By Wayne Witkowski
Hours after a 59-23 nonleague victory over Princeton High School Jan. 20, players from Allentown High School’s varsity girls’ basketball team were on the court at the Stone Bridge Middle School early the following morning to again help run an instructional program along with the junior varsity players and coaches for 40 second-graders participating in the Allentown/Upper Freehold Recreation Basketball League.
“It is a great experience, and it’s priceless to see the second-graders’ faces when the ‘big’ kids come to help coach them,” said Ray Gooley, who co-directs the program that serves 300 youngsters with Dave Joye. “The parents of the kids are also amazed to see the players interacting with the kids. They had a game the night before and I am sure the kids would rather sleep in on a Saturday morning, but for all of them showing up at 9 a.m. is pretty amazing.
“It was fantastic, and the kids were amazed to see these kids and coaches give up their time to come back. We got a lot of feedback from the parents that they did such a great job. They pack a lot into the time, and it’s probably a highlight of the season for some of these young kids. Some of those players at Allentown started in this program when they were in first grade.”
That includes Hadley Borkowski, a junior who averages six points and 4.8 rebounds on the Redbirds’ team and started her basketball career as a first-grader in the rec program.
“I love the little kids. They’re so funny and so fun to be around and remind us of some of the silly things we did when we were little like them,” Borkowski said. “We gave them the fundamentals to practice — shooting and passing skills — and then practice the fancy stuff later. They said they wanted us to come back every week.”
Allentown’s players have participated in the program over the past seven years, and coach Linda Weise realizes the value and returns of the day, not only in giving back to the community but in helping build the foundation for the future helping the young upstarts develop into future high school standouts. A program with the high school’s boys’ basketball players is planned for the first-graders on a Saturday in February.
“It’s a great way for the girls to give back with different drills and to interact — a great experience on both ends,” Weise said.
The program stresses fundamentals, such as ballhandling, passing and shooting, as each player works with a group of young “buddies” to reinforce the basics and love of the game.
“That’s where these kids started in the rec program 10, 12 years ago and now that they’re in high school, they can show what they’ve become from it,” Weise said.
“I’ve always gone back [to the rec league] and worked with some of the girls when they were in first grade, and now I see them in fourth grade playing in the league and seeing some who have gone on to middle school is really fun,” Borkowski said.
Allentown’s leading scorers, guards Sarina Campanella and Ryan Weise, again had the long-distance range in firing seven 3-point shots between them against Princeton, as Allentown raised its overall record to 11-1. Weise finished with 23 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Campanella sank four 3-point baskets on her way to 16 points. They each have 27 three-pointers on the season coming into this week, with Weise averaging 16.2 points and Campanella connecting on 11.8 points a game.
Lauren Coiante follows with an average just shy of eight points. Marin Hartshorn averages a team-best 5.4 rebounds, while Weise and Campanella lead the way in assists with 49 and 34, respectively.
“It was a good team effort, including on the defensive end,” coach Linda Weise said.
Earlier last week, Allentown pulled out a pivotal 53-47 overtime victory over West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North to improve to 3-0 in the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division. Ryan Weise led the way with 27 points, including three 3-point baskets, and Campanella fired in 10 points, boosted by a pair of 3-pointers.
Allentown rallied back from a 27-19 deficit at halftime and forced the overtime with a running left-hander off the baseline by Weise before going on a 6-2 spurt in overtime.
Hartshorn sank a layup off a pass into the low post from Katie White, as Allentown took the lead in overtime that it never lost. Weise sank two free throws to seal the victory.
“The girls showed a lot of resilience,” coach Weise said. “We did not get down on ourselves and kept battling. We didn’t shoot great and we were down by nine points for most of the game and then at the end of the third quarter, we tied it off the defensive end with steals.”
The victory was a hard-earned bounce back from a 63-30 loss to Red Bank Catholic High School, which is ranked No. 5 in a state poll, the previous week that snapped a nine-game unbeaten streak.
“It’s important to see that type of competition with tournaments coming, but it was nice to bounce back,” the coach said.
“It was amazing to see how their defense would be there on every pass,” Borkowski said. “We realize that even when you’re tired, you have to get up on players and be relentless. This year, we’re using our forwards more and are more aggressive pounding the ball to the middle [of the lane] and not just shooting threes.”
Allentown returned to action with a nondivision game Jan. 24 against Ewing High School (12-1). It travels for another nondivision game Jan. 26 against Shore Conference B North Division contender Middletown High School North (6-5), which suffered a 60-47 loss to Red Bank Catholic last week. Those games will gauge the Redbirds’ progress to help prepare them for the upcoming Mercer County and state tournaments.
Coach Weise said the Ewing games against Allentown the past two years have been a good barometer for both teams.
“They’re fast, and we have to be able to handle their pressure — a different kind of pressure — and control the boards inside,” she said.
Allentown also has division games against West Windsor-Plainsboro North again Feb. 3 and against Hamilton High School West Feb. 8. It also has a division game against Nottingham High School later in the season.
Boys’ basketball
Yeshua Powe continues to be a big addition for Allentown in his third game with the boys’ basketball team after sitting 30 days due to transfers rules. He sparked the Redbirds to only their second win in a frustrating month with a 59-45 final over Shore Conference B North Division team Manchester Township High School Jan. 21.
Powe scored 18 points, and Nahshon Taylor and Elijah Kelly each tossed in 12. Allentown raised its record to 5-8 with three games left to play before the state tournament cutoff Feb. 3. Manchester Township also went to 5-8.
“We played really slow and sluggish in the first half when we were down five points and felt we upped the tempo and pressure in the second half when we went on a big 39-20 run,” coach Jay Graber said.
The victory snapped a pair of losses last week to Princeton, 61-51, Jan. 20 and to West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 63-56, Jan. 17.
Bob Hynes and Anthony Alexander earned Graber’s praise for their efforts against Princeton, particularly off the boards. Princeton sealed the victory with a 24-19 burst in the fourth quarter.
Taylor scored 21 points and Powe and Kelly added 17 and 11, respectively, against West Windsor-Plainsboro North, which went on a 20-16 spurt in the fourth quarter. Allentown had taken an 18-13 lead in the first quarter.
Wrestling
Freshman Joe Lamparelli at 106 pounds continued his winning ways with a 16-1 record, but Allentown (6-7) dropped a nonleague match, 48-12, against Hopewell Valley Central High School Jan. 18 after rolling to a Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division victory over Hamilton West, 67-12, the previous day.
The Redbirds host Robbinsville High School in a nondivision meet Feb. 1.
Lamparelli, Gino Giaconola (120 pounds), John Kuchar (152) and Liam McDermott (170) won decisions against Hopewell Valley. The Redbirds got a lot of bonus points against Hamilton West, as Nicholas Golden (113), Anthony Heinz (132), Drew Romein (145), Nicholas Campbell (182), Harrison Hill (heavyweight) and McDermott pinned their opponents and Giaconola won a major decision.
Ice hockey
Josh Rosenbaum scored off assists from Shawn Camisa and Joe Pontrelli with 5:31 left when the Robbinsville/Allentown Ravens (10-5-1) co-op ice hockey team tied Princeton (11-2-2) by a 2-2 score Jan. 17 at Mercer County Park.
Camisa scored the other goal with 3:11 left in the third period off a pass from Brian Eider that tied it at 1-1. Nick Koch made 26 saves in goal for the Redbirds.
Camisa scored the lone goal in the Ravens’ 3-1 loss to Hopewell Valley the previous day at Mercer County Park. Ryan Van Duren and Pontrelli had assists. Justin Cooper made 20 saves in goal.