The John P. Stevens High School girls’ basketball team is prepared to take the next step this season.
The Hawks finished 9-14 and were eliminated in the first round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state sectional tournament to Bayonne High School, 46-41, last season.
Coach Amy Field has expectations for her Hawks this season.
“I’m hoping to improve on our record from last year,” she said. “I want to go further in the county tournament. We lost in the first round last year. We just want to improve as a team overall. We’re a young team, so we need to build chemistry and learn to work together.”
Field knows her team will need to work on perfecting a few things before it can be considered champions.
“We have to play together,” the coach said. “We need to talk. We need to play both sides of the floor. If we can do that, we can compete with anybody.”
Field expects big things from her starters, but she feels she can have a team full of wild cards.
“Megan Duffy is a sophomore that was out for us last year with a knee injury,” Field said. “Disha Prabhudesai is my little point guard who is really good. My whole starting five, I’m expecting big things from. We have a transfer from Newark, Kiarah Turner, so I’m hoping she’ll do some things or us. She’s fast and can help get some rebounds down low for us. We’re not a big team, so we need to use our speed to get to rebounds. I’m hoping a couple of kids will shock me this year and break out.”
Other notable Falcons include freshman McKayla Duffy, junior Karina Melgar and senior Christina Rusk.
The Hawks started the season 1-2 with a 63-46 victory over Monroe Township High School on Dec. 15, a 50-36 loss to East Brunswick High School on Dec. 19 and another loss, 67-44, to South Brunswick High School on Dec. 21.
