By: Sean Moylan
This season, Jon Kohler has developed into the phenomenal basketball player we all knew he could be when he first stepped on the court for the Bordentown Regional High boys’ varsity basketball team three years ago.
Always a great passer and ball-handler, Kohler has raised his game to the next level to become a great scorer this season. In fact, he was the Scotties’ leading scorer in all of their first three games.
In an easy 76-31 home win over Maple Shade on Tuesday night, Kohler dropped in 22 points, including 8-of-11 makes from the charity stripe.
One of the reasons for Kohler’s success has been the exceptional play of Scotties’ point guard George Williams, whose skills with the ball have enabled Kohler to move without the ball. But Williams can also shoot and he scored 13 points versus Maple Shade while Donnell "Hercules" Hayden had 12 points.
Bordentown took a 15-2 lead after a quarter and by intermission the game was all but over (41-14), which afforded Scotties’ Coach Mark Drew an opportunity to see all of his bench players in action. 10 Scotties scored in the contest, including Myron Pickett (8 points), Jamall Vaughn (7 points), Lorenzo Ricks (6 points), Chris Mallett (3 points), Matt Raynor (2 points), Zach Bohanan (2 points) and Spike Pascual (a point).
Kohler also tallied 23 points Bordentown’s 50-40 win over a good New Egypt team on Monday night.
"That was pretty good game," said Drew. "We’re trying to get into a rhythm with Jon’s (Kohler) scoring and Williams getting into the mix."
Williams had 11 points in Monday’s defensive battle. But Drew liked the way his entire team played in the contest.
"Zach Bohanan (6 points) had a good game and our starting forward Lorenzo Ricks (2 points) has been a surprise," said Drew, who also got a solid effort out of his starting center Matt Raynor (3 points). Bordentown gained control of the New Egypt game with a 19-7 second quarter.
The two wins were big because Bordentown had lost a 66-65 heartbreaker to Cinnaminson in its home opener last Friday. What made the loss harder to swallow was Cinnaminson scored the game-winning point with no time left on the clock.
Hayden blocked a shot at the end of regulation but he was called for a foul on the play, which set up the Pirates’ winning foul shot.
"We beat them (Cinnaminson) twice by a point last year. And now they got us back by winning by a point," Drew added. Lost in the mix was a remarkable 36-point effort by Kohler.
"In the first game, he (Kohler) was unbelievable," said Drew, whose team, otherwise, got some balanced scoring from Ricks (8 points), Hayden (6 points), Chris Mallett (6 points), Bohanan (5 points) and Williams (4 points).
With any luck Bordentown could be 3-0 right now, but 2-1 isn’t bad either. Bordentown is scheduled at Burlington Township tonight (Thursday). Then next Wednesday and Thursday it is scheduled to host the Michael J. Tucker Tournament .
LCA
It is very possible that the Life Center Academy boy’s varsity basketball team plays one of the toughest schedules in the entire nation. So no one should be mad at the Warriors starting the year at 4-4. In fact, the people of Florence should be proud.
Last Thursday, LCA hosted and defeated a strong Emily Fisher Charter basketball team, 85-76, but it wasn’t easy.
"We got behind by 10, but then won by 9," said LCA Coach Billy Rhoades, who was very happy with his team’s play in the game.
Sam Obetoh (24 points) and Dylan Talley (23 points) were the Warriors’ leading scorers in the win over Emily Fisher Charter.
Then last Friday, Saint Bendict’s ,which is ranked 3rd in the nation, beat LCA 84-54 in Newark. Michal Lesicky had a dozen points while Chris Thompson and Obetoh each chipped in with 9 points for the Warriors.
Although Saint Patrick’s, which is ranked 2nd in the country, ended up beating LCA 70-44 on Monday, the Warriors did make Saint Pat’s sweat for the win.
"It was a 32-25 game at the half," said Rhoades. "Dylan Talley had 10 points and Peter Simek had 10 points. Simek had a great game."
LCA, however, could not quite recover from a 26-4 third quarter by Saint Patrick’s.
Nonetheless, LCA came back and blasted Saint Mary’s Hall 85-25 on Tuesday at Florence.
"We played everybody," said Rhoades, who had his team practice its passing in the contest. Talley had a team-high 17 points while Peter Dorazil chipped in with 16 points.
LCA (4-4) is scheduled to host Kearny Christian tonight (Thursday).
FLORENCE
In its first two games this season, the Florence Township Memorial High boys’ varsity basketball team has held its opponents to a combined 69 total points. That’s roughly the amount of points many teams surrender on a nightly basis. And yet New Egypt and Delran both employed solid defensive game plans and stalling tactics to slip by the Flashes in those first two games of the season.
