Latest / NorthJerseySports.com / The Ballgame! Catching up w/Old Tappan after Group 3 semifinals

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The Ballgame! Catching up w/Old Tappan after Group 3 semifinals · NorthJerseySports.com

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  Back on the ball game. North Jersey sports.com's
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  original multimedia series talking all things hoops across
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  North Jersey. I am Corey Doviak and this is a
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  special edition. A quick set up here.
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  Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Japan played in
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  the girls basketball Group 3 state semi final tonight at the
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  Dunn Center in Elizabeth. Looking at the.
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  Google Maps and the weather forecast.
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  I decided that it would be better to ride it out here from
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  the world headquarters of North Jersey sports.com.
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  So I was watching for the scores to come in.
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  I saw that Old Japan pulled out a 5851 victory over Chatham at
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  the Dunn Center, and that led to what comes next.
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  We caught up. With the head coach Brian Dunn
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  and some of the players including Sadie Murphy, Nina
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  Cornado, Sienna Drewlinski on the bus on their way back home
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  to the Northern Valley. So what follows is what we got
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  there. Here it is after Ultopan's 5851
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  victory over Chattel. We are joined now from the
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  Victory Bus on the way back. Well, a detour has been had, but
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  let's set this up here. Not too long after Northern
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  Valley Regional High School at Old Japan just won the Group 3
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  state semi finals and their head coach Brian Dunn kind enough to
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  join us here. Coach, thanks for joining us
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  here on THE ball game. Got it buddy.
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  Just rolling on the bus, all good.
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  Rolling on the bus now, where are you?
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  Well, we just crossed. We just went from Elizabeth to
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  Manhattan back into New Jersey again, and it wasn't Victory
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  Tour. It was just a mistake.
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  And, and I'm sad to say I've done that before, Coming this
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  way home, getting back to Ulta pin, never easy.
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  No, they up in the corner, you know, back to Dunville is never,
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  but they, they, they do that on purpose because they don't want
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  all the tourists riding around your house, you know, yes.
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  True. True crazy 5851 victory over
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  Chatham. Obviously I wasn't there, but
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  I'm catching up with you now and I see the box score a 10,
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  nothing start to the game, a 30 point first half.
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  I mean, that's a brilliant way to start the state semi final.
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  Yeah, came out and kids did a good job.
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  We shot the ball well very early on.
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  Nina Canado hit a bunch of big shots early and got the balls a
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  basket. So we got off and scored a bunch
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  early. They had a big second quarter
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  against us, which none of us were thrilled about.
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  But yeah, we just jumped out and we're able to hit some shots
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  and, and, and score the ball quick.
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  And so so I and then we're kind of like holding hold in that
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  lead most of the game. We got up to about 16, but they
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  cut it back down about four at the end.
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  But then we hit a bunch of foul shots, were able to seal it off.
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  When I talked to you after the Teaneck win in the North One
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  Group 3 state sectional final, you were saying, you know,
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  couple weeks ago you were at the crossroads.
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  Either get better or give me your uniforms.
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  It is turned, it is turned into something really crazy and you
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  being a glutton for punishment, you just want to play on the
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  last day of every season. Is that correct?
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  Well, yeah, you always. But in football you want to play
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  when it starts getting real cold, and in basketball you want
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  to play when it starts getting real warm, you know?
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  So you want to be 3, three, three seasons in the season,
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  within the season. That's yeah, that means you're
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  always doing some, right? No doubt, but just talk about
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  it. You know with with this team the
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  the improvement and you know you were good all season playing in
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  a tough league. You were going to get better
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  anyway. You know all that stuff,
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  coaching and development and yes, but you know in.
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  Coming. Out of that league and coming
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  out of that section, you had to get quickly where has been the
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  biggest improvement It it's you know, so now you're playing on
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  the last day of the season in the Group 3 state finals at
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  Rutgers. Yeah, I mean, from a, well,
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  straight up basketball standpoint, I mean, our guard
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  play just been taken. They've taken up a step next
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  level. Beginning of the year, we were
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  turning the ball over 20 * a game.
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  You know, we've cut that in half that number and it took a lot, a
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  lot of work to get there. So it's been our guard play.
