Holy Spirit Girls Take Down Bloomfield Tech

Frasier and Drinovsky offer 1-2 punch in Battle of the Spartans

By STEVE BELL
Staff Writer

VENTNOR _ The Holy Spirit High School varsity girls basketball team surprised many at the AtlantiCare Ventnor Girls Basketball shootout on Monday, Feb. 18 when they topped highly favored Bluefield Tech 43-40.
Bloomfield Tech, playing without two of their regular starters, has been the subject of several stories lately regarding the alleged use of ineligible players. It has been reported that the Bluefield Tech Spartans have been disqualified from the state tournament for alleged rules violations involving the two transfers from Union. They had previously been ranked third in the state.
Holy Spirit received stellar performances from sophomore center Hillary Drinovsky and junior Jesse Frasier, who contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Frasier grabbed an impressive 19 rebounds, while Drinovsky gathered in 14.  Frasier also recorded seven blocked shots, several of which came at key moments in the game.
“I really love blocking shots,” said Frasier. “It makes me kind of feel powerful, I guess.  It’s great when they come at points in the game that are pivotal and make an impact.”
Making an impact was exactly what Frasier did, also recording five steals, while leading the Lady Spartans to the team’s biggest victory of the season so far.  She led an offense that controlled the pace of the game and moved the ball around the court, staving off an aggressive Bloomfield Tech defense.
“This game is really big for us,” said Frasier. “We feel like we can compete on a high level and win against anyone.”
Frasier was quick to give praise to her teammates, especially Drinovsky, who had a break-out night.
“Hillary really stepped up tonight,” said Frasier. “We really needed her to play big tonight and she definitely did.  She went to the basket strong and kept the pressure on inside.”
Spirit coach Larry DiGiovanni, obviously thrilled with his team’s play, singled out the play of Frasier and Drinovsky.
“Jesse came out in a big time event and really showed what she is capable of doing,” offered DiGiovanni. “She came up really big handling the ball, shooting and rebounding.  She showed why she is the leader of this team.
“Hillary did a great job inside for us tonight,” continued DiGiovanni. “She’s been working really hard all season and tonight she reaped the rewards of that work, just when we really needed it.”
DiGiovanni considered that this game might be just what the Spartans need as the regular season winds down and the playoff push begins.
“This is a very resilient team,” said DiGiovanni, whose team meets Bishop Ahr in the first round of the playoffs. “The girls have had a tough schedule and have been working hard all year.  I told them that good things would come from all the work and tonight that happened.”