Team looks to awaken in county tourney
By: Rudy Brandl
FRANKLIN Hillsborough High senior basketball players Tom Molarz and Bryan Humphrey found it difficult watching their teammates struggle in last Thursday night’s game at Franklin.
Molarz entered the gym on crutches with a high ankle sprain, while Humphrey remained in street clothes after a painful dental procedure. Missing the leading scorer (Molarz) and top rebounder (Humphrey) wasn’t a good start for a team looking to regain its early season swagger and rhythm.
The Raiders were hoping to end their three-game losing streak on the same court where they began a late-season surge to the state playoffs last winter. A year later, this team appears to be headed in the opposite direction.
"We went from maybe the best point that this program has been in four years to one of the lowest points," HHS head coach Ian Progin said after Thursday’s 57-43 loss at Franklin dropped his team’s record to 9-7.
Hillsborough started the season fast at 8-2, winning a holiday tournament title, qualifying for the state playoffs early and earning the No. 3 seed in the Somerset County Tournament. Since then, things have gotten tough, and sometimes, downright ugly.
"We just need to win," Molarz said. "We’re playing without confidence right now. We’re not playing with any emotion. We have to get something going heading into the tournament."
The Raiders played well in the first quarter at Franklin, taking four leads in a back-and-forth stretch of decent ball. Rob Champouillon was a one-man show for Hillsborough, scoring his team’s first 10 points to answer Franklin’s perimeter shooters. Tom Pappalardo drove to the basket to tie the score at 12-12 with 42 seconds remaining, but that was the last time the Raiders didn’t trail.
Franklin’s Brian Thompson rolled a 3-pointer around the rim and in at the buzzer to give the Warriors a 15-12 lead. Isiah Livingston, who beat the Raiders with a late shot in the first meeting between the schools, buried three straight bombs to open the second quarter and the rout was on at 24-12.
"We thought the zone would work," Progin said. "We haven’t done it a lot in games but we practice it a lot. We gave up too many rebounds and that led to second chances. We didn’t get out on their shooters."
The Raiders only managed two field goals and five total points in the quarter. Franklin didn’t score again until the final 1:22, but HHS wasn’t able to close the gap. The offensive struggles continued in the third period when the Raiders didn’t make a field goal until Pappalardo nailed a three with 2:13 to go. By then, the Warriors had built a 38-20 lead.
"We have to put up more points to win," said Molarz, who managed just two himself before suffering an injury in the first quarter of the team’s prior game vs. Watchung Hills.
"The offense has been a struggle for a while," Progin said. "We’ve spent a lot of time on it and we’ve tried different things. Things are not clicking in games."
Progin remains optimistic the Raiders will turn it around. His team opened the season with a thrilling overtime victory at Bridgewater-Raritan. The Raiders are still the only team to defeat the Panthers (17-1) this season.
"That’s what makes me believe," Progin said. "I’ve been searching for that energy and that life and that passion we had against Bridgewater in the first game, but that’s in the past. We have to get it back."
Hillsborough went on a February roll last year, winning five straight games to qualify for the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs. They’ve already made the states, so their top priority now is to make a big showing in the Somerset County Tournament.
The HHS boys will host division rival Watchung Hills in Saturday’s county quarterfinals. It’s an attractive rubber match between the two schools, who have won close games on each other’s home court.
"We won five games in a row last year and we won six in a row this year, so it can be done," Progin said. "Time is running out for the seniors. They have to want it."
Molarz certainly does.
"It wasn’t fun watching this game," Molarz said after the lopsided loss at Franklin. "I’m playing Saturday."

