Moorestown High girls basketball head coach Matt Emerson received the South Jersey Girls Basketball Coach of the Year Award from the Al Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey earlier this year.
“It’s very nice to be recognized by the other coaches …” Emerson said. “A lot of them you’re playing against.”
Besides Emerson, there were two other finalists, Scott Betson from Mainland and Sean McAneny from Lenape. “They both were equally deserving … It was a big honor.
“I was a little bit shocked,” he added. “It’s definitely not why I got into coaching, to win awards, but it is a true reflection of the girls that I have in this program and the amount of work that they put in.
“All wins are … due to them, and that’s probably why I was able to win the award.”
The girls basketball program went out on top this season at 25-6, with the most wins in school history, according to Emerson. Players included seniors Grace Roth and Grace Hanuscin; juniors Rima Takla, Mae Murphy, Kamora Thorton-Jones and Addison Wydra; sophomores Renee Takla, Analyse Intenzo, Mazey Hinshillwood, Ellia Oteri, Julia Blong and Charlotte Lynch; and freshmen Tess Murphy, Marykate Crow, Elyse Antsey and Lilly Carroll.
“This year was definitely the most success that we’ve had with having the most wins in school history, winning the Patriot Olympic Conference Division Championship,” Emerson noted. “We went to the finals of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament, we went to the finals of the Burlington County Tournament, so we’ve had a ton of success. And one of the best parts is we’re a very young team …
“The future is definitely bright.”
“It’s an extremely easy group to be a part of, they work extremely hard and they’ve worked on their game in the off season too, which is another one of the main reasons why we were able to do so well this year,” coach Matt Emerson said of the Moorestown High School girls basketball team. The team record this season was 25-6, the most wins in school history, according to Emerson, who won the South Jersey Girls Basketball Coach of the Year Award.
This was Emerson’s third year with a team that went 17-9 for the 2021-’22 season and 22-8 for the following year. He described his players as an amazing group of girls who have taught him a lot.
“If you were to come to practice or you were to see them all hang out outside of the gym, you would think they were all best friends,” Emerson explained. “They don’t fake it … They’re a very close-knit group of girls and that makes the world of difference for a coach.
“It’s an extremely easy group to be a part of,” he added. “They work extremely hard, and they’ve worked on their game in the off-season too, which is another one of the main reasons why we were able to do so well this year.”
The team’s next season starts in November and its goal is to win the South Jersey, Group 3 Sectional Tournament, Emerson revealed. He knows that the talent is there and he’s excited to see the team grow.
“If you came to any of our games this year and you see the trajectory of where Moorestown girls basketball is going, it’s something that you definitely want to be a part of,” he pointed out. “ … I would encourage anyone to come out. I would encourage anyone to talk to me, talk to any of the juniors or the seniors on the team, and they’ll tell you, they had a blast this year.”
