By Andy Loigu

Better late than never.

The Express Times has honored Warren Hills girls basketball coach Meg McGeehan Coach of the Year honors and senior point guard Nicole Mallard a spot on its All-Area First Team, the only Warren County player so recognized.

The awards were announced in the publication’s Sunday edition on June 16.
In a once and distant time, such honors were publicized in late March or early April, before spring sports got underway in earnest, but as they say, better late than never.

Since their circulation area contains many more Pennsylvania school districts than Jersey, I praise them for noticing what went on here in Warren County and giving credit where it is due. This column is being written for the benefit of those “modern” persons who have stopped reading the newspapers.

McGeehan finished her 11th season coaching the Blue Streaks this winter and it was the finest Warren Hills campaign since 1997.

Whenever I’ve heard frustrated fans (usually parents of current players) call for the dismissal of a coach, I try to remind them (when they are civil enough to even listen) that coaches are just like anyone else, they get better with experience. I’ve seen teams with experienced coaches win championships again and again. The coaches who have fields and buildings named after them did it over a long period of time and bounced back from adverse seasons. Even Chot Morrison, Gary Thomas and John Goles had an occasional disappointing year, and we sure are glad nobody had the impatience to fire them.

This year’s Blue Streaks started off 16-0, then lost three in a row, but regrouped to win eight in a row, including their first Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex championship since 1997 and a trip to the sectional final.

The Blue Streaks’ senior class graduated with records of 19-7, 19-9 and 24-4. I can understand that being a source of pride. Back in the late 60s my senior class at Lakewood graduated with records of 22-2, 23-4 and 20-5, including a state Group 3 championship, two sectional titles and a Shore Conference championship, after our school had been the runner-up seven consecutive seasons. That’s not to toot my own horn, because few people outside my graduating class care about what happened 50 years ago, but it illustrates what good coaching can do. Bouncing back from a loss and making adjustments takes fortitude and it has to come from the coaches.

McGeehan sensed that her players came into this season with something to prove, some unfinished business, and she built upon that in a positive way.
The best tributes usually come from the players themselves. Mallard, who totaled 1,151 points during her career, averaged six rebounds per game as a guard who crashed the boards, and made over 100 steals in her senior season, said her coach helped her find the right balance between being “charged up” and having the patience to not try to do too much, to “settle down and let the game come to you.” She will continue playing hoops at Rowan University in the fall.

Junior Heather Laffan averaged 14 points per game this season, often when she got open for a pass from Mallard, and was named to the Third Team by the Express Times. Junior Advika Thandoni averaged 10 rebounds per game and blocked 65 shots. They will lead the charge next season.

Senior guard Lexi Westley, the three time Meet of Champions winner in the 3,200 meter run, earned Honorable Mention on the Express Times unit.

It is remarkable for a Warren County school to get that many players mentioned on an All-Area team. Even the 2000 North Warren team, which reached the state final under Coach of the Year Sandy Toronzi, did not get that many mentions.

Congratulations and best wishes to the 2019 Blue Streaks and looking forward to more success to come.

………………..Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.