LINWOOD — Coach Bobby Edmunds knows the opportunity he has, taking over a storied Mustang girls basketball program and coming in with the advantage of being a first-year head coach with five returning starters.
The Mainland Regional High School girls are two seasons removed from their last Group III state championship, one of two under former coach Scott Betson.
Betson led the Mustangs to a 31-1 record and the title in the 2023-24 season after leading his 2018-19 team to a state championship.
After that 2023-24 team graduated a slew of seniors, the Mustangs had a bit of a down year for the 2024-25 season, finishing 9-16 and getting upset in the first round of the South Jersey Group III sectional. But the newly constituted young team spent last season picking up important experience.
The Mustangs came into this season with five starters back — including only one senior — from last year. So far they have compiled a respectable 7-4 record, with two losses coming to a pair of tough out-of-conference teams — Lenape and Cinnaminson in the holiday tournament. The other two were battles with Egg Harbor Township (8-3) and a narrow, 38-36 loss to Wildwood Catholic (8-1) Jan. 8, two of the tough teams in their American Division.
The girls had an easier go of it Saturday, beating Lower Cape May Regional (2-5) in a 47-24 blowout that saw Edmunds liberally substituting players throughout the second half.
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Edmunds said of taking the reins at the program. “Scott laid the groundwork here. He had an awesome career here. And he gave me a program that was returning all five starters, so I appreciate him doing that for me.”
Edmunds also understands the other side of that.
“At the same time, it’s such a prestigious program. It’s tough to uphold that standard, but I’m trying my best,” he said.
“It’s been an up-and-down season so far. We have an out-of-conference schedule that has been really tough and our in-conference schedule is crazy with EHT, Middle Township, Wildwood Catholic, so each night you’re coming out there and it’s just a grind,” the 2006 MRHS graduate and former Mustang athlete said.
Complicating things was being down their senior captain, Callie Smith, “who ended up with a brutal head injury” (and the stitches to prove it) in a recent game. “It was an emotional trauma for a lot of our girls, but they’ve responded and they’ve rebounded extremely well. And I’m super proud of the resiliency that they’ve shown so far this season,” Edmunds said.
Although the coach was missing Smith from the lineup briefly — she was leading the team in assists with 30 — he likes the other cards he’s been dealt.
“Sammy Funk has stepped into a great leadership role this year,” Edmunds said about his forward who had 79 points, 40 rebounds and nine steals through Monday.
Callie’s younger sister, Brielle, a junior like Funk, is leading the team in scoring with 138 points (18 three-pointers) and rebounds with 62. She also has 20 steals.
“She is one of a kind,” Edmunds said. “She can create off the dribble. She can shoot, she can defend really well, so she’s really a three-level player.
“And then we have (junior) Reilly Nagle, who’s all over the place. She is as tenacious and as tough as they possibly come.” Nagle has a team-leading 27 steals to go with her 108 points, 60 rebounds and 18 assists.
The coach said junior Jade O’Neil “has turned into our best defender this year. She’s long, she’s athletic. I always put her on the best player and she’s so tired (on defense) that I don’t even know if she can get shots up on the offensive end. She’s been a really good asset for us this year.”
He was being a bit facetious on O’Neil’s scoring. She had 75 points, 23 rebounds, 14 assists and 11 steals through Saturday’s game.
Edmunds said he also has some great girls coming off the bench including Riley Townsend, Emelia Perez and Juliana Geary, but unfortunately lost a talented freshman, Tess McLaughlin, to a shoulder injury for the year. Townsend is a junior, Perez a sophomore and Geary a freshman.
“We’re very deep,” the coach said. “I feel like we have a really good rotation, strong rotation.”
As for depth, 17 players have had at least a little game time so far this season, with most having minutes in more than one contest.
“Right now, I’m just hoping to compete on a nightly basis, to make each game competitive,” he said. “Obviously we want the outcome to be a win.
“The way we’ve competed against some of the better teams in the area, the goal is always going to be to go deep into the Group III state tournament and also go deep into the Cape-Atlantic League tournament. I think we have the tools and the players to be able to do that.”
The Mustang girls beat Our Lady of Mercy Academy 58-55 on Monday night after an abysmal first half of shooting, falling behind 37-13. They outscored OLMA 39-15 in the second half and won it with a 6-3 advantage in overtime.
Callie Smith was back in the lineup and scored 14 points in the win.
They are traveling to Atlantic City for a 5:30 p.m. start Thursday and then will host unbeaten Middle Township (9-0) at 6 p.m. Friday.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
