Cardinals Basketball Teams Eyeing Big Things Ahead of 25-26’ Season

Written by: Elijah Toro (‘26)

Both the Lawrence Girls Basketball and Boys Basketball Teams have caught the eyes of Mercer County ahead of this upcoming 2025-2026 campaign. The Girls Basketball team is coming off of a 6-20 season from 2024. However, they were feeling the absence of star senior guard Amber Wooding, who is now returning for her senior season. Wooding has been the Cardinals leading scorer since her freshman year, and is now teaming up with sophomore phenom Kayla Williams, who set the single season rebounds records her freshman year.

Lawrence Girls Basketball huddling pre-game ahead of matchup vs Notre Dame.

We spoke with Amber Wooding ahead of their first game against Notre Dame, and asked her what she feels that she needs to prove returning from injury and being a senior leader on this squad. “I feel that I need to take the leadership role on the team as a senior captain now and be a good role model for the underclassmen," she stated.

We also asked Wooding about the two new freshman varsity additions: Nell Straczynski and Claire Gorczynski. With the help of Kayla Williams, and other senior leaders such as Kimyah Carter and Grace Orashen, she believed that the Lady Cardinals had a chip on their shoulder this season. “I do believe the team has a chip on their shoulder this season. We plan to set the tone with the first part of our schedule and to keep it that way moving forward, and we have a very strong bond on and off the court.”

The Lawrence Boys Basketball team on the other hand, is coming off of an amazing season. Led by senior point guard Marvin McNeill, known to be one of the best guards in all of Mercer County, the boys made it all the way to the MCT Championship game last season, before losing a heartbreaker to Ewing. Therefore, expectations are high around the school for the boys to go back to where they were last season, and hopefully go beyond and win the county tournament.

Seniors Marvin McNeill, Daniel Lafontant, Michael Carrick, and Kevin Vaughn before the game.

We interviewed Senior Guard Michael Carrick, who just like McNeill, also was a key piece to Lawrence’s deep run last season. Knowing about the buzz, the expectations, and the pressure heading into this season, we asked Carrick what he thinks it will take to exceed those expectations once again this season. “After losing in the finals last year, it put a chip on our shoulders. We want to come for it all this season and we’ve worked really hard over the offseason to become the best team in the CVC. Winning sectionals is the biggest goal for us this year,” Carrick claimed. Carrick also has a very wide skillset, as he’s been known to be one of the best pure shooters on the team, bringing great energy, and creating separation to make some tough shots. We asked Carrick what is most important about his game, that the team benefits from.

“A specific part of my game would be my shooting and my defense. When we all play as a team and a family our chemistry is unmatched. We play hard all game long and focus on giving our one hundred and ten percent.”

With that being said, the students, faculty, and community of Lawrence Township is all excited and has some high expectations for our Cardinals Basketball teams this season.