WW-PS, PHS to meet on court

Local rivals, powers battle for CJ III title

By: Justin Feil
   David Black remembers well when he heard that West Windsor-Plainsboro High South would be dropping down to Group III.
   "I found out near the end of last season," said the Princeton High boys’ tennis head coach. "I can’t say I was happy to hear they were moving to Group III. I also found out right around then that the defending state champions, Holmdel, were moving up to Group III. It makes Group III Central Jersey probably the strongest bracket in the state."
   With PHS knocking off Holmdel, 5-0, and WW-P South upsetting Ocean, 3-2, the first official meeting of the season between the long-time Colonial Valley Conference rivals comes 3:45 p.m. today in the CJ III final, which will be held at Stuart Country Day.
   "They’ve always been Group IV," Black said. "This is great. It intensifies the long-standing rivalry we already have."
   It’s only the first official meeting because four of the teams’ five flights met in the Mercer County Tournament finals. PHS won all four of those matches to sweep the county crown.
   "It’s just about the same," Black said. "Our doubles are different. If anything, our first doubles are stronger now, and that was the one flight where they took us to three sets. We know what we’re up against. We’ve seen these guys play."
   There’s no mystery on either side, yet the level of interest is piqued by the long-standing competitiveness of the teams.
   "I think the fact that we haven’t played in the regular season makes it even juicier," said WW-P South head coach Jim Giovacchini. "They’re the heavy favorite and they should be. The only possible thing that could be different (from counties) is we’ll be playing them on slightly fresher legs. They just crushed their semifinal opponents while we had some tougher sets.
   "They’re the favorites. We don’t have anything to lose. We’re happy we overachieved and upset the No. 2 seed at their place. Anything else would be just awesome."
   The Pirates were tied, 2-2, after the top two singles spots went to Ocean and the doubles matches went to them Thursday before Brian Lee closed out the WW-PS win with a 6-1, 7-5 victory at third singles. That win helped the Pirates stay unbeaten at 14-0.
   "I wasn’t surprised that they won," Black said. "I had thought all along that West Windsor would beat Ocean largely because of their depth. Ocean has arguably the best No. 1 player in the state and a really good No. 2. West Windsor is good from top to bottom. I had told Jim that he’d win because of that."
   Now the Pirates have to deal with a team that is considered as deep top to bottom as any in the state, a Little Tiger team that is defending Group III state champion.
   "They are right there, right at the top of the state," Giovacchini said. "I think we’re a top 10 team. I think they’re a top three. It would be a pretty big upset.
   "We’ll go out and give it our best shot. We’ll try to do our best," he added. "Crazy things can happen."
   Giovacchini would be saying the same thing if the Pirates had remained in Group IV. Provided they had reached the same point, they’d be staring at another consensus top three team in Marlboro for the sectional title.
   "They’re the same level of teams," he said. "If we stayed in Central Jersey IV, we’d have less or the same chance."
   Though they’re the favorites, Princeton will approach this match as it would any — expecting a fight from an opponent without any pressure on it. So far, that approach has worked for the Little Tigers.
   "We thought that Thursday would have been a close match," said Black, after his team improved to 18-2 this season. "I turned out that it really wasn’t that competitive. We know West Windsor South is going to be a tough match. And it’s only going to get harder after that."
   Today’s winner will face the North I champion Thursday for the right to play the winner between likely North II champion Millburn and likely South champion Moorestown next week. But first there’s the little matter of a long-standing rivalry brought to a head for the CJ III sectional championship.
   "They players are definitely up for it," Black said. "They’re looking forward to this week."