SHOWING HEART: Princeton Day School girls’ basketball player Juliana Hartman brings the ball up the court in a game earlier this season. Last Thursday, senior Hartman contributed seven points and seven rebounds help top-seeded PDS defeat ninth-seeded WW/P-South 36-29 in the quarterfinal round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament. The Panthers, now 15-7, host fifth-seeded Notre Dame in the CVC semis on February 18 with the victor advancing to the final on February 21 at WW/P-North. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Earning the top seed for the Prep B state tournament, the Princeton Day School girls’ basketball team didn’t live up to that billing, falling 58-38 to eighth-seeded and eventual champion Pennington in the quarterfinal round.
With the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament on the horizon, PDS head coach Pat Reddington believed his squad learned some valuable lessons from the setback.
“We took that every game matters and a season’s worth of hard work could all be lost in one bad day,” said Reddington, whose squad is also seeded first in the CVC tourney. “I think it gave us a good mentality going into the CVC that every game counts and matters.”
Last Thursday, the Panthers utilized that mentality as they opened play in the CVC tournament by defeating ninth-seeded WW/P-South 36-29 in a quarterfinal contest in improving to 15-7. PDS will now host fifth-seeded Notre Dame in the CVC semis on February 18, with the victor advancing to the final on February 21 at WW/P-North against the winner of the semi between second-seeded Princeton High and fifth-seeded Ewing.
Even though PDS defeated the Pirates 41-23 in a regular meeting on mid-December, Reddington sensed that the CVC rematch would be a tough game.
“The first time we played was like the second game of the season, so I feel like both teams were different teams toward the end of the season and have improved,” said Reddington. “They are always playing so hard so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We just wanted to come out and do what we always do — play defense and make shots.”
The Panthers played some great defense in the first half as they jumped out to a 20-11 lead.
“Sophia [Latif Estafan] is really tough in the middle for them, she does a great job under there,” said Reddington. “We had to battle and try not to foul; we got in foul trouble early and they shot a lot of free throws. We tried to prevent that as much as possible, they do a good job of getting the ball into her.”
After a shaky third quarter which saw PDS get outscored 11-5 as it missed a number of lay-ups, the Panthers righted the ship in the fourth quarter to earn the win.
“We are always talking about time and score with the girls,” said Reddington. “We have young guards, we have players that might not have always played that way. It is just understanding that we have to look for the same type of shots we were looking for in the first, second and third quarter.”
PDS star freshman guard Alana Williams played very well in the game, scoring 17 points with eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
“She is our engine, when she has got the ball in her hands, the game just kind of flows,” said Reddington of Williams. “I am super proud of her to come out in her first CVC tournament game and play as well as she did. She is always going to give us something on both sides of the ball. We are never worried about her effort or her energy. It is just a matter of her making shots.”
The Panthers got a good effort from senior stalwart Juliana Hartman in the win as she contributed seven points and seven rebounds.
“Jules has been huge,” said Reddington. “She does whatever it takes to win, she doesn’t care about the box score. You see it on the floor, she is so impactful in big moments. It just happens that the ball always ends up in her hands with the rebounds, the steals. I can’t say enough about what she brings to us as a senior leader.”
Reddington knows that the Panthers will face a big challenge when it faces Notre Dame in the semis, a team that PDS defeated 52-36 on February 2.
“It is finish layups, it is another well-coached team,” said Reddington. “We played them very recently so they are going to come in looking to come back. I am sure they are going to have a lot of energy. Our game plan is play defense and try to stop them from doing what they do and, on the other end, figure out how we are going to get buckets.”
Advancing to the CVC semis is a big step forward for the program.
“It is super impressive; we set out a lot of lofty goals this year and we have done a great job of knocking a lot of them off of our list,” said Reddington. “We wanted to put our name in the CVC mix in these tournaments so people know that we are going to make runs and be there towards the end.”
In Reddington’s view, his squad has what it takes to make a championship run.
“Everybody feels like they have a chance. I don’t feel like there has been one dominant team, especially with the four that are in the mix,” said Reddington. “There is Notre Dame, who was there last year and won it. Ewing seems like it is there every year, and then you have got Princeton, who is a senior-led team that has been heading toward the top for the last two years. We are honored to be part of that mix. We want to come out and just bring energy and show that the CVC has good basketball teams here and good basketball.”