PGH NJ 2021-22 Team Preview: West Deptford
The abbreviated 2021 season was a tale of two halves for West Deptford. The Eagles scuffled out of the gate, falling quickly below .500 with a 2-4 record through their first six games. Things were not looking up, but two…
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Continue ReadingThe abbreviated 2021 season was a tale of two halves for West Deptford. The Eagles scuffled out of the gate, falling quickly below .500 with a 2-4 record through their first six games.
Things were not looking up, but two days after a 40-29 loss to Haddon Township, the Eagles righted the ship, defeating Washington Township in a close 46-42 game.
From there, West Deptford didn’t stop, going 6-3 over their last nine games to finish with an 8-7 record overall. It was an incredibly impressive run of form, but sustainability is the key for this team.
Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey is pushing out more and more content for this coming high school girls basketball season in the Garden State, and our team preview series continues in this article as PGH NJ talks about West Deptford.
This program under head coach Mark Petito has seen its fair share of success over the past few years, but this coming year might be his most difficult when it comes to putting a competitive team on the floor.
Last season, the Eagles were a senior-heavy team and six graduated in the spring, including leading scorer Zaniyah Carr and the third, fourth and fifth-leading scorers in Allie Flynn, Erica McDonnell and Avery Corino.
We’ll be seeing plenty of new faces this season stepping up but while a good chunk of the offense is gone, West Deptford’s backbone this winter is senior forward Olivia Magee, who averaged 7.4 PPG in the spring.
Magee and Carr were the only two players to play all 15 games for the Eagles, so we’re expecting her to be the unquestionable team leader this season. Alongside her are a cast of players who had limited playing time in the spring, including several underclassmen.
Sophomore forward Julianna DiFebbo played the second-most games of any returning player last season, averaging 2.6 PPG in seven games. She’ll be accompanying Magee in the middle this winter, but the guard play is a massive question mark.
Sophomores Janie Cross and Kassidy Yarusso and junior Isabella DeCaesar are going to be relied upon heavily this season, but in their limited playing time in the spring, they played well.
Cross averaged 4.3 PPG, Yarusso averaged 3.5 PPG and DeCaesar averaged 4.5 PPG, so that level of production over an entire season and then some will be crucial for the success of this team. This feels like a transition year for the Eagles, so expect them to hover around .500.