(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: DRIVING FORCE: Stuart Country Day sophomore Amber Bowman drives to the hoop in recent action. Last Thursday, Bowman tallied 15 points to help Stuart edge Lawrenceville 58-53. This past Monday, Bowman scored 20 points as the Tartans fell 65-47 to Rutgers Prep to drop to 8-7. In upcoming action, Stuart hosts Princeton Day School on February 5, Notre Dame on February 7, and Lawrence High on February 9.

Bowman Looking to Be More Consistent as Stuart Hoops Heads Into Final Stretch

Bill Alden

Amber Bowman got off to a hot start last Thursday as the Stuart Country Day basketball team hosted Lawrenceville.

The sophomore guard fired in nine points to help Stuart build a 17-11 lead after one quarter.

But then Bowman went cold, going scoreless for two quarters as Lawrenceville fought back and narrowed the Stuart lead to 40-37 after three quarters.

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Bowman caught fire, making some big steals and scoring six points to help Stuart hold on for a 58-53 win over the Big Red.

In assessing her performance, Bowman acknowledged that she has been striving to become more consistent.

“I am trying to improve my rhythm; I have had these off games,” said Bowman.

“I was just trying to improve my game from the Pennington game; I didn’t play that well, I thought (scoring seven points in a 68-57 loss). I realize that if my jumper is not going, I have to go to the basket.”

With one season of high school basketball under her belt, Bowman has a better realization of things on the court.

“I think I have improved on my jumper; I am pulling up and going to the basket more often,” added Bowman.

“When I get to the basket, I pull up and shoot my jumper which I have really improved on. I am looking out for my team more now; I am more aware of the court since I am more experienced now. I am just working on improving my basic skills.”

In Bowman’s view, the key to pulling out the win over Lawrenceville was getting back to basics.

“It was all about defense and running our offense,” maintained Bowman.

“We needed to pick it up; coach (head coach Tony Bowman, Amber’s father) said it and we did it. Boxing out was a key; they were getting the boards.”

Head coach Bowman is looking for his team to keep picking up the defense.

“One of the key things for us now is defense,” said Bowman. “In the last week, we haven’t had great defensive efforts. Everybody is scoring 60-plus points on us. We can’t win basketball games that way. From this point on, we are working strictly on playing great defense. We did it the first half today; we didn’t do it the second half.”

Bowman did like the way his team defended down the stretch against Lawrenceville.

“In the third quarter, we looked a little slow,” said Bowman. “We went to the trapping and the pressing in the fourth quarter and that helped us a lot. Without that, I think it would have been a different game.”

The play of junior center Sarah Schulte also made a difference for the Tartans. “Sarah Schulte played well,” asserted Bowman of Schulte who ended the game with 14 points and six rebounds.

“For the last minute or two of the third quarter, we just went to her. She just got the job, that’s what we need her to do every game.”

Stuart also got what it needed from junior point guard Diamond Lewis, who recently passed the 1,000-point milestone in her Stuart career.

“Because everybody was scoring points on us, the theme was to run our sets and get everyone involved and finish,” said Bowman, who got 16 points from Lewis in the win over Lawrenceville.

“That was Diamond’s responsibility today and she did a good job running the offense and making things happen. She kicked it out, shot the three and got rebounds as well. She does everything for us.”

Bowman likes what his daughter is doing for the team although he is looking for more consistency.

“She’s getting there; she’s not as consistent as I would like her to be,” said Bowman, whose team fell 65-47 to Rutgers Prep last Monday to move to 8-7 on the season.

“She’s got time to grow and I am looking for her to grow very soon. She had a big drought today. But she is very athletic so if she doesn’t do something on the scoring sheet, she is going to do something else. She is going to dive on the floor; she is going to be gritty all the time.”

In the view of the younger Bowman, Stuart needs to be a little more patient if it is going to do some big things down the season’s homestretch.

“Overall we are a very skilled team; we just have to know when to play as a team,” said Bowman, whose team hosts Princeton Day School on February 5, Notre Dame on February 7, and Lawrence High on February 9.

“When people play us man-to-man, we have to run all our plays and not just go one on one. When we run our offense, we are a better team.”

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