Pirates make history and set a precedent for the future
The unbeaten girls basketball streak seemed like it would never end.
For a month, the Pirates of Cinnaminson High School powered through their schedule, taking down teams like Delran, Hammonton and Burlington Township as they jumped out to a 15-0 start.
Heading into their 16th game of the season – a meeting with Jackson Memorial in the South vs. Shore Showcase in January – Cinnaminson was one of two unbeaten teams left in the state.
“I knew that we should be pretty good,” Cinnaminson coach Bret Jenkins said of the season at that point, noting the team’s challenging schedule. “We had won 20 games the year before and had only one senior.”
Only national power St. John Vianney remained to beat, but that school put an end to the Pirates’ historic start when Cinnaminson lost its first game of the season.
All told, the Pirates went 28-5 this season, reaching the final four of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament (SJIBT) and the South Jersey Group II final against Middle Township.
“I knew we would be good and competitive,” Jenkins said of the team, but he acknowledged that he “didn’t think we would be quite that good.”
Never before had the Pirates reached a NJSIAA regional final or gone as far in the SJIBT, not to mention having a program record for wins in a single season. And if the 2022-’23 season was the perfect storm for Cinnaminson, it was one that had been building for years.
“I think expectations this season were to outdo what we did the year before,” senior Brooke Sztenderowicz said. “We also wanted to prove to others that we, even with losing one senior, we are still a great team.
“We are Cinnaminson basketball,” she added. “We wanted to show them all how hard we worked and how much time we put into practice.”
Sztenderowicz was at the forefront of that success in recent years, going 81-22 in her four years on varsity. That stretch has arguably been the best in the Pirates’ history, as the team went 12-2 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season and earned accolades this season.
Leading the charge for the last two seasons has been Sztenderowicz, the senior guard, who averaged a career-high 13.4 PPG in 33 games and hit 60 three-pointers.
“I definitely wanted to create opportunities for myself to score, but even in games where I wasn’t scoring, I wanted to create those opportunities for my teammates,” the senior noted. “It didn’t come down to how many points I had or how many threes I had.
“It just came down to us wanting to win and doing whatever it took to win.”
Success was ahead for Sztenderowicz as the Pirates scored 48.8 points a game offensively, an average margin of more than 17 a game, and held opponents to 31 points a game.
Six Pirates averaged 4.2 points per game, with two players – Sztenderowicz and Rochelle Johnson – averaging in double figures for the year.
“The experience of having success the year before and having the entire team back helped with confidence,” Jenkins recalled. “The intensity this year, how much we pride ourselves on defense, they took that to another level this year.”
This year’s Pirates team is senior heavy: Sztenderowicz and Johnson will both graduate this year, as will contributor Katie Ambos. The three accounted for nearly 61% of Cinnaminson’s offense this season.
But there is depth waiting in the wings. Junior Emma Pfeffer will be the veteran leader, while freshman Nora Quinn will fill the backcourt and Sztenderowicz’ sister Ava will lead the charge offensively from beyond the arc and at the top of the key.
There is plenty of time to look toward next season, but with this school year winding down, the Pirates are still recounting memories of a historic run.
“The school support of girls basketball this year was greater than I’ve ever seen,” Jenkins noted. “I’ve never seen anything like what they got this year, all things that they deserved and earned. I think that’s going to help propel us.
“It’s cool to play girls basketball if you go to Cinnaminson.”
Just nine points separated the Pirates and Middle Township in the SJ Group II final, and that summit is no longer unreachable as the team goes forward.
“This definitely sets high expectations of what a small school can do,” Sztenderowicz pointed out. “People now know what we can accomplish and how to accomplish it, that you need to work hard to do it.”
