DEVELOPING SITUATION: Princeton Day School girls’ basketball player Maddie Coyne heads into the lane in a game this season. Sophomore Coyne emerged as a key performer this winter for the Panthers as the team went 12-13 and advanced to the state Prep B semis, a marked improvement on the 5-13 mark it posted in 2014-15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It didn’t take long for Kamau Bailey to realize that his Princeton Day School girls’ hoops team could do some good things this winter.

PDS started the season by beating Hill 31-15 in early December and Panther head coach Bailey was impressed by more than the result.

“I just saw a different feeling and a different vibe out on the floor,” recalled Bailey.

“The girls were moving the ball better, they were moving off the ball better, the defense was better. Everything seemed like it was going to be a fruitful season.”

Bailey’s first impression proved prescient as PDS went on to post a 12-13 record this season, a marked improvement on its 5-13 mark in 2014-15.

“One of the things that really helped us this year in getting some of the victories that we got was that we came into games with a lot of confidence and really feeling that we did the work in practice in order to do what they need to do on the floor to get the win,” said Bailey in assessing his squad’s improvement.

“We got a little bit better at putting the ball in the basket; we had some 50 and 60 plus point games. The girls gained confidence in themselves and their shot.”

The Panthers achieved a major confidence builder when they edged local rival Stuart Country Day School 53-45 in the state Prep B quarterfinals. The Panthers built on that win by topping Northern Burlington 50-47 in their regular season finale.

“They were a really good team, they had a solid record coming into that game, we just got off to a really good start; I think we were up 15 in the first half,” recalled Bailey, reflecting on the victory over North Burlington which saw sophomore star Maddie Coyne pour in 20 points.

“The press was working very well, we got some steals and some buckets in transition. They started hitting some shots in the second half; we were locking their three-point shooters down easy. They came back by ball faking and taking one dribble to the left or right and knocking down shots but we held them off.”

While PDS fell 74-49 to eventual champion Pennington in the Prep B semis and was knocked out of the Mercer County Tournament in the first round by Allentown in a 73-39 loss, Bailey saw positives in both efforts.

“We were ready to go against Pennington; we were trying to stop the Johnson sisters and Carly Rice and what happened in that game is that one of the people that we weren’t focused on (Annie Brunner) ended up having 22 points,” said Bailey.

“In the Allentown game, we were down a bit at half and we battled back. I was proud of my girls because even though we were down quite a bit we rallied and had the best third quarter we have had all season, outscoring them 16-12.”

Bailey credited the team’s trio of seniors, Helen Healey, Isabel Meyercord, and Jacquelyn Hart, with keeping spirits up.

“We had some senior leadership; Helen Healey had a great season and Isabel Meyercord had a big season,” said Bailey.

“They had some big games for us. Helen had four points in the last minute of that Prep B game against Stuart. Helen stuck with it. Jacquelyn does all the right stuff. She is very supportive. She is someone during the season with some of the newer girls trying to learn the plays who would pull them aside and help them go through the plays and walk them through the Xs and Os.”

Hart’s willingness to help was emblematic of the team’s improved chemistry this winter.

“We really adopted the whole family concept,” asserted Bailey. “We are a team. In our timeouts and in our huddles, we say ‘family.’”

With such returning players as Coyne and fellow sophomores Ryan Robinson, Bridget Kane, Summer Patterson, and Kate Bennett along with juniors Shayla Stevenson and Alexis Davis and freshman Brooke Smukler, prospects look bright for the PDS team.

“I am excited about what the future holds because I have a good group of girls returning; they all seem to really like each other,” said Bailey.

“I think we have a lot of momentum going into next year. We went from three to five to 12 wins. My goal this year was to get at least double figure wins.”