CRYSTAL CLEAR: Princeton High girls’ basketball player -Crystal Wang brings the ball up the court in recent action. Last Thursday, senior guard Wang scored five points in a losing cause as PHS fell 69-43 to Allentown. The Little Tigers, now 3-9, play at Trenton on January 28 and at WW/P-N on January 29 before hosting Trenton on February 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For the Princeton High girls’ basketball team, playing mad against Nottingham helped fuel victory.

“We were kind of angry going into that game,” said PHS head coach Dan Van Hise, whose team posted a 45-33 win over the Northstars in the January 13 contest.

“We had lost four in a row and we know that there are only so many opportunities for us to get wins. Going into the game, we knew Nottingham was going to be on our level so we did come out fiery in that game.”

PHS was sparked by some fiery play from junior forward Zoe Tesone in the win over Nottingham.

“A lot of that credit goes to Zoe Tesone, she has really stepped up in that respect,” said Van Hise of Tesone, who scored 13 points, with senior Julia Ryan tallying 15 to lead the way.

“She had eight points in the first quarter in that game and that really set the tone for us. It was really nice for her to have that game because she was struggling early in the year and we want her to be that second scorer behind Julia Ryan. She was pressing a little but she came out with an ‘I don’t care, this is happening attitude,’ and it filtered through everybody.”

The Little Tigers also got a nice game from sophomore guard Devon Lis against the Northstars as she chipped in 11 points.

“Devon is athletic, she plays really good defense,” added Van Hise. “She is probably going to get us the most easy baskets we will get because she is long and gets her hands out and gets in transition pretty easily.”

In the last week, PHS hit a tough stretch in its schedule, falling to Notre Dame 71-25 on January 15, 53-19 to Hopewell Valley on January 19, and 69-43 to Allentown last Thursday.

In Van Hise’s view, his squad showed progress by their effort against Allentown as nine players scored.

“Allentown was easily my favorite game of the year, there was a confidence growing,” asserted Van Hise, who got nine points from Ryan and eight from sophomore forward Taylor Stone against the Redbirds as the team moved to 3-9.

“One girl would hit a shot and that would get somebody else to calm down a little bit and she would hit a shot. There was a different mentality that we had out there, especially against such a good team. We came out with a positive attitude, we hit some early shots. Taylor Stone contributed, Adria Backus hit a couple of jumpers, and Crystal Wang hit a couple of shots. Everyone got into the act.”

Van Hise has been looking for his veteran players to help the team gain confidence.

“We lost those strong personalities from last year, we were searching at the beginning of the year,” said Van Hise, whose 2014-15 squad featured five seniors.

“I think Zoe and Crystal have both stepped up in that regard. They are not necessarily the most vocal leaders but they work really, really hard in practice, the two of them, and Adria as well, so that has been helpful for sure.”

As PHS heads into the homestretch of the season, it needs to add some toughness to its work ethic.

“The biggest thing is really just this willingness to fight back,” said Van Hise, whose team plays at Trenton on January 28 and at WW/P-N on January 29 before hosting Trenton on February 2.

“Other teams are going to put runs against us every game and we need to have the stick together mentality.