FBC Defenders

After spending the last two seasons as a member of the supporting cast for the Stuart Country Day basketball team, Parris Branker is ready to shoulder more responsibility this winter.

“It’s difficult but it’s fun; I like being a leader on the court,” said senior guard Branker.

“I have a lot of help from the other two seniors, Jen Dias and Angela Gallagher. They help out and encourage the team.”

Things proved to be a little difficult for Branker and her teammates as they battled Northern Burlington last Wednesday in their first action since late December.

Danielle Brown, who has taken the reigns at Rahway, has seen her team get off to a 2-1 start after Thursday afternoon’s 34-32 victory over St. Patrick.

Brown graduated from St. Peter’s of North Brunswick in 2006 and Kean University in 2010. She was a Third Team All-Middlesex selection as a senior in high school and was a Second-Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference pick as a junior at Kean.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

PHILADELPHIA - Alexis Scott sizzled for 33 points, shattering her previous career high of 21 in a 72-59 loss at Drexel on Monday night in La Salle’s first game back after an 11-day layoff for finals.

She became the second player this calendar year to hit the 30-point mark as Ashley Gale kicked off 2011 with a 31-point performance at Lehigh on Jan. 2.

Scott scored seven of the Explorers’ first nine points and hit double digits just 7:13 into the contest. She added six rebounds and three assists.

The North Brunswick High School girls basketball team has been one on the rise in recent years and this year looks to be one that could top last years’ when the team went 16-9 and to the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

Helping lead the team this season will be senior center Taryana Kelly and senior guard Jasmine Walker, both of whom signed letters of intent to play at Division I universities. Full Article

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Alexis Scott led all scorers with 21 points and the La Salle women’s basketball team cut the West Virginia lead down to five late in the second half, but the Mountaineers pulled out the 63-52 decision at WVU Coliseum on Wednesday night.

PHILADELPHIA - Alexis Scott scored 18 points, Ruvanna Campbell pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, and the La Salle women’s basketball team gave #15/15 Rutgers everything it had in a 61-48 loss at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday night.

Khadijah Rushdan led all scorers with 20 points and April Sykes chipped in 12. Jada Payne was the other Explorer in double figures with 11.

Neither team got on the board until the 15:16 mark when Khadijah Rushdan hit a jumper to break the scoreless game.

Payne scored La Salle’s first eight points on two treys and a jumper to put the Explorers up 8-7, before the Scarlet Knights went on a run to push their lead to 10 with a 30-20 edge at the half.

The Explorers opened the second half on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to five before a 10-2 Rutgers run put the gap back to 13. A Scott trey with 4:52 remaining cut the deficit back to six at 51-45, but that was the closest the home squad got down the stretch.

Campbell was terrific on the defensive end with her game-high 11 rebounds and game-high four blocks. Brittany Wilson added a game-high five steals in 13 minutes of play. The Explorers limited the Scarlet Knights to 36.5 percent shooting (23-for-63).

The Explorers return to Gola Arena on Tuesday (11/22) when they host Big 5 rival Penn at 7 p.m.

Click “Alexis Scott” to go to box score.

The 2012 college recruiting class of New Jersey will contain at least 2 players from the Defenders program. Within the last 24hrs the program has had Jasmine Walker committing to Monmouth University (NEC Conference) and Taryana Kelly committing to Maryland Eastern Shore (MEAC Conference).  With their families, teammates, and friends looking on, these athletes proudly signed and faxed in their NLIs this week making there journey complete and dream a reality. The two players are teammates at North Brunswick Township High School and are going to be relied on heavily by the team if North Brunswick is to make a run at the Middlesex County title this season.

Please join me in congratulating Jasmine Walker and Taryana Kelly as well as Monmouth University and Maryland Eastern Shore!

Raiders’ Walker, Kelly sign letters of intent

As signing day is upon us we received word today that two FBC Defenders 2012 players will announce their college choice early next week. The club has posted a facebook event saying that Jasmine Walker will announce her decision on Monday, 11/14/ at 3:15pm, and Taryana Kelly will announce her decision on Tuesday, 11/15 at 2:45pm. Please join the program in congratulating them both!!

FBC Defenders AAU Club Staff

Hey guys, Jaymee here! Wow where do I begin? Senior year, I can’t believe how time flies. Well I basically want to talk about the two different sides of my life, basketball and education.

First off let’s talk about education.  It was just yesterday where I thought I had so much time to make big decisions on my life after college. Now the time is finally here. What is my next move? Where do I go? Where do I live? How do I pay off these student loans? What kind of job do I want to pursue? What if I can’t find a job? All these crazy questions need to be answered and I am the only one who can make it happen. Focusing on one thing at a time is so important. Most often you will find that things tend to fall into place when you stay focused, dedicated, and determined.

Now let’s talk a little about basketball. The team is looking really good so far. The determination and focus of the 5 freshman really brings a lot of energy to the court. Before we could start practicing the entire team had to pass a “fitness test”. The word “fitness” is used lightly, lol. It consists of 3 parts, the mile, 55’s, and ladders. We get 15 minute breaks in between each part of the test; however it is not just a test of your fitness, but your mind as well. Becoming mentally tough is a huge part of the game. Skill will get you into college but mental toughness will keep you there.

