PASSING ATTACK: Stuart Country Day School basketball player Harley Guzman makes a pass in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, senior guard Guzman scored 14 points to help Stuart defeat King’s Christian 61-20. The Tartans, who dropped to 11-4 with a 49-32 loss to Bound Brook last Monday, play at Princeton Day School on January 13 before hosting Trinity Hall on January 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

As the starting point guard for the Stuart Country Day School basketball team, Harley Guzman generally focuses on facilitating things for her teammates.

But last Friday as Stuart hosted King’s Christian School, Guzman decided to take the ball to the hoop, repeatedly driving through the Knights defense. She scored six points as the Tartans jumped out to a 19-7 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a 61-20 win.

“I haven’t played much inside but recently I have been playing a lot inside,” said senior tri-captain Guzman.

“I am not a tall girl. In the last game I played a quarter as a post so that has really been boosting my confidence because as a point guard I have not really gotten to score much. Having that experience helped me get my groove in this game.”

After suffering a 55-44 loss to Nottingham a day earlier, the Tartans were happy to get back on track.

“Although this wasn’t a powerful team it boosted our confidence to get our energy back up and to start working together as a team better,” said Guzman, who ended up with 14 points in the victory.

Guzman, along with classmates and fellow captains, Rose Tetnowski and Kate Walsh, has worked hard to help bring the Tartans together this winter.

“We tried to get together a lot after practice, as captains, we really emphasized a sense of community,” said Guzman. “We had a lot of bonding experiences.”

Bonding with sophomore newcomer Jalynn Spaulding has been a good experience for Guzman.

“It is really nice to have her there, we work together so well,” said Guzman. “We just have this unspoken energy between us and it is so nice.”

Emphasizing the long-range benefits derived from playing basketball, the Tartans bring a special energy to the court. “We are taught to look at basketball in a bigger picture,” said Guzman. “It is not about the game for us, it is about working hard in every aspect of out lives and that really boosts our mentality.”

That focus has helped the team make strides from last year as it has started 11-4 after posting an 11-16 record in 2014-15.

“I think we just work better,” said Guzman. “We have a really good sense of our team, we really know each other well.”

Stuart head coach Justin Leith liked the work he got from Guzman in the win over King’s Christian.

“Harley is one of the toughest players I have had since I have been coaching,” said Leith.

“That needs to be honed because she can be all over the place sometimes. She was aggressive today all in the right way. She was a great leader, forgot the points, she set people up and was distributing the basketball, just doing all of things that she can do.”

In cruising past King’s Christian, the Tartans displayed some good offensive balance with Spaulding scoring 15 points, Bey-Shana Clark adding 13, and Walsh contributing 12 in addition to the 14 tallied by Guzman.

“That is good, it means we are moving the basketball and people weren’t out there, trying to get their own; they were just doing what is right within the offense,” said Leith.

“We wanted to make sure that we execute the things that we didn’t execute yesterday and we did that. What felt better to me about today was that we were getting everybody involved.”

Leith also saw better execution at the defensive end. “The things that I saw today that weren’t there yesterday is that defensively we were in denial while having ball pressure at the same time, not one or the other,” said Leith.

“We helped the helper. We were cognizant of where the basketball was on the floor. Sometimes we have one person worry about their man and not the basketball and they are spinning around. Everyone was tuned in together, which was good.”

Stuart’s good start has helped the team feel good about itself. “It gives them confidence, we didn’t change the schedule,” said Leith, whose team dropped dropped to 11-4 with a 49-32 loss to Bound Brook last Monday and plays at Princeton Day School on January 13 before hosting Trinity Hall on January 15.

“We got rid of some schools that weren’t competitive. It speaks to the fact that we have gotten better because we have played basically the same teams.”

In Guzman’s view, appreciating the value of competition has been a key factor in the team’s success.

“I think we need to continue to look at that bigger picture,” said Guzman.

“I feel like it really fuels our team when we are thinking about this as not just a game but life lessons. It really propels us.”