on JV the past three years,” Trayner said. ‘She plays hard. We’ll see how she grows. She’s a good leader.”
   Yani and classmates Brielle Myers and Shekynan (Diamond) James, a transfer from Palmyra, are veterans who will supply depth to the team. Rachel LeVach is a sophomore.
   ”She got in some games last year,” Trayner said. “She was 4-5 girl and now we have her as a guard. We’re hoping she can help there.
   ”We also have a junior, Jessica Ortiz. She’s a starter. She’s been a JV player. I’m looking for her to step up. I have her and Diamond switching positions trying to figure out who’s going to start.”
   Florence comes off an 11-14 season in which they reached the sectional quarterfinals. With all the new pieces and increased roles, the Flashes were a bit of a question mark coming into the year, but they opened the season with a 45-22 win over Riverside.
   ”After our scrimmages, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” Trayner said. “I think it came together. They played how I knew they could play.”
   Poretti scored 15 points on five three-pointers to lead all scorers. Horner added nine points and Yani hit a pair of three-pointers for six points. It was a nice turnaround from their last scrimmage.
   ”After our Cinnaminson scrimmage, they looked down,” Trayner said. “It was only 15-13 at halftime. For them to come back and win like that, they were shooting and the shots finally fell. Kaitlyn Poretti came alive. She had five threes. She came on at the end of last season as a freshman. She’s shooting guard.”
   Florence broke open the game with an 18-3 third quarter and sustained it in a 12-6 fourth quarter. Trayner is hoping that the Flashes can sustain that momentum through the season.
   ”People that were there for the scrimmages and the game, saw a totally different team,” she said. “They took their shots the first half and they weren’t falling. They kept shooting and they started falling. They kept their heads up and did what I asked.”
   Keeping their confidence up is a big key for this year’s team. They showed in the opener they can find enough offense without Muchowski to win, and the Flashes need to keep that outlook.
   ”Just not to give up, be positive and not give up,” Trayner said. “There’s talent there. I don’t think they see their talent yet. I know they have it there. I need Heather and Naomi to take charge of the court. It’s a lot of pressure to put on juniors, but I think they can do it.
   ”In the scrimmages, they didn’t look confident. I need them to be confident in themselves. I know they can do it. I want them to know they can do it.”
   William Lloyd feels the same way about his Bordentown team. The Scotties looked to return a solid group from a year ago when Alicia Carthan broke her foot the day before preseason.
   ”She’s out 6-8 weeks,” said Lloyd, the Scotties head coach. “That’s a big loss. I still have a pretty good starting five with juniors and seniors. Right now, we’re looking for the depth behind it. If we get in foul trouble, we’re in trouble. That’s what happened tonight.”
   The Scotties opened their season Monday with a 47-27 loss to Moorestown. Bordentown trailed just, 20-16, at the half before Moorestown pulled away.
   ”We didn’t shoot the ball well at all,” Lloyd said. “We have a lot of speed. We have athletes. We just need to knock down some shots.
   ”Tonight, we got in foul trouble and had to pull back off the press. That’s the plan — to press and play up tempo.”
   The Scotties figure that they have to without Carthan on the floor.”I’d love to have her mid-January,” Lloyd said. “It’s a tough rehab. She has to let it heal and rehab.
   ”She was a 6-foot inside presence. It obviously changes the way we’re going to play. We don’t have a real inside post presence so we’re trying to press and play up tempo and see if we can get some easy baskets in transition.”
   The Scotties have the personnel to get up and down the court in a hurry. At every position, the Scotties have the ability to score on the run. Bordentown is starting a pair of seniors in guard Michelle Ansong and forward/center Melanie Hazlett.
   ”This is Michelle’s first time starting,” Lloyd said. “We have a lot of speed on our team. She brings speed and is an excellent defender. We’ll look for scoring from her as well.
   ”Melanie is big. She led our team in blocks. Every game, she has a few blocks. She’s a nice inside presence. She’s a good athlete. She’s a great field hockey player and brings a lot of speed on the floor.”
   Kaylee Creegan is a junior guard who is being counted on to help fill in for Carthan, not in the post, but as a presence on the court.
   ”I’m hoping she brings leadership,” Lloyd said. “She’s probably one of our more vocal players. We need someone to step up, especially with Alicia not on the floor.”
   Another junior, Kelly Yanucil, led Bordentown on Monday with nine points. Alexis McTamney is the third junior in the starting lineup.
   ”Alexis has looked good in the preseason,” Lloyd said. “She’s fast. She plays excellent man to man defense. She’s a strong ball-handler for us as well.”
   Seniors Nitocris Wair and Anna Lapinskas, juniors Jackie Ansong and Ashley Pandolf and sophomores Morgan Decker, Samantha Schenck and Jessica Carey are working to supply depth.
   ”Right now, we’re plugging in the pieces,” Lloyd said. “We’re pretty young on the bench. Jackie Anthong is the sixth person right now. Jessica Carey, she’s a three-sport athlete. She’s fast, but young when it comes to basketball. She’s filling in some guard spots for us right now.”
   The Scotties were scheduled to take on Florence on Wednesday. They will come back after the weekend with the Tucker Tournament that features Marlboro, JP Stevens and Pemberton before they resume play in their conference.
   ”Our division is just tough,” Lloyd said. “Cinnaminson going to be tough every year, Delran and Northern are going to play you tough. Willingboro is always the favorite. Holy Cross has some nice guards. The league from top to bottom is tough. Every night, we’re going to have to play well.”
   The Scotties got a taste of the competition, and life without Carthan for a little while, in the loss to Moorestown.
   ”It was a good eye-opener for the girls,” Lloyd said. “Whatever they thought they were, they know they have to put more work in. We know there’s a lot of work to be done still.”
   Northern Burlington County High School fell to Willingboro, 54-16, Friday in their season opener. Brianna Coit had five points, Tyler Jones had four points, Marissa Rivera had three points and Shelby Dolan and Gabby VanMater each had two points apiece. The Greyhounds have a new coach this year in Ed Fitzpatrick.