TAKING IT TO THE HOOP: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Anna Winters puts up a shot in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, junior guard Winters scored 14 points in a losing cause as PHS fell 52-47 to Monroe. The Tigers, who moved to 8-5 with the loss, play at Trenton Central on January 23, at Delaware Valley in January 25, and at Princeton Day School on January 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For Anna Winters and her teammates on the Princeton High girls’ basketball team, their 45-38 loss to Robbinsville last Thursday proved to be a microcosm of a tough week.

After enjoying a smooth ride in starting 8-2 this season, PHS hit some bumps in the road, falling 52-43 to Notre Dame on January 14 and 52-47 to Monroe last Saturday in addition to the setback to the Ravens.

“I think we came into this game with the wrong mindset that we were going to win,” said junior guard Winters after the loss to Robbinsville which saw PHS jump out to a 13-8 first quarter lead only to get outscored 13-3 in the second. “We also went into that mindset with Notre Dame. We really need to just play as a team, we were all playing individually. It was just messing us up overall.”

In the defeat to Robbinsville, PHS trailed 38-25 heading into the third quarter but trimmed the Ravens’ lead to 40-37 in the waning moments of the game.

“We were just trying to move the ball and set screens for people,” said Winters, who ended up with a team-high 13 points in the loss. “Also our boxing out was rough. We did get it down to three. We had a good comeback at one point.”

In winning eight of their first 10 games this winter, the Tigers were clicking as a unit.

“We started out really well,” said Winters. “We started out playing together playing as a team. We just need to work together more, I think we will get there.”

Winters has worked hard to hone her game. “My confidence level has gone up, my shooting has gotten better,” said Winters, who is averaging 15.2 points a game this season, up from 13.8 last winter. “I played with Team Elevation in AAU over the spring. That was really fun and good. I worked on my ballhandling as well.”

PHS head coach Joe Smiegocki acknowledged that Robbinsville outworked his squad for much of the contest.

“They wanted it more than we did today, they outhustled us,” said Smiegocki. “When we made our run at the beginning of the third quarter and they got 10 offensive rebounds. We just can’t let that happen. We have to go back to the drawing board. We have to make some adjustments offensively.”

While Smiegocki was proud of the way his team rallied in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late.

“That was good but we have to start like that from the beginning,” said Smiegocki. “We can’t wait until five minutes left in the game down by 15 points to make something happen.”

In reflecting on the defeat, Smiegocki is hoping it will be a wake-up call for his squad.

“They are all trying their best, we are all making mistakes as a group,” said Smiegocki. “Hopefully they are disappointed and not happy with their effort except for the last three or four minutes. Hopefully we do get better from that. Coming into this week, I knew it was a tough week. We have to come out ready to play every single day. We came out ready today but in the second quarter we were just taking three after three after three. I am not saying they were bad shots but we probably could have gotten a better shot.”

In the view of Winters, the Tigers need to bring intensity every minute they are on the court.

“We need to be hungrier,” said Winters. “We came into the locker room and we just had our heads down. We didn’t want it enough, we could have won.”