Ewing’s Lowe is our CVC Player of the Year
Colonial Valley Conference girls’ basketball teams saw improvement all around in the 2018-19 season as seen most directly when 11 of the league’s 14 teams played in the NJSIAA Tournament this winter.
Eight CVC squads finished with 13 or more wins, plus .500 or better records.
Things are looking up for Mercer County’s biggest high school contingent, and it’s because of the improved talent from team to team.
Leading the list was a senior class which had four players surpass 1,000 points and two others finish with over 900 career points.
It made for some tough competition and fine leadership, setting the standard for the future.
Here is a look at some of the CVC’s best from 2018-19: ERIKA PORTER NOTRE DAME
As one of the league’s most dominant interior players this season, this 6-foot-2 junior forward set the stage for colleges to come courting.
Porter grabbed 264 rebounds this season to go with the 18.1 points per game and 44 blocked shots she provided the Irish.
Porter, who just narrowly missed scoring her 1,000th career point this season, gave defenses fits to help head coach James Martinos’
Position
Forward Erika Porter Notre Dame Jr. Forward CatherineDyevich Princeton Sr. Guard MyAsia Jackson Ewing Sr. Guard N’Dia Stepps Trenton Sr. Guard Jordan Brown WW-PN Sr. Guard Jaycee Lowe Ewing Sr.
Position
Forward Forward Forward Guard Guard Guard
Position Player Player School
Ishuana Hunter Trenton Meggy Wiley Hopewell Erin Devine Princeton Natalie Mehl Steinert Leah Johnson Notre Dame Lauren Coiante Allentown
Player School School
Forward Katee Kemether Hopewell Sr. Forward Maddie McCrea Allentown So. Forward Sara Haas Nottingham Sr. Guard Gabbie Fonollosa Hamilton Jr. Guard Jayda Bing Steinert Sr. Guard Maliajah Robinson Trenton Sr. Guard Anvi Agarwal WW-PS Sr. Giovanna Carotenuto, Sophia Conti, Isabella Dona (Allentown); Jentle Sheridan, Aaliyah Lewis, Tamia Warner (Ewing); Ariana Venceller, Cierra Acevedo (Hamilton); Vicki Velez, Raya Mount, Alexea Russo (Hightstown); Franki Gomez, Ally Oldfield (Hopewell Valley); Sadena Rishindran, Briana Audet, Khalin Hemingway (Lawrence); Natalie Smith, Amy Jones, Nicole Villalta-Barrantes (Notre Dame); Ivonne Vasquez, Patricia Penix, Nydia Liles (Nottingham); Shaylah Marciano, Anna Intartaglia, Olivia Intartaglia (Princeton); Vanessa Sabol, Maya Johnson, Allison Neumann, Kailey Pacifico (Robbinsville); Leila Collazo, Crysten Wood, Nicole Pappas (Steinert); Shaneka Poole (Trenton); Maddie Russell, Nadia Elhossieni (WW-P North); Emma Gartenberg, Meghana Tera, Varsha Balaji (WW-P South). Jaycee Lowe (Ewing) Dave Kosa (Princeton)
Year Year
Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr.
Year
squad go 18-9 this winter.
CATHERINE DYEVICH PRINCETON
This 5-11 senior forward was at the heart of a group of seniors who wanted to show how much they had improved this season.
Dyevich, who is headed to Cornell to pursue crew, led head coach Dave Kosa’s team with 13.5 ppg, 26 3-point field goals, 258 rebounds and 29 blocks.
She and her classmates spurred the Tigers on to one of their best seasons ever, going 18-8 and reaching the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals. MYASIA JACKSON
EWING
This 5-8 senior guard/ forward with a nose for the basket helped head coach Mike Reynolds’ team win the CVC’s revamped Valley Division this year despite the fact that the Blue Devils had a limited, and often injured, bench.
Jackson’s 17.8 ppg, 53 3-pointers and 122 rebounds may have been second on the team, but her 74 assists and 42 steals led the way to help Ewing go 17-8 overall and 12-1 in the CVC. N’DIA STEPPS
TRENTON
This 5-7 senior guard was the driving force behind first-year head coach Marlene Neal’s Tornadoes.
Stepps led the team in scoring (18.7 ppg), assists (80) and blocked shots (32), while helping up-and-coming junior forward Ishuana Hunter by grabbing 188 rebounds and 106 steals, both of which numbers were second-best for 16-10 Trenton. JORDAN BROWN WW-P NORTH
Since her freshman year, Brown has shined for the Northern Knights and her final year with the program was no different.
The 5-9 guard/forward was tough to contain, scoring at a 20.2-ppg clip this winter to finish with 1,237 career points and help second-year head coach Frank Moore’s squad finish 13-13. JAYCEE LOWE
EWING
It’s not easy when you follow in the footsteps of an older brother who scored 2,446 points, but Jaycee Lowe made it look that way.
Like Trey before her, this 5-7 senior guard lit up Emil Wandishin Gymnasium as a senior, scoring a CVC-best, 21.7 ppg with 55 3-pointers.
She and West WindsorPlainsboro North’s Jordan Brown were the only local players to score over 500 points this season with Lowe pouring in 543 to finish her career with 1,425.
The ease with which she did so, even though everyone knew she was the player they had to stop, earned Lowe The Trentonian’s CVC Player of the Year honor. DAVE KOSA PRINCETON
When former Tigers boys’ coach Kosa moved over to the girls’ side two years ago, he knew he had a talented group with which to work.
Getting them to buy into his buckle-down defense and deliberate offense may have been a tough sell at first, but they made him proud this season when Princeton led the area by holding teams to 36.3 ppg.
How important was that? The Tigers only scored an average of 6.6 ppg more than they allowed, yet they went on to have one of the most successful seasons in school history, finishing 18-8 and reaching the sectional semifinal round of the NJSIAA CJ IV Tourney.
In two seasons, Kosa’s girls have won 32 games. He is The Trentonian’s CVC Coach of the Year.