The Allentown High School girls’ basketball team is looking to push further this year under head coach Linda Weise.
The Redbirds finished 21-6 and advanced to the semifinals of the Central Jersey, Group 3 state sectional tournament, where they lost to Neptune High School, 69-61, last winter.
Weise believes the team can make huge strides this year, despite missing a key piece due to graduation.
“We have everybody back except for Sarina Campanella,” the coach said. “That’s a big loss for us. She was our senior shooting guard last year. But besides that, we have everybody back in terms of our starters, so we want to get back to where we were last year. We want to get to the finals of the county tournament and the finals of the Group 3 [tournament].”
Weise hopes her veteran team will be able to use last year’s experience to help it become even better this year.
“We’ve got to work hard every day,” she said. “We got to take it one day at a time. Hopefully, the experience that we’ve had in the last three years with this group will guide us to get back to where we were.”
Even though the Redbirds lost Campanella, Weise is thrilled with the players who have returned, as well as a newcomer.
“We have all four of our seniors back: Hadley Borkowski, Katie White, Ryan Weise and Marin Hartshorn,” the coach said. “I expect a lot of big things from them as leaders out there on the floor. Lauren Coiante is our junior point guard/shooting guard. We’re going to expect her to be able to do a little bit of both this year. And then we have a freshman who’s going to play a decent amount of time in Maddie McCrea. We have another junior in Giovanna Carotenuto who will come off the bench for us in the guards position.
“So we have a solid core that will lead us and like I said, we have a bunch of seniors that will lead us.”
Hartshorn and Borkowski have high expectations for the year, but they admitted that they are anxious to see how the team will play together this year.
“I’m really excited because all the girls on the court really like each other this year,” Hartshorn said. “Our bonding time has been great, and the vibes on the court have been awesome. We’re all just really excited to see how the season starts.”
“I’m excited to see how we compete after losing a major senior last year,” Borkowski said. “I just want to see how we flow on the court, and I’m anxious to see how it all works out.”
The players believe that once everyone defines their roles, the team will be hard to beat.
Hartshorn also raved about McCrea’s potential.
“We’re really going to have to move the ball, share the ball and really just stay connected on the court,” Hartshorn said. “Mostly have our bench get deep, figure out everyone’s position and know everyone on the court. We have a huge freshman coming in in Maddie McCrea. She’s incredible. She’s going to fit in really well on the court this year.”
“I think that we all need to work together really well,” Borkowski said. “Just know our positions, know what we must do to win and trust each other on the court.”
The Redbirds opened up their season at home with a 54-30 victory against Nottingham High School on Dec. 15. Weise and White scored in the double digits with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Borkowski led Allentown with nine rebounds, while Weise had six assists and six steals.
The Redbirds remain at home to host Lawrence High School on Dec. 21 at 5:30 p.m.
