BANNER DAY: Members of the Princeton High girls’ basketball team show off the spoils of victory after they defeated Notre Dame 57-52 in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament final last Saturday at WW/P-North. It marked the first CVC championship for the Tigers and will allow them to finally put something on their long-empty team banner hanging in the PHS gym. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
With the Princeton High girls’ basketball team clinging to a 57-52 lead over Notre Dame in the waning seconds of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament final last Saturday at WW/P-North, Anna Winters made a steal that closed the deal and grinned from ear to ear as she clutched the ball.
Skipping up the court after getting fouled, PHS senior star guard Winters caught up with her teammates as they began to celebrate, coming to the realization that they had clinched the first CVC title of any kind in program history.
In order to make the breakthrough as the Tigers won by that 57-52 margin and improved to 19-7, they had to hold off a spirited challenge from a scrappy Irish squad. PHS built a 53-43 lead early in the fourth quarter but Notre Dame went on a 9-2 run to narrow the gap to 55-52 in the last minute of regulation.
“We went into this game and said this Notre Dame team is not going to be the same team that we played in January,” said Winters, referring to 48-18 win by PHS in a regular season meeting between the foes. “This one was just heart and determination to win this game. In the last quarter, it was a close game. We knew we were not going to win this game by playing individually like we were in the first half. It was playing together and putting our hearts into it. I think that is what really won it. Just working together as a team was really important.”
The win meant the world to the PHS team. “It is such a big deal for us; every single year, every tryout, we are always talking about it,” said Winters. “We look at our banner in the corner and we see that is empty. Ever since I was young and [Dave] Kosa was my coach, I was doing Rec Department camps. He has been saying since I have been in elementary school and middle school that we have to put something on the banner. Now that we have, it is amazing.”
BREAKING THROUGH: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Anna Winters dribbles upcourt last Saturday as second-seeded PHS battled fifth-seeded Notre Dame in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament final at WW/P-North. Senior guard winters scored a game-high 25 points to help the Tigers prevail 57-52 and win the first CVC title of any kind in program history. Winters was named the tournament MVP. PHS, now 19-7, will be competing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 Tournament where it is seeded sixth and will host 11th-seeded Old Bridge in a first-round contest on February 26. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
Winters produced an amazing game in the final, tallying 25 points, including an 11-point outburst in the third quarter as PHS seized momentum.
“I made one three and I was like we have come back,” said Winters, who also had eight assists, five rebounds, and five steals and was named the tournament MVP. “I saw the scoreboard and knew we had to push through that. I don’t know what happened, I just felt good. I was playing hard.”
Earning the MVP honor came as a surprise to Winters. “I didn’t even know that what this was, it is great,” said Winters, holding the MVP trophy after the game. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates.”
In reflecting on the qualities that led the Tigers to finally earn the title, Winters pointed to the bonds developed over the years with fellow seniors Katie Sharkey, Leah Bornstein, and Sephora Romain.
“I think consistency because a lot of us have been playing together for a long time,” said Winters. “I have been playing with Katie since sixth grade and we have a really good chemistry. I would say Leah and Sephora have all stepped it up so much this year. We had the opportunity to win last year but this year is our last year and we had to make a statement.”
Motivated by that mindset, Winters was prepared to step up in the clutch.
“I think I am used to the pressure; in my freshman year, Kosa had me shoot a game-winning shot and I missed,” said Winters. “I have been feeling the pressure. It helped me play better.”
PHS first-year head coach Mary Pat Lelinski was confident that her squad wouldn’t crack under the pressure that Notre Dame put on the Tigers down the stretch.
“At the end of almost every practice, we are running the two-minute drill,” said Lelinski. “We give them different scenarios and we talk about what you have to do and how you have to handle it. So every time we get in that situation all I say to them is you have been here before, you know what to do and they do. They just take it and we haven’t yet lost one that was close like that.”
Lelinski credited Winters being key to the squad’s historic win.
“I said this to her before we left that she is the greatest player in Princeton High School history,” said Lelinski of Winters, who has piled up 1,533 points, 581 rebounds, 401 assists, and 380 steals so far in her Tiger career. “Nothing that happened today is going to change that but what happened today solidified it.”
PHS got solid efforts across the board in the win over Notre Dame as Sharkey scored 12 points with eight rebounds with Chloe Hunt contributing 11 points and eight rebounds, Romain adding eight points and three rebounds and Greta Knierim gabbing seven rebounds.
“Greta is a beast, Chloe and Sephora can jump out of the room,” said Lelinski.“I would like them to box out but we are getting the rebound because they are so tenacious and you can’t ask for more.”
Coming into the final, Lelinski sensed that her team was not going to be denied.
“We talked about it beforehand, this is their third coach in three years,” said Lelinski. “This is not the coaching staff, this is all them. They were hyped this morning, they weren’t going to be turned away.”
In reflecting on the what made PHS able to accomplish its title breakthrough, Lelinski cited the team’s athleticism and focus.
“I don’t necessarily think we are going to see a group of athletes like that en masse that we saw of the seniors and even the juniors that are right behind them like Chloe and Greta,” said Lelinski. “I don’t think we are going to see a group like that ever again. They really locked in. They could have made this year whatever they wanted with me being the third coach in three years. They made it what they wanted to make it which was this.”
With PHS competing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey, Group 4 Tournament where it is seeded sixth and will host 11th-seeded Old Bridge in a first-round contest on February 26, Lelinski believes the Tigers can make another big run.
“We have Old Bridge and if we are fortunate enough than we might make another trip to Hillsborough again so that trip that we made last week might just pay off for us,” said Lelinski, referring to a 63-37 loss to Hillsborough on February 17. “It was a big difference but we also didn’t prepare at all for Hillsborough. We looked past them, we were preparing for Ewing. That experience is going to help us.”
Winters, for her part, is confident that PHS can keep going in the state tourney.
“Our only goal basically this year was to win CVCs,” said Winters. “Right now I think we can go a lot farther in that. When we work together, we are so good.”