Malko emerges as consistent force
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High boys’ basketball team found its way back to the .500 mark with three key victories last week.
One loss would have left the Raiders two games under with just a handful of games remaining before the Feb. 7 state qualifying deadline. The HHS boys continued their recent resurgence and posted three victories to enter the week with a 6-6 record.
"We’ve been playing better," Raider rookie head coach Ian Progin said. "We’re putting the ball in the basket and our defense has improved. Our percentages are much higher offensively and our (defensive) pressure has gotten better."
The Raiders have found different ways to win and did a little bit of everything to sweep past Hunterdon Central, Phillipsburg and East Brunswick last week. They’ve also been getting many players involved in the action. Nine players scored in the 59-49 victory at Central and 10 guys got in the box score in Friday night’s 49-26 home triumph over Phillipsburg.
"We’re definitely starting to gain more confidence," junior swingman Mark Demetriou said. "It was a little shaky at the beginning, but we’re starting to jell together. We know how each other plays on the court and that’s helping us out."
Any basketball coach loves good defense, so Progin was all smiles after Friday night’s romp over Phillipsburg. The Raiders fell behind early and trailed 13-11 after one quarter but only allowed another 13 points the entire night.
"The key tonight was just defense," Progin said. "After they hit a couple of shots, we just locked them down with defense. We frustrated them."
The Raiders were extremely aggressive and forced many turnovers. The Stateliners often failed to get off a shot.
"We decided just to go halfcourt and deny the passes," Demetriou said. "If a guy can’t get the ball, he can’t score."
Hillsborough started slowly and trailed 11-5 before senior guard T.J. Sferra buried two 3-point shots from the left side to tie the score. Sferra added two more threes later in the game to finish with 12 points, but none were as critical as the first two bombs.
"T.J. hit two huge shots," Progin said. "That started to turn it a little and it opened up the middle."
Senior power forward Mike Malko took advantage of the extra space in the paint, scoring seven of his 12 points in the second period when the Raiders used a 15-5 spurt to take the lead. Demetriou also found a little room on the baseline, where he made a couple of drives to produce points.
Sferra opened the second quarter with a three from the left wing that put the Raiders in front to stay. Malko scored twice in the paint, Simeon Vargas came off the bench to nail a three from the left corner and Malko added a bomb from the right side to complete a 13-0 spurt that produced a 24-13 lead.
"This game was real big for us," Malko said. "We needed to win this one and we need to get on a roll."
The Raiders did the rest of their damage with defense. Phillipsburg only managed one basket in the second quarter and three in the third after hitting six shots in the first eight minutes.
"We just wanted to clamp down on them and play real aggressive defense," Malko said.
The Stateliners started the second half with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to five, but Malko answered with a 3-point play inside and Zack Smith added a layup to build the lead back to double digits. Hillsborough put the game away with an 11-0 spurt bridging the third and fourth quarters, holding the visitors scoreless for 7:49. Phillipsburg didn’t convert a field goal for the final 11 minutes of the game.
"It just goes to show you that defense is the name of the game," Progin said. "If we’re going to get back into this hunt, we have to do it with defense."
The Raiders had another solid defensive game to win Saturday’s non-conference road battle at East Brunswick. For the third time in four games, HHS held the opponent to under 40 points.
Malko posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Raiders, who trailed at the end of the first two quarters before taking the lead with a 13-10 showing in the third period. Malko hit three shots from long range in the victory.
Hillsborough opened the week with an important road win at Central to improve its divisional record to 4-2. Malko scored 10 of his 19 points in the second quarter when the Raiders built a 30-18 lead with a 19-9 flurry. Demetriou netted nine of his 11 points in the first half and Charles Miller made 6-of-7 free throws in the fourth quarter to help nail down the victory.
From offense to defense to pressure free throw shooting, the Raiders are doing everything better these days.
"We’re starting to click," Progin said. "Guys are getting used to the varsity level. Our goal was to get back to the .500 level. Now we have to keep going from there."
The Raiders were slated to play at Warren Hills Tuesday night but tonight’s home game vs. Franklin was rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. because of exams. Hillsborough will play at Watchung Hills (Jan. 27) and host North Hunterdon (Jan. 29) and Franklin in a huge week of Delaware Division games next week.