(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: CLOSING STATEMENT: Hun School girls’ basketball senior star Emily Gratch looks to pass in a game earlier this season. Last Wednesday, Gratch concluded her stellar Hun career with 20 points but it wasn’t enough as the Raiders fell 54-40 to Peddie in the state Prep A title game. The Lehigh-bound Gratch scored more than 1,550 points in her Hun career, making her the program’s second all-time scorer behind Courtney Tierney.

Hun Girls’ Hoops Succumbs to Peddie Curse as Raiders Fall in Prep A Championship Game

Bill Alden

Bill Holup thought that last Wednesday’s state Prep A title contest might be the game where his Hun School girls’ basketball team could finally topple powerful Peddie.

Three days earlier, the teams met in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) final and were deadlocked 17-17 at the half. After intermission, Peddie caught fire from the outside, hitting six three-pointers in the second half as it pulled away to a 55-43 win.

Longtime Hun head coach Holup drew confidence from that setback. “We didn’t think Peddie could shoot that well again,” said Holup.

“We thought we could cut down on our turnovers. We had 24; some of that was due to Peddie’s defense and some was due to our bad decisions.”

Apparently, much of the Hun community shared Holup’s confidence as the school brought a large throng of fans to root for the Raiders.

Unfortunately, Hun picked up where it had left off in the second half last Sunday. Plagued by miserable shooting, Hun fell behind 22-7 at the half with only two field goals to its credit.

Hun fought back in the second half but the Falcons held on for a 54-40 victory and their 12th consecutive Prep A crown.

In reflecting on the loss, Holup surmised that Hun’s rooting section may have actually worked against his team.

“I think we were very nervous,” said Holup, who got 20 points from senior star Emily Gratch as his team finished with a final record of 19-8.

“We had a huge contingent of fans on hand to support us and I think that made us tight. We made it much more respectable in the second half. We were looser; they didn’t care how they looked.”

Holup certainly has cared a lot about his quartet of seniors — Gratch, Morgan Cawley, Bridget Stinson, and Melissa Marino — who did so much for the program even as they failed in their quest to knock off Peddie.

“There were a lot of tears in the locker room after the game, including some from me,” said Holup, whose team has lost to Peddie in the last four Prep A title games.

“It was not just disappointment that we lost but because this was our last game with these seniors.”

On the court, the senior class has solidified Hun’s standing as one of the elite programs in the state.

“This was the first season in their careers that we didn’t win 20 games,” said Holup, whose seniors went 84-24 overall but 0-12 against Peddie.

“Even though we won only 19 games, we beat some powerful teams like Immaculate Heart, Hunterdon Central, Bishop Eustace, and Bishop Ahr. We won 12 games in a row after losing five in a row. I know that many these days measure success by winning championships so the seniors could feel shortchanged but they have done so many positive things. They have worked hard and shown that they are competitive with anyone in the state.”

But the seniors may have had a deeper influence on the program by the way they handled themselves off the court.

“They are not just talented basketball players, they are tremendous people,” asserted Holup. “The rest of us are better people for having gotten to know them.”

Hun’s returning players should benefit from the on and off court legacy left by the program’s Class of 2008.

“They have seen what the seniors have done and how important the team was to them,” added Holup.

“The younger players see that you need to rely on each other. We have to be a tight-knit team so that when things go wrong, we stick together. They realize that the team is family.”

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