(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) RILED UP: Princeton High girls’ basketball sophomore guard Meg Reilly controls the ball in a game earlier this season. Last week, Reilly poured in 17 points but it wasn’t enough as PHS fell 49-40 to Allentown. PHS, now 0-13, plays at Robbinsville on January 25 and at Hamilton on January 29.

Reilly Setting an Example of Intensity as PHS Girls’ Hoops Shows No Quit

Bill Alden

Meg Reilly and her teammates on the Princeton High girls’ basketball team knew they were in for a tongue-lashing last week as visiting Allentown rolled to an early lead.

Coming into the January 15 contest with a 0-10 record, PHS didn’t score a point in the first quarter and trailed 21-0 with 4:49 left in the half.

At that point, PHS head coach Steffanie Shoop called a timeout and read her team the riot act.

“She told us that we weren’t playing up to our potential,” recalled Reilly. “She said that if we put our hearts into it, we can do anything. We got a lot of inspiration from our coach.”

With Reilly heating up from the outside, PHS ended the half with a 10-5 run to get back into the game. In the second half, the Little Tigers outscored Allentown 30-23, closing the gap to seven at one point before succumbing 49-40.

“We all brought out our fighting instinct,” said Reilly. “The coach had to pull it out of us; we had it in us the whole time.”

The team also picked up its offensive execution in pulling back into the game.

“Offensively, we just put up our heads more; looking all around the court instead of just taking the first shot,” said Reilly.

“A lot of the time in the first half we would get the ball and the instinct was to shoot. We were finally looking around and playing better as a team. We were playing with more patience; we were making a lot of switch passes to the other side of the court.”

Reilly, for her part, credited her teammates with helping get her good looks from the outside.

“My whole team was getting me psyched up,” said Reilly. “They were helping me out a lot and I just got into a groove.”

With a year of high school experience under her belt, Reilly is in a better groove overall this season.

“From freshman year to sophomore year, the biggest thing I’ve improved on is confidence,” asserted Reilly, who is averaging 5.7 points a game.

“I feel like I have to lead more, especially with all of the freshmen. It’s a very young team and we have to set an example for everybody.”

PHS head coach Shoop likes the example being set by Reilly. “Megan has improved by leaps and bounds,” said Shoop, whose team fell to 0-13 with a 62-16 loss last Friday at WW/P-N.

“She’s been working really hard at practice. I know that she is banged up all over the place, her knee hurts, her back hurts, her ankle hurts. She’s got no quit; I call her my little bull.”

Shoop sees no quit in any of her players. “They might not play NBA-style basketball but they will give it their everything,” said Shoop.

“It wasn’t enough tonight but eventually when you keep giving your all and keep improving, they are going to see that it’s going to keep getting better.”

PHS certainly showed improvement offensively in the Allentown loss.

“We went from 18 turnovers in the first half to seven,” said Shoop.

“We started taking care of the ball a lot better. Our passes were more precise; we started looking for offensive shots instead of looking for everyone to bail us out.”

Even though PHS hasn’t picked up a win yet, Shoop is proud of how her players have kept their heads up.

“They are not discouraged; they don’t have time to be discouraged,” added Shoop. “You don’t get better by hanging your head, you get better by learning and right now we are in a steep learning curve.”

Shoop believes her team has gotten better in many areas as the season has gone on.

“They are better in terms of focus; they have gotten better in terms of their aggression level,” said Shoop, whose club plays at Robbinsville on January 25 and at Hamilton on January 29.

“They have gotten better in terms of communication; they have gotten better in terms of passing. It’s just putting it all together right now that’s the challenge.”

Reilly is confident that the team will put things together over the long term.

“I’m very excited for the future, we are laying a foundation,” said Reilly.

“Our coach is going to help us with that. Our juniors are going to be outstanding leaders as seniors. This is a building year. In one or two years, we are going to be really strong.”

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