Sami Yusko prepares to pass during a 39-32 win against Ewing on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Several players have been with the Hopewell Valley Central High School girls’ basketball program for the entirety of its recent historic run, but head coach Jeff Losch said senior guard Sami Yusko is the squad’s backbone—even if it’s not evident on the stat sheet.
The Bulldogs have had three consecutive 20-win seasons, and they are hoping to make it four this year. They are perennial Patriot Division contenders, having won or tied for the last nine titles.
Other players have stepped up as point scorers and leaders on paper; Yusko realized she’d be more helpful on the other side of the ball.
“She knows the people who get most of the attention are the people who score, and that hasn’t bothered her,” Losch said. She still just goes about her business and does the other things to help us win.”
Yusko said that hasn’t always been the case. She saw her playing style shift and develop with each season, gradually focusing more on defense as she got older.
“I became more of a defensive player,” she said. “I used to be more of an offensive player. That has changed completely. With the team and growing up with them, they’ve changed me to be a better player. They help me when I need help on certain things. They make me better.”
Losch noticed the change, too.
“Her first year or two, being younger and having older girls who did a lot of scoring, she realized that you need five people to play defense at a time,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re going to be in trouble. She’s always worked pretty hard on defense. That’s just something she’s really come into her own even more. She uses her athleticism and her toughness to her advantage.”
Yusko is quick and active during games and practices. She’s at her best grabbing rebounds or getting steals, and Losch said it’s the result of hard work and a desire to be all over the court.
That demeanor has changed the way her teammates play, too.
“The younger girls, when you watch her just playing as hard as she can, everyone else just naturally does,” Losch said. “They don’t want to let her down by not trying as hard as she does.”
Yusko said she just appreciates playing on a talented team. Her individual and group goals for this season are the same: to win the Patriot Division title and advance beyond the county and state semifinals, something the Bulldogs have struggled to do in the past.
She believes they’re capable.
“We work so hard, but we play against a very hard team and lose,” she said. “We want to win this year. I think our team has the potential to do it. Even though we’re all young, we all love each other. We have great camaraderie. I think it’s definitely possible.”
That fellowship is something Losch values in his team, and he credits Yusko as one of its main advocates.
“They care about each other a great deal, but they’ve been very accepting to the other girls,” he said. “We have some younger girls who have stepped up and they’re scoring and they’re playing big roles. Sami has been very accepting of that.”
The coach said that all goes back to her character on and off the court.
“She’s grown up a lot over the years,” Losch said. “It’s something most younger players don’t see or appreciate. Sami has got a lot of maturity. She’s very unselfish. If she wanted to, she could be worried about her points and trying to score, but she doesn’t do that. She passes the ball to the other girls and she works her tail off to be as good on defense as possible.”
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