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  Everybody likes to listen. When we were losing those games
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  and they were all tired, you're in it.
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  But every, every, I heard it. Everybody heard it.
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  You know, your guards aren't good enough, they're not
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  whatever and you know, not good enough to play these teams.
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  Everybody's extending you and away from the basket on offense
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  and and pressuring you. And so our kids, you know, like
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  they stepped up and able to handle all that crap and and get
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  better, improve and be able to take the experiences from the
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  early part of the season and recognize where they got to get
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  better, improve. So that's the the honest
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  assessment of the basketball part of it.
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  And then handling all the other stuff too with the, you know, I
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  was at Teaneck, it was a packed gym on the road.
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  You know, you won three straight Rd. games to win the sectional
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  title, all of them and pack gems against rivals and everything
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  else. So, you know, talk about that
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  aspect of it, too, is being able to handle not just the dribble,
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  pass and shoot, but the, wow, there's a lot of people in here.
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  Yeah. Well, everything that we kind of
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  try and plan out from the scheduling to who we play and
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  where we play them and everything else like be easy,
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  just play on the try and stack your schedule against home, home
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  games and everything else early on.
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  And you know, we only played, you know, up through our 20
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  something game, 24 games or whatever before the playoffs
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  started, I think we only had seven home games.
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  We purposely try and play in tough environments the whole way
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  through to create adverse conditions.
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  I mean, because the one thing we don't care about is like, not
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  that we don't care, but we lose a couple games in December,
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  January, like it ain't going to kill you, you know what I mean?
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  Like, so if you, as long as you learn from them and they take
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  something from it and the experience is worthwhile for
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  what you're doing it for. So, so the priority is like
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  making sure that we're game experience and getting the
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  right, the right conditions and prepared for those things.
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  So and plus we have 4 seniors so they've been through those games
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  before. You want to talk about just some
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  of the girls who were clutched tonight?
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  I mean, they've been doing it for you all season.
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  You have a tight rotation, so it's just familiar, familiar
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  cast of characters. But maybe some of the girls who
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  stayed talk about all. Yeah, I scrolled with just our
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  guard play. Like I said, not that they
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  played perfect. They screwed up, but they kept
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  battling the gym. You can't tell on the video, but
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  I'm watching. But the gym was like 90°.
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  It's brutally hot, Brutally hot. And kids were like, you know,
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  gas is hard. So our guards played
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  exceptionally well under the pressure and conditions.
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  And Sadie Murphy did a great job and, and sticking in there and
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  handling the ball for us at primary ball handler and keeping
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  us focused. And then Olivia Vetterina did
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  their standard great job on D and, and handling the ball and,
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  and making great passes and just being available for teammates
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  when things get tight and great inbounder.
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  And then Nina was Caneda was wiped out shooting the ball.
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  I don't know if you saw a box where she hit like 6 threes and
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  I think 5 in the first half. And just, yeah, that was was on
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  fire. And it's in a tough shooting,
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  Jim. And she was big for you against
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  Teaneck, too. She hit the one that got you
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  going, you know, so. Yeah, for sure.
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  Couple of big spots. No, Yep, there's no replacement
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  for experience in these big kind of games.
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  All right, so you're on the bus, You you have a captive audience.
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  You want to give me one or two of those guards and we can talk
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  about what it means for all the PAN here.
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  Yeah, hold on. Great, guys.
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  Hi, how are you? Katie?
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  Corey Dobiak here from North Jersey sports.com.
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  How was your detour into Manhattan?
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  It was good, actually. He turned around pretty fast
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  over the bridge. Congratulations on this win.
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  It was huge and you know, just talk about what it was like
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  here. I mean, you know, I I've, I do
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  the pictures for all the pan. So I've, you know, seen you
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  since you were a freshman on that freshman team growing up
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  into this now where you're a state sectional champion, a
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  state semi final winner and now moving on to play in the, you
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  know, the last game, the last game and the last day of the
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  season. There's got to be an
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  unbelievable feeling for a senior in high school
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  basketball. Yeah, it truly is, especially
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  with my 4 seniors that I'm playing with.
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  We've all started as freshmen. We were able to build something
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  all together starting from freshman year and working,
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  grinding and being pushed by Coach Dunn to really succeed and
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  put all the pieces together throughout the season.
