New varsity players perform in first test
By: Rudy Brandl
The new-look Hillsborough High boys’ basketball team showed some very positive signs in Friday night’s season opener and came away with a well-earned 55-47 victory over visiting Phillipsburg.
Playing with an almost entirely new starting five, the Raiders came out flying and roared to a 16-8 lead after one quarter. That was the first impressive element of their opening performance as the school’s new varsity squad.
Then, the Raiders dealt with a little adversity when the Stateliners rallied and began hitting big shots to take a three-point lead late in the third quarter. HHS responded with a blinding 17-0 spurt that bridged the third and fourth quarters and put the home team back in charge.
Finally, the Raiders survived a late scare when horrendous foul shooting enabled Phillipsburg to climb back in the game and cut the deficit to four in the final minute. Once again, the young HHS boys answered the bell and finished the game by hitting four consecutive free throws to seal the victory.
"I’m most proud of the way we played in the third quarter after they closed the gap on us," Progin said. "We played very good defense and it was a while before they scored."
Hillsborough’s huge spurt began with 2:54 to play in the third period when junior point guard Tom Pappalardo drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score at 35-35. The flurry ended when Ryan Kloss hit the second of two free throws with 4:30 to play in the fourth quarter. That’s a span of 6:24 in which the Raiders turned a three-point deficit into a 14-point lead.
Four different Raiders scored in the 17-0 surge. Pappalardo started it with his second three of the night. Tommy Molarz, who led his team with 15 points, put the Raiders ahead to stay with a bomb from the right wing with 1:29 left in the third quarter off a nice kickout assist from Bryan Humphrey.
Kloss scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to put the Raiders up by eight. Sophomore center Rob Champoullion, who scored 13 points in his first varsity game, converted in the lane to bump the advantage to double digits. Molarz followed with his fourth three of the game from the left corner. Kloss tacked on a free throw and finished his first varsity start in a HHS uniform with 12 points.
Pappalardo just missed double figures with nine points in a solid opening performance as the team’s point guard. Brett Bisconti came off the bench to score six quick points in the second quarter. Center Mark Hoffer and guard Warner Jones also made contributions off the bench.
"We need everyone to contribute, that’s what I’m hoping for this season," Progin said. "Teams are going to try to key on Molarz, so we need other people to step up. Rob (Champoullion) and Ryan (Kloss) really contributed in their first varsity game and Pappalardo did a nice job running the show. We also got some good contributions from our bench."
It took a while for the Raiders to score and get into the flow of the game. Molarz netted the team’s first points of the season on a three from the right wing with 4:51 to play in the first quarter. Phillipsburg briefly forged ahead with a three before the Raiders went on an 11-0 run to build a big lead. Champoullion scored seven points in the first quarter and the Raiders had a 16-8 lead.
"I was happy to see us come out to a strong start," Molarz said. "We had a lot of new guys out there but we came out strong."
Progin was most impressed by his team’s defense and rebounding. The Raiders don’t have an experienced varsity player in the paint, but they held their own on the boards.
"The defense and the rebounding were good," Progin said. "We’re really putting an emphasis on rebounding this year. They’re not a bad team and we held them under 50 points."
Hillsborough’s defense allowed eight threes but very little offense from the inside. Phillipsburg converted only five shots near the basket.
"Our defense cranked down in the fourth quarter," Molarz said. "We had to move with the flight of the pass. When we were too slow, they hit some shots."
The Raiders would have put this game away much sooner than the final minute if they hit their free throws. HHS missed 5-of-6 in one stretch after taking a 14-point lead. This allowed the Liners to make the game interesting but the Raiders finally found the mark when Kloss and Molarz each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute. Still, the Raiders made only 9-of-21 from the line.
"If we don’t make foul shots, we’re going to lose some games," Progin said. "We definitely made it harder on ourselves tonight. I think we can be a better free throw shooting team. We will be on the line for a while in practice tomorrow."
Despite the poor free throw shooting, the Raiders prevailed on opening night. They played with very good intensity, featured balanced scoring and did a solid job defending and rebounding.
"It’s a great way to start the season," Molarz said.
The Raiders won’t return home until January. They’ll finish the 2005 part of their schedule with four road games at North Hunterdon and New Brunswick this week and then at Hopewell Valley for the Molinelli Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28-29.

