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PRINCETON: Despite loss, season to remember for PHS

Little Tigers fall in CJ III final

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   FRANKLIN — While the season ended with a disappointing loss to Neptune in the Central Jersey Group III final on Tuesday night, there is no debating that this was a special year for the Princeton High boys basketball team.
   ”We’re proud of ourselves,” said senior DeQuan Holman, who had 10 points in the Little Tigers’ 72-44 loss. “It stings right now, but eventually I think we’ll see how far we have come to be here. No one expected this of us. We kind of snuck up on people. It was fun.
   ”We have a great group of guys. The whole team was fun to be around. The expectations were high from the coaches, but no one really expected us to get here. To be in the sectional championship was tremendous. It was a fun ride.”
   The Little Tigers won their first two state tournament games since 1995 to reach the CJ III final. In the last three years they team went from seven wins, to 12 last year and then 18-7 this year with a trip to the sectional final.
   ”We were 7-15,” Holman said of his sophomore year. “The coaching changed. The attitude of the team changed. The expectations put on the leaders of the team changed. We carried ourselves different. The swagger of the team was different. The way we treated each other was different. It didn’t become just basketball. It was actually friendship outside of basketball. We become brothers over the season. That only helped us when it came to playing on the basketball court.”
   The Little Tigers started three seniors — Holman, Brian Dunlap and A.J. Dowers — and all three were part of a freshman group that started the program’s turnaround four years ago.
   ”We have a lot of pride in the way we carried ourselves,” Holman said. “Coming in as freshmen we did a pretty good job on that level. We’re pretty happy with the way we contributed to the varsity program. We basically went from rags to riches to get here. We don’t feel good about not coming out on top. But we do feel good about our effort.”
   Those three seniors, as well as seniors Marlowe Alter, Steven Fuchs and Chris Bechler, leave the program in much better shape than it was in when they arrived.
   ”I tip my hat to all the seniors,” said Princeton coach Jason Carter, who has guided the Little Tigers into the state tournament in both of his seasons as head coach. “They have been dedicated and loyal. They have worked their butts off for me. Those are the type of players I would like to associate with this program. They are great character guys and role models for the younger guys on the team.
   ”I thought the win on Saturday (Over Monmouth in the CJ III semis) changed our lives and changed these kid’s lives because something like that is so monumental. People value kids that go out there and win. And it’s not just about the win, it’s about the courage it takes for these guys to go out and compete.”
   Against Neptune, Princeton simply ran into a better team. The Scarlet Fliers trailed, 15-13, after Skye Ettin scored for the Little Tigers early in the second quarter. But Neptune then ran off 14 straight points and never led by less than eight the rest of the way.
   ”There are not too many teams in our league that we’re going to see like that,” Holman said. “It was different to see someone get up and down the court that was even faster than us. That’s the way we like to play, but at our own speed. We like to speed up at our own speed, but we didn’t do that today. We went at their speed the whole game.”
   For Princeton, which received 13 points from Dunlap and nine from Ettin, the season ended with 18 wins, a trip to the CJ III final, an appearance in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals and a CVC Patriot Division title.
   ”It’s been a great run and a great experience,” Carter said. “I’m still learning new things about coaching every day. Hopefully I can bring this experience and we can come back soon and actually compete and win a sectional title. I saw guys in the crowd I have not seen in 10 years. And I saw guys that I have not seen at a Princeton basketball game since Bram (Reynolds) graduated and I was still playing.
   ”For me, it’s a dream come true. I never thought in a million years I’d be coaching at Princeton High School. To be coaching basketball and getting to the sectional finals is great. It all happened so fast I have not really taken it all in yet.”