BAYLOCK 2ND ALL-TIME SPF IN SCORING, TOP 3-PTRS

Impressive performances early on signaled a very promising outlook for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School girls basketball team this season. But the rhythm seemed to get out of synchronization as the season progressed and the Raiders struggled to finish with a 14-11 record.

The Raiders won their first six games and eight of their first nine, beginning with a 54-39 victory over the Elizabeth Minutemen, who would go on to capture the Union County Tournament (UCT) crown. Next was a 50-35 win over the Westfield Blue Devils then a 43-39 victory over the Cranford Cougars, who would eventually play Elizabeth for the UCT title. Mendham, Millburn and Union were their next victims.

The Raiders’ first loss was to the Roselle Catholic Lions but wins over Montville and the Oak Knoll Royals seemed to put them back on the winning path. Unfortunately three straight losses – Elizabeth, Hillsborough, New Providence – set them reeling. But they temporarily recovered to stop Westfield, 46-36, and Union Catholic, 53-32, boosting their record to 10-4.

The road, however, got rough the rest of the way, begining with a 48-40 loss to Cranford and a 50-47 stinging from Roselle Catholic. A 55-21 thumping of Ridge was followed with losses to Mount St. Mary, Oak Knoll and New Providence.

The Raiders got even with Oak Knoll in the first round of the UCT but suffered a 57-53 nailbiter to Elizabeth. The Raiders completed their regular season with wins over Piscataway and Woodbridge then their season ended with a 58-48 setback to the Franklin Warriors in the first round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 Tournament.

Raider Head Coach Ryan McKenna explained, “We definitely had a strong start to the season. Started off 6-0 and were playing well. But, we went into an offensive slump in the second half of the season and could never really find our footing. We had a lot of close games that we won in 2023, but came up short this season. We had last minute losses to Elizabeth, Cranford and Roselle Catholic. Winning any of those games would have given us a better seed in the states. We lost to Franklin after shooting really well in the first quarter.”

The Raiders were led by four-year starter/captainAmanda Baylock, who led the team this season with 461 points, 58 3-pointers, 85 free throws, 81 steals and 72 assists, while adding 97 rebounds and a blocked shot. Her four-year total of 1,547 points elevated her to second on the SPF alltime scoring list behind Hillary Klimowicz. Her 185 3-pointers put her atop the SPF list. Baylock also finished with 301 career steals, 304 assists and 347 rebounds.

“Her scoring puts her second to Hillary, which is a great achievement. She is also the school leader in 3point makes,” Coach McKenna revealed.

Junior Marin Pecarsky finished with 221 points, including 22 3-pointers and 41 free throws, She led the team with 109 rebounds and added 40 steals and 32 assists. Junior Maggie McNulty finished with 153 points (28 3-pointers), 46 rebounds, 10 assists and 26 steals. Junior Grace Cawley put in 81 points and added 58 rebounds, 30 steals and 17 assists. Senior Sophia Catalano finished with 64 points, 53 rebounds, 29 assists and 33 steals. Senior Sara Lehman finished with 41 points, 76 rebounds, 28 assists, 23 steals and a block.

With some court time, senior J’Nyyah Young finished with 32 points, 20 rebounds, six assists and 19 steals. Senior Mackenzie Harmer had 31 points, 28 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Junior Amelia Fallon finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block. Senior Haley Acevedo had eight points, an assist and two rebounds. Sophomore Natalia Lambert had seven points, six steals, three assists and a rebound. Senior Mackenzie Virgil had five points, 10 rebounds, four steals and an assist.

Coach McKenna said, “I was really proud of the team for handling the adversity they went through. We played a tough schedule and played well, but not enough to win as many games as we’d like.”

In the first game against Elizabeth, Baylock pumped in 32 points, including four 3-pointers, and swiped seven balls In the first win over Westfield, she had 18 points (2 3pointers) and six steals Baylock scored 21 points (trip 3-pointers) in the first game against Cranford. She had 24 points (2 3-pointers) and five steals in a game against Oak Knoll. Baylock sank 29 points, including four 3-pointers in a game against Roselle Catholic. In the victory over Ridge, she scored 26 points (trip 3pointers) and had seven steals.Against Woodbridge, Baylock had seven steals and in the final game against Franklin, she netted 24 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Baylock’s graduation, along with Catalano, Lehman, Young, Harmer, Virgil and Acevedo will be missed.

“There are three returning starters in Marin Pecarsky, Maggie McNulty and Grace Cawley. They’ve played critical minutes over the last few seasons. There’s a huge loss in graduation, both with Amanda as well as many other players that have started over the last two seasons. But, I expect the team to reload and continue to compete at the upper levels of Union County,” Coach McKenna concluded.