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Sports

Girls Basketball Dominates Immaculata

Panthers hope season-opening win a sign of a winning year to come.

The  girls varsity basketball team dominated its season opener with a victory over Immaculata High School Friday, beating the Spartans 57-31.

After a devastating county championship loss to Gill St. Bernard's last season, Bridgewater-Raritan opened the 2010-2011 year with a vengeance.

Although the team was away, the members did not let the Spartans' home court advantage rattle them. The girls ran the offense, played intense defense and followed through with their shots, keeping momentum throughout the entire game to earn the win.

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The Panthers starters were sophomore Denisha Petty-Evans; seniors Robin O'Dell and Jessica Venturelli; junior Hannah Brophy; and freshman Julia Venturelli, with frequent rotation of substitutions.

Ball movement was an integral part of the Bridgewater-Raritan offense. Petty-Evans ran the offense from the top of the key, and her patience kept the ball on Immaculata's side of the court for much of the game.

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Though the Spartans had the first points on the board, O'Dell quickly countered with a shot of her own, and set a steady pace for Panther shots throughout the night. 

And Venturelli had an impressive 3-pointer to close out the first quarter.

The Spartans favored speedy offensive play—upon getting a rebound, Immaculata launched it down court into the waiting, unguarded hands of a teammate. That strategy relied on getting the ball to the hoop before the Panthers defenders could secure the net, and much of the Spartans' points were earned through this strategy.

But Bridgewater adjusted its play accordingly, and had teammates keeping pace with the Spartans down court. In one splendid turn, Petty-Evans blocked a shot and fired it to freshman Venturelli, who took it to the hoop and scored.

Head coach Dorcas Miller Edwards was pleased with her team's performance.

"The win was pretty good, we're very confident," she said. "I think the girls came out and played very well. We took it to them early with intensity. It's the first game—you get jitters, but you're still able to play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

"We did good," Petty-Evans said. "We pushed the ball down the court, and we made good shots."

Edwards said the team just has to continue to play no matter what.

"I tell my girls every single time, you got to play through it." Edwards said. "It's the coach's job to see exactly how you can adjust the game. I tell the girls they've got to fight, and they've got to be aggressive and play the game they love to play."

"They didn't get all the way up to varsity to not enjoy the game of basketball, and I think that's what they did tonight," she said. "They settled down, and we started running our offense and we started doing a much better job."

The Panthers were thrilled to begin the season with the win, and believe that this triumph was the first of many.

"We want to be county champs," O'Dell said. "We lost in the semifinals last year to Gill, so we want to get that far. We want to get far in states, too. We wanted to start off strong this season, and it feels really good."

"Expectations are always high," Edwards said. "We want to be in the Somerset County finals, we want to make it to states. We want to accomplish a lot of things this year both individually and as a team. As a team, we want to make sure that we continue to build on chemistry and that we work hard every time we step on the court. That showed today."

Petty-Evans's predictions were a bit more blunt.

"Win every game," she said.

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