By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Jan. 24: Don’t look now, but one of the hottest girls basketball teams in the Colonial Valley Conference is wearing Blue & White and is glowing like its nickname.
Yes, it’s those Nottingham Northstars, who won their fifth straight Tuesday night with a 68-26 victory over visiting Lawrence. It’s the longest winning streak in coach Lauren Kelly’s six years at the helm, and the longest since the 2009-10 team won eight straight.
The binge comes on the heels of a three-game losing streak that occurred after Nottingham won the J. Michael Tucker holiday tournament in Bordentown.
“We started off with two trophies, at the TCA Showcase and Bordentown, and I think they thought they were somebody,” Kelly said. “I told them ‘You have to earn it to be somebody.’
“And while it was great to win the Christmas Tournament and definitely a confidence boost and a nice accolade for the season, we had a lot of season left. We learned that quickly after the Christmas Tournament. It’s been all uphill after that.”
Nottingham (8-6) also learned a lesson before the Tucker tournament, and that is to not take teams lightly. The Northstars dropped a close one to a Princeton team that had won four games coming into Tuesday’s action.
There would be no such letdown against winless Lawrence. With the score 11-6, Nottingham went on a 28-3 run to open a 39-9 halftime lead and never looked back. Tyasia Stephenson had 17 points and seven rebounds while Haylee Kieffer added 13 points and 12 boards. Sara Haas had 10 off the bench, Giuliana Pocino chipped in with eight and Madison Diaz had seven. A total of nine Northstars scored.
That kind of balance has been one of the keys to Nottingham’s run.
“Haley and Ty are stepping up and it goes further than the scoring,” Kelly said. “They grab rebounds and they put the ball in the basket. But it’s been all-around as a team. The under-the-radar girls who don’t get a lot of points are also helping.
“Liz Kerekes has been stepping up defensively, Maddy Diaz has been playing consistent, Sara Haas works hard, she’s stepping up. Quay (Tyquazya) Davis and Giuliana are also in the seven-girl rotation all the time. It’s nice to have a couple girls on the bench that continue to bring the same level of play when you make a substitution. They’re competitive and a lot of little things are coming together.”
One of the biggest things that has occurred, is Nottingham’s readiness to compete. It lost winnable games to Princeton, Hopewell and Stuart Country Day, but is now focusing on the task at hand and not looking past any team. They are also winning the close ones in the winning streak, beating Steinert by three and Trenton by one.
“We talked about being a winner and being a loser and it has nothing to do with the outcome of the game,” said Kelly, who played like a winner throughout her soccer and basketball career at Nottingham. “It’s more with how we carry ourselves and how we play the game. Winners come out ready to win and expecting to win every single game.
“That’s been the attitude and mentality change in these girls. I think they got a taste of it and it feels good. We’re hoping to keep it going.”
Bing powers Steinert
Jayda Bing collected 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead Steinert to a 57-17 win over Hamilton. Natalie Mehl added 11 points (with three 3-pointers) and Erika Golik had 10 for the Spartans (9-5), while Tatiana Dorner had three assists and five steals.
Marissa Cooper had nine points and eight rebounds for the Hornets.
