Hunterdon Central High School - Echo Yearbook (Flemington, NJ)

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Girls Basketball The 1986-1987 Lady Devils' Basketball squad ended their regular season play with a 15-6 overall record. Coach Jennifer Spieker assisted by Kathy Kean led the girls to another winning season. Although the Lady Dev- ils were plagued by numerous in- juries and illnesses, they were still able to prevail over most of their competition. Three out of the six losses handed to Central were unfortunately lost in over- time. This year's team only had two returning varsity starters. They were Adrienne Van Nuys and Nancy Stettner who both were also co-captains of this year's squad. Other returning varsity experience included two seniors, Sharon Fowler and Sue Cooley, junior Missy Wissner, and sopho- more, Tricia Young. This years high scorers included Adrienne VanNuys who averaged 22.4 points per game and Missy Wissner who averaged 11.6 points per game. The teams leading defensive player was Nancy Stettner who led the team in steals and assists. She was also the main leader on the court, and everyone looked to her when in trouble. The season opened with an easy win over Piscataway. Next the Lady Devils were handed their first loss against Bridgewater East. Central lost in overtime by one point. Coming off that tough loss, Central en- tered the Notre Dame Irish Christmas Tournament. The Devils played the opening game against Trenton Central, last years tournament winner. The Lady Devils played ex- tremely well and defeated Tren- ton Central by 14 points. Missy Wissner had a game high 20 points, shooting 10 for 15 from the floor. Adrienne Van Nuys scored 19 points and was 9 for 10 from the foul line. Central ad- vanced to the finals where they were to meet tournament host, Notre Dame. In this tough game Adrienne Van Nuys scored 39 points, a new school record. This, however, was not enough to stop the Irish. With 9 seconds left, Van Nuys tied the game on a 3 point play making it 46-46. ln OT the Irish outscored the Lady Devils 10-6, winning the game by Varsity Back Row: Coach Spieker, E, Gullick, G. Stuart, M. Wissner, G. Miller, Coach Kean. Middle Row: T. Young, K. Gilbert, D, Steinke, Kneeling: S. Colley, S. Fowler, L. Destafano. Sitting: A. VanNuys, N. Stettner 1 74 4 points. Central won the next three games easily. Delaware Valley, Franklin Township and Bridgewater West were no match up for them on their way to compete with arch-rival, North l-lunterdan. This game was truly exciting for all. The Lions found them- selves in an unfamiliar position during most of the game, losing! Central proved to be their first real competition of the season. Central was beating the Lions by two points after the first quarter. Missy Wissner hit six of her four- teen points during this quarter. Van Nuys scored 12 of Central's 14 points in the second quarter and Central prevailed 29-27 at halftime. Gretchen Miller sprained her ankle during warm- ups. This left the Lady Devils with two starters injured. Nancy Stettner had pulled a groin earli-

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er in that week. Both teams had ten points in the third quarter which left Central with a two point lead. Central was leading for half of the fourth quarter when North put on their show. A series of North Steals and Devil errors followed. North capital- ized on 11 straight points during the final few minutes of the game, They outscored the Lady Devils 21-10 in the final quarter and wound up winning by a mere nine points. VanNuys and Wissner were high scorers for Central having 25 and 16 points respectively. Powerhouse Van- Nuys also broke the school re- bounding record in this game. She grabbed down an impressive total of 19 rebounds. The Lady Devils won their next three games with ease de- feating Hillsborough, Watchung Hills and Somerville. The next tough match up was with Voorhees. ln the first and second quarter both teams matched up offensively. With a couple of seconds left before half time, Sue Cooley threw up a banker and tied the game up at 24-24. Cooley had 8 crucial points and played an impressive game. VanNuys and Wissner led Devil scoring with 18 and 16 points respectively. Their points, however, were not enough to stop the Viking. The Vikings. scored both end of a one-and-one with 7 seconds left in regulation time. This forced the game into overtime. In OT the score was tied with 1 second left. The Vi- kings put in a follow up shot at the buzzer. Voorhees won by two. The Lady Devils now had half their belt. They lost 3 of the 4 games in overtime by a meek to- tal of 7 points. Central easily beat Pis- cataway and then had to play fired-up Bridgewater East. This 176 game was extremely physical but Central prevailed over East by 12 points. Central romped over Franklin and Bridgewater West but next had to face North Hun- terdon again. Central, in congrary to the oth- er game, never had the lead. The Devils were outscored by a gruel- ing 18-5 in the first quarter. Cen- tral outscored North 13-11 in the second quarter which made the halftime score 31-16. The Lady Devils were unable to stop the ever-so-strong Lady Lions. Watchung Hills and Somer- ville were no competition for the Devils who easily overcame them. But, like before, the easier games were followed by a tough game. The Devils now had a rematch with the Vikings. This time the Vikings pulled away early and never lost their lead. They won by a 20 point margin. To clinch the end of regular season play, Central went up against a tough Hillsborough team. Central led most of the way, but at the end it was getting close. Laura Destafano hit four important free throws to clinch the victory over Hillsborough by one point. Also making a large contribu- tion to this years team at the for- ward position were Gwen Stuart, Gretchen Miller, Kristie Gilbert, and Donna Steinke. At the guard positions were Sharon Fowler, Laura Destafano, and Tricia Young. Two Sophomores also came up from JV to help out the Varsity. They were Karen Apgar and Karen Bonieski. The Devils, Advocates also played a large roll in the spirit of the Lady Dev- ils. The 1986-1987 basketball season was proven a success and the Lady Devils look forward to even more success in the future.