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  We had some losses that hurt us, but we learned how to push
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  through and what to do better. And US guard stepping up to feed
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  the post and to take care of the ball because that was something
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  that we were missing just due to injury from our point guard from
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  last year. So being able to step in with
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  the seniors to learn what we need to do to put us in the best
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  position so our season doesn't end is really important.
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  And coach just said it was the guard play again tonight, you
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  being the primary ball handler there.
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  I mean, just talk about tonight's game.
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  You know, you've played so many teams that you're intimately
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  familiar with. You know, Demarest, the Teaneck,
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  you, you know, not that you didn't scout them, but you
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  didn't need to. You played them 100 times over
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  the last four years. Tonight you're going against
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  Chatham in the gym you've never been in.
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  Talk about that experience of it being different.
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  And then what worked well for you tonight to get off to attend
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  Nothing Lead? Yeah.
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  So just going out and understanding what type of
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  defense they were going to be playing and how they're going to
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  pressure the ball. Knowing how I need to attack the
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  guards that was guarding me. So if I need to know that I have
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  to attack it to the rim and dish or call in for a blocker to get
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  through the defense was important and a lot of to
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  succeed in the beginning. Sometimes just like
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  understanding their defense in that zone as a guard, I did make
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  one or two turnovers and I know I knew right from now, OK, now I
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  know what I need to fix so that I can help my team get the ball
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  up to start our offense because we all need to start it because
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  our defense is really good in the first quarter and was
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  leading to our offense in the second quarter.
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  Our defense wasn't really doing that and we had to step up.
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  So I knew that taking care of the balls in their press and
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  getting up through their man was really important.
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  How was it playing in that gym? It was different.
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  It's a big gym being from old pan, like our gym, like we have
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  our big and small crowds when it depends on what game it is.
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  So having a far game where fans are all of our Piers and stuff,
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  like aren't there, it was different.
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  But because it's such a big gym, so like all around you, the
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  environment's different. But playing on that court, it
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  was new and you have to learn how to adapt fast, because
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  fastball's all about adapting. And it's crazy how fast this is
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  all going. Now you're going to play an even
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  bigger gym in the last one. What does it mean to get the
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  chance, You know, and that late, Let's just go finish this thing,
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  right? Group A Group 3 state
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  championship game on the big floor at Rutgers University.
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  Know the the land grant big time university in New Jersey.
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  What a what an opportunity for you guys.
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  Just talk about what you have in front of you here.
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  I'm really excited. We really put so much work and
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  effort into getting to this point and we just have to go out
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  and finish it. We know what we have to do on
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  our end to succeed and if we do the same thing, if we do our
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  same key things that we always look to do successfully of
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  taking care of the ball, boxing out, playing great defense, and
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  those are our keys to success. So take home that state title.
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  Sadie, congratulations and I owe you a T-shirt.
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  OK. Would you?
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  You have the choice. I believe we have silver with
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  the pink letters, we have blue with white letters, and we have
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  Gray with white letters. Which would you like?
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  I think we do blue. To.
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  Match the MDOC colors. Yes, you got it.
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  So I owe you a blue T-shirt and I will give it to you the next
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  time I see you, which is probably going to be Sunday at
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  Rutgers. Who else is sitting around you
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  could pass the phone to? Sienna Zolensky or Nina Kanado
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  or. How about Sienna first and then
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  Nina? How about that?
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  Sienna, the Nina. OK, perfect.
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  I'm passing the Sienna now. Thank you.
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  Hello. Sienna, congratulations.
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  Thank you. So what a crazy senior year for
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  you. I mean, just go back to the
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  beginning of the season. Could you have imagined the way
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  this would have all played out? You know this run through the
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  playoffs and now moving on to the Group 3 state final.
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  No, I, I didn't expect it at all.
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  Sorry, my, my teammate's all here.
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  That's good. I know we worked really hard for
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  this and I think we really do deserve this and I think we're
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  just going to go for it all. Talk about tonight's game.
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  You got off to a A10 nothing lead against a good team and
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  you're able to put them on their heels a little bit.
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  That had to be, you know, part of the If it wasn't part of the
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  plan, you know, it worked out perfectly in your favor.
