Five different girls basketball head coaches joining Mercer County

With the winter season approaching, at least five Mercer County schools will have new varsity girls basketball coaches stepping in when tryouts begin at the end of November.

For the most part, those will be recognizable replacements with the hope of making Mercer County girls basketball even stronger.

Leading the list is Notre Dame High, where Beth (Ardery) Fitzpatrick has been chosen to take over for James Martinos after 13 successful seasons in charge.

Fitzpatrick, whose whole family has deep ties to the Irish, is not only an alumna of the program, but she also brings experience, having previously been a girls basketball head coach in the county at Hightstown High, Hopewell Valley High and West Windsor-Plainsboro High South.

Its funny how life comes full circle, said Fitzpatrick, whose father, Vince, was the schools longtime athletic director and baseball coach.

Both are ND Hall of Famers.

I grew up in this amazing family at Notre Dame, and the fact that I get to come back and hopefully help more girls feel that way is a dream come true.

At the newly named Thrive Charter (most recently Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy), Darnell Alford will take over for Sherika Salmon after two years of rebuilding the team, which will switch from playing in Non-Public B South to Central Jersey Group I as a charter school.

Alford, a former Nottingham High star, was an assistant under Salmon, who is heading to Mercer County Community College with Bob Fusik.

His daughter, Mayah, graduated from the school and team last season and is now at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

I am looking forward to working with such a dedicated and passionate roster and building a culture of hard work, resilience and teamwork, Darnell Alford said in a press release by the school.

In that release, Thrive Charters executive board noted that Alfords experience, leadership and commitment to excellence align perfectly with our vision for the future.

Alford will direct the girls, while alumnus Khalid Lewis was announced as Thrives new varsity boys basketball head coach.

Joe Smiegocki, a well known local fixture through his work with Babe Ruth Baseball, Mercer County Catholic Youth Organization basketball in the St.

Raphael-Holy Angels Parish and as a referee, will be taking over for David Kosa at Princeton High after Kosas seven years as Tigers girls basketball coach.

Since I retired from Babe Ruth, Ive always wanted to get back into coaching, Smiegocki said.

I want to thank (PHS athletic director) Brian Dzbenski and the administration for all their support.

Im really looking forward to this.

Pat Reddington may not be as familiar a name, but anyone who has followed Ewing High girls basketball recently will recognize him.

Besides being the Sports Director at Iron Peaks Sports & Events in Hillsborough, the former assistant under Dan Montferrat with the Blue Devils has been named as PDSs new coach, taking over for Seraphine Hamilton after four years at the helm.

Thrilled to take on this new role as Head Girls Basketball Coach at Princeton Day School, Reddington said in an Instagram post.

Looking forward to guiding this amazing team.

The least familiar new name to Mercer County fans may be Jay Lagomarsino, but he probably shouldnt be.

Lagomarsino had been the varsity girls basketball head coach at Point Pleasant Beach in recent years, bringing the 14-14 Garnet Gulls to the area last winter when they played at WW-P South (a 48-38 win Jan.

13), Hopewell (a 35-27 loss Jan.

17) and Steinert (a 38-32 loss Feb.

2).

The coaching veteran has been tabbed to take over this season for Frank Moore at West Windsor-Plainsboro North after Moores seven years with the club..

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