The Bayonne High School girls’ basketball team enjoyed a spectacular campaign a year ago, posting a 24-5 record, just one season after being a miserable 9-16.

It was a great turnaround year for veteran head coach James Turner, who remarkably is in his 13th season after Hudson County Hall of Fame coach Jeff Stabile retired.

But there was a sense of disappointment in the Bees’ hive. Even with the stellar record, Bayonne had nothing to show for their hoop prowess.

“There are no second place trophies,” said Turner, whose team lost to Hudson Catholic in the Hudson County Tournament finals and fell to Franklin Township in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group IV finale. “We don’t want a pat on the back, with people saying, ‘Nice job.’ No, that’s not what we want.”

Added Turner, “It burned in me for a long time. We had to play Hudson Catholic a third time last year. We beat them the first two times, but then we lost in the county finals. It’s hard to beat a good team three times in a season. I always believed that. And then in the state finals, I felt the girls were ready. We put together a good game plan. But coming off the bus, I knew that we weren’t ready and that they were going to take advantage of our weaknesses.”

The end result was a 32-point loss to Franklin Township. End of season, time to go home. The 24 wins were nice, but it basically got the Bees nothing.

“It is what it is,” Turner said.

Turner decided that he had to work a little harder. He went to coaching clinics galore and studied others’ mannerisms.

“We had to get a new style,” Turner said. “It keeps coaching fun. It made things interesting.”

But Turner felt that his team still didn’t get any love from opposing coaches, no attention from the statewide media, no admiration from other players. Yes, dare say, the Bees were getting no respect, no respect at all, becoming the regular Rodney Dangerfields of New Jersey girls’ high school basketball.

“Every year, Hudson County doesn’t get the respect from the rest of the state,” Turner said. “I don’t know why, but that’s the way it is every year. We don’t get the respect we deserve.”

So this year, Turner devised a much tougher independent schedule before the Bees faced their familiar Hudson County foes. Turner booked games against prep schools like Pingry and Gill St. Bernards, faced off with Newark Collegiate and went to the Len Sepanak Tournament at Westfield, knocking off Ridge and the host school in the process.

All totaled, the Bees won their first 10 games of the 2019-2020 season. They moved all the way up to No. 14 in the entire state. Respect was being restored.

“We had this stigma that the players in Bayonne and in Hudson County just weren’t that good,” Turner said. “We had to change that a little.”

And the change came from within. The Bees had to take care of their own business.

“We just needed to come to play every night,” Turner said. “Each girl had to do their job. We have a great group of girls. Each one brings a certain set of values. We have a good defense and force teams to take bad shots. We also do a great job of rebounding. The girls have bought into the defensive scheme. I think it helped having a veteran team as we do.”

Leading the veterans is senior forward Makoye Diawara. The 6-foot-1 Diawara earned Hudson Reporter All-Area First Team last year, when she averaged 17 points and 16 rebounds per game. Diawara, already committed to play at NCAA Division I Norfolk State next season, is rapidly approaching the 1,000th point and the 1,000th rebound of her brilliant career.

“She has turned up her game about two notches,” Turner said of Diawara. “She has aspirations to be the Player of the Year. She also wants to win every game and will do whatever she needs to do. She really has become a better player than last year. She’s worked on not picking up sloppy fouls. She’s really concerned about leaving her legacy and whether she will be remembered with the all-time greats here. She’s putting in the extra work and has excellent work ethic. I’m really impressed with what she’s done.”

Diawara is averaging 23.3 points and 18.8 rebounds per game this season. She had 19 points and 19 rebounds in a 57-37 win over Kearny last week. Diawara chose Norfolk State, because she wants to enter the medical field and the school offers a special five-year program.

The other super Bee is 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard Eniya Scott. The brilliant Scott also earned Reporter All-Area First Team honors last season as a freshman. She has picked up right where she left off, filling up the statistic sheet every night. Scott is averaging 17.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 5.5 steals and even one block per contest.

“One of the points of her game is finding people in transition,” Turner said of Scott. “She’s pushing the ball up the floor and she’s really strong, so she’s making a lot of plays.”

Scott is also an honor student and she’s giving back to Bayonne, coaching a Pee-Wee co-ed team.

“I think that’s helped her a lot,” Turner said of Scott. “I think she’s able to see the game in a different way.”

Having two All-Area First Team players is a gigantic advantage, especially in Hudson County. Diawara and Scott make a deadly 1-2 punch.

“I’m very blessed,” Turner said. “Eniya came in last year and she brought a star-studded skill package. Makoye once had no footwork, but we worked with her and the maturation process was remarkable. You really don’t get to see two kids of this talent, especially in a public school. We also have good players around them.”

