Little Tigers in tonight’s final
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
TINTON FALLS — They were there in force on Saturday afternoon at Monmouth Regional.
Sprinkled throughout the stands were players from the glory days of Princeton High basketball. Bram Reynolds, Kirk Webber, Evan Moorhead, Ben Stentz and Stefan Moorhead from the championship run of 1992-1994 were there to see if their alma mater could get back to a sectional championship for the first time in 15 years.
Princeton put together its second straight solid effort in the Central Jersey Group III tournament, knocking off top-seeded Monmouth Regional, 55-46, to advance to tonight’s CJ III final. The fifth-seeded Little Tigers, who improved to 18-6, will take on third-seeded Neptune tonight at 7 p.m. at Franklin High.
It will be the school’s first shot at a sectional title since 1994 and comes 17 years to the day the Little Tigers win their 1992 CJ II title.
”It feels great,” said senior A.J. Dowers, who had 10 points and 14 rebounds in his best game of the season to help lift Princeton to the win. “We have banners from 1992, 1993 and 1994 back when Bram Reynolds and those guys were playing. And I know every day in practice we all look up there and say we’re going to break this streak. We’re going to be the first team since then to go out and compete for a sectional championship.”
The Little Tigers will get that chance thanks to a well-balanced effort similar to the one that helped them to a 47-35 win over Point Pleasant Boro two days earlier in their CJ III opener.
”It’s a great achievement,” Princeton coach Jason Carter said. “It’s a fantastic effort all the way down from bench guys to starters. Guys played through adversity. For the second game in a row we kept our poise and showed out experience and maturity.”
Brian Dunlap led the Little Tigers with 21 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter while Princeton was holding off a Falcons team that had eliminated them in their state opener a year ago.
”Last year we were down eight points to start and didn’t really know what hit us,” said Dunlap, who scored 10 of Princeton’s final 11 points at the foul line. “This year we’ve been talking about going back to Monmouth Regional for a whole year and maybe getting a little redemption. We didn’t play real clean and crisp in the first half, but we managed to get a lead. And then in the second half, (DeQuan Holman), A.J. and myself, we were just trying to make plays. This was a great win for us.”
The game was sluggish early, with Monmouth grabbing a 6-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was 9-9 late in the second quarter when Dunlap hit back-to-back three-point shots to make it 15-9. By halftime the Little Tigers led, 17-11.
In the third quarter the offenses started to click. Monmouth managed to get as close as one twice in the third quarter before a basket by Josh Gordon at the buzzer made it 32-29. It was 35-33 in the early part of the fourth quarter when Dunlap came through again, hitting a three-point shot to make it 38-33. After Monmouth cut it to 38-35, Dowers scored back-to-back baskets to make it 42-35 and the Falcons never got closer.
”The last couple of games something has clicked inside of him,” Carter said of Dowers, who also had three blocked shots. “He’s not getting pushed around. He’s keeping his pivot foot down. Guys have confidence in him. He’s been through a lot. We’ve done some team building and right now he is playing the way we always thought he could.”
The balance of Dowers inside, Dunlap outside and Holman slashing to the basket provided enough offense to put the Little Tigers back into a sectional final. Now they’re looking to add 2009 to a basketball banner that last saw a sectional title in 1994.
”We’re focused,” Dunlap said. “We’ve made it this far and we’re figuring why can’t we get one more? We’ve been underdogs the whole tournament and we’ve won two so far. We’re going to go in focused and see if we can come out with a win.”
The way Princeton has played the last two games, there is certainly a good chance they could do just that. The Little Tigers slayed one giant with the win over top-seeded Monmouth.
”I looked at this as an opportunity to avenge a tough loss,” Carter said. “I don’t want to say payback. But when a team knocks you out of the playoffs, if you have an opportunity to play them again in the playoffs I think you can take advantage of it.”
Now Princeton, which has gone 3-3 in the six games prior to the state tournament, needs just one more win to add to that banner in the gym.
”I think it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise those losses down the stretch,” Dunlap said. “We had won eight or nine in a row to get to 13-3 and it was important for us to play that tough competition at the end. I think that really prepared us well for this competition that we have been playing in the states.”
Princeton has certainly been tough to beat. They’ve had balance on offense and contributions from the whole roster. Skye Ettin and Gordon have done their jobs in the starting lineup, while Jordan Metro, Thatcher Foster and Devon Holman have contributed off the bench.
”I think that is a plus for our team,” Dowers said. “Defensively, we don’t have any weak links. And offensively, we don’t have any weak links. You can’t play us four on four or three on three. You have to play us five on five.”

