With an overall record of 5-17, it wouldn’t seem like there would be much for a sports team to be happy about. But the Monroe Township High School girls’ varsity basketball team would disagree.
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
With an overall record of 5-17, it wouldn’t seem like there would be much for a sports team to be happy about. But the Monroe Township High School girls’ varsity basketball team would disagree with that statement.
The Lady Falcons started the season with essentially a brand new team, and a new coach that didn’t even meet his players until late fall. In spite of the odds against them, both coach and players found some positives in the season.
"I was listening to (coach) Mike Jarvis (Wednesday) afternoon when St. John’s got eliminated from the Big East," first year Falcon head coach John Donza said. "He said that some people may look at this as a losing season, but he looked at it as a learning season.
"I think that’s what I would say about us. You look at our record and think, they only won five games. But it really wasn’t a losing season; it was more of a learning season. So, I expect a whole lot more next year. All the girls have to do is just give the effort they gave this year."
Monroe was 4-14 in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Blue Division. St. Mary’s and Metuchen tied for the division championship this year, and Donza felt his squad held their own against the division heavyweights. But one of the most memorable games was the first game against division rival Spotswood, during the Falcons’ extended road trip in the first half of the season.
"That was a game where I knew emotions were going to be running high," Donza said. "We were trying to teach them the whole idea of patience. And finally, during this game, we saw the patience come out. The girls took their time, and they started executing the way we wanted them to. It was exciting. We played Spotswood three times this year, and every one was a very close game."
Two of the seniors felt that the first South River game, which the Falcons lost by one point, was one of the best that they played all year. It was the first home game of the season for the Falcons.
"We knew it was going to be a struggle," guard Gabriella Giancola said. "Throughout the other three years that we played them, it was always a struggle against the height and the ability level. So, when we went into that game, we went in with a clear head. We did lose it by one, but we were in it to the end."
"There was a lot of hype because it was our first home game, and we did really well against them," Cristina Venetucci added. "At first during the season, we didn’t realize how good we were. We didn’t know whether we could handle the competition. But that game against South River, we realized that we could play with anyone. I think that was the turning point of the season."
With the change in the head coach, and the graduation of four starters, the three incoming senior captains faced a big challenge in creating a sense of team unity. But according to Donza, Giancola, Venetucci and Kim Ng fulfilled their job admirably.
"Right from the get-go, when we first met at the first meeting we had, I knew these kids would be the backbone of the team," Donza said. "They had to try to keep the team together, losing the coach. So, these seniors are going to be almost irreplaceable. Kim, with her effort, and her all-out reckless abandon on the court. It’s hard to replace that.
"Cristina was more of the silent leader, but everybody looked to her. When Cristina wasn’t handling the ball, we were in trouble. And then, towards the end of the season, she even gave up her role as the point guard, and started giving Tara (Lange) a little more play time at the one spot. Gabby was basically the mentor of the team. If there was a problem, or there was something that was not going right, Gabby took care of it. They made my job a whole heck of a lot easier."
The consensus is that the extra effort it took to meld the team this year actually made the girls closer.
"Sports is about communication," Ng said. "It’s not just going out there and playing the sport. It’s actually becoming one with all the people on the team. The fact of us being together as a team all year is just one great memory. I’ll look back on senior night and realize how much fun I’ve had all four years, and how special the game really is to me."
None of the Falcon seniors plans on playing basketball in college, although Venetucci, a three-season athlete at MTHS, will probably go out for softball. She’s waiting to hear from the College of New Jersey, University of Maryland and Drew University. Giancola is headed for Berkeley College in Woodbridge for two years. She hopes to transfer to the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC) to complete her B.A. as an international clothing buyer. Ng plans on doing her first two years of pre-med at Middlesex County College.
Venetucci led the team in steals, averaging five per game, and assists (6.3 p.g.). But the good news for the Falcons is that their top offensive player will be returning. Sophomore Tara Lange, who has the inside track for the point guard position next year, averaged 10.4 ppg, and she was also the best free throw shooter, going 77 percent from the line. Another sophomore, Lindsay Jones, led the team in rebounding (9.8 p.g.) and Ng was second off the boards with 9.0 p.g.
Junior forwards Nicole DiSanto and Erica Ives will be returning next year, along with sophomores Lisa Gaydas, Danielle Payne and Monica Zawistowski. Sophomore twins Brianne and Shannon McNamara also lettered this winter.
Donza, who teaches at St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick, switched back to high school coaching after several years on the college scene, first at Brookdale, and then at Union County College.
"One of the reasons I wanted to come back to high school was because the younger kids want to learn the game," Donza said. "And these kids were very cooperative, and they were very open to what we suggested to them. It was really a very good experience. Again, our record doesn’t tell the whole story. Not to steal from Mike Jarvis too much, but it was definitely not a losing season, but a learning season."