Mary Grace Lavin is a 5-foot-8 senior who once played at St. Dominic Academy. But Lavin is fitting in nicely in Bayonne.

“She’s come in and she helps Makoye on the boards,” Turner said of Lavin, who is averaging 8.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. “She’s been a really good addition.”

Senior Jada Phillips is a 5-foot-9 forward.

“She is a solid outside shooter and brings defensive toughness every game,” Turner said. “She puts pressure on the other team’s wing players. We’re happy to have her.”

Jolyssa Moody is a 5-foot-7 sophomore who once starred in the Bayonne Recreation league.

“She has a nice outside shot and helps Eniya with her ball handling,” Turner said.

Freshman Christina Centeno is a 5-foot-6 guard who also can stick the outside shot with her left-handed form. Junior Logine Moustafa is a 5-foot-10 forward who was from Bayonne, moved to Chicago and then came back again.

Junior Tamia Phillips is a 5-foot-9 defensive stopper who proves that having two sisters are better than one. Junior Sam Galano is a 5-foot-10 forward who improves daily.

And the Bees have 11 wins in 12 games and a state ranking. Respect may come in the form of county and/or state championships.

“When you do things to your capability, then good things can happen,” Turner said. “I’d much rather lose now than later on.”

The Bees may not lose again all season. Things can happen.

Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com. You can also read Jim’s blog about the Mets’ mess at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com, follow Jim on Twitter @ogsmar and tune into the Hudson County Sports podcast on YouTube. This week’s guest is Hudson County’s all-time leading scorer boys’ and girls’ basketball in former St. Peter’s College standout Kim McDonough Huaranga, the current athletic director at Harrison High School.

St. Peter’s Prep won the boys’ basketball Hudson County Tournament last year for the first time in nine years, and although this year’s tournament will be more of a HCIAL get-together than the full county because of the pandemic shortened season, the Marauders have to be considered the front runners to win the tourney once again in 2021.

The reason for the Marauders being considered the preseason favorite has to be the Marauders’ brilliant backcourt of senior Ray Ford and junior Mark Armstrong.

Simply put, Ford and Armstrong together form the best backcourt in all of New Jersey. They are both NCAA Division I products. Ford has already signed his letter of intent to play for Prep grad and North Bergen native Greg Herenda at Fairleigh Dickinson.

Armstrong, a junior, has more scholarship offers than Kim Kardashian has wedding proposals. Armstrong can write his ticket to practically any college basketball program he wants. He has yet to make his decision official, but you can be rest assured that the college recruiters are all lined up with letters in hand, hoping and praying that the talented guard signs with his school.

“The great thing is that they like to play with each other,” said Prep head coach Alex Mirabel, who is entering his fifth season as the Marauders’ head coach. “They challenge each other on and off the court. They both rise to the occasion. They are two mentally tough kids. They finished off last season strong. When you have two leaders like that, it’s good for the team.”

Let’s start with Armstrong. The 6-foot-3 junior averaged a tick under 20 points per game last season as a sophomore, earning the Hudson County Player of the Year honors, leading the Marauders to a 25-4 record. A First Team All-Hudson County selection two straight years, Armstrong is also a 1,000-point scorer already in just two years of high school and he’s on track to become the school’s all-time leading scorer – and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Armstrong is also on pace to become a 2,000-point scorer, which is something that was once totally unthinkable at Grand and Warren, even going back to the days when Mark’s father, Mark, Sr., was a standout player for the Marauders in the 1980s.

“He’s a great scorer and a great shooter,” Mirabel said. “The biggest thing with Mark is his leadership. We’re working on the mental aspect of the game and make sure he gets everyone to play at a high level. We also want Mark to be more vocal. We want Mark to understand what it takes to play at that high level. He’s pretty good with that concept. He’s focused and locked in, but obviously, the expectations for him are higher.”

Ford is also a 6-foot-3 guard who signed early with FDU, a total get for Herenda and the Knights.

“He’s happy with his selection,” Mirabel said of Ford’s choice of FDU. “I think he also has a bit of a chip on his shoulder because of it. He wants to keep things rolling. He has the same mindset as last year. He’s a catalyst on this team. He wants to make sure that he finishes strong. He’s pretty level-headed and wants to end on a good note.”

Ford averaged close to 14 points per game last season, earning Second Team All-County honors.

Senior Gavin O’Farrell is another key returnee. The 6-foot-6 forward is headed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the top scholastic institutions in the nation.

“Whatever you need him to do, he’ll do it,” Mirabel said. “He’s strong close to the basket, but has a nice little jump shot. He does all the little things you need.”

Junior Alif Bass is a 5-foot-10 point guard.

