Every day on the court is a win in the eyes of Bordentown Regional High School girls basketball Coach Bill Lloyd.
The most important thing to Lloyd and his Bordentown squad is to take things one day at a time and play in as many games as they can this winter.
“It’s a different year,” Lloyd said. “We have to go with the flow and take things one day at a time.”
It was a quick preseason, to say the least, for Bordentown.
Because Bordentown Regional High School was shut down for a week due to three positive COVID-19 cases in the school, the Scotties weren’t able to start practices like other teams in the state could on Jan. 11 and had to wait a week to begin their preseason preparation.
That meant that Lloyd and his girls had only had a week to prepare for their first game of the season, which was held on Jan. 28 against Pemberton Township High School.
Since the Scotties are a veteran club, led by three-year starters Oshynn Cosom and Sofia Peterson, Lloyd said the quick preseason was not an issue for the girls, who proved that in their season opener against Pemberton.
Honoring seniors Gillian Baker, Kenna Wojcik, Brianna Reed and Carly Jones before the opening night festivities in the high school gymnasium, Bordentown began the winter with a 46-26 victory.
“It was nice recognizing them,” Lloyd said in regards to senior night. “It was not the same with not having the parents there and it not being later in the season, but they enjoyed it and made the most of it.”
The Scotties continued their winning ways on the road against Maple Shade High School the following night.
Newcomer Deja Briggs sent Bordentown home with a 2-0 start to the season by hitting a go-ahead jumper in the closing seconds of the contest to help the Scotties earn a 38-35 victory over Maple Shade.
Briggs comes to Bordentown from Westampton Tech, where she spent her freshman and sophomore years, helping the school win the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 3 championship two years ago.
Lloyd says that Briggs is a great addition to the program and has fit in well with all her teammates.
“She’s been an awesome fit right away,” Lloyd said of Briggs. “I couldn’t be happier with how she has transitioned into the program.”
Cosom finished with a game-high 19 points in the victory over Maple Shade for Bordentown. Coming off a sophomore season where she finished as the team’s second-leading scorer, Lloyd said he expects more from Cosom at the point guard position this winter.
Sophomore Cadence Klemic is an underclassman who has made an impact for the Scotties in the early goings. Klemic banged in nine points during the team’s season opener.
Baker has brought stellar defense to the Bordentown backcourt, while Wojcik did a great job filling in for Peterson in the front court against Maple Shade, scoring four points in the contest.
Reed has played very well in the backcourt to start the season for Bordentown as well, Lloyd said.
“Everyone has been pitching in and doing their part,” the coach said.
Junior Brianna Fischer will be a key member off the bench this season for Bordentown.
Securing the program’s first winning season in seven years last winter with a 15-12 record and taking home the Burlington County Scholastic League Independence Division title, Lloyd believes it is different this year in terms of championships and records.
As per the guidelines sent out by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association before the season, teams are only allowed to play a maximum of 15 games and there will be no state playoff tournaments.
Lloyd sees his squad being able to play 15 games this season as a “win” and believes the same way if the team ends up only playing 10 games this season.
This goes along with the fact that Bordentown has already seen schools in their conference like Florence Township Memorial High School shut down its girls basketball team because of positive COVID-19 cases in the program.
Willingboro High School, Burlington City High School and Westampton Tech are a few schools in the conference that aren’t participating in any winter sports because of COVID-19 concerns.
For Lloyd, this season is about just giving his girls a chance to play basketball and he hopes that will be for a full season.
“Playing as many games as we can is a win,” he said. “You take it one day at a time and try to win the next game.”
Bordentown will host Riverside Township High School on Feb. 5 and then travel to play New Egypt High School on Feb. 6.