With four underclassmen and a junior in its starting lineup, Nutley’s girls basketball team has been left with little choice, but to grow up fast since the start of the preseason.
Fortunately for the Maroon Raiders and head coach Kara McNish, there has already been a lot of improvement seen since that first scrimmage on Dec. 8. Proof of that development was on display this past Saturday when Nutley defeated Cedar Grove, 44-27, to improve to 1-1 on the young season.
“So from the first scrimmage to (Saturday), definitely huge strides (have been made),” said McNish, who begins her third season as head coach. “We still have stuff to work on, but I keep reminding myself that comes with having a younger team. But I told them after the game yesterday, from Tuesday to Saturday, it was a marked difference.”
Junior Kaitlyn Nellegar has led the way early on for Nutley, posting back-to-back double-doubles. Through two games the 5-foot-8 forward has 29 points, 28 rebounds, eight steals and six blocks.
As impressive as those numbers look, McNish, herself a former college forward, knows there’s a higher level to Nellegar’s game that has yet to be reached.
“The funny part is that she hasn’t even played that great,” McNish said. “That was my point to her that, ‘you’ve had two double-doubles and you haven’t even played to your fullest potential.’”
Last year, Nellegar, who led the team in points (10.7 per game) and rebounds (13.9 per game) was almost always on the court with a second big in Isabel Riccardi or Gianna Albanese. Even with both gone, Nutley and Nellegar have had a strong 1-2 combination at forward, albeit in a different way this year, as sophomore Jiana Maldonado has moved over from guard.
Despite standing just 5-foot-6, Maldonado, a starter last season, had a breakout game against Cedar Grove with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.
“She’s a guard, but we’ve been playing her underneath in our zone because she’s a pretty good rebounder,” said McNish about Maldonado, who also plays AAU with Nellegar in the offseason. “She’s super athletic, has a nose for the ball and sees the floor well.”
While Nutley is blessed with experience in the front court, the same can’t be said in the backcourt as the Raiders welcome three new starters.
Sophomores Madison Heal and Ellie Oldak, both coming off of strong soccer seasons, are both starting guards after coming off the bench as freshmen last winter. At the point is freshman Sydney Hanly.
“Sydney has kind of taken over the point position as she is a stronger ball handler with both hands,” McNish said about Hanly, who scored eight points against Cedar Grove. “She’s tiny, but she does not let the pressure get to her. She doesn’t rush through things.”
Senior Makayla Albert is the top player off the bench and has the versatility to play virtually any position on the floor. Freshman Emma Rodriguez gives Nutley another forward and source of rebounds off the bench as well. Senior guard Mariah Franqui has also seen minutes early on.
Freshmen guards Lilianna Giannone and Cayden Ortega, as well as sophomore forward Abby Leahy and senior forward Sydney Tramontana bring additional depth and could see bigger roles as the season progresses.
Nutley returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 27 in the Bergenfield Holiday Festival where it will play host Bergenfield. The Raiders will also play Cliffside Park and Dwight- Morrow in the three-day event.
Nutley will resume play in the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division on Jan. 6 at East Orange.
Learn more about the writer ...
Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)