By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Bill Holup can already see the improvement in the Hun School girls basketball team.
While the Raiders are off to just a 1-2 start, their play has been light years better than a year ago, when they finished the season 1-16.
“We have a little bit more size this year,” said Holup, who is in his 18th year as head coach. “Last year we had no size. We have some people who can handle the ball. The overall team spirit is much better this year because they know we have better skills than we did last year as a team.”
The Raiders opened the season with a 37-20 win over Germantown Friends and followed the win with a pair of narrow losses, falling to Friends Central, 54-46, and Lawrenceville, 49-46.
The Hun roster includes some talented newcomers who join the holdovers from last year’s squad. Senior Julie Fassl is back along with sophomore Leah Sutphen. Anna Maguire, a post-graduate from Northern Ireland, is a captain along with Fassl. The rest of the roster includes seniors Amelia Cura and Christina Mozeika, junior Lauren Cunniff, sophomores Jada Jones and Natasha Khoo, and freshmen Nicole Angelini, Emily Buckley, Alexis English and Alexis Harvell.
“Jada is only a sophomore and she has started out playing very well,” Holup said. “Alexis Harvell is 5-11 and she is only a freshman. We have some young players who will be with us for a few years and a couple returning players who went through last year and are back again this year.”
Holup saw what his team was made of this year in the loss to Friends Central, which featured a pair of near 6-footers.
“This team was bigger and had good skills and it was a physical game, but we were just as aggressive and did not back down,” Holup said after the loss. “Our girls were unselfish and they look for each other. It’s just a matter of making those shots.”
At Stuart Country Day, Jalynn Spaulding and Bey-Shana Clark lead a solid group of returning players that have helped the Tartans get off to a 3-0 start.
“Our best returning players are Spaulding and Clark,” Stuart coach Justin Leith said. “They led the team in scoring last season. (Madeleine) Michaels was our best defender and they all have improved. Julia Kahn is our lone senior and is consistent on the defensive end of the floor.
“We have two new additions in Jasmine Hasnsford, a starting freshman guard who is a scorer and excellent defender, and Marisa Lewis, a junior transfer who is an incredibly smart player who can do a little bit of everything.”
The rest of the Stuart roster includes Marisa Lewis, Sam Humbles, Tanya Grover and Raven Wright.
“We expect to be a little stronger,” Leith said. “However, our schedule is more challenging. Lawrenceville, Pennington, Bound Brook, Hun and rival PDS will be our biggest games. And Pennington is the team to beat for the Prep B state title.”
Princeton Day School dropped a 53-16 decision to Pennington on Tuesday. Ryan Robinson led the Panthers with eight points.
On the boys side, Princeton Day School is off to a 3-0 after posting an impressive 62-54 win over Germantown Friends on Tuesday. John McArthur scored 21 points and Chase Lewis and Jaylin Champion added 11 apiece in the win.
We are fortunate to have a number of seniors returning this year and should have an experienced, balanced squad,” PDS coach Tim Williams said. “Our leading scorers Chase Lewis and John McArthur return, as do David Coit, Paul Franzoni, Craig Wrenn and Hassan Ladiwala, who saw considerable playing time last year.
“Some new pieces include Nick Darenkov as a big inside presence and incoming freshman Jaylin Champion, who is a dynamic, athletic player. We will be a good mix of veteran and new players and our chemistry is already very good. I feel like we are well beyond where we were at this point last year and that should bode well for us.”
The Panther roster also includes Zach Dudeck, Brooks Johnson, Luke Franzoni, Manas Sood and Jimmy O’Connor.
The Hun boys opened with three straight losses, two of which were by just two points. The Raiders will spend the early part of the season getting a number of new pieces to gel.
“I am hopeful that our team chemistry will continue to grow and improve and that we will develop as a team over the course of the year,” Hun coach Jonathan Stone said.
Hun returns seniors Ewan Lancaster and Austin Hutcherson, as well as juniors Tyler Washington, Justin Cort and Lorenzo Spinazzi. There are a number of newcomers including guards Justin Harris, Blake Morrisey and as well as forwards Desmond Cambridge, Niels Lane, Shamar Florence, Chris Jack, Myles Bostic, Lazar Stojanovic and Max Gussen.
