Team of the Year

Lakeland

With a senior-laden roster and coming off a league championship the year before, the Lancers were expected to put together another strong basketball season.  Erin Schultz's squad did exactly that, winning 22 games and going through league play undefeated to take the Suburban Division of the Northern Hills Conference again.

This team featured a host of talented senior players, including All-County first team selection Erica Jurgensen.  Courtney Edson and Jessica Janosz provided the interior play, while Tarah Engels ran the point.

Some bad fortune helped keep the Lancers from accomplishing all they wanted:  they were forced to play on their opponent's home court in the Passaic County semifinals despite holding the higher seed, and lost to Passaic Tech.  And in the state tournament, Janosz's illness left them short-handed in a loss to Wayne Hills.  But all in all it was a season to be proud of, and it made Lakeland our JSN Girls' Basketball Team of the Year.  

Player of the Year

Devin Feeney, Whippany Park

This non-stop senior guard led the Wildcats to a 20-8 record and their first sectional final in 17 years.  Along the way, she became Whippany Park's all-time leading basketball scorer, finishing her career with 1,673 points, the 10th-highest total in history for any female player in Morris County.

Despite the impressive numbers, Feeney is anything but a single-minded scorer.  She led the Wildcats in steals, and even though she plays guard, was their top rebounder as well.  Furthermore, her leadership helped propel a basketball team that featured two freshman starters and no other senior regulars to a tremendous year.

Feeney isn't a rah-rah type; her bright personality led teammates to call her "Sunshine".  But she turns into a fierce competitor on the court.  Watch her in action and you'll undoubtedly see Feeney fly to the floor three or four times a game, either in pursuit of a loose ball or on one of her acrobatic drives to the basket.  Somehow, she always gets up and continues to play in the same full-throttle manner.

Heading to play basketball next year at Montclair State, Devin Feeney is a deserving choice for our JSN Girls' Basketball Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year

Tom Wilson, Whippany Park

He's certainly no newcomer--Wilson is one of the elite group of girls' basketball coaches with over 400 career wins (see below).  But he did an excellent job of piecing together a team to enjoy his best year in over a decade.

Coming off a 15-13 season and building around Devin Feeney, his only senior starter, Wilson had two juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen in his rotation.  The Wildcats had a strong start to the year, going undefeated until their first meeting with juggernaut University.  Whippany Park hit a rough patch late in the regular season, but rebounded well to head into the states with momentum and reached the North Jersey Section 2, Group I final.

As he moves in the direction of a 500th career victory, Tom Wilson is our JSN Girls' Basketball Coach of the Year.

Girls' Hoops Notes

COMEBACK SEASONS:  Two local squads bounced back from poor years to qualify for the state basketball tournament.  After going 3-20 in 2007-08, Mountain Lakes improved to 14-11 this year, including a first-round state win.  West Milford had nearly as dramatic a turnaround, improving from 4-20 to 12-13.

FABULOUS FRESHMEN:  While upperclassmen played a major role for most local teams, the Class of 2012 made a big early impression.  Freshman starters were hardly unusual in the area; some teams had more than one.  First-year hoops standouts included Samantha Tabakman of Pequannock, Ingrid Hermanson and Katie Reese of Mountain Lakes, Bailey Ott of Pompton Lakes, Michelle Coyle of West Milford, Rachel Ranieri of DePaul, and Olivia Dudley of Whippany Park.

BIG MILESTONE:  Mike Killingsworth, coach of the Mountain Lakes team, earned his 400th career win late in the season with a triumph over Verona.  He's just the third Morris County girls' basketball coach to reach that milestone.

ONE NIGHT ONLY:  Protecting an injury as she prepares to play softball this spring, and in the future in college, Pequannock senior Noelle Ramirez didn't play a minute for most of the season.  She continued to attend practices and games, and finally took the basketball court for the Senior Night game against DePaul.  Ramirez looked a little rusty at first, but eventually got into the flow, and helped lead the Panthers to a win--their only victory in an otherwise tough closing stretch to the season.

-- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now