HHS hoop teams begin new division title quest

Delaware East will be challenging

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   Both Hillsborough High basketball teams have already played seven games, but they finally begin action in their newly configured Delaware East Division tonight against Watchung Hills.
   The Skyland Conference realignment, which took effect at the start of the school year, has divided the old Delaware Division into two six-team leagues. Hillsborough will play in the East with old divisional foes Bridgewater-Raritan, Watchung Hills and Franklin, while former Raritan Division school Montgomery and Skyland newcomer Immaculata round out the division. The West portion of the Delaware consists of Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon, Phillipsburg, Warren Hills, Voorhees and newcomer Ridge.
   Hillsborough has already played its three Delaware crossover games vs. Phillipsburg, North and Central. Wins and losses in those games will only affect the teams’ record and state playoff qualification and seeding.
   The HHS girls dropped a December game at North Hunterdon. In the past, such a defeat could have cost the Lady Raiders the division title. Last year, they had to win a game in Clinton late in the season to get back in the hunt.
   This year, losing to Hunterdon County teams won’t have the same impact. On the other hand, beating up on struggling teams like Phillipsburg won’t carry the same benefit.
   The competition for division titles starts tonight, with the HHS boys playing at home and the Lady Raiders traveling to Warren.
   "I like it because it really establishes the Skyland Conference as a solid basketball conference," second-year boys’ head coach Ian Progin said. "Every team in our division made the state playoffs last year. It presents a challenge night in and night out. You have to be on your game every night. You have to play your best. You can’t have an off-night on the road and still win."
   The HHS boys have built quite a rivalry with B-R and Franklin, having played many big tournament games against both schools in addition to the pair of regular season meetings in recent years. Don’t be surprised if neighboring towns Immaculata and Montgomery create the same type of heat in the gymnasium.
   "With the exception of Watchung Hills, we’re all neighboring towns so we’re going to have rivalries," Progin said. "I like the fact that we still have crossover games. There’s still some competition with those teams. This is good for the conference, but it’s going to make wins hard to come by."
   Veteran Lady Raider head coach Jim Reese likes the new alignment largely because of the travel ramifications. There won’t be as many long bus rides to far away places like Phillipsburg and Warren Hills. The crossover rotation system has teams from one division playing three teams from the other side home one year and away the next. Then, a new cycle of three opposing teams takes effect the next two years.
   For example, HHS faces Phillipsburg, North and Central this year and next year. The Raiders will take on Ridge, Warren Hills and Voorhees in the following two years.
   The old Delaware Division included HHS, B-R, North, Central, Watchung, Franklin, Warren Hills and P’burg. While the departure of Central and North may make things a little easier for Hillsborough, Reese isn’t sure the division has gotten that much weaker.
   "You’re gaining two good teams (Montgomery, Immaculata) and losing two good teams (North, Central)," he said. "For the last umpteen years, the competition has been between Central, North, Bridgewater and us. There were always tough games and our division is still very good this year."
   The Lady Raiders are no strangers to Immaculata or Montgomery. They’ve played Montgomery in some very exciting games in late February and have faced Immaculata in six Somerset County championship games in the past seven years.
   "It’s a rivalry game when we play Montgomery and we used to play Immaculata," Reese said. "Every time we go out in our division, it’s going to be a tough game. It’s a tough division."
   While neither HHS team wants to give away too many games in the new Delaware East, it’s unlikely that any team will run the table and go 10-0 in divisional play. Both leagues are so competitive and balanced that seven or eight wins could be enough to produce a banner.