New Egypt High School senior Desmond Hubert tries to drive past Jackson Memorial’s Connor Saker during a game between the Warriors and the Jaguars on Jan. 15. Hubert led New Egypt into its state tournament opener on March 1, and if the Warriors defeated Perth Amboy Tech in that game, they will host a second-round game tonight in Plumsted. ERIC SUCAR staff Excitement was building earlier this week for the New Egypt High School boys and girls basketball teams as they prepared for action in the NJSIAA state sectional tournament amid a season of firsts.
Both teams won Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division championships. It was a first for the Warriors’ girls, whose 17-8 record is the most wins ever by the program. The Warriors’ boys finished unbeaten in league play for the first time as its 21-5 record matches the most wins in school history in the regular season.
The New Egypt girls gained the No. 1 seed in the Central Jersey Group I state sectional tournament and had a bye in the opening round. The state sectional tournament New began on March 1.
The New Egypt boys hosted Perth Amboy Tech in their Central Jersey Group I state sectional tournament opener at home on March 1.
Both teams could be playing a state tournament game at home tonight, March 3, in Plumsted.
Coach Jay Corby’s boys beat Burlington City on Feb. 25 to finish off their unbeaten run in the league behind the play of 6-10 center Desmond Hubert and point guard Mark Pryzbylkowski.
The girls finished as the BCSL Freedom Division co-champions with Pemberton.
Both teams won their regular-season finale atAllentown High School on Feb. 26 in the third annual benefit double-header for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
New Egypt’s girls won, 48-41, in overtime behind senior forward Haley Anderson’s 22 points that included 10 points from the foul line in the fourth quarter and overtime. The boys defeated the Redbirds, 52- 34, as Hubert, Bill Raab and Sheldon Stevens shared game-high honors with 10 points each.
In state tournament action, the girls will play the winner of a first-round game between Bound Brook and Riverside. New Egypt has defeated Riverside, a BCSL opponent, twice during the regular season.
If the boys won their first-round game on March 1, they will play the winner of a first-round game between Metuchen and South Hunterdon.
“We’ve turned the program around,” said fourth-year girls coach Matt Brogan, whose team surpassed last year’s previous high of 16 wins when it reached the South Jersey Group I sectional finals, losing by 10 points to Paulsboro.
New Egypt was moved into the Central Jersey state sectional tournament bracket this season.
Emily Bausher has led the way as the school’s first 1,000-point girls scorer and a school record 104 three-point baskets, including 13 this season. She averages 16 points per game.
“This year we have the same team as last year, and that was our building year, and we rose as a team. That’s why we have had so much success,” said Bausher. “We have high expectations. We want to create a legacy for New Egypt. We have a close relationship. The hard work ethic pays off.”
Bausher knows about that work ethic after pitching the Warriors’ softball team to a state championship last spring.
She is one of three seniors, including Anderson, a 5-8 forward, and Morgan Knigge, a 6-1 center who averages 10 points and 8 rebounds and is an exceptional shot blocker.
The other starters are juniors, Egypt point guard Cortney Natalicchio and small forward Julie Ciak, who has a deft shooting touch.
With only two other players in the rotation, freshman forward Bridgette Buckalew and sophomore forward Alexa Magnotta,
Brogan said his team is “very lucky” to stay out of foul trouble, with only one game where the team was in serious foul trouble and two games where a player fouled out.
Bausher has far fewer three-point field goals in 2010-11 than the school record she hit last season, but said her role “is different from last year. Last year I was trying to put up points. This year I’m working with my teammates to get the ball to them.”
But defense is the cornerstone to the team’s success, according to Bausher and her coach.
“Our coach’s motto is ‘If they can’t score, they can’t win,’ ” Bausher said.
The Warriors are allowing opponents only 32 points per game.
“We stress defense,” said Brogan. “We generate a lot of points off it. Even when we lost to Willingboro, a very good scoring team, on Feb. 25, we held them 20 points below their average.”
New Egypt’s girls have won four of their last five games, but the turning point occurred in mid-season when the Warriors overcame a four-point deficit in the closing seconds to beat a 10-0 Pemberton team at home. Bausher hit a three-point field goal and Ciak sank a layup as time ran out for the win.
“That solidified us as far as the division was concerned, and we knew we could win it,” Brogan said.
“We think every game matters, not just that game,” said Bausher. “We’ve come out strong every game. We know we have to give it our all, and as long as we give it our best, we can win. It’s great to see everyone stepping up and filling their roles. Everyone contributes.” Bausher has a lot to look forward to after basketball when she prepares for what looks like another superb season as one of the top softball pitchers in the state and for a career at Lehigh University, where she was attracted by the “family atmosphere of softball and how education comes first. It has to be a total package deal [softball and academics] for me.”
For now, Bausher is enjoying the moment in basketball and not even thinking about softball very much.
“I don’t want the [basketball] season to end,” she said with a laugh.
As for the New Egypt boys, they rode into the March 1 state tournament opener off a 3-1 week, marred by a 67-60 loss to Cinnaminson, which broke away from the Warriors in the final minute. The Warriors also beat Northern Burlington, 49-41, off an 8-0 run in overtime as Taylor Steen scored four of his nine points in overtime on a pair of rebound baskets.
In the Burlington City victory, Hubert scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Jamel Smith held county scoring leader Shaquille Butler to 11 points, 10 below his average.