Guess who's back in the hunt for the Garden State Athletic Conference Basketball crown? That's right -- the Roadrunners are smack in the middle of the conversation after roaring out to a 6-3 overall start and 4-1 GSAC record, as of Nov. 30th.
Coach Rich Cooper, who guided the program to its first Region XIX title in more than two decades in 2017, has his team off to a surprisingly strong start and in prime position to establish themselves as top contenders early in the season.
The Runners have battled nagging early season injuries to emerge healthier and stronger.
Two starters are averaging in double figures to lead a potent offense -- freshman guards Qeiajae Canty (Atlantic City, 17.2 ppg) and power forward Trina Deveney-Bethea (Cedar Creek, 16.0), who has bounced back from an early season ankle injury.
In addition, the offense is balanced by solid play from veteran forwards/guards Kylar Coughlin (Gloucester, 9.0 ppg), Syria Bass (Holy Spirit, 9. ppg), Mya Lewis (Cherry Hill West, 7.9 ppg) and Nikita Acker (Triton, 8.4 ppg).
"Everyone has contributed offensively -- any one of 5 or 6 players can lead the team in scoring and pick up the slack if needed," said Cooper.
The Runners will have a tough stretch of conference games this month as they face Brookdale (Dec. 14), Middlesex (Dec. 17), and Bergen (Dec. 21), all at home -- and it will show show whether they belong with the elite of the GSAC.
"If we continue to stay injury free, we'll continue to improve as a team," said Cooper, who has 92 career wins as Roadrunners' head coach. "We will need to play well if we're going to survive those three games in the middle of the month."
And the best part is we're pretty healthy and hopefully we'll stay that way," said Cooper.
Coach Cooper is also eyeing the return of sophomore Kadina Harris-Hood (Atlantic City), out with injury since Game 4 but expected to return in early January. She averaged 11.7 points per game early in the 2019-20 season.
The Runners have also shown plenty of improvement defensively during the the team's recent success, which includes wins over previously unbeaten Northampton CC and losses to nationally ranked Passaic County College and Onondaga CC (NY). The Runners have surrendered an average 52.88 points per games over the first nine games, one of the best marks in Region XIX.
"We're making progress defensively and a lot of that has to do with staying healthy," said freshman forward Trina Deveneu-Bethea, who herself recently returned from an ankle injury. "We're understanding each other's tendencies and we're picking each other up."
Next up for the Runners will be a December 5th home contest vs. Camden County College in a 5 pm tip off, followed by Rowan-Burlington December 7 in a 12 noon start.