Both the girls and the boys basketball teams are closing out their 2022-2023 seasons towards the end of February.
First the boys team, which was led by both seniors and juniors. Juniors Connor Laverty and Gabe Morales led the scoring book, both over 250 points on the season. Senior Taejin Beckerman hit __ three pointers. The boys started off strong at 7-3, looking to win the division championship. They defeated Del Val at their house, 64-62, which seemed to be the start of a run for this championship. The team would go on to lose some close games, but went on to win a big game in the first round of the County Tournament.
They defeated the higher seeded Somerville, 66-51, having control of the whole game. Junior Gabe Morales went off for 24 points, with 4 three pointers. Junior Will Frank tallied 14 points and Senior Hayden Byrne played crucial defense against Somerville’s point guard. The team would sadly lose to Franklin in the second round, but play Hackettstown in the first round of the NJSIAA Tournament on Feb. 21, which they won 52-49. Junior Ryan Gaglione led the way off the bench scoring 19 points, with 5 three pointers. Gaglione shared that “[his] teammates and coaches helped me stay confident in myself to have a great game”. Connor Laverty also had a great game, with 14 points. The boys would lose in the second round to Newark West Side, 69-46.
The girls basketball team showed great improvement this season, led by Freshman Aletha Reynolds and Senior Maggie Dolan. Both girls scored over 200 points, which helped the team to a 7-1 divisional record. The team heated up during the middle of the season winning 6 in a row and 10 of 13 games. They won a back and forth divisional game against South Hunterdon on Jan. 17 by a tight 4 points, where Freshman Aletha Reybolds had a double double (21 points and 11 rebounds).
The girls faced off against Dayton in the first round of the NJSIAA Tournament, but would go on to lose 54-46 in another tightly contested game. Senior Sydney Incarnato scored 17 points and had 5 rebounds. Incarnato shared the season was “a great year of growth for [the team], continuing to progress each day, and [they] ended [their] season playing good basketball.”
The girls finish the season with a solid record of 15-8 and 9-2 in Skyland play. The boys finished at 11-16 and 5-3 in the Skyland-Mountain division.