“He’s a scoring point guard,” Mirabel says of Bass. “He’s aggressive off the dribble. He’s a good pass-and-catch shooter. He’s a glue guy to Mark and Ray. He’s becoming like Will White.”

Mirabel is referring to White, last year’s third guard, who made a lot of key shots down the stretch last season. Mirabel is hopeful that Bass can fill White’s shoes.

Hassan Jackson is a 6-foot-4 forward who transferred to St. Peter’s from the now-closed Marist.

“He’s athletic,” Mirabel said of Jackson. “He has a big body. He finishes around the basket. He hustles a lot and brings a lot of leadership.”

Matt Kinzler is a 6-foot-6 sophomore with a ton of promise.

“He’s a good shooter with a nice touch,” Mirabel said. “He knows all the fundamentals and knows how to play the game.”

Football star Kenny Soares is a 6-foot-2 junior who will see a ton of action on the hardwood.

“He’s an athletic kid who is tough,” Mirabel said. “He’s similar to [2019 Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Year] Shayne Simon. He’s a good shooter who brings that football mentality.”

Soares earned All-Hudson Reporter honors as a tight end for the football team.

Jackson Tindall is a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward.

“He can put the ball on the floor and go to the basket,” Mirabel said. “He’s a good physical player.”

Zion Fowler is a 6-foot sophomore guard who is another football player.

“He might be the most athletic kid we have,” Mirabel said. “He jumps out of the gym and plays hard. He’s a Jersey City kid, so it means he’s tough.”

Tyler Lingham is a 6-foot-3 junior off-guard/small forward.

“He reminds me of Ray [Ford], just not as aggressive,” Mirabel said. “He’s a good driver who goes to the basket well. He’s always around the ball. He can shoot.”

Sophomore DeAndre Singson is a 5-foot-8 guard that Mirabel found while eating at a downtown Jersey City restaurant.

“He said he went to Prep, so we brought him on,” Mirabel said. “He’s quick. He’s a typical Jersey City guard. He knows how to play. He fits in with whatever we have going on. He’s going to be pretty good.”

The pandemic proved to be a major hurdle for the Marauders.

“We did all the Zoom calls and workouts,” Mirabel said. “We basically told them that it’s a challenge that should make you tougher. It’s a mental challenge for them. They can’t take anything for granted. It’s a quick turnaround. We only have a month and a half to play this season. We don’t have a lot of time to expand what we do. We have to be precise with everything. The good thing is that we’ll be playing all our games in the county. We all know what we can do and the tendencies we have.”

And Mirabel was asked if the Marauders are wearing the bulls’ eye, being the defending county champ.

“As far as the bulls’ eye goes, we always have that,” Mirabel said. “Everyone wants to beat St. Peter’s. I’ve noticed that. People are always coming after us, so we can never let down. We just have to continue to get better and rise to the challenge. We just have to be ready.”

The Marauders begin play Jan. 28 against Lincoln.

“We have a good back court and we have to hope that everything is going well with them,” Mirabel said of Armstrong and Ford. “But we’re excited to be playing. We hope to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year.”

Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com. You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com, follow Jim on Twitter @ogsmar and listen to the Hudson County Sports Podcast, brought to you weekly by Stan’s Sports Center, 528 Washington Street in Hoboken, on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to this week’s guest, namely former Snyder High School and Purdue University basketball standout Roy “Pooh” Hairston.

The date: June 1, 2019.

Alicia Campbell, at the time a junior at Snyder High School, was competing in the triple jump at the NJSIAA Group III state championships at Central Regional High School in Bayville.

Campbell was enjoying the best track and field season of her young life, coming off the heels of four Hudson County Track Coaches Association gold medals just two weeks prior at Secaucus High School, then earning Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week honors.

A week earlier, Campbell won the gold medal in the discus and silver medals in the long jump and triple jump at the North Jersey Section 2, Group III championships at Middletown North High School. So it was already a dream season before the Group championship meet.

Campbell remembers vividly what happened at Central Regional.

“It was my third jump of the prelims,” Campbell explained. “And I landed in the sand, in a divot of the sand. My left ankle went into the sand. I tried to get up, but I then felt this wave of pain.”

Snyder head coach Robert Arena also remembers the fateful jump.

“She had already qualified for the [NJSIAA] Meet of Champions,” Arena said. “She didn’t need it. She had qualified for the Meet of Champs in two events. An official radioed us and we got to her and she was already laughing. She wanted to jump through it.  She wanted to keep going.”

Campbell had managed to reach 37 feet, two inches, which was already good enough to receive the silver medal in Group III. But what most people didn’t realize is that the fateful leap would result in a broken fibula in Campbell’s ankle, a break that would require surgery to repair and immediately ended Campbell’s dream season.

