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After his team left it all on the court in a season-ending loss in the Central Group 4 championship game, Brian Hinz made sure not to leave the large dry-erase whiteboard that made the 45-minute, inter-county trip on a yellow bus in the visiting team’s locker room at Hillsborough High School.
It was a veteran move for the first-year coach of the Monroe High School girls basketball team to secure the board from Monroe football coach Nicholas Isola.
“I wanted to make sure we would be prepared for our pregame talk and I wasn’t sure if they would have a board -- at least a board big enough for us to use,” Hinz said. “We wanted to do it the same way we did it the whole postseason. We included our pregame message and listed our goals for the game – limiting the number of 3s, winning the rebounds and turnovers – that we would re-visit at halftime and either check or ‘x’ off.
“The last box on the board asked a question: ‘Do we have practice tomorrow?’ We wanted to keep waking up and being back at practice together, preparing for another game. If we didn’t have a board -- a big board -- we wouldn’t have been doing things the same way.”
Girls basketball index: Links to Courier News, Home News Tribune All-Area honors package
More: Monroe jumps to early lead, cruises to Central Group 4 girls basketball final
There were no more practices for the Falcons following the 72-44 loss to Hillsborough, but the setback to the eventual Group 4 champion didn’t dampen a memorable season, and there should be many, many, many more future practices for Monroe and its coach.
With the fiery Hinz leading the way, and senior guard Evangelina Francisco setting a program record for career points, Monroe won 20 games, including six elimination contests, finished second in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division and reached the championship game of both the sectional tournament and the GMC Tournament.
Hinz is the Home News Tribune Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.
“Brian is a highly competitive person, whether it’s in games or practices, and he made that competitiveness very important to the girls,” said Monroe High School boys basketball coach Jeff Warner, who had Hinz on his staff for seven seasons. “It’s very impressive, all he did and all the success he had as a first-year coach, and all that goes into that. The way he got the girls to believe and fight was unbelievable.”
A graduate of Raritan High School and Seton Hall University, Hinz is in his 10th year at Monroe as a media specialist working out of the school’s library. His coaching resume includes a stint with the volleyball program and he is currently the head coach of the Falcons flag football team, which is in its fourth season.
Hinz switched to the girls’ basketball program for the 2023-24 season and guided the Falcons’ junior varsity to a 20-0 record before taking the helm from Leigh Vogtman.
“The girls took to his coaching right away,” Warner said. “That really says a lot about Brian. He got the girls to buy in 1,000 percent, offensively and defensively.”
“He’s good at everything,” Francico said of the Coach of the Year. “He’s a good motivator – and he’s funny. He showed us what he wanted and then we wanted it. He looked at us as people first, before looking at us as basketball players, and that played a big part in how this team was shaped.”
With Francisco leading the way, a breakout season from sophomore Kiera Longo, and strong seasons from Mia Mirabuto, Sophia Rivas and Zoe Wilcher, the Falcons were able to overcome a 3-5 start that might’ve discouraged some first-year coaches.
The turning point came on Jan. 9, when Rivas, off a pass from Francisco, drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 62-60 victory against rival East Brunswick. The last-second triumph launched a seven-game winning streak and the Falcons won 14 of their next 16 games.
Rivas’ buzzer beater also sparked a plethora of positive emotions in the Falcons brief victory celebration on their home court.
“Brian wears his heart and his emotions on his sleeve.” Warner said. “He’s an intense guy, a fiery guy.”
“I can be hard on the girls, but I think they know I’m fair and I’m going to do everything I can to help them,” Hinz said.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Monroe’s Brian Hinz is the HNT Coach of the Year
Continue reading...
It was a veteran move for the first-year coach of the Monroe High School girls basketball team to secure the board from Monroe football coach Nicholas Isola.
“I wanted to make sure we would be prepared for our pregame talk and I wasn’t sure if they would have a board -- at least a board big enough for us to use,” Hinz said. “We wanted to do it the same way we did it the whole postseason. We included our pregame message and listed our goals for the game – limiting the number of 3s, winning the rebounds and turnovers – that we would re-visit at halftime and either check or ‘x’ off.
“The last box on the board asked a question: ‘Do we have practice tomorrow?’ We wanted to keep waking up and being back at practice together, preparing for another game. If we didn’t have a board -- a big board -- we wouldn’t have been doing things the same way.”
Girls basketball index: Links to Courier News, Home News Tribune All-Area honors package
More: Monroe jumps to early lead, cruises to Central Group 4 girls basketball final
There were no more practices for the Falcons following the 72-44 loss to Hillsborough, but the setback to the eventual Group 4 champion didn’t dampen a memorable season, and there should be many, many, many more future practices for Monroe and its coach.
With the fiery Hinz leading the way, and senior guard Evangelina Francisco setting a program record for career points, Monroe won 20 games, including six elimination contests, finished second in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division and reached the championship game of both the sectional tournament and the GMC Tournament.
Hinz is the Home News Tribune Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.
“Brian is a highly competitive person, whether it’s in games or practices, and he made that competitiveness very important to the girls,” said Monroe High School boys basketball coach Jeff Warner, who had Hinz on his staff for seven seasons. “It’s very impressive, all he did and all the success he had as a first-year coach, and all that goes into that. The way he got the girls to believe and fight was unbelievable.”
A graduate of Raritan High School and Seton Hall University, Hinz is in his 10th year at Monroe as a media specialist working out of the school’s library. His coaching resume includes a stint with the volleyball program and he is currently the head coach of the Falcons flag football team, which is in its fourth season.
Hinz switched to the girls’ basketball program for the 2023-24 season and guided the Falcons’ junior varsity to a 20-0 record before taking the helm from Leigh Vogtman.
“The girls took to his coaching right away,” Warner said. “That really says a lot about Brian. He got the girls to buy in 1,000 percent, offensively and defensively.”
“He’s good at everything,” Francico said of the Coach of the Year. “He’s a good motivator – and he’s funny. He showed us what he wanted and then we wanted it. He looked at us as people first, before looking at us as basketball players, and that played a big part in how this team was shaped.”
With Francisco leading the way, a breakout season from sophomore Kiera Longo, and strong seasons from Mia Mirabuto, Sophia Rivas and Zoe Wilcher, the Falcons were able to overcome a 3-5 start that might’ve discouraged some first-year coaches.
The turning point came on Jan. 9, when Rivas, off a pass from Francisco, drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 62-60 victory against rival East Brunswick. The last-second triumph launched a seven-game winning streak and the Falcons won 14 of their next 16 games.
Rivas’ buzzer beater also sparked a plethora of positive emotions in the Falcons brief victory celebration on their home court.
“Brian wears his heart and his emotions on his sleeve.” Warner said. “He’s an intense guy, a fiery guy.”
“I can be hard on the girls, but I think they know I’m fair and I’m going to do everything I can to help them,” Hinz said.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Monroe’s Brian Hinz is the HNT Coach of the Year
Continue reading...
