February 18, 2015

PHS Girls’ Hoops Snaps Losing Streak; Looking Forward to Postseason Action

BLUE LINE: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Briana Blue drives to the basket in recent action. Last Monday, senior star Blue scored seven points to help PHS edge WW/P-S 33-32 and snap a six-game losing streak. The Little Tigers, now 7-13, play at Robbinsville on February 18 before starting action in the Mercer County Tournament, where they are seeded 12th and will play at No. 5 Hopewell Valley in a first round contest on February 20.(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

BLUE LINE: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Briana Blue drives to the basket in recent action. Last Monday, senior star Blue scored seven points to help PHS edge WW/P-S 33-32 and snap a six-game losing streak. The Little Tigers, now 7-13, play at Robbinsville on February 18 before starting action in the Mercer County Tournament, where they are seeded 12th and will play at No. 5 Hopewell Valley in a first round contest on February 20. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After defeating Hightstown on January 16 to improve to 6-7, the Princeton High girls’ basketball team experienced some hard times.

Playing a murderer’s row of tough foes like Trenton, Notre Dame, and Allentown, PHS dropped six in a row.

During the skid, the Little Tigers struggled offensively and its 50-36 loss to Howell last Thursday was a case in point. Scoring just three points in the second quarter, PHS found itself trailing 27-13 at half.

While his team didn’t throw in the towel, Little Tiger head coach Dan Van Hise acknowledged that inconsistent production has been an issue.

“If we don’t score, we don’t win,” said Van Hise. “We went into a drought in the second quarter. In the second half, we fought. We always fight. We got it to eight or nine but then Howell took the air out of the ball and we are not fast enough to trap them. We put them at the line and they made their free throws.”

PHS showed its fight last Monday as it edged WW/P-S 33-32 to snap the losing streak and improve to 7-13. Junior Julia Ryan scored 11 points in the win with Briana Blue adding seven and Mary Sutton and Zoe Tesone chipping in six apiece.

“We are still taking steps in the right direction, we have doubled last year’s win total,” said Van Hise, noting that the Little Tigers went 3-16 last winter. “We still have some winnable games and I don’t want them to be complacent.”

Van Hise believes that some of his key players have taken steps forward as the season has unfolded.

“Briana and Zoe had 18 points combined against Howell, they have found a niche inside,” said Van Hise.

“Catherine (Curran-Groome) is a solid contributor in every way that she can. Mary and Julia are the x-factors, when they are shooting well, we are tough to beat.”

PHS is shooting to do some good things in the postseason as it starts play in the Mercer County Tournament this week before taking part in the state tournament. The Little Tigers are seeded 12th in the MCT and will play at No. 5 Hopewell Valley in a first round contest on February 20. In the states, they are seeded 15th in the Central Jersey Group 4 tourney and will play at second-seeded Marlboro in the opening round on March 2.

“We have HoVal on Friday in the counties, they are always a solid team who can shoot,” said Van Hise.

“I don’t think they outmatch us athletically like some of the other teams. If we play our best game of the season, we have a chance. I am proud of the team for making states. I know we are a low seed but we feel pretty pumped up about it.”

Van Hise is confident that the six-game losing streak won’t get his players feeling down on themselves.

“We are not a different team than we were earlier even though it feels like it with these losses,” said Van Hise.

“The mood is good. We have talked this year about when things get tough, we have to stick together and not make excuses.”