Monroe coach Brian Hinz talks to his players during a time out in a game at Old Bridge on January 2, 2025. (Submitted photo)
The first year for a head coach can often be a feeling out period. A time to get to know your players.
It doesn’t always kick into high gear right away. After all, it’s high school basketball, and especially at public schools, there’s little you can do to re-tool a roster if the cupboard has been left bare.
That was far from the case at Monroe.
Brian Hinz had spent several years under Jeff Warner, as an assistant with the boys’ basketball program. But he came over to the girls’ side and spent a year under Leigh Vogtman before she stepped down and he took the reins.
Coming off an 18-10 season, the Falcons graduated some key players – Nicole Turco, Halley Cottrell and Avery Labaska – but returned others, like Evangelina Francisco and sophomore Kiera Longo. They also brought in transfer Zoe Wilcher from St. Thomas Aquinas.
And what did they do?
They went 20-10, a two-win improvement over the season before, and went to both the GMC Tournament and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 finals. While both turned out to be losses – to Aquinas in the GMCs and eventual state Group 4 champion Hillsborough in the states – the season was a great success.
The Falcons finished 9-5 in the highly competitive eight-team GMC Red Division, which was a battle just about every night.
And for Hinz, in his first season as a varsity head coach, it’s earned him Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year Honors for 2024-25.
Click below to hear Monroe head coach Brian Hinz talk about the Falcons’ 2025 season:
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