On the court of the Eagles’ cross-town rivals, the girls varsity basketball team won a tension-filled game against J.P. Stevens on January 26, 2023, marking Head Coach Mr. Frank Eckert’s hundredth win in his seven-year history of coaching at Edison High. With the final score of 63–54, they secured the win against the Hawks, placing them first in the White Division.

“It is a true honor to coach this team. Their work ethic is tremendous, and they are a group to be around. They are unselfish and play for one another, which is incredibly special,” said Eckert.

This unselfishness and diligence is paying off for the Eagles.  

“We are having one of our best seasons. We also won the division for the second time in girls basketball history at Edison,” he said.

The game started with high hopes of winning for the coach despite a close score of 13–12 in the first quarter. Confidence increased as the team managed to get through the second quarter easily with 31–23. Once they passed halftime to the third quarter, the scores became anxiously close as the girls passed by with 42–33. 

It was the fourth and final quarter when the pressure intensified as the game went into overtime with the score of 52–52. During this time, the players were on edge. 

“With the fourth quarter, I feel like we got complacent, especially me, and we let J.P. go on a run,” said Ghelsey Go ‘24. “They ended up out-scoring us 19–10 in that quarter, which allowed them to tie up the game to go into OT.”

Still, the Lady Eagles were able to persevere.

“ I feel like our team was a little rattled, but we were still able to pull through in OT and outscore J.P. 11–2,” added Go.  

Even with increased anxiety, the team managed to perform. Go scored thirty points overall, with thirteen successful free throws out of fourteen attempted, as well as eleven rebounds. 

The offense continued to power through as Trista Whitney ‘26 scored seventeen points, with four rebounds and two assists and steals. Keisha Ortiz ‘23 added another fifteen points to the score, with seven free throws, as well as five assists and seven steals. 

Adding to the defense, Bonnie Sellers ‘23 had five rebounds and two steals, and Olivia Smart ‘25 had eleven rebounds, helping to lead the girls to victory by blocking the Hawks. 

“I think overall our defense was a key factor in this game, and we were able to lock down their key players, especially with Bonnie’s great defense on #20, one of their main players,” said Go.

The livestream replay of the game is available on the JPS Athletics YouTube channel. 

Game statistics are available from NJ.com.