ON THE RISE: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Gabby Bannett goes up for a layup in a game last season. Senior star forward and team captain Bannett will be depended on to provide production and leadership for the Tigers this winter. PHS opens its 2023-24 season by hosting Ewing High on December 14. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Although the Princeton High girls’ basketball team hasn’t played a regular season game yet this winter, Dave Kosa is already impressed by his squad’s spirit.

“We had our best practice today, it was just having a great vibe,” said PHS head coach Kosa.

“I said to them on December 7, this has been my best team since I have been here as far as how hard we are practicing and we are getting after it. It doesn’t matter who I put on the blue team or the white team, they are going at it versus one another. It is great to see those types of practices where we are competing. Having competition just gets everyone better.”

Coming off a 13-12 season which saw the Tigers win the Mercer County Invitational, the “B” bracket of the county tourney, and losing only one player to graduation, the returners are primed to do even better this winter.

“For the most part, we have really improved from last year; a lot of the girls have improved and grown in facets of their game,” said Kosa, whose team opens its 2023-24 season by hosting Ewing High on December 14. “We are trying to uptempo and pressure. We need to get it and go and push it and get some easy baskets in transition.”

At guard, senior Riley Devlin (249 points and 68 assists in 2023-24) and sophomore Sephora Romain should pick up the tempo for the Tigers.

“Riley is doing well, she is controlling the point out there with her pushing it,” said Kosa. “Sephora was really raw as a freshman, this year she has really improved. She has worked on her game. She is the fastest girl on our team. Riley is shifty and quick but Sephora is just flat out fast. Having her gives us a 1-2 punch at the guard spot.”

Senior Gabby Bannett (136 points and 113 rebounds) provides versatility and production for PHS.

“Gabby is going to be our glue, she can play a two (shooting guard), three (small forward) or four (power forward),” said Kosa. “She is a captain, she has played four years for us. It is nice to have that senior leadership along with Riley.”

The squad’s leading scorer last season, sophomore Anna Winters (296 points and 133 rebounds), has diversified her game.

“Anna is a three for us, a small forward, she has really worked on her outside shot,” said Kosa. “A lot of times last year, she would get the ball and go to the basket which she can still do. She is very strong. If she is consistent from the three, it really helps us.”

The trio of sophomore Kate Sharkey (86 points, 73 rebounds), junior Luna Bar-Cohen (81 points, 140 rebounds), and sophomore Maddie Nieman (11 points, 19 rebounds) will help the Tigers in the paint.

“Kate is another girl who has taken a big leap, she has a very smooth shot and is very reliable,” said Kosa. “Having her as the four, she is versatile for us. She can take the ball to the basket. She has been doing really well. Luna is a good post presence, she has worked hard as far as her leaping ability. She is getting a lot of rebounds for us and blocking a lot of shots. Maddie is also in the mix as far as being a post player for us. That gives us a really good seven player rotation.”

In addition to those seven players, Kosa is looking for sophomore Quinn Gallagher, sophomore Leah Bornstein, and junior Gianna Grippo to give the Tigers some good minutes off the bench.

“Quinn is a good athlete, she just has to work on her shot a little bit,” said Kosa. “She is very fast also. If she can improve to the point where we are using her on the top of our press, it could really help us. Leah is short but she is like an energizer bunny. She played the last quarter for us in the first scrimmage and she did great, she had a couple of steals and six points. Gianna was mainly JV last year. Her strengths are playing really good defense. We are really encouraging her to shoot the ball and handle the ball more and you can see her confidence starting to grow.”

Kosa is confident that his squad can grow into something special this winter.

“We would like to press more and we would like to run more,” said Kosa.

“We definitely want to play pressure defense, whether it is in the half court or the full court. Offensively we are doing a really good job, a lot of the girls know our stuff from last year. It is just a matter of perfecting it and executing it. We are way ahead of schedule.”