Trenton earns first home victory in two years
TRENTON » Everything is beginning to get better for the Trenton and West Windsor-Plainsboro High South varsity girls’ basketball teams.
The process has been slow, but the Tornadoes and Pirates showed how much better they are capable of playing when they met at the still-new Tornado Alley Tuesday.
Despite a late start, the home team got the job done for head coach Marlene Neal, who celebrated her birthday with a 37-26 win over WW-P South.
That marked the first time in two years Trenton had won on its home court since defeating the Pirates in an early Mercer County Tournament game, 74-41, back on Feb. 19, 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic changed all of our lives.
“I’m glad I took last year off, and I’m very happy to be back,” said Tornadoes junior guard/forward Saniya Spencer, who sat out the COVID-19 season of 2020-21.
Trenton (2-5) is equally happy to have her back after she turned in a game-high 11 points, 14 rebounds and five steals to help her squad hold off WW-P South (1-7).
But the Pirates had some good signs of their own as junior center Talia Black led her team with nine points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots.
“It’s on the way,” Black said of her club’s improved play. “We have some girls still coming back from quarantine, so we’re slowly getting into it. But we’re getting there. We’re improving each game.”
After staying as close as 7-5 in the first quarter, WW-P South saw the Tornadoes stretch their lead to 17-12 at intermission as Zoriana DeLacruz scored four of her six points.
Kyara Davis scored all six of her points in the second half to help Trenton increase its lead to 25-18 with 7:24 to go in the fourth quarter before the home team began to increase its margin.
“Our team chemistry’s getting better,” said Spencer, who had four points
and six rebounds in the final eight minutes to make sure her team locked down the victory. “We’ve been learning each other’s skills, and I’m learning how to be a leader.”
Both she and Black showed that most of all with more aid coming. Sophomore guard Ji’Asia Robinson added six second-half points and freshman guard Gabriella Smith supplied four in the fourth quarter for the Tornadoes.
Senior guard Lily Akman scored six points in her first game back for head
coach Bryan Fisher’s Pirates, and junior guard Emma Yanagi scored four in the second half to keep the visitors as close as five points until late.
WW-P SOUTH (26)
LAkman 3-0-6, Rubenstein 0-0-0, Gunderia 0-0-0, LatifEstefan 0-2-2, O’Shea 0-0-0, Black 4-1-9, Hsaio 0-2-2, Yanagi 2-0-4, Pande 0-0-0, Sorensen 1-1-3.
Totals — 10-6-26.
TRENTON (37)
Minor 0-0-0, Stockton 1-0-2, Spencer 2-7-11, KDavis 3-0-6, Ferguson 1-0-2, JRobinson 2-2-6, Shuman 0-0-0, Glanton 0-0-0, GSmith 1-2-4, DeLacruz 3-0-6. Totals — 13-11-37.
WW-P South (1-7) 5 7 4 10 — 26
Trenton (2-5) 7 10 6 14 — 37