Amira Pinkett helps Hun girls basketball pull away from Pennington
Jan 09, 2025
PENNINGTON — As one of two seniors on the Hun School’s varsity girls’ basketball team, Amira Pinkett has learned how to delegate.
Six-foot forward Pinkett and her 5-11 classmate CeeJay Thomas dominate the paint for head coach Sean Costello’s Raiders, so they are happy to share some of their leadership roles with 5-5 junior point guard Gabby D’Agostino.
That’s easy to understand when you see D’Agostino direct the offense. D’Agostino led Hun with her own kind of double-double Wednesday – 23 points, 10 assists – when the Raiders visited Mid-Atlantic Prep League foe Pennington at Sparks Gymnasium and handed the Red Hawks a 57-36 loss on a day when the Pennington campus had been graced by a visit from new University of North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick.
“She does it all,” Pinkett said in praise of D’Agostino. “She’s the ultimate point guard. She’s our spark. Gabby makes things happen for us. She provides leadership on and off the court. We share that leadership role.”
With defenses forced to pay so much attention to D’Agostino, it opens the door for her teammates to do their own damage. Pinkett nearly provided a double-double of her own yesterday, coming up with nine points, on three 3-point field goals, all fed to her from D’Agostino, and nine rebounds, which was a big help when Thomas had to limit her time with an injury in the second half.
“It was close in the first quarter, but we knew what we wanted to do and our energy was good,” Pinkett said of her team’s 14-10 lead after eight minutes. “At halftime, we reset. Our movement and our shot selection were better in the second half.”
Hun showed that in the third quarter when the visitors broke open a 28-19 halftime lead by erupting for 20 points, including 11 in a row, while limiting the Red Hawks to four points. The Raiders did not allow any points for the final five minutes of that stanza.
“It starts with defense for us,” Pinkett said. “After halftime, we locked in more.”
“With Gabby, you have to watch out for her all the time,” Pennington 5-10 freshman forward Dayonna Doggett said. “And today their bigs were really on.”
Doggett, a Fisher Middle School product who’s been averaging 10.5 points per game for the 4-5 Red Hawks since switching over to her winter season after a fall full of soccer, was back on her game versus Hun with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while six-foot freshman center Eden Ashiavor added eight points and 12 rebounds.
“My role is to score, but it’s also to be all over the court,” Doggett said. “At times, I beat myself down. So, for me, it’s a matter of not letting the other team take over my head.”
Considering Hun, mostly through the ball-hawking defense of 5-6 freshman guard Sienna Golizio, held Pennington’s leading scorer, 5-7 senior guard Izzy Augustine, to a season-low five points, any other contributions were crucial. Junior guard Anna Hokkanen added nine points for the home team to match Golizio’s eight.
The Raiders also got a key defensive effort from 5-8 junior guard Victoria Lubaczewski with 10 rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot to help Pinkett and Co. pick up their 13th win already this season (three more than they had all of 2023-24).
HUN (57)
Pinkett 3-0-9, Thomas 2-0-4, McNally 2-0-6, Lubaczewski 1-0-2, D’Agostino 9-4-23, Angelone 1-0-2, Sheth 0-0-0, Nwobu 1-0-3, Golizio 3-0-8.
Totals — 22-4-57.
PENNINGTON (36)
Augustine 2-1-5, O’Connell 0-3-3, Hokkanen 4-0-8, Surtz 0-0-0, Halpin 0-0-0, Davis 0-0-0, Raman 0-0-0, Doggett 6-0-12, Ashiavor 4-0-8.
Totals — 16-4-36.
Hun (13-3) 14 14 20 9 — 57
Pennington(4-5) 10 9 4 13 — 36
3-point goals — Pinkett 3, McNally 2, D’Agostino, Nwobu, Golizio 2 (H).
BLAIR ACADEMY 94, PEDDIE 11
BLAIRSTOWN — The Bucs showed no mercy for the Falcons in steamrolling to an 83-point victory in another MAPL contest.
PEDDIE (11)
Salapatas 0-0-0, Loughran 0-0-0, Naddelman 0-0-0, Caban 1-0-3, Muenzen 0-0-0, Gudapati 0-0-0, Forte 3-0-6, LIngram 0-0-0, EIngram 1-0-2, Wetmore 0-0-0.
Totals — 5-0-11.
BLAIR ACADEMY (94)
N/A
Peddie (0-4) 5 2 2 2 — 11
BlairAcademy(7-2) 31 22 21 20 — 94
3-point goal — Caban (P).
BORDENTOWN 39, MOORESTOWN FRIENDS 12
BORDENTOWN — Maddie Wylie outscored the Foxes by herself with 15 points for the Scotties.
MOORESTOWN FRIENDS (12)
Morban 0-3-3, AJones 1-0-2, Santiago 0-1-1, Banks 1-0-2, Zauber 1-0-2, Wallace 0-2-2.
Totals — 3-6-12.
BORDENTOWN (39)
Wylie 6-3-15, Morton 2-0-4, Crowell 0-0-0, Reed 0-0-0, ABrown 0-0-0, Knight 2-1-5, LKelly 0-0-0, Wade 0-0-0, CArnold 4-0-8, Maloney 0-0-0, ATaylor 1-0-3, Madeya 2-0-4.
Totals — 17-4-39.
MoorestownFrds(3-4) 1 4 0 7 — 12
Bordentown (3-2) 13 10 14 2 — 39
3-point goal — Taylor (B).
POSTPONEMENT
PHILADELPHIA – Riverside and Florence scrimmaged ahead of last night’s Sixers’ game at the Wells Fargo Center. They are trying to reschedule yesterday’s key regular-season Burlington County Scholastic League Independence Division game for later this month.