CJSR Girls’ Coach of the Year Mary Klinger (right) with Villanova-bound Christina Dalce following their season finale, a home win over Saddle River Day on March 6, 2021.
Please scroll down to the bottom of this post for more coverage on Rutgers Prep’s 2021 season:
Everyone wants to play flashy. Everyone wants to score. Everyone wants the basket seen ’round the world.
Often, that’s basketball these days.
For the Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team this year, everybody played defense. And that allowed everybody to get in the games – all 14 players on the varsity roster. Sometimes, everyone scored in a game. And in the end, they all hoisted a trophy: for winning the Skyland Conference’s Blue Division pod.
With a balanced Argonauts squad that was dominant all year – including their final two games when the biggest name on the team, Villanova-bound Christina Dalce, was out with a knee injury – Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Coyle-Klinger was able to instill her trademark trait in her players: defense.
And defense got it done. Her team allowed an average of 31 points per game, while winning by an average of 45. That’s remarkable, no matter how you slice it.
And for all of that, Mary Coyle-Klinger has been chosen as the 2021 Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year.
Click below to hear Mary Klinger talk with CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko:
MORE ON RUTGERS PREP:
No Dalce? No problem. Rutgers Prep girls cruise to win top Skyland Tournament pod
Dalce, Klinger talk dominant Rutgers Prep win in battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2
No. 2 Franklin girls get their crack at No. 1 Rutgers Prep in rematch of 2019 SCT final