As the deadline for qualifying for the state tournament creeps closer, the New Egypt High School boys basketball team finds itself battling for its playoff life.
With an overall record of 7-7, the Warriors need to put forth a huge effort thisweek to get and stay above the .500mark. Following a 45-30 loss to Bordentown last Saturday, the Warriors squared off against Florence on Tuesday, and then will meet Maple Shade and Allentown later this week.
“We’re struggling, there is no other way to put it,” New Egypt coach Jay Corby said. “At times this season, we have looked real good. We’re matching up against teams in our conference very well. But there have been several games this season against teams we should have taken care of easily, and we lost.”
Teams that earn a berth in the state playoffs must own a .500 record by the cutoff date.
Corby cites his team’s careless handling of the ball as the main culprit.
“We’re not taking care of the ball theway we should be,” Corby said. “We are making way toomanymistakes at the offensive end. We’remaking poor decisions and turning the ball over way too much. In order for us to compete with the better teams, we need to straighten that out. We’ve been working hard in practice on trying to improve our ball handling and passing.”
Indeed, miscues have made winning more difficult. During a three-game losing streak earlier this season, the Warriors compiled 30, 30 and 29 turnovers. Those numbers are unacceptable, Corby said.
“When you give the ball away that much, you’re not supposed to win,” Corby said. “We need to treat each possession with a great deal of importance.We’re giving away too many scoring opportunities.”
Defense and rebounding have been the strength of this year’s team. New Egypt has held opponents to just under 40 points per game, and with a pair of 6-foot-8 big men in junior Kevin Janowski and freshman Desmond Hubert, the Warriors have dominated the boards.
“We’ve been very solid in those two areas,” Corby said. “Both guys have done a tremendous job of rebounding the ball and blocking and altering shots. We need to get the ball down the floor without turning it over after we’ve rebound it. That’s where we’re having problems.”
Janowski has been outstanding at the offensive end as well. He is averaging 18 points per game and 10 rebounds.
His ability to score in the post, or
connect on the short jumper,
has given New Egypt the majority of its offense.
“He has really improved,”
Corby said. “He has a great
work ethic and is developing every day. I’m real pleased with his progression. He is a force that other teams need to deal with.”
New Egypt suffered a 47-45 loss to Palmyra last week. Janowski knotted the game at 45 by draining a pair of free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining. New Egypt’s defense did a good job of defending Palmyra’s final possession, but the Warriors were called for a foul with four seconds left.
“That was a tough way to lose the game,” Corby said. “We played well and did a great job of defending down the stretch. To get called for a foul in the final seconds was disappointing.”
Hubert scored nine points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked seven shots in New Egypt’s 40-29 victory over Riverside. It marked the first time in school history that theWarriors have knocked off Riverside.
“That was a big win for us,” Corby said. “They had had our number for the longest time. To beat them handily the way we did was redeeming. That was one of the games where we didn’t turn the ball over.”