LIFE OF RILEY: Princeton High girls’basketball player Riley Devlin dribbles past a WW/P-North player last week as the teams met in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament. Sophomore guard Devlin scored a game-high 16 points as eighth-seeded PHS defeated ninth-seeded WW/P-North 41-30. The Tigers, who fell 68-28 to top-seeded Ewing in the MCT quarterfinals last Friday in moving to 9-9, are starting play in the state tournament next week. PHS is seeded 13th in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional and is slated to play at fourth-seeded Middletown South in a first round contest on February 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Last winter, Riley Devlin soaked in some valuable lessons in her freshman season with the Princeton High girls’ basketball team.

“Brynne [Hennessy] was a really good shooter last year,” said Devlin of the squad’s lone senior last season. “She really helped me and guided me.”

Over the last few weeks, sophomore guard Devlin has been applying those lessons, emerging as a scoring threat for the Tigers.

“I think I have found my shot,” said Devlin. “I am just gaining confidence in the team that they can kick it to me and let me shoot that and I will make it. It is the same for them. I can penetrate and kick it to them and I believe they will make it too.”

Last Wednesday, Devlin hit a lot of shots, scoring a game-high 16 points as eighth-seeded PHS defeated ninth-seeded WW/P-North 41-30 in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament.

With the Tigers having previously defeated the Northern Knights 45-23 on January 4 in a regular season contest, Devlin and her teammates were fired up for the rematch in the MCT.

“We were super excited, we were super hyped for the game,” said Devlin. “Coming in, we had a clear mind. We didn’t let anything get to us. In the hallway we were just talking about playing hard and getting back on defense and playing as a team.”

While PHS got off to a sluggish start, clinging to an 18-16 lead at halftime, it broke things open with a 12-4 third quarter

“We weren’t really connecting,” said Devlin. “At the end, we came together as a team, we were moving the ball and we communicated. My teammates making their shots gave us fire and confidence.”

Another source of confidence for Devlin is her prowess in lacrosse.

“Both sports help me in their way,” said Devlin, who had 16 goals and three assists last spring in her freshman season for PHS. “Running back on the court can help me in lacrosse too.”

PHS head coach Dave Kosa credits Devlin with giving the Tiger offense a spark.

“Riley is a gamer, she is confident when shooting the basketball,” said Kosa. “She really worked hard on her shot over the summer time. You can see her confidence start to improve. When she is open, she wants the ball. That really gives us another option.”

Kosa acknowledged that WW/P-N gave the Tigers a hard time in the early stages of the MCT matchup.

“It is always fun to play at tournament time, I thought we came out a little flat today,” said Kosa, whose team fell 68-28 to top-seeded Ewing in the MCT quarterfinals last Friday in moving to 9-9.

“We talked about that (beating them before). We can talk about that all we want to but we just have got to go out and play and execute. West Windsor North hit a couple of shots and that gave them some confidence in the beginning.”

In the second half, PHS found a rhythm as it pulled away to the win.

“We were just standing around too much on offense, we were holding the ball too much, we weren’t cutting hard, and we weren’t getting to the right spots for whatever reason,” said Kosa.

“We talked about that. We hit spots in the second half and we moved the ball much more quickly.”

Junior guard Rachel Luo and senior forward Nora Devine helped get the Tigers going in the right direction as Luo scored 14 points while Devine chipped in seven points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots. 

“Rachel is not a natural point guard but we need somebody to handle the ball and she is our best option right now,” said Kosa.

“We are trying to do that more by committee to alleviate some of the pressure. She can play, she has really worked hard to get to this point, both offensively and defensively. Nora gets really good position down low. Defensively she controls the paint with blocked shots and some big rebounds. She has good instincts; that helps her get some put-backs and get some low post moves and really control the boards for us.”

With the Tigers heading to state tournament where they are seeded 13th in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional and slated to play at fourth-seeded Middletown South in a first-round contest on February 28, Kosa is looking for his squad to produce a really good effort.

“It is tournament time so we just want to continue to play well,” said Kosa. “We put some people in different spots when we had to adjust in the beginning of the season and they are starting to feel a lot more comfortable with each other. You always want to play your best ball at end of the season and it seems the last couple of years we have been doing that.”

Devlin, for her part, believes that PHS will play with intensity to the end. “We are going to fight hard and try our best,” said Devlin.