WINTER WONDER: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Anna Winters, right, drives to the basket in a game last season. Junior star and top returning scorer Winters figures to be a go-to player again for the Tigers with her inside-out game. PHS, which is being guided by new head coach Joe Smiegocki, will be tipping off its 2024-25 season this week by playing at Hightstown on December 17 before hosting WW/P-South on December 19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden, a key tenet underlying the program’s success as he guided it to 10 NCAA titles in 12 years was the belief that failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

As Joe Smiegocki takes the helm of the Princeton High girls’ basketball team this winter, he is emphasizing that principle.

“Our definition of success is we go into every game the best prepared possible to give us the best chance of being successful,” said Smiegocki, the successor to Dave Kosa who guided PHS to a 15-9 record last winter. “Everybody puts it on wins and losses. There are going to be some games no matter how good we play that the other team might be better than us. We will be prepared, that gives us the best chance. That is our goal.”

Smiegocki, a 1976 graduate of McCorristin High, boasts an extensive coaching resume on the local hoops scene. He has coached at McCorristin, Notre Dame, Nottingham, and The College of New Jersey. He is a member of the Mercer County Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition, he worked as the marketing director at Babe Ruth International for 27 years.
He learned the value of preparation from his stints assisting Mika Ryan at TCNJ and John Simone at Notre Dame.

“Mika was always prepared and just making sure that we always reached our full potential as a player and an individual,” said Smiegocki. “John always showed me how to be well-prepared for games and practices. He was so detail-oriented at practice, there was a special reason why he did everything.”

Following in the footsteps of Ryan and Simone, Smiegocki is looking to influence his PHS players on a daily basis.

“My approach is to do what is going to make them happy,” said Smiegocki, whose squad is getting its 2024-25 season underway this week by playing at Hightstown on December 17 before hosting WW/P-South on December 19. “My goal is that when you leave practice at the end of the day, you got better as an individual and we got better as a team and you can’t wait to come back to practice tomorrow. That has been my goal with them. The other thing I have always told them is that I don’t live and die by five players, we will use eight or nine.”

Smiegocki likes the progress he has seen from his players in the preseason.

“With our two scrimmages, I was extremely happy with how we played defense; we are farther advanced than I expected,” said Smiegocki. “Offensively we are still learning. I try to allow the players to react for themselves and think for themselves. I don’t want to sit there and diagram every play. I always say it is a jigsaw puzzle, you want to put yourself where there is not a piece or someone there. That is what we are trying to teach them — to react to the situation and adjust to the situation.”

PHS features some good players at guard with a trio of juniors, Sephora Romain, Anna Winters, the team’s leading scorer last season with 332 points, and Leah Bornstein.

“They will her the three people that play predominantly in the backcourt,” said Smiegocki, noting that junior Gracie DePrince and freshman Angela Cao will also see time in the backcourt.

“Anna has been working extremely hard like everyone else, I can see the improvement on a daily basis. I am hoping that she has a great year for us. She does have a nice shot but she is more effective driving to the basket. Sephora is very aggressive. She has a wide wingspan, her speed and agility are very good. She can go to the basket, her shot is improving also. I would be surprised if Sephora doesn’t have the biggest jump this season. Leah is working hard offensively. In the scrimmages she played phenomenal defense.”

Senior Luna Bar-Cohen and junior Quinn Gallagher have been working hard in the paint.

“Luna and Quinn Gallagher will be my centers, they will be my two big people,” said Smiegocki. “They have both done a phenomenal job helping out, allowing the guards and forwards to be a little more aggressive. They are doing a great job with help defense.”

At forward, junior Katie Sharkey, sophomore Chloe Hunt, senior Giana Grippo and junior Zoie Reynolds will all be in the mix. Smiegocki is looking for sharp-shooting Sharkey to lead that unit.

“Katie has a very good shot,” said Smiegocki. “In our scrimmages, she played good defense, she passed the ball well, and rebounded.”

In Smiegocki’s view, the team’s good offensive balance should be an asset.

“I think the biggest thing that is going to help us is that we are not going to rely on one person,” said Smiegocki. “I think between Sephora, Anna, and Katie, they will probably do the brunt of our scoring. However if one of them is sick or having an off game or in foul trouble, I really feel comfortable and confident that the other players can pick up from where they are missing.”

If the PHS players develop a comfort level as they pick up Smiegocki’s approach, they should be able to build on last season’s success.

“Our biggest goal will be to jell as a team and let everybody understand their roles,” said Smiegocki. “If they can do that, we will run up and down the floor, take advantage of our speed and then take advantage of our depth. A lot of teams are going to live or die on five or six players. We are going to live or die by nine or 10 players. One of other goals for all of us is that we are not looking for a one and done, we are looking to build a program.”