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  Can you repeat that? The fast start, you got to pend
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  nothing against a good team and you kind of put them on their
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  heels a little bit. How important was that?
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  Yeah, that was very important. Here's a lighter question for
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  you. What's?
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  Going on. What's going on in the bus over
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  there? What's the atmosphere?
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  We're very happy. We've got the pizza, Donuts
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  everywhere. Very happy.
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  It's my. Birthday So.
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  My God. Even more happy.
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  It's your birthday for real, I mean.
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  Yes. That's amazing.
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  All right, good for you. Congratulations.
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  Thank you. Yeah, I'll see you on.
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  I'm not. I I told Sadie I owe her a
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  shirt. I don't think I owe you a shirt.
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  I think you have every caller I have.
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  So yeah, I have. I have a.
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  Lot of. All right, let's talk to Nina.
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  Congratulations and happy birthday.
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  Thank you. Hello.
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  Nina, what's going on? Hi, how are you?
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  I'm doing well. How are you?
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  I'm great. Talk about that again.
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  You know, you had the big fourth quarter the other day against
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  Teaneck and now the big first half.
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  I mean, obviously the experience you weren't afraid of the moment
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  you took control. What were you thinking going
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  into the game? And then how does it feel to get
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  in the zone like that? Well, when I see the 2-3 zone, I
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  automatically get excited because I know there's gonna be
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  openings around the three-point line.
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  And I think they were trying to pack it in to have an answer for
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  Lexi and Sienna, but that just left it open for us.
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  And then when they had to switch into the man, then he started
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  getting the middle open for Lexi and Sienna, which is perfect.
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  How crazy is this run? I mean, when you think about, I
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  mean, you still have more work to do because Coach Dunn only
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  wants to play down to the last day of every season he ever
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  coaches in. So you do have more work to do,
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  but just, you know, up to this point you can't, I would imagine
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  you could not ask for a better senior season here.
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  Yeah, this is amazing. We had, well, I'm sure you know,
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  we had a little bit of a lull in the middle of the season with a
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  couple losses all in a row that kind of brought us down a little
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  bit. But then Coach Dunn kind of sat
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  us down and gave us the option that we could be complacent with
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  where we are right now or we could work and turn the season
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  around with. I think it's clear that we did.
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  We've been on a pretty impressive win streak since
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  then. We have one more game to finish
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  it off on a high note and I couldn't have asked for a better
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  senior season with better group of girls with me.
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  How pumped you be playing on Rutgers?
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  I'm so excited. It's a little nerve wracking,
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  huge arena, but yeah, yeah, it's, I'm so excited.
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  I think we all are. It will be a great experience.
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  It's amazing. I mean, the hometown Northern
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  Valley Regional Golden Knights, an unbelievable run through the
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  state sectional playoffs and now headed to the state finals.
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  So hand me over to Coach Dunnigan.
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  Congratulations and I'll see you Sunday and the big stadium.
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  Yep, see ya, see ya. Bye.
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  Hello. Alright, Coach.
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  Well, congratulations on the huge.
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  I got them. I got them all.
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  Unless somebody else has something important to say, but
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  I think that's great. It gives a good feeling.
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  Yeah. Your girls are pumped and it
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  really is unbelievable. Yeah, they've done it.
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  I'm proud of them. They're good kids.
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  I don't say much nice still during the season, but they
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  gutted it out today and we didn't play our best, but they
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  gutted it out, made it happen, you know, and now that it's
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  eating Donuts and pizza and enjoying the long ride home.
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  Yes. And are you already watching
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  film on Moorestown or do you know where?
• 17:10
  Moorestown is I, I, I do. I think it's just outside Philly
• 17:14
  down in that area, but not not yet.
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  Nope, get on soon. Fortunately got three days in
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  between. Be nice, no?
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  Doubt about it. No rush.
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  Coach, thanks for welcoming me onto the bus safe at home and I
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  just put in my press credential. I will be there on Sunday at
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  Rutgers. I'll probably get around the
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  disc golf in first somewhere close, and then I'll head over
• 17:34
  to the arena. I'm looking forward to it.
• 17:36
  That sounds like a good day. Follow the leader.