Spotswood girls basketball falls to… Spotswood? Chargers took on Virginia counterparts to tip-off season in historic She Got Game Classic matchup

The Spotswood Chargers from the GMC (in blue) and the Spotswood Trailblazers out of Penn Laird Virginia squared off in the She Got Game Classic in the D.C. area on December 14, 2024. (Photo courtesy Spotswood Athletics)

Girls Basketball Notebook

December 16, 2024 by Mike Pavlichko

“And in girls’ basketball news, Spotswood beat Spotswood.”

Wait, what?

No, it wasn’t an intersquad scrimmage. The Spotswood Chargers girls basketball team – from a small Group 2 school in Middlesex County – opened its 2024-25 season Saturday against what, according to MaxPreps, is the only other high school (with athletic teams) in the national also called Spotswood: the Trailblazers out of Penn Laird, Virginia.

A few miles east of Harrisonburg, VA – the home of James Madison University – lies the “other” Spotswood High School, which opened in 1973, just a few years before the Spotswood High School in New Jersey opened in 1976, giving local students their own high school. Previously, they attended South River, a big reason the two schools have been arch-rivals ever since.

The two Spotswoods played Saturday at The St. James, a multi-court venue just inside the Washington, D.C., Beltway, southwest of the nation’s capital.

The Chargers played a tight first quarter, down just 9-7 after the opening eight minutes, but were down 21-12 at the half, and fell 59-35 in the end. Sophomore Gabby Hill – who averaged 12.3 points per game last year as a freshman – had 17 points in the loss, the only Charger in double-figures.

Spotswood (NJ) girls’ basketball players pose on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on a trip to play Spotswood (VA) in the She Got Game Classic on December 14, 2024. (Source: @SpotswoodHoops on Twitter)

According to MaxPreps, Spotswood (VA) was 18-9 last season, while Spotswood (NJ) is coming off a 21-6 season, and has moved up from the GMC Blue Division to the White for this year and next.

The Chargers will appear on Central Jersey Sports Radio on Tuesday, January 7th, when they host Woodbridge at 6:30 pm.

There’s also a Woodbridge High School in Virginia, but the Chargers (probably) won’t be playing them any time soon.

Click below to hear Spotswood girls’ basketball coach Vinny Vizzi talk about the experience of his Chargers playing Spotswood (VA), and look ahead to the upcoming 2024-25 season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: