BORDENTOWN — Parker building for another shot at playoffs

By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
    After being hit hard by graduation — including the loss of Jon Kohler — it’s up to the remaining and new members of the Bordentown High boys’ basketball team to see how quickly they can reach their potential.
    “We’re still trying to find our identity,” noted Craig Parker, who will be entering his second season as the coach at Bordentown and eighth overall for a varsity high school team. “I think we can be a good defensive team.”
    How about offensively? Kohler graduated. All he did at Bordentown was set a school record of 1662 points in his career. He is now red-shirting a year at C.W. Post.
    “That’s the way it goes in high school basketball,” Parker said. “You have a guy for four years and then they go on their way.”
    According to Parker, the only way to make up for the loss of a player like Kohler is to spread the load evenly among the remaining guys.
    “As long as we share the basketball and look for the open man, we can be good on offense,” Parker said.
    With such a young team, Bordentown may be a squad that can be better judged a month or two from now. Even so, it still has to find ways to win enough now to make those future games more meaningful.
    Bordentown will have two seniors in the starting lineup. Gary Carthan is the only one that played what Parker called “significant minutes on varsity” last season.
    Parker was pleased with Carthan’s play in the summer (Bordentown entered a team in a league at Allentown High), especially with an improved outside shot. Carthan is expected to be a leader on the team. He will play forward.
    George Williams, a senior that plays point guard, played a little on varsity last season. He is a talented player that shouldn’t be overwhelmed by his important role.
    Casey Nunez, a junior, is back in Bordentown after living in the Bronx for a year.
    “He’ll be one of the guards,” Parker noted of Nunez. “He has a nice jump shot. We’re looking for him to give us some instant offense.”
    Bordentown will use a three-
guard set. The other starting guard is Kartavin Youngblood, a sophomore. His main skill is defense. Parker plans to use him on the opposition’s top guard.
    Joseph Ricks, at around 6’ 4” or 6’ 5”, “is the biggest kid in the program,” according to Parker.
    “We realize he’s (Youngblood) young, but he’s a seasoned freshman coming in,” Parker noted.
    The backups are Joe Mesday (a senior that play forward), Mike Mascari (a junior that plays forward), Donald Ntuk (a senior that plays guard), Robert Tina (a senior that plays guard), Prince Young (a junior that plays guard) and Spike Pascual (a senior that plays forward).
    Parker will be assisted by Mamon Day.
    Florence will open the season Friday at Burlington Township. The team will be home on December 27 and 29 to host its Christmas Tournament. Bordentown will play Florence in one of the openers. Haddonfield and West Windsor North will play in the other one.
    “We will mature as the season goes along,” Parker noted. “We have a lot of potential. There will be some growing pains, but we should be okay.”