
CRUNCH TIME: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Anna Winters, center, battles two Princeton Day School players for the ball in a game earlier this season. Last week, freshman star Winters scored 19 points to help PHS defeat Hopewell Valley 60-38 as Tiger head coach Dave Kosa earned his 300th career victory. PHS, who fell 37-26 to Robbinsville last Friday to move to 7-7, hosts WW/P-South on January 27 and Allentown on January 31. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
Anna Winters and her teammates on the Princeton High girls’ basketball team had some extra inspiration to come through with a win as they hosted Hopewell Valley last week.
“We were really aggressive today,” said PHS freshman forward Winters. “I think we all had the mentality that we wanted coach (Dave Kosa) to get his 300th win.”
Displaying that aggressive mindset, the Tigers jumped out to a 31-21 halftime lead over the Bulldogs in the January 17 contest.
“We worked as a team and we played really good today,” said Winters. “We knew they were going to be tall and we don’t have a lot of height on our team. It was fun to play them.”
The Tigers had a lot of fun in the second half, pulling away to a 60-38 triumph, giving Kosa his 300th win and triggering a touching postgame celebration with cake, balloons, and posing for team pictures with their beaming coach.
“Coach is one of my favorite coaches that I have had,” said Winters. “I know it meant a lot to him to get the 300th win.”
The win meant a lot to the players as they are trying to improve their postseason seeding.
“We all felt like we have got to win this; we have got to get the power points,” said Winters.
In the win over HoVal, Winters was a powerful force, scoring 19 points, repeatedly driving to the hoop.
“I was feeling good today, I took it to the rim a lot,” said Winters, who also had six rebounds and three assists against the Bulldogs. “This was definitely one of my good games. I didn’t take as many outside shots, a lot of my points were from layups.”
That relentless play has been a staple of Winters’s game for years. more