Lenape Girls’ Basketball Earns Second State Title In Three Years
The recent run by Lenape’s girls’ basketball team has been downright impressive. In 2024, the Indians won the state Group 4 championship. Last year Lenape advanced to the South Jersey Group 4 final before falling to rival and fellow Olympic Conference American Division foe Cherokee.
This year the Indians duplicated their feat of winning a state title by beating Westfield, 52-42 in the state Group 4 championship game.
What made the season even more impressive for Sean McAneny’s Indians was the fact that Lenape played its usual rugged schedule in winning several championships.
The Indians captured the Olympic American title, going 8-0 in the process.
Lenape captured the Burlington County tournament championship, beating eventual Group 3 state champion Moorestown, 64-45 in the title game.
Then came the South Jersey Group 4 tournament, where Lenape blitzed through four games, beating Howell, 59-40 in the sectional final.
And of course, that was capped by the win over Westfield in the state championship.
Of Lenape’s four losses, two came against NJSIAA Non-Public B state champion Gloucester Catholic. The second of those losses was a 49-46 nail-biter in the semifinal of the South Jersey Basketball Invitational Tournament.
Another loss early in the season came to Trinity Hall of the always tough Shore Conference. Trintiy Hall ended up being a 20-win team.
The other loss came against eventual NJSIAA Non-Public A state champion Red Bank Catholic, the consensus No. 1 team in the state.
Playing such a rugged schedule helped prepare the Indians for the rigors of the state tournament.
Lenape won its four South Jersey Group 4 tournament games by an average of 29.2 points.
The Indians then beat Franklin, 54-35 in the state Group 4 semifinal before earning a 19-point win over Westfield in the state final.
Lenape was led all season by junior guard El-Anita Joe-Samuel, who with one year remaining, has already established her self as one of the all-time greats in South Jersey history.
She was an integral part of Lenape’s 2024 state title as a freshman and Joe-Samuel continued that dominance this season.
This year she averaged 24.4 points and 8.7 rebounds, while connecting on 60 three-point field goals.
Not surprisingly, Joe-Samuel has some of her biggest games in Lenape’s most important wins.
During the win over Moorestown in the Burlington County tournament championship, she totaled 40 points and 17 rebounds,
She scored 36 points in Lenape’s 55-33 South Jersey Group 4 semifinal win over Cherokee and then added 20 points and 17 rebounds in the sectional championship victory over Howell.
During the state semifinal win over Franklin, Joe-Samuel exploded for 39 points before totaling 25 points and 12 rebounds in the state championship victory over Westfield.
Senior guard Olivia Watkins averaged 7.9 points while junior Shelby Croly averaged 7.0 points. Senior Ryleigh Nichols averaged 5.6 points and freshman Sloane Fedoruk averaged 5.3 points.
Lenape ended the season on a 13-game winning streak. With Joe-Samuel having one year left, the Indians should continue to be among the elite in South Jersey and the state.
Lenape girls basketball / Courtesy of Lenape girls basketball
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Author: Marc Narducci
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