ABBY ROAD: Stuart Country Day School basketball player Abby Chirik puts up a shot on recent action. Last Saturday, sophomore guard Chirik scored eight points in a losing cause as Stuart fell 49-25 to Bridgewater-Raritan. The Tartans, now 3-7, host Central Jersey College Prep on February 8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After the Stuart Country Day School basketball team fell 49-25 to Bridgewater-Raritan last Saturday, the squad headed to a classroom near the gym for an extended postgame debriefing.

Stuart head coach Tony Bowman gave his players a clear message as they assembled in the wake of the setback.

“The speech at the end was play harder, play together, play as a unit and everything will happen,” said Bowman, whose team dropped to 3-7 with the loss. “That is the only way we can do it.”

The Tartans played well in the early going against Bridgewater-Raritan, getting out to a 6-5 lead and trailing by just 10-7 after the first quarter. But things got away from the Tartans in the second quarter as they were outscored 19-6 and found themselves down 29-13 at halftime.

“It is the first time we started off a little stronger but we weren’t consistent,” said Bowman, whose team was hampered when sophomore star Taylor States got into foul trouble and had to sit out in  the second quarter. “It wasn’t consistent with running the plays. Bringing the ball up has been a problem throughout the season. Everybody puts pressure on and we have not overcome that.”

With States back on the court in the fourth quarter, Stuart outscored the Panthers 10-4 over the last eight minutes of the game.

“Taylor was playing so that makes a difference,” said Bowman of States who ended up with nine points, eight rebounds, and five blocked shots on the day. “I was telling her this, she needs to manage her fouls. Managing her fouls means a lot for us. She is our top scorer, she has to be on the floor. She is a great defender, she must have gotten five blocks in the fourth quarter.”

Bowman spent much of the game instructing his players on fundamentals, urging them to stop ball and stay in front of ball-handlers on defense, follow their shots on offense, and run to loose balls, among other things.

“I have got a lot of ninth graders and one junior so it is a relatively young team and a relatively inexperienced team,” said Bowman, who got eight points from sophomore guard Abby Chirik in the loss. “I am training more than I am coaching. You have to step back and teach them. I am teaching, I am not saying run a play.”

While Bowman was encouraged by what he saw in the fourth quarter, he wants his players to show intensity from the opening tip-off.

“It is getting more in synch and playing harder and being hungry all of the time,” said Bowman, whose squad hosts Central Jersey College Prep on February 8. “It is don’t wait until the fourth quarter to be hungry, our fourth quarter was the best quarter. You have do that in the first quarter, in the second quarter. I love the kids, I want them to work hard. I am getting effort but I have to push forward. We have to do better and we have to learn from each other.”