NO BACKING DOWN: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Adria Backus dribbles up the court in action this season. Senior guard Backus provided leadership to help PHS enjoy a solid February as it posted a final record of 7-17. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Things could have fallen apart for the Princeton High girls’ basketball team as the losses piled up in January.

But the team responded by playing some of its best basketball of the season in early February.

“We only won one game in January and we didn’t jump off the ship,” said PHS head coach Dan Van Hise, whose team posted a 1-9 record in January.

“The first two weeks of February we went 4-2 so that showed a lot in that they stuck together enough to put that stretch together and extend our season that way. January was very tough, it was game, practice, game, practice.”

The Little Tigers absorbed some tough breaks in the last two weeks of the season as injuries depleted the lineup.

“Zoe Tesone sprained her ankle and inflamed her achilles, her achilles had been bothering her all year,” said Van Hise, whose team ended the winter with a 7-17 record.

“After the South (WW/P-S) game she was out for the year so we didn’t have her down the stretch.
Taylor Stone got a concussion down the stretch.”

As a result, Van Hise gave some of the younger players in the program some varsity experience.

“We have a good freshmen class so we brought them up from JV,” said Van Hise, noting that he had Erin Devine on the varsity for most of the year and later promoted Anna Intartaglia, Olivia Intartaglia, Catherine Dyevich, and Ella Kotsen.

“We are really excited about the five of them so we wanted to get them a little bit of time, especially with the injuries and stuff. It just made sense.”

The freshmen got a trial by fire in the state tournament as 15th-seeded PHS fell 61-12 at second-seeded Monroe in the first round of the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional.

“Playing in a state tournament is still a good experience for us; it is something we do take pride in,” said Van Hise, noting that it was the finale for his trio of seniors, Julia Ryan, Crystal Wang, and Adria Backus.

“Being a 15 or 16 seed is hard; it extends your year after an already long season but we want to be the kind of program that values that. It was let’s try to get some of these girls playing time to see how they respond.”

Van Hise liked how his seniors responded all winter long. “Julia was our workhorse; she felt a lot of pressure this year, as to be expected, having to shoulder so much of the scoring load,” said Van Hise.

“She stuck with it; she tried to let the game come to her. Crystal got our most improved award, she has come a long way with her confidence. She was an absolute leader on the team, she showed emotion; she would get upset, she would be excited. Off the court, she was great, and on the court, she turned into a confident shooter. Adria was one of those intangible players. She was a glue girl, giving us defense and rebounding. We will miss all three of them.”

Noting that he came into the season hoping to match the eight wins posted in 2014-15, Van Hise was proud to just miss that goal by one victory, considering all of the circumstances.

“They didn’t know how to play with each other at the beginning of the year because so much of the load was on the seniors last year; it was basically a brand new team,” said Van Hise.

“You have to mold yourself a little bit to get the most out of your girls and that is what we were trying to do. That stretch in February showed that when we had everybody and with them having played together for a month and a half, we were really starting to click a little bit. It couldn’t be seen through because Zoe and Taylor got hurt.”

Van Hise, for his part, sees good things on the horizon for the program. “It will be a good mix of veteran leadership and younger players; I am looking for the younger girls to push those veterans a little more too because there won’t be such a big gap between them,” said Van Hise.

“The freshmen have been playing together forever; they are like the next group like last year’s seniors. They played with Clarence (assistant coach Clarence White) growing up so they know how to play the game. They are dedicated, they are committed so we are really looking forward to them playing. Next year is going to be interesting.”