WEST CALDWELL, NJ – When is “none” the most welcome word in the English language?
When a girls basketball coach is asked to list the team's “key losses” going into a new season.
Caldwell and its head coach Amanda Keenan face that pleasant predicament heading into the 2025-26 campaign, which opens Thursday night at home against Glen Ridge.
The Chiefs are coming off a 26-4 season and a trip to the NJSIAA North 2, Group 2 championship game, and Keenan gets to coach that entire cast of talented, versatile and successful girls once again this winter.
But, for all that, those players will also be hungry after reaching a sectional final and losing at home to Madison in that game.
“We return our full roster and the experience to make another strong tournament run,” Keenan said. “With great leadership, we're focused on taking it one game at a time and getting better each day.”
Junior guard Addison Keenan, Amanda's daughter, led Caldwell with 18.7 points a game last season. Addison sparked a ball-hawking defense with a team-high 4.2 steals a game, made 78 3-point baskets and averaged 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season.
Senior guard Tea Fiore led Caldwell with 4.0 assists a game and averaged 15 points and 5.2 rebounds last season.
Sophomores Elena Kearns, Fallon Fiore and Aaliyah Rodriguez all played key roles as freshmen on last year's varsity, and senior forward Kaci Pace remains a key cog for Caldwell, as well.
Coach Keenan lauded the team's chemistry, emphasized the Chiefs' commitment to defensive pressure and said, “Our girls are relentless, they work hard, they are mentally tough and they compete every single day.”
Sophomores Adriana Brown (guard), Siena Leone (forward) and Isabella O'Donnell (guard) and freshman guard Scarlett Schlomann give Keenan the kind of depth a coach requires in order to throw the kind of relentless defensive pressure at opponents that Caldwell does.
“Our girls are tough, committed and built to finish what we started,” said Keenan, whose team lost only four games last season, but who, herself, had lost most of her voice by the end of the team's playoff run late last winter. “We have great support behind us, and we're excited for the season ahead.”
CALDWELL GIRLS BASKETBALL ROSTER