“When I heard she broke her ankle, I immediately thought that I screwed up as a coach,” Arena said. “I thought I pushed this girl too much. I thought she would never be able to jump in the sand ever again.”

About a week after the jump, Campbell had surgery to repair the break. She was placed in a hard cast for a month, then a compression boot for another.

“It was really tough,” Campbell said. “I had qualified for the Meet of Champions in more than one event. I had the nationals as well that I lost.”

But Campbell was determined to make a full comeback.

“The day after I got the cast off, I went straight to physical therapy,” Campbell said. “I was able to do some basic exercises. I started to rotate my ankle a little, just trying to get some strength back. When I was in physical therapy, I was ready to do so much more, but I was told to take it easy.”

There was a sad thing that occurred while Campbell was rehabilitating the injury.

“All of the offers from colleges dried up,” Arena said. “They usually do.”

After rehabbing throughout the summer, Campbell was determined to play volleyball in the fall.

“That was against my will,” Arena said. “But she wanted to do so.”

“When school started [in September], I wasn’t cleared yet,” Campbell said. “It was only a couple of days, like Sept. 10 or so. I was able to play volleyball.”

Campbell had a fine volleyball season for the Tigers, earning All-Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League honors as a middle hitter, but she rolled her right ankle in one of the last matches. Luckily, it was only a sprain, but she was still a little hobbled, now with two ankles to worry about.

When the indoor track season began in December, Arena had no idea what Campbell was going to be able to do.

“We started with Alicia throwing the shot put,” Arena said. “And she threw 35 feet right away. She was having a little trouble with the long jump.”

But Campbell was determined.

“It felt a little weird,” Campbell said. “I was so ready. I wasn’t focused on breaking any PRs [personal records]. I just had to get back to where I was. I was confident I could do that. I set high expectations of myself. I was a little frustrated for a while, but then I had to make sure that I realized that indoor track was for getting back to where I was.”

Campbell made sure that she got her surgically repaired ankle taped properly before she did anything. In fact, she became so accustomed to the preparations that she was able to tape the rehabbed ankle herself.

“Before I do anything, I make sure I get my ankle taped,” Campbell said. “And after every practice, I go to ice it.”

Still, there had to be some apprehension before Campbell could realize if she was really ready.

“I’m not going to lie, but I was a little worried,” Campbell said.

Last week, Campbell made sure everyone knew that she was back and ready for action.

At the Hudson County Track Coaches Association’s championships at the New York Armory, Campbell proved that she had indeed returned.

She won the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, six and ½ inches, finished third in the hurdles and fourth in the high jump.

But more importantly, Campbell went right back to the long jump pit and jumped an astounding 17 feet, 11 inches, which won the gold medal and placed her fourth currently in the state overall.

And for her efforts, Campbell has once again been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.

Campbell knows she’s not all the way back. But she’s back enough to make her mark.

“I feel that there are going to be times when I’m still a little shaky,” Campbell said. “But I feel like I’m getting back up there.”

Arena was obviously pleased.

“I said, ‘Alright, we’re back in this,’” Arena said. “I think she’s ready. I went up to her and said, ‘Do you understand what just happened? You jumped up 18 spots in the state, from No. 22 to No. 4.’ She also qualified for the indoor nationals in the shot put. I mean, when she broke the ankle and was lying in the hospital bed, I told her that she could become the best comeback athlete ever or just let it all go. And you saw what she did.”

Arena added, “Not many athletes can come back from such a bad break like the one she had. She had six screws and six pins put in. I don’t remember anyone having such a bad break and coming back. Usually, they don’t come back. You don’t expect that from a 17-year-old girl. You see that maybe in the movies. It’s like when Rocky was down and out and he was getting beat up by Clubber Lang and he came back. She wants to be the best comeback athlete ever. She’s something else.”

More importantly, the colleges have returned. Campbell has multiple NCAA Division I scholarship offers.

“I’m real close to making a decision,” Campbell said. “I was a little skeptical, but that’s what pushed me harder. Every athlete has those moments of doubt, but you have to overcome those. The only thing that really matters is the comeback. There are better things to come.”

Arena said that there are two different sides to Campbell.

“There’s the one side where she’s very respectful, very polite and courteous,” Arena said. “And then there’s the other side, where she becomes the Hulk. She has this ‘let’s go’ mechanism and is ready to go. It’s like she has tunnel vision. She gets on that line and she’s there to win. She’s an animal.”

The polite Campbell said that she was happy to be back.

“I still know I can do better,” Campbell said. “But it’s real good to be back. I’m grateful for it. I thank my trainer in school, my coach, my mother [Alexandra Jerez, herself a former Reporter Athlete of the Week], my teammates, they all pushed me. This is just the start.” – Jim Hague

Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com