It is the first game for the Kinnelon Girls Basketball team leading their journey to a state sectional title. On Feb. 22, Coach Don Trifiari stood on the sideline in the Kinnelon Colts gymnasium, watching the points go up in real-time. The team’s whole season led up to this game. The season they have worked for is at stake. This is the moment in sports where decisions can lead to disaster or to victory. Do you switch out your best players for fresh legs? Or do you leave your best foot forward with tired girls? The team is on the edge of their seats waiting for the final buzzer.
The Colts took the win over New Milford, 61-29. According to Nj.com, the team ended up with an overall winning season of 14-11. The Colts hope to take down Park Ridge in their next round of states on Tuesday. Though their season is not over yet, and are anticipating a win this week.
Katherine Donaldson led the way to victory for the girls’ basketball team. Not only in this game but also throughout the entirety of the season. Kinnelon held a 34-5 lead at the half and continued their lead in the third quarter 46-15. During the final quarter, Coach Trifiari decided to give his other girls a chance to put up some stats. This game will be a win in the stat book and only the beginning of the girls journey to a State Sectional Title.
Once again, the Colts played in a very winnable game where they did just that. The overall stand-out player this season, Katherine Donaldson, totaled 13 points but fellow teammates Sabrina Avato and Samantha Basin helped to seal the deal of their win with 14 points each.
“This win was probably our best win of the season.” says senior captain Katherine Donaldson. “Everyone was scoring. All of the seniors had double digits. They had a ton of turnovers and we had a ton of steals. It was just all around a phenomenal game by everyone including our coaches.”
All of the girls were very proud of their overall performance during the season but especially during this game. Although every team is not perfect, there is room for improvement. KGB center, Kelly Donaldson explains, “I feel like our team improved drastically over our season. Our defense is definitely one of the strongest attributes of our game. We came so far from some hard losses including our loss against Mountain Lakes at the beginning of the season. I mean in the first half New Milford only had 5 points. Our offense definitely improved also which helped our team to develop a well-rounded team all over the court.”
Next season, the team will lose their five seniors including Captain Katherine Donaldson. “We will be losing most of our starting lineup next season due to losing our seniors,” says freshman Taylor Mulch, “I think we will still have a solid team next year. There are multiple talented incoming freshman joining us next season which will help the team’s performance immensely.”
