By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
Vince Cipriano knows his Florence High School girls’ basketball team is on a winning streak. The veteran coach would just prefer not to think about it.
“I don’t want to know,” Cipriano laughed when asked how many games his team has won in a row. “It might be bad luck. It might jinx us.”
Cipriano has sent 26 years of coaching, just worrying about the next game and the next play. That’s the approach he and the Florence girls used to run their winning streak to nine victories in a row.
That winning streak has improved Florence to an overall mark of 11-3.
“We’re not a talented bunch of individuals, but we’re a solid team,” Cipriano said. “I don’t know if another coach would look at us and think I have to have that girl, but they may like our team. All of the girls on the team make each other better in some way.”
Which is why Florence is heading back to the state tournament. And, yet again, this was a case of Cipriano and his girls focusing so much on the matter at hand and letting the bigger picture develop naturally.
Florence clinched a playoff spot with a win over Palmyra on Jan. 23. Cipriano took note of making the playoffs after beating Maple Shade, 46-19, on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
“Our eighth win put us in the playoffs,” Cipriano noted. “I congratulated the girls after the Maple Shade game, our ninth win. I was a game late. I had forgotten we clinched.”
Florence had a great defensive game, holding Maple Shade to six points or less in every quarter.
Sarah Muchowski scored 17 points for Florence. Stephanie Allison and Molly Fitzpatrick added seven points each.
Florence followed that by defeating Burlington City, 56-44, on Thursday.
Florence took a 26-12 lead at the half. Burlington City fought back with a 15-9 third quarter, but Florence finished with a strong final eight minutes (21-17 advantage) to stop any comeback bids.
Muchowski scored 21 points, Fitzpatrick 13 points and Allison 11 points for Florence.
Florence picked up its 11th win of the season — and put itself in great position to host a playoff game — by defeating Maple Shade, 53-27, this past Monday.
Florence outscored Maple Shade in every quarter, starting with a 18-7 margin in the first.
Molly Fitzpatrick scored 16 points, Erin Sweeney 11 points, Allison six points, Cahakera Hightower six points, Muchowski six points and Tori Povia six points.
Florence will play at Palmyra on Saturday at 2 p.m. Florence will host Riverside on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Cipriano is also getting ready to start scouting potential playoff teams.
This will be the 26th time a team coach by Cipriano has made the state playoffs in his 26 years on the job. Florence has an overall record of 25-25 in the state playoffs, but has lost its last five post-season contests.
“As long as we have the kids we have, there’s a chance to do some damage,” Cipriano noted. “The girls are all still learning and growing as players. After a slow start, the girls started to get a better idea of what they needed to do to win.”
And once they got a feel for what it takes to win games, that’s all the Florence girls have been doing.
BRHS BOYS
The Bordentown High School boys’ basketball team outscored Medford Tech in each of the first three quarters and then held on in the fourth for a 56-54 win on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Casey Nunez scored 17 points, Kartavin Youngblood 14 points and Joseph Ricks 10 points for Bordentown in the win.
Bordentown was scheduled to play Willingboro this past Tuesday. Bordentown will host Holy Cross tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. and Delran on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Bordentown will play at Cinnaminson at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
FHS BOYS
The Florence High School boys’ basketball team used a great first and third quarter to defeat Maple Shade, 63-44, on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
The two teams played to a 30-30 tie over the second and fourth quarters. Florence, however, got off a 14-6 start in the first quarter. Coming out of the locker room at halftime Florence also had the right touch, outscoring Maple Shade 19-8 in the third quarter.
Adam Schmidt (15 points), Steve Muni (14 points) and DeAndre Davis (10 points) all scored in double figures for Florence. Manan Desai added nine points for Florence.
Florence was defeated by Burlington City, 67-47, last Thursday.
Florence ended up outscoring Burlington City in the second half, but was down 19-10 after a quarter and 35-14 at the half.
Schmidt scored 17 points, Davis eight points and Muni seven for Florence in the loss.
Florence defeated Burlington Township, 61-57, in overtime on Saturday.
Florence forced overtime with a 15-7 advantage in the fourth quarter. It then outscored Burlington Township, 10-6, in overtime.
Muni (15 points), Desai (15 points), Schmidt (14 points) and Ernie Curry (10 points) all scored in double figures for Florence.
Florence defeated Maple Shade, 60-40, this past Monday.
Florence was scheduled to play Cinnaminson on Tuesday. Florence will host Senaca on Monday at 5:15 p.m. Florence will host Riverside on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
NBC BOYS
The Northern Burlington boys’ basketball team was defeated By Willingboro, 67-52, on Thursday.
Northern Burlington was down 19-12 after the first quarter, but close the gap to 31-29 by the half. Willinbgoro, however, took the third quarter by a 19-6 advantage.
Boomer Walton scored 20 points and Jeremy Shulkin added eight points for Northern Burlington.
Northern Burlington was defeated by Nottingham, 64-49, on Saturday.
Ryan Walsh scored 16 points, Walton 14 points and Eric Pearson nine points for Northern Burlington.
Northern Burlington was defeated by Trenton Catholic, 67-39, on Monday.
Walsh and Walton both scored 11 points each for Northern Burlington.
Northern Burlington was scheduled to play Moorestown on Tuesday. It will host BCIT Medford at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Rancocas Valley at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
BRHS GIRLS
Westampton Tech defeated the Bordentown High School girls’ basketball team, 66-60, on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Alicia Pickett scored 17 points, Emily Lawson 12 points and Melanie Bakeman 10 points for Bordentown.
Bordentown was defeated by Holy Cross, 50-38, on Saturday.
Alicia Pickett scored 15 points and Alicia Carthan added nine points for Bordentown.
Bordentown was scheduled to face Willingboro on Tuesday. It will be at Holy Cross for a game 5 p.m. tonight (Thursday) and at Delran for a game 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Bordentown will host Cinnaminson at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
NBC GIRLS
The Northern Burlington High School girls’ basketball team was defeated by Willingboro, 64-26, on Thursday.
Nottingham defeated Northern Burlington, 73-49, on Saturday.
Ashanti Vaughn scored 17 points and Brittany Young added 12 for Northern Burlington.
Northern Burlington was defeated by Trenton Catholic, 61-26, this past Monday.
Rachel Dortch and Vaughn scored six points each for Northern Burlington.
Northern Burlington was scheduled to face Moorestown on Tuesday. It will play at Delran at 6:30 p.m. today (Thursday) and Rancocas Valley at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Northern Burlington will host Trenton Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