As of right now I am finishing up the second month of school and it is now the third week of practice, man oh man does it feel like forever already. Waking up at 7 each morning and going through an intense practice. Then off to class I go for a few hours. On Mondays and Thursdays I don’t return home till about 10 pm. And of course I still need to eat and wake up at 7 again the next morning. It makes you begin to wonder if there is actually enough time in the day. Sometimes I think about what 24 hours really means.

There’s always something to do in between classes as well. The amount of papers, lab reports, and exams is insane. Then of coarse reading ahead before class so I can keep up with everything must be scheduled into my day as well. It is so important to manage your time or you will struggle not only in the classroom but on the court as well. If I have an exam that I feel that I hadn’t prepared well for it makes it hard to pay attention for a full practice.  And when your coach is getting on your case it’s definitely no fun. Finding a happy medium is so important. If it means that I can’t take a nap in the middle of the day so I can write a paper than so be it. Because that is just one less thing I need to worry about and a lot more sleep I can catch up on at night.

I am a full time athlete and a full time student. However, I still want to be a full time kid. Joining a varsity team at the collegiate level is tough and requires certain sacrifices but in the end it is so worth it.  It will also force you to decide if basketball is as important as you think. Well back to the grind…Jaymee

Hey guys! I miss you guys already even though I’ve only been here about a month. I guess I’ll update you on my experiences in good old Morgantown so far. Well I’ll start by saying I know everyone in high school is anxious to leave and get to college…well don’t be lol. Don’t get me wrong I love it here but it definitely, has a lot of parts I wasn’t expecting. 1st Moving in. I packed EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING! I was under the assumption that I didn’t want to leave something I may need meaning a specific shirt or pair of shoes. It took FOREVER to move my stuff upstairs because other people are using carts and the elevators so you have to wait. Then once I got all my stuff upstairs I had to unpack and figure out where to put all this stuff I brilliantly(not really) decided to bring. If you get lucky like I did you’ll get a nice dorm and won’t have to share a closet. Seriously try not to bring everything if you don’t have to, I found room but I didn’t really need all this stuff. Hopefully you get to pick your roommates because I lucked up and my roommate is cool but some of my friends’ roommates, not so much. So look into that. After the family left and I was all by my lonesome, I had no clue what I wanted to do 1st. I was excited yet super nervous. I ended up just hanging out with my cousin who is also here. Tip: In the early days when classes haven’t started yet, FIND out where your classes are and take what ever Transportation your going to be using so you know how long it will take you. PLEASE do not do what I did. I had NOOO clue where some of my classes were and then even leaving out early I was still lost. Don’t buy supplies! WELL buy them, but all you really need to start is notebooks, pens/pencils, post it notes, index cards, and stapler/staples. Most of my teachers told me what they wanted on the 1st day of classes, which was basically nothing. Oh yea you definitely need a printer or else get used to taking several trips to the library. Meal plans? I got a huge one, mostly because I like to eat lol but I don’t even use it that much.Honestly you don’t have time to eat unless your classes are so spaced out. Getting up seems easy in High School but in college its terrible. Most people roll out of bed and go to class, so there goes breakfast unless you have like some sort of on the go snacks. In between classes all you want to do is go back to your dorm in sit down and or sleep. But after classes are over you’re free to finally eat and do as you please. I think most of the time I end up eating at ridiculous times of the night. The first week of classes is a JOKE!! But you should still go just because you get office hours,syllabi, etc. You get out early anyway so you might as well go. Your Syllabus is your best friend,because teachers do not post homework, test or,anything so if you don’t read that i don’t know what your going to do. Making friends? Not making friends is almost impossible to some degree at least at my school because they talk to everyone. So you shouldn’t worry about that, even if your not trying to make friends it will happen. I’ve made lots of friends and I’m not the most social person if I don’t know you. I’ve made friends with a bunch of the athletes, especially the basketball players because they live in my dorm.IF you PLAY SPORTS in college especially at a D1 school, I don’t know if it’s just like huge schools, but I’m assuming all.

Their Schedule pretty much looks like this:

1.wake up at whatever time, but you have to be to conditioning/weight lifting by 6:00am and stay until 8.

2. Go straight to classes until about 12.(you do not have spaced out classes you have back to back ones so that you can make it to practice)

3. GO to practice at like 2:00 until 5:00 (sometimes this is individuals and sometimes not)

4: then go to study hall(you have to have 8 hours a week)

5: then open gym at like 8:00- 10:00

6. After you still have homework, have to eat, shower!

They have no life except their sports. on top of that they have individuals! Don’t get me wrong they go out but not as much as the normal student because they have to get up before 6 the next morning. THis is just in the off season!! they said when the season actually starts they’ll have to do this on top of longer practices and harder ones. SO just a warning to you guys. COME IN SHAPE! Even after they have all these workouts, they’re still in the gym by themselves.Dedication! Definitely an eye opener.

The work? Its not so much harder but its a lot more than high school! ITs a little hard to keep up with all of it. Which assignment goes for which class but once you get the hang of it you’ll be fine. I know I wrote a lot but so much more to tell you! I’ll blog again maybe later, I have half an hour to get to class haha! Good thing its on this campus.

Running to class,

Shanti!