Let’s hear it for the (Notre Dame) girls.

Six new head coaches debuted in Colonial Valley Conference basketball on Friday and the only team that presented its new leader with a victory was Notre Dame High School. Kelly Hutchinson, the one-time guard from some of the dominant Irish teams of the 1990s, watched as her squad won at Robbinsville, 38-23, behind 6-foot-2 junior center Chukwuka Ezeigbo’s rather tall presence in the lane and, oh yes, 16 points.

The Irish, who struggled during longtime coach Anne DeMille’s final seasons, including 10-13 last season, will be much improved. Teams usually play hard for first-year coaches. Combine that with Hutchinson’s determined style and the return of some key upperclassmen, including senior guards Ashley Buxton and Juli Coppola, and the Irish appear headed to a winning season.

The CVC’s other first-year coaches might find the going a little rougher than Hutchinson. The best record any of their teams had last season was 8-14, which went to the Robbinsville boys, and the Ravens are now transitioning to their fourth head coach in five seasons, Byron Conover. The former girls’ basketball coach at West Windsor-Plainsboro South figures to settle his program, although it faced a tough opening opponent in Notre Dame, and fell, 66-50. Cory Karagjozi got off to a good start in the loss with 20 points, including 12 free throws.

Aside from the favored Trenton High squads, CVC basketball has some good balance this season, so the other first-year coaches will have more than one shining moment throughout the campaign. Among the new girls’ coaches, there are Ewing’s Mike Reynolds, whose young squad fell to West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 60-24, on opening night; Hightstown’s Randi Temple-Roohr, whose Rams fell to Allentown, 53-32; and Lawrence’s Dana Williams, who is coming off her first season as the Cardinals’ varsity girls’ soccer coach, and watched her Cardinals fall to Princeton, 41-27. The other news boys’ coach is Allentown’s Tim Magnus, whose Redbirds let a one-point third-quarter lead to Hightstown slip away in a 53-47 loss.

Follow Craig Haley's Mercer County sports columns on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraigHaley.