Hopewell's Nellie Tanguay goes for a basket during the Bulldogs' 62-31 victory over Nottingham Jan. 10, 2012. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)

Hopewell’s Kelley Williams gets past Nottingham’s Saysha McRae in a Jan. 10, 2012 game. Hopewell won 62-31. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)

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By Rich Fisher

The Hopewell Valley girls’ basketball team entered the season with a tad of uncertainty.

The Bulldogs certainly put that to rest quickly.

After spending the summer and early fall wondering about the status of four-year varsity guard Kelly Williams—who tore up her knee last April and spent the next six months rehabbing—both Williams and the Bulldogs have answered all the questions with an exclamation point.

Hopewell won its first 10 games this season, including the 100th of head coach Jeff Losch’s career, and was certainly looking like a team capable of big things midway through the season.

“Coming into the season, we were unsure of exactly what was going to happen with Kelly being out, but we always were optimistic that our team would still do well,” said sophomore forward Kara Hageman, who has emerged as the team’s top rebounder. “When we found out Kelly was good to play everyone was very excited and I think that boosted all of our confidence up.”

After going 21-6, winning a sixth straight Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division title and reaching the Central Jersey Group III semifinals last year, Losch knew a good summer could help build on that standout season.

“The biggest thing we wanted to address was just getting the girls to play more,” Losch said. “We were able to take a solid group to a team camp and had good numbers for practices. We didn’t have the numbers to participate in a summer league, but we had a few girls who were very active with AAU.”

Hageman added that because of Williams’ tentative stats, several of the Bulldogs took it upon themselves to leave nothing to chance.

“Over the summer many girls continued playing AAU basketball, including myself,” she said. “We were unsure of Kelly’s condition, so I think everyone tried to really step it up and try and improve. I think it has helped us tremendously because now everyone on the court is a threat.”

Losch couldn’t agree more.

“Not having Kelly probably helped the other girls,” the coach said. “It forced them to take on more responsibility with scoring and ball handling. Kelly is such a great player that sometimes we forget how to play without her.”

Williams is having another standout season, as she led the team with a 16.9 scoring average and 4.6 assists over the first 10 games. She scored her 1,000th point on Dec. 28 when Hopewell beat Moorestown in the Molinelli Tournament title game.

“Kelly was determined to be back for the start of the season, and plays every game like it’s her last,” Hageman said. “She contributes large amounts to our team.”

But she is not alone, as Nellie Tanguay was averaging 11.8 points while Emily Sing was at 8.6 ppg and Hageman at 8.1. Tanguay has been a consistent second scorer after working on creating her own shot over the summer.

“Nellie is one of the hardest workers on our team,” Hageman said. “She is constantly working on her shot, ball handling, and everything else. Having her on our team does make us much more dangerous. Now, if other teams focus more of their defense around Kelly, we still have the rest of our team that can pull us through.”

“Having four consistent solid scorers has been a big key for us this season,” Losch said. “Add to that a few more girls who are capable of chipping in with some points and it makes us tough to guard. The team as a whole really seems to like each other and it is reflected with the way they play their roles on the floor.”

Hageman, who was grabbing a team-leading 10 rebounds per game, feels the board work has also been a team effort.

“Rebounds are definitely a big part of the game,” Hageman said. “For me, it’s all about desire. Kelly and Nellie are both tremendous scorers, but in a game of basketball there are always shots that do not quite fall. That’s why I try to do my best by backing them up with grabbing every rebound I can.

“(Junior forward) Jen Didun does an amazing job, along with my other teammates, of boxing out the other team, which allows me to get as many of the rebounds that I do. Rebounding is a team effort and I could not rebound nearly as well without their help.”

One of the Bulldogs’ biggest attributes this season has been their chemistry. Losch said he was cautiously optimistic coming into the season, noting the talent was there but Hopewell needed some cohesion.

“With a class clown like Kelly, the personality of this group makes it much easier for everyone to come to practice every day,” Losch said. “But the camaraderie has been a special surprise. Late last season, we could see the underclassmen really bonding with each other.

“It has been taken to a whole new level this year. While the focus is not always where we would like it, it is much improved from past years. We have a few girls who are extremely focused and it rubs off on others.”

“I do not think anyone was expecting us to be this good, but we have always believed in ourselves,” Hageman said.

Losch said another factor has been the help of assistant coach Kristy Cramp, a former 1,000-point scorer for Hopewell.

“We are really lucky to have her in our program,” the coach said. “She is doing a fantastic job with the JV team (which was also unbeaten) and is a tremendous help on my bench. She’s a great role model for the players.”

With everything seemingly in pace, Losch has no problem listing his goals as being Mercer County Tournament and NJSIAA Group III champions. But everyone knows there’s still a long way to go.

“We can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Hageman said. “Right now our goals are to keep focused on one game at a time and hopefully keep up our streak.

“We’re looking forward to hopefully making a run in the counties and states, but right now we focus on playing better defense and executing our offense ... we just need to continue to improve with every game and see where we end up.”

If they end up where they started, it will be one heck of a finish.