There is much to be excited about this time of year, and possibly no player has more to be amped up about than Sajada Bonner. The sensational shooting guard made 3rd team All-State in 2017. St. John Vianney made an incredible tournament run, but fell short in the Shore Championship to Manasquan and in the state tournament sectional final against St. Rose. Thedribbledrop & NJHoopRecruit are honored to introduce Sajada as one of our diarists for the 2018-2019 season. Check back throughout the season as Bonner gives us an insider look at the life of a star student athlete playing basketball on the highest level in New Jersey.
As told to Christian Mordi / @mordi_thecomeup
Hello everyone! My name is Sajada Bonner and I am a guard for St. John Vianney. I will be checking in with you guys twice a month to share my journey throughout my senior season!
Coming into the season, there were some pretty high expectations for this team. I thought we deserved it, as we had been playing together for a very long time as a unit. Our mindset was not to focus on what people perceived we were, but to focus on ourselves. Focus on the process of getting better everyday. Anyone can be ranked #1 and fall short. We are happy people noticed the hard work we put in but we knew the work that was ahead of us. I think early on we felt the pressure coming in and it showed the first couple of games, but we have found our stride as a unit.
Last year I made 3rd team All-State. While many would expect my mindset would be to push for bigger accolades, I had other things on my mind that I wanted to take care of first. The rest of the stuff I knew would fall into place if it was meant to be. I wanted to be a good leader. Every year I have played with good leaders and now that it was my turn to lead I wanted to keep the trend going. I wanted to be more consistent for my teammates. When you play for Vianney, there is no superstar. Consistency is important and not just in the scoring side of things. People have 30 a game in losses. That’s a dead 30. By consistency, I am not talking about scoring. I am talking about securing the rebounds I’m supposed to get. Diving on the floor for loose balls that may be the difference between a win and a loss. Those are the plays my team needs me to consistently get because they can be the difference between me pulling in a T.O.C. or not.
Earlier this month we played at the Bluestar Showcase in Philadelphia against St. John's D.C. The team is led by Azzi Fudd. The atmosphere was okay. It didn’t overwhelm me as I think the most intense game environments are in games in the Shore.
I learned so much that game. I saw how much fight this team really has in us. With that being said, we can’t wait until the second half to turn it on. We can play with them, but we waited an entire half to turn it on. I saw the potential but I know in order to tap into it we have to focus and continue to work hard. Talent can only take you so far.
Our next big game was against University at the “Basketball Needs New Jersey” showcase presented by TheDribbleDrop. It was a really unique and cool event. You don’t have a lot of events that have such a nice mix of schools from all over the state. There was Blair, Franklin and us.There were a lot of girls playing in the event from the Exodus AAU program. This was the first time I got to see Dom Darius play. The event bought a lot of people together who knew each other from AAU or knew each other in general. A lot of events kind of stick to a certain area but this event had a nice mix from everywhere and great games.
Our game was really tough. The game was intense. Refs really let the game be played as they missed a couple calls but that was what it was. We were up ten down the stretch but they tied the game up with less than a minute left in the game. With less than ten seconds left I went to the free throw line and hit the game winning free throw. The only thing on my mind was to knock these easy points down. I knew we were going to hear it from coach as we nearly let the game slip away, but we walked away with the win.
Our game was really tough. The game was intense. Refs really let the game be played as they missed a couple calls but that was what it was. We were up ten down the stretch but they tied the game up with less than a minute left in the game. With less than ten seconds left I went to the free throw line and hit the game winning free throw. The only thing on my mind was to knock these easy points down. I knew we were going to hear it from coach as we nearly let the game slip away, but we walked away with the win.
Our next big game was against Saddle River Day. Credit to them for coming out to the Shore and taking us on for the game. From the door, the energy of the game was different. The fans were really into it and that fired us up. Mena came out attacking and Maddie came out aggressive, which was impressive for such a young player. I love how my team battled. They left it all out there on the floor and I knew I had to give them my all as they were giving me all they had that night. I knew I had to bring it. Down the stretch, I caught fire and had a big fourth quarter offensively which helped us seal the game.
Next up we have Long Island Lutheran on February 10th at their place. One the 12th we play Christ the King at our house.
In my free time, I decided to start a Youtube channel. My handle is in my bio on Instagram. The page will basically follow my journey as I continue forward as a student athlete at St. John Vianney and at Quinnipiac. For those who would like to see what a day in the life of a division one athlete is like, check the videos out!
Til Next Time,
J-Money