Hyncik returns for title, Grant earns MVP
By: Justin Feil
It had been a while since Adam Hyncik celebrated a basketball championship.
The wait is what made Sunday night’s 75-61 win for Koehler & Co. over Mercedes Benz of Princeton all the more special. With the win, Koehler & Co. won the Princeton Recreation Department Summer Men’s Basketball League best-of-three series, 2-1, after winning the final two games.
"It’s great winning this league," said Hyncik, a Montgomery High School graduate who had 12 points in the win. "I won the boys’ championship when I was in eighth grade. My last championship was freshman year out here. I won a lot of games in between, but I haven’t got any trophies yet. And if you win this league, it’s one of the best in the area. There are a lot of good players, a lot of pros that come back."
No team other than the Princeton High School boys’ team could claim to be any more connected to the courts than Koehler & Co. Many of the players grew up watching the men’s league games while they were playing in the youth leagues. Their roster was filled with PHS products like team captain Wanny Carter, who scored 10 points, Anthony Brown, Ben Guervil and Kyle Koehler and MHS products like Hyncik and Derick Grant, who was named the Foreal Wooten Most Valuable Player after averaging 36 points per game in five playoff games.
"It’s a great atmosphere, especially being a local kid," Hyncik said. "We have Anthony Brown, Wanny, Derick. It’s just Montgomery and Princeton guys out here to get that win. It feels good."
Hyncik broke his collarbone in a league game and had missed a month. He hadn’t been available for the first two games of the championship series, but he wasn’t going to miss the final game after Grant scored 54 in a quadruple overtime win on Wednesday.
"I told Derick I couldn’t come Wednesday, so I sent my sister to watch the game to give me the play-by-play," Hyncik said. "I told Derick to just extend this series for me and I’ll be back to hit some shots and run that wing for you. I didn’t know it was going to be like that.
"He did his job extending it Wednesday and I did my job getting here Sunday and helping hit some shots and spread the court to give him some room to operate. It’s been fun playing out here and I finally got to play well the last game."
Hyncik made his presence felt with nine second-half points as Koehler built on its 31-23 halftime lead. It stretched to as much as 62-36 before a late Mercedes run, led by Vernon Hicks’ 26 points.
"We talked to our team," Carter said, "and told them, we don’t want any fancy passes, no fanciness, no no-look passes, no behind-the-back passes, no defense with your hands where you can get beat, communicate on defense and call out screens. We just had to play basic basketball, not fancy basketball."
Grant finished with 33 points to lead four Koehler players in double figures. Hyncik, Carter and Doug Christian, who scored eight of his 10 points in the first half, all reached the mark. Duane Hicks was the only other Mercedes player to reach double figures, with 12, Sunday.
Mercedes was going to have to forfeit the championship to Koehler when it couldn’t field enough players for the final, originally scheduled for Friday. But Carter and Koehler & Co. allowed the league to move the final to Sunday to settle it on the court.
"It feels a little better to win it the right way," Carter said. "We had a team meeting and we were saying that the league was leaning toward Mercedes."
Koehler left little doubt on Sunday about the outcome. They established a 10-point lead in the first half and never let up in the second half. Mercedes climbed within six points, 33-27, four minutes into the second half, but got no closer after Hyncik drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession.
"I enjoy playing ball," said Hyncik, who graduated from Lehigh University after captaining the men’s basketball team this year. "Each year, I got a little better and a little stronger. This is always the league I played in over the summer through college. It really keeps you sharp, it keeps you ready because the guys are strong and athletic. It’s really similar to the college game. And the refs are good and good guys."
The team with plenty of local flavor built a supporting cast for Grant. It was a group that enjoyed playing together.
"We didn’t get together on our off days as much as we’d like," Carter said. "It was mostly me, Derick, Adam and Anthony, we tried to get together. Me and Derick get together about six days per week and try to call people whenever they’re available. The small things make a difference."
Grant was the regular-season MVP as well. He also won the regular-season MVP in 2003. He proved why as he led Koehler to its first team title, a first for many on the team.
"I’ve been in this league five or six years and I haven’t won a championship in high school and didn’t get one in college," Hyncik said. "I gave myself a hard time. This feels good. What’s cool is I’ve been playing with Derick since I was a sophomore in high school so I’ve been playing with him off and on for about eight years. Coming out here and getting a championship with Derick means a lot, coming from the same hometown and beating a great team. Mercedes Benz is a great team."
On Sunday, Koehler proved it was a little better. With Hyncik living and working in New York City, he isn’t sure if there will be a chance to defend the title next summer when the Princeton Recreation Department tips off its 20th basketball league season. It’s another reason this year’s win is so special.
"I’m just going to take it one summer at a time," Hyncik said. "I know I’ve got some good guys here, depending on what Derick is doing, depending on what Wanny is doing. If this is the way to go out and this is my last season here, living in New York from now on, it is a good way to go out. I’m leaving my options open.
"There are some leagues in New York, but this is all good for me. They’re not the same as this. This is a hometown league with local kids you grew up with and families you know and it makes it that much better around here. You go there and you don’t know people. Here it means more. Out of any summer league around, this is the one I’d like to win most. It’s great."

