Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week

Hyncik meeting MHS hoops challenges

By: Bob Nuse
   All season long, Adam Hyncik has been a pretty consistent offensive player for the Montgomery High boys’ basketball team. But that’s not where the Cougar senior feels like he makes his biggest contribution to the team.
   Sure, he’s scored in double figures in all but one game this season for the Cougars. But what gets Hyncik excited more than anything else is being able to shut down an opposing player with his defense.
   "I really like playing defense," said Hyncik, who is averaging a team-high 14.6 points per game. "Every game (Montgomery coach Jeff Tagliareni) puts me on the other team’s best scorer. I take it upon myself to shut down the other team’s top scorer. If they can’t get their top scorer going, it takes them out of their game.
   "This summer Coach told me I had to step up that aspect of my game. I ask for the challenge. For me, it’s a personal challenge every game to be able to do that."
   It’s a challenge first-year Montgomery coach Jeff Tagliareni is happy to see Hyncik embrace. In fact, when he first met Hyncik this summer, the thought of him becoming a defensive stopper never entered his mind.
   "I have never seen a kid improve as much as he has since the first day I met him in the summer," said Tagliareni, whose team improved to 9-2 on the season with a 60-44 win over Delaware Valley. "I don’t know if defense wasn’t important to him or if he didn’t know how to play it, but he wasn’t very strong. But now he takes on the other team’s top scorer and keeps them below their average every time.
   "He comes to me before every game and wants to be able to guard their best scorer. I don’t do it just because he asks, but he’s done it every time and done a great job. I don’t do it if the other player is a center, because we have Justin (Freid) and Alex (Willis) who do a great job."
   Hyncik can also get the job done on offense. Last week, the senior scored 10 straight fourth-quarter points and finished with 14 as the Cougars topped unbeaten Voorhees, 57-42. He then had 19 in a 63-46 win over South Hunterdon three days later.
   Adam Hyncik is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
   "The big thing that has helped the team turn around is our defense," said Hyncik, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s win over Delaware Valley. "Coach has been working on defense with us from Day One. That’s his main philosophy. We have five guys on the court at all times that can score and play great defense. We all have confidence in our game."
   That confidence has resulted in the team winning seven straight games heading into tonight’s game at Hackettstown. Montgomery also completed the first half of its Skyland Conference Raritan Division schedule with a perfect 7-0 mark.
   "We started the season with goals and one of our main goals was to gain respect, and the only way you do that is by winning," Hyncik said. "We’ve been doing that. We’re 9-2 and we have qualified for the states."
   Having qualified for the states is just the first step this season for Hyncik and the Cougars, who have visions of winning championships down the road.
   "He’s doing a great job," Tagliareni said. "He’s a perfect leader and he’s made my transition much easier. He hasn’t missed one minute of anything we’ve done since I took over. In practice, if he doesn’t think guys are working hard enough, he’ll get on them a little to pick it up.
   "He really wants to win. He sees it as he should as a senior, that this is the last opportunity you get and you have to make the most of it."
   That could mean playing solid defense against Craig Barton of Somerville, who scored just six against the Cougars, or Justin Rhoho of Delaware Valley, who was held to five points Tuesday. Or it could be on the offensive end, where he has scored at least nine points in each game this season.
   "I’m happy whether I’m scoring or distributing the ball to get it to the other guys that are open," said Hyncik, who will attend Lehigh University where he hopes to play for the basketball team. "As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters to me. On different nights he calls upon you to do different things. We know each other real well and we know that every guy on our team can hit their shots.
   "Our coach’s work ethic is reflected on the players. He puts in a lot of time preparing scouting reports and getting us ready for every game. Our intensity on defense reflects the coach."
   And the coach is happy he can see that intensity reflected in Hyncik.