The Dunellen High School Girls Varsity Basketball team started their 2017-2018 season on Dec. 16. Currently the record is 4-5, and even though the team is only 12 players, they are still fighting for victories. Their Opening game ended with Metuchen scoring 67 points and Dunellen scoring 64 points. But Coach Connery did not see this game as a complete lost. Connery said “The team shattered my expectations and did great.” The second game of the season ended with Dunellen scoring 64 points and Seton Hall scoring 37.
There is only one senior this year on the team, Alison McGrath. She has been on the team since her freshman year and has greatly contributed to winning games. McGrath says “ We haven’t come out as strong as I know we are capable of thus far in the season, but we will bounce back. There are games we are expected to win, and are not expected to win. But I think if we get in the gym and work harder, stronger, and faster than the teams we aren’t supposed to beat, we will come out on the winning end.”
The juniors this year are Gabby Coore, Jennifer Castro and Erika Orellana. The sophomores are Erin Barnett and Alexis Coore. The freshmen are Salma Abouelkheir, Chloe Cassidy, Meghan Green, Isabel Parcells, and Emily Thieu. Coach Connery made sure to mention the girls’ dedication to the sport. He said “the girls work really hard. They get up at 7 a.m. on weekdays to shoot fouls and get up at 8 a.m. to practice during breaks.”
The team recently moved to the Blue division which is against tougher schools. The team will regularly play against Middlesex, Metuchen, Highland Park, South River, Spotswood, Carteret, and Mother Seton. This list does not include schools that the team will play against that are not in the blue division. This is the team’s second season in the division. Last year, the team ended their season with a 17-11 record overall and 6-8 in division. It is still too early to tell if the team can win the division this year but the main focus is to try to beat the top four teams in the division, which will create an opportunity to win the division title. There is still 16 games left in the season, both home and away. McGrath is not worried with the pressure of trying to win the division. McGrath said that “with the combination of fresh legs and returning players, we are going to have a successful season.”