Grace Cannon, in her debut as the head coach of the Ridgers, draws up a play during the season opener against Bloomfield.
GLEN RIDGE — In her debut as a head coach, Grace Cannon understandably had a mix of emotions.
The Glen Ridge High School girls basketball head coach was about to face her alma mater, Bloomfield High School.
As her team was warming up prior to the season opener on Dec. 13 at GRHS, Cannon said she had “a little bit of feelings. I’ll always have that love for Bloomfield. But I am excited to be a part of Glen Ridge and I love my team and hopefully get it done here today.”
The Ridgers certainly gave Cannon a memorable first game, as they cruised to a 34-19 victory in front of a large crowd.
Cannon, a 2017 Bloomfield HS graduate who was was a star player for the Bloomfield Bengals, before enjoying more success at Ithaca College in New York, is excited to be the new head coach of the Ridgers, who last season won their first-ever state sectional title, capturing the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 state tournament, and finishing as the Group 1 state runner-up.
“Overall, it’s been really great,” said Cannon prior to the game against Bloomfield. “The energy has been really great. They really have a core unit. They support each other. We’re really excited for this new season.”
The Ridgers are led by a good core of returning players, such as senior center Allison Snyder, junior power forward Caitlin Hood, senior forward Alexa Magalnick, junior guard Lauren Cifelli, and senior guards/forwards Leila Arda, Anabel Mira-McKenzie and Annabel Koss-Defrank.
Hood led the way in the win over Bloomfield. She had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Snyder had eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks, three steals and two points. Koss-Defrank had six points, nine rebounds and three steals; Mira-McKenzie had four points and three steals and Arda had two points and two steals.
Last season, Snyder and Hood earned Second-Team honors and Koss Defrank made honorable mention on the All–Super Essex Conference–American Division, as voted by the divisional coaches.
After the game, Cannon was ecstatic for her team.
“I was happy with our defensive intensity. They communicated well,” said Cannon, adding she was happy with their execution and shot selection.
Cannon wants to see all her 20 players on her team get better as the season progresses.
“Our goals and expectations are to get better every day, and one through 20, have each girl get better, not only with their confidence in basketball, but their skill work as well. Each day, getting better and then hopefully, those will accumulate to wins.”
Notes — Things have come full circle for Cannon. She said her first game as a freshman at Bloomfield HS was against Glen Ridge.
Cannon scored 1,520 points at Bloomfield and 1,242 points at Ithaca, which ranked No. 9 on the Ithaca all-time women’s scoring list.
Photos Courtesy of Doug Snyder and by Joe Ragozzino
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