Pennington boys basketball
By: Mike Molaro
It hasn’t been the easiest of times for The Pennington School boys basketball squad, and things might get darker before the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel shines, but the Red Raiders are refusing to fold.
"We are a very young and inexperienced team," Pennington coach Bernie Gurick said after his guys fell to Timothy Christian 78-45 Monday and 54-42 to Perkiomen last Saturday to drop to 0-5. "We don’t have one returning starter from last year.
"We are doing a lot of teaching, and the guys are open to learning the new offenses and defenses. They are giving us everything they have. They have a lot to learn in a short period of time."
Pennington, 5-17 a year ago, is without starting guard, junior Dominique Herald, who is recovering from a broken ankle suffered during football season. Herald, who led the team in scoring last year with an 11.2 average, is practicing with the team and should be back in the lineup after Christmas break, according to Gurick.
Senior guard Mike Millstein is recovering from a severe hamstring injury that hampered him most of last season and is being counted on to pick up the scoring in Herald’s absence.
Junior forward Brandon Smith and freshman guard Brandon Evanko need to step up and put up some points if the Red Raiders are to make some noise in the Prep B state tournament.
Others who should see key minutes are senior center Adam Toltzis, junior forward Ryan Heaney, sophomore center Dan Weisman, sophomore guards Segun Adesina and Rob Joy, and freshman guards Justin Markis and Chris Joy.
The Red Raiders are a work in progress, and each game brings them a little closer to having all the pieces together. When Herald returns and Millstein is back in the groove, Pennington should start to put some wins together.
"I don’t know about the state tournament, but I know that come January and February, we will be a more improved team than right now," said Gurick, who is in his 17th season with the Red Raiders."We’ve seen improvement in the first five games. The scores may not reflect it, but the team is coming along nicely."
One of Pennington’s major challenges is keeping morale high until the victories come regularly.
"We talked to the guys about keeping their focus and playing hard as a team," Gurick said. "We don’t want them to get down because of the record.
"A couple of seasons ago we opened at 0-8 and went on to win the state championship. I see a lot of good things happening with this team."
NOTES: Milstein led Pennington with 13 points, and Smith added 10 against Timothy Christian on the road, while Evanko topped the Red Raiders with 14 at home against Perkiomen.
The Red Raiders will visit Rutgers Prep at 4:15 p.m. today (Thursday) before taking part in the Bordentown tournament on Dec. 27 and 28. They will be at New Hope at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 before playing host to Princeton Day at 3 p.m. Jan. 7. They then will be at Steinert on Jan. 9 and at Solebury on Jan. 12.

