Balanced MHS boys’ basketball eyes bigger goals
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Now that the Montgomery High boys’ basketball team has its 10th win in the books, the Cougars can start thinking about some of their loftier goals down the line.
”Just getting our 10th win helps to take the pressure off,” said guard Matt Kovacs, who scored 11 points on Saturday as the Cougars clinched a state tournament berth with a 54-37 win over North Hunterdon. “Now we can try to get another three wins this week and get a good seed for the state tournament. We’ve worked hard to get where we are and we want to keep playing well and finish the season strong.”
Montgomery improved to 10-7 with the win and heads into a busy week looking to build some momentum. The Cougars will host Franklin in the Somerset County Tournament on Saturday, but before then they have game with the Warriors on Tuesday, as well as a matchup with highly-regarded Bridgewater-Raritan on Thursday.
”We’ve been up and down all year,” said Montgomery coach Kris Grundy, whose team snapped a modest two-game losing streak with the win on Saturday. “I still don’t think we have played a perfect game yet. I would like to think that is coming down the stretch.
”We’re 2-3 in our last five games, so it was really important that we beat North Hunterdon and ended our only real losing streak of the season. We had not lost two in a row all year before we lost to Immaculata and Watchung Hills. But the kids stepped up and played well in a game we needed to win.”
Kevin Tarca had a season-high 28 points in the win on Saturday, while Kovacs and Misha Miljanic (10 points) were also in double figures. Those three have provided steady scoring throughout the year, while others have taken turns contributing as well.
”We’re able to score in different ways,” Kovacs said. “Misha and Connor (Paladino) are tough inside. Tarca can shoot the three. I tend to drive to the basket and pull up for jumpers. We also try to fastbreak a lot, too. Coach says if we play good defense and create turnovers, that can lead to easy baskets for us.”
Kovacs has fit nicely into the Cougars system this year. He came off the bench last year, but has adjusted well into his new role as a starter.
”He’s averaging about 10 points a game,” Grundy said. “We have three guys in double figures with Matt, Kevin and Misha. They’re all right around 10 points a game or a little higher. Matt has been real steady for us all year. He was battling an ankle injury earlier in the year and he missed our first Franklin game, which we managed to win in overtime. And now we’ll have him back for these games coming up.”
Kovacs hopes these next few games bring some more wins. The schedule is not easy, with Franklin twice and Bridgewater once this week. And if the Cougars get past Franklin, there would be an SCT quarterfinal date with Ridge waiting a week later.
”We knew we had to get the 10th win to get into the states, so it was all or nothing,” Kovacs said. “Tarca had a great game with 28 points and carried a lot of the load. The difference between this year and last year for us is that we have a deeper team this year. Last year we relied heavily on Nick Cafiero to score for us. This year we have four or five different guys that can score 10 to 15 points in a game, which has been nice.
”Our goal is to get a home game in the state tournament. We don’t want to take any steps back with the program.”
The rest of the way, all the games will be tough for the Cougars, both regular season and tournaments. Kovacs hopes he can do his part to help.
”I had an ankle injury earlier in the year that set me back a little bit,” the senior guard said. “Other than that, I’ve just tried to work hard and do what I can to help the team.
”We have some tough games coming up. It seems like we’ve been having to play Franklin a lot lately. Last year we played them three times. This year we’ll be playing them three times. I love playing against Franklin because it is always a good game.”