PRINCETON — With injuries limiting the Hun School varsity girls’ basketball team to seven players, some new faces have had to step in to keep the Raiders the solid group that fourth-year head coach Sean Costello has molded into one of the best in the area.
It was 5-foot-11 sophomore forward Mary Tresler’s turn to show off all that she can do Wednesday when Hun welcomed Pennington in its 2025-26 Mid-Atlantic Prep League opener at the Grant Shipley Pavilion.
Tresler, who transferred in this season from New Hope-Solebury, Pa. High, has proven to be a beast on the boards for the Raiders, and, yesterday, she hit for 20 points for the third time during her sophomore campaign to lead her team to a 73-52 victory.
Add in Tresler’s 16 rebounds, and the still-young (15 years old for 20 more days) inside presence gives Costello two 5-11 sophs with which to be dealt, alongside Jayla Williams, who led the team with 22 points.
“It’s great to have a teammate like Jayla. She can do everything,” Tresler said. “I try to get down in the blocks to kick the ball out to wide-open teammates. If I get the (offensive) rebound, I can go back up with it.”
Despite going against the Red Hawks’ six-foot sophomore center Eden Ashiavor inside, Tresler did a lot of that Wednesday, especially in the second half when she connected on 14 of her points after Williams had scored 15 in the first half to help the home team build an 18-4 lead after one quarter and a 35-24 advantage at the half when head coach Markie Watson’s Pennington club outscored Hun, 20-17, in the second quarter.
The visitors got as close as 35-28 when senior guard Caiden O’Connell hit a 3-point field goal 1:45 into the third quarter, but Tresler scored 10 in that frame to get the Raiders back on top, 59-41, heading into the final nine minutes (MAPL quarters).
“We saw this as a winnable game. We just made a lot of mistakes,” said Ashiavor, who returned from an injury to lead Pennington with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “After the first half, I wore off a little bit. That’s one of the things I’m working on. Right now, I don’t string my first and second halves together as well as I should.”
Ten of Ashiavor’s points and five of her rebounds came in the second quarter when the Red Hawks got back in the game. However, in the first and fourth stanzas, she was held scoreless.
Pennington (2-8) found decent balance in the absence of sophomore guard Makaela “K.K.” Bordner, who recently suffered a knee injury. Sophomore forward Dayonna Doggett added nine points, while senior guards O’Connell and Anna Hokkanen scored eight apiece and junior guard Sara Surtz scored seven.
But Hun (6-7), which connected on nine 3-pointers as a team (compared to four by the Red Hawks), received 14 points off the bench from 5-9 freshman guard Breezy McAlister and 11 points from senior guard Addi McNally, who hit three treys to match Williams.
PENNINGTON (52)
O’Connell 2-2-8, Hokkanen 3-2-8, OLee 1-0-2, Surtz 3-0-7, Wingfield 0-0-0, Doggett 3-3-9, Ashiavor 6-1-13, Cerutti 0-0-0, Couto-Sousa 0-0-0, Mosquera 0-0-0, Vannozzi 2-0-5, Leaks 0-0-0.
Totals — 20-8-52.
HUN (73)
McNally 4-0-11, JWilliams 8-3-22, Nwobu 1-2-5, Carpenter 0-1-1, Tresler 10-0-20, McAlister 6-0-14, Cattaneo 0-0-0.
Totals — 29-6-73.
Pennington(2-8) 4 20 17 11 — 52
Hun (6-7) 18 17 24 14 — 73
3-point goals — O’Connell 2, Surtz, Vannozzi (P), McNally 3, JWilliams 3, Nwobu, McAlister 2 (H).
BORDENTOWN 43, MOORESTOWN FRIENDS 17
MOORESTOWN — The Scotties pulled away from the Foxes in the fourth quarter behind 16 points from Ciara Knight and 14 points from Addison Dziubak in a Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division clash.
BORDENTOWN (43)
Arnold 1-0-2, Knight 5-6-16, LKelly 0-1-1, ATaylor 2-0-4, Madeya 3-0-6, Dziubak 5-1-14.
Totals — 16-8-43.
MOORESTOWN FRIENDS (17)
Ramos 1-0-2, MWilson 1-2-4, Banks 2-0-4, Zauber 0-1-1, Levens 0-0-0, Glickson 2-0-6, Muturi 0-0-0.
Totals — 6-3-17.
Bordentown (7-0) 9 8 8 18 — 43
MoorestownFrds(5-4) 2 0 9 6 — 17
3-point goals — Dziubak 3 (B), Glickson 2 (MF).
FLORENCE 41, RIVERSIDE 11
RIVERSIDE — Jayla Long’s 19 points and Amanda Cech’s 14 points lifted the Flashes over the Rams in a BCSL Independence Division battle.
FLORENCE (41)
Cech 6-0-14, SArnold 0-0-0, Arecchi 0-0-0, RSmith 1-0-2, Long 9-1-19, Walker 2-0-4, Schuler 0-0-0, Franta 1-0-2.
Totals — 19-1-41.
RIVERSIDE (11)
Stillwaggon 1-1-3, Abele 1-0-2, Mahoney 1-0-2, NHarris 0-1-1, Tkacs 1-0-3, Varga 0-0-0.
Totals — 4-2-11.
Florence (3-3) 10 11 9 11 — 41
Riverside (2-4) 3 4 0 4 — 11
3-point goals — Cech 2 (F), Tkacs (R).
