The Tulpehocken High School girls’ basketball team is coming off a .500 season, 5-5 in the Berks League and 11-11 overall. In fact, the Lady Trojans even qualified for the district playoffs, although they lost in the first round to Biglerville.
That was a very good season considering the last time the team won more than two league games in one season was the 2006-07 season. The question is, can they continue to improve and have an even better season this year.
William Moyer, the head coach of the Tulpehocken High School believes they can. They have some experience with most of the girls having played with each other for several years.
‘We have an experienced team and we would like to be better than last year,’ said Moyer. ‘We have an improved defense and if we stay healthy and protect the ball, we can have a good season.’
The experience comes from the juniors and seniors. The senior are led by Brooke Boyer, Jamie Fisher and Hannah Zerbe. Returning juniors include Taylor Boyer, Darian Gordan, Audrey Jones and Tori Stump.
The Lady Trojans have their top four scorers coming back from last season, and seven of their top eight scorers. They were led by Taylor Boyer who scored a team-high 170 points last year, averaging 7.7 points per game. Brooke Boyer totaled 155 points (7.1 points a game), 42 of those points coming from the foul line.
Gordon was third on the team in scoring with 124 points, with Fisher right behind her with 123 points.
They will miss the three-point scoring ability of graduating senior Morgan Firestine, who had 14 three-point buckets last year.
The Lady Trojans are not filled will any superstars on the team. They will have to rely on everyone being on their game each night, spreading the points around.
‘We will need contributions from everyone,’ said Moyer. ‘These girls have played together for four or more years and know each other well. They work hard and are very unselfish.’
The main goal of this team is to keep the program going forward, improving on last year’s .500 season. They would certainly like to get back to the district playoffs, then maybe win a game or two.
As far as making the playoffs in the Berks League, that will be a little tougher. They still have Oley Valley and Brandywine Heights in their division, two tough teams to have to deal with twice a season. Brandywine will have a very young team this year so who knows what could happen. Just making the Berks League playoffs would be a huge accomplishment for this program. It’s a goal that’s within their reach, but a lot will have to go right to the Trojans to get there.
Still, there’s a lot to be optimistic about for this season and beyond. At the very least, it will be a very competitive and interesting season for the Tulpehocken girls.