On Tuesday at Florence, the Bears defeated the Flashes, 38-28 in a very competitive game.
"We were in it the whole game. But they (the Bears) can shoot. And they were playing stall ball," said Florence head basketball coach Cesar Pereda. "Today (Tuesday) we weren’t hitting our shots."
Usually when the Flashes aren’t connecting from the perimeter they try to work the ball to their great center Malcolm Jenkins in the paint. But Delran was doubling Jenkins on nearly every Florence offensive possession.
"Malcolm (Jenkins) is our go-to guy and we were just having trouble getting him the ball," added Pereda. Even so, Jenkins did net 7 points and grab 11 rebounds in the game while Brandin Younglood and Quentin Loftin (3 steals) each chipped in with 8 points. Stevie Giambrone made a three-pointer on his way to scoring 5 points for Florence.
While Florence took a modest 22-20 lead into the fourth quarter of their game versus New Egypt last Friday, the Warriors took advantage of Flashes’ miscues and captured a 32-28 decision.
"We just turned the ball over too much while we were trying to stall it," remarked Pereda. "And we missed six lay-ups in the game."
Although Florence has missed a few shots in the early going, most of these kids have solid proven track records and their shots are going to start falling soon. In spite of the loss, Florence got some balanced scoring versus New Egypt with Loftin (7 points), Jenkins (6 points), Youngblood (4 points), Giambrone (4 points), Marcus Curry (3 points), James Karwacki (2 points) and Chris Salaga (2 points) all making their way onto the scoreboard.
The Flashes (0-2) are scheduled to play in the Michael Tucker Tournament at Bordentown next Wednesday and Thursday.
NBC
The Northern Burlington County Regional High boy’s varsity basketball team lost its first two contests this past week. But in those two losses NBC set the foundation of what should be a pretty strong basketball team. Along the way the Greyhounds also showed that they are shaping into a team of great character.
Rancocas Valley, picked by most experts to win the Liberty Division, defeated NBC 64-47 in last Friday’s opener at Northern. However, NBC newcomer Anthony Malvaso (13 points) and Ryan Gauze (10 points) quickly established themselves as the Greyhounds’ go-to guys. It was a tough, hard-fought, physical game and NBC did not escape the contest without a couple of bumps and bruises and one serious injury.
"Zak Sotomayor (5 points) got his front two teeth knocked out with an elbow. The kid showed unbelievable courage," said NBC head coach Herman Johnson.
Although Sotomayor had to be rushed to a hospital and later fitted with a special mouth piece, he came to all subsequent practices and couldn’t wait to get doctor’s clearance to play again. But Sotomayor represents just part of the special character that’s developing with this club. In fact, Dantaye McCoy (8 points), Jesse Ditter (4 points), Marc Lang (3 points), Adeshina Adeyemo (2 points) and Derrick Brown (2 points) all contributed in the RV game and are learning their roles on this club.
"I was very happy with our effort. We had a packed house and we had to turn people away," said Johnson.
NBC also drew a large crowd for Monday’s home game versus Pennsauken. Although Pennsauken captured the contest 67-54, Gauze and Malvaso each tossed in 18 points and managed to capture the hearts of the NBC fans in spite of the loss.
"They (Gauze and Malvaso) played pretty well (together). Anthony (Malvaso) is quickly emerging to be the heart and soul of this basketball team," said Johnson. "He’s quickly becoming a crowd favorite with his toughness and his relentless attacks to the basket. He’s scoring the basketball for us. Once he settles into the game, he’s tough."
Adeyemo chipped in with 8 points and played well overall. Johnson was also pleased with the play of Marc Lang and Paul Urbish versus Pennsuaken.
"Marc Lang, he started last night (Monday) and he’s been giving us a good effort. We’re going to need him to help us out with rebounding," said Johnson. "I thought that Paul Urbish played a pretty good game versus Pennsauken. He played with a lot of confidence."
Even with the great effort, though, Johnson felt it would have been much closer had his squad kept its turnovers down. But the guys are still learning the system and it may take a little time to get it down. NBC played two very good teams, so it’s kind of tough to form any judgements on the team just yet.
"Given the competition, even though we are 0-2, the spirit on this team remains good. (Malvaso and Gauze) They give us a chance to be competitive every night and get some (wins)," noted Johnson, who has a great group of kids this season.
NBC is scheduled to play at Pemberton today (Thursday). Then next Wednesday and Thursday it is scheduled to play in the Cherry Hill East Holiday Tournament

