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there.’”

Which is something Aldarelli has no argument with.

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “That’s when you realize you’re a freshman.”

That may be the only time she looks that young on the court, however, as Aldarelli is one of the new sensations in the Colonial Valley Conference this season. Through Robbinsville’s surprising 9-5 start, she led the team in scoring (9.8 per game) and steals (44) and was second in rebounds with 88 despite playing guard.

“I honestly can’t be much happier at this point as a freshman,” Aldarelli said. “I wasn’t aware of the (leading) scoring thing happening. The people out there with me are a big part of me, Caroline (Walls), Abby (Reagan), Jackie (Maleson) and Reagan (Robinson). They’re there to pick me up when I’m having a tough time. I can always rely on them. Whenever I ask them a question, they have the answer.”

Stone Bridge Middle in Allentown for the previous six years and his sister, Kaitlyn, coached Ava at Pond Road. He not only watched her play, but got insight about her from his sister.

“She had to score at least in the 20s in middle school,” Schmid said. “When I got the job at Robbinsville in October, there was no one who really played significant varsity time. I talked to my sister and said ‘You think this Ava kid can play varsity as a freshman?’ Because it’s tough being 14 and coming in against 17 and 18 year olds.”

Kaitlyn, a former Wagner University assistant coach, gave a resounding “yes” to the question, but her brother wanted to go slow with the ninth-grader. That lasted for about two days of tryouts.

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Those girls are the four returning varsity players, none of which had ample playing time last year as Robbinsville did not return one starter. The four have come together nicely and it’s safe to say the arrival of Ava has been a difference maker.

“Reagan has been awesome,” Schmid said. “She’s leading us in rebounds (107 through 14 games) and assists (29). She’s been huge, I think she got the most varsity time out of all of them. You don’t really expect freshmen to come in and make an impact. But I have to say, I don’t know where we’d be without Ava.”

Aldarelli began playing rec basketball in the first grade and started playing seriously in fourth grade when she joined the Robbinsville travel team. From there she went to the Mid-Jersey Mavericks, led by Steinert coach Kristin Jacobs, and currently plays for the AUF Lady Hawks.

Jacobs recalled that “Ava is a fierce competitor that has a knack for scoring. Nothing shakes her. She keeps herself even keeled.”

Schmid got to see and hear first-hand how fierce Aldarelli played when she was in middle school. Justin coached the

“It was like ‘Uh oh, here we go,” Schmid said. “She was leading the break in drills, finishing around the rim. She was doing a little bit of everything in practice. In our first scrimmage we struggled to score against Delran. I put her in, and I think she had 10 points.

“You can slowly see it coming and I was glad. You never want to give a freshman the keys to the castle right away. But she started the first game and played pretty well, and you could just see it coming.”

Aldarelli had eight points, nine rebounds and six steals against Hamilton in her varsity debut, then continued to prove it was no fluke. Her best game was 25 points and 10 rebounds against Lawrence. She hit double figures six times in the first 14 games, and continued to do other things to help win.

“Anyone’s goal is to make varsity,” Aldarelli said. “I try to have confidence in myself; and (making varsity) was my goal. But no matter if I was on JV or varsity, whatever the situation, just winning games and helping that team is what mattered.”

She is helping the Ravens in many ways and, in what is a rare occurrence, has not drawn the ire or jealousy of upperclassmen.

“My favorite part about her is that noth- and greatly missed by all. Thank you my friend for all the memories.

With Deepest Sympathy to your friends and family, Brenda