By Bernard W. Carr
With a victory in their first game of the girls’ basketball year, the Woodbridge Lady Raiders are tied for the most wins they had all of last season. Woodbridge last won a game on Thursday, Feb. 6, against the Lake Forest Spartans, 42-15. Head Coach Nicole Kenefick was in her first year when the young Raider squad finished with a record of 1-19.
“Last year I felt like we were definitely developing. We were in a full developmental phase. I love the game, and I love the girls, but, I knew last year was going to be an adjustment for them learning our expectations, along with the coaching staff learning the girls,” Kenefick said, “This year, we have a lot of returning players, and only two seniors and our players have some strong leadership skills. We’ve built more of a family team where everybody understands what’s expected and what we’re going to do moving forward. I feel like the girls have bought in to what we’re teaching, and I believe this season will get off to a good start.”
On Thursday evening, Kenefick’s belief in her team came to fruition as the Raiders defeated the McKean Highlanders, 39-22. The team consist of only two seniors, guard Jaida Plummer, and center Crystal Carneiro. Carneiro started her senior year by scoring the first bucket of the season with a jumper from the foul line at the 6:25 mark, giving Woodbridge an early 2-0 lead. First game jitters were apparent as the fast-paced first quarter was filled with missed shots and turnovers by both teams. The quarter ended with the Raiders leading 9-4, after senior guard Plummer made two free-throws.
Plummer then hit a short jumper to start the second quarter and Woodbridge led, 11-4. At the 3:00 mark, Carneiro, made her second field goal, and the Raiders entered half-time with a 17-12 lead.
In the third quarter, the Raiders increased the defensive pressure, causing numerous turnovers by McKean.
Coach Kenefick stated, “We changed the defense we were playing, so we got ourselves in a better position to not have to rotate as we were before.”
The new defense instituted allowed McKean to score only five points in the quarter, one three-pointer, and two foul shots. At the 5:20 mark, long distance shooter Plummer hit her first three-pointer of the season, and the Raiders led by 10 points, 22-12. Woodbridge maintained the 10 point lead at the end of the third quarter, 27-17.
In the fourth quarter, once again the Raiders locked in on defense, and only allowed McKean to score five points. Danielle Fletcher scored two points at the 1:58 mark, which gave the Raiders their largest lead at the time at 33-21. Plummer finished the Woodbridge scoring with two free-throws.
The Raiders were led by Danielle Fletcher with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and eight steals; Crystal Carneiro scored eight points and retrieved 14 rebounds; and Jaida Plummer was the high scorer with 12 points, seven rebounds, and six steals.