By: centraljersey.com
Maybe Doctor Don Hess should just throw his medical books away when it comes to diagnosing Monmouth Regional.
It seems every time the Hightstown High boys’ basketball team meets the Falcons in the state tournament, they do something different than what they showed Hess during his scouting missions.
Tuesday night was no exception, as Monmouth bombed home seven 3-pointers en route to a 47-44 victory over the host Rams in a first-round NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III sectional game.
"When we saw them, they didn’t show they were a good three-point shooting team and they had seven of them against us," said a bewildered Hess. "In the two games we saw them they had one in one game and two the other game. They took a lot in those games but I said ‘This team not a good three-point shooting team.’ They shot them with guys right in their face.
"They’re also really big, they had four big men, three of them at least 6-5. But when we saw them they looked awful slow afoot. They didn’t look slow last night. I don’t know if they were really excited or what."
It’s the way it always seems to go for Hightstown against Monmouth.
"I remember one year we scouted them three times and this kid never shot well," Hess said. "And then he starts making all these shots on us.
"I don’t know what it is with this team. They’ve just got our number. In 2006-07 we were up 10 with five minutes to go, our kid got poked in the eye and the roof fell in."
This time around, the roof caved in early and the Rams spent the entire game trying to dig out of the rubble.
Monmouth ran out to leads of 12-0 and 18-4 before Hightstown finally began to battle back.
"I can’t explain what happened," Hess said. "We were prepared for everything they did defensively. You feel you have a good feel for the game. They came out in exactly what we worked on, a 2-3 zone and 2-1-2 press, but we turned it over a few times.
"You figure you’re at home, so that’s an advantage. The other times we’ve always been away."
After the initial blitzkrieg, the Rams began rotating guards on different players and applied pressure, which forced Monmouth into turnovers.
By late in the game Hightstown got within one and had a potential go-ahead lay-up roll off the rim "like there was a lid on it." Hightstown held at the other end, then had a James Parrish shot for the lead get blocked on the backboard.
"I watched the film and it was definitely goaltending," Hess said. "But they didn’t call it."
The Falcons scored to go up by three, and Hightstown missed three straight open looks down the end as their frustrations continued against the Shore Conference foe.
"The kids played hard to get back in the game," Hess said. "They just ran out of energy trying to come back from so far."
Sam Lopez closed out his career with a team-high 14 points while Ryan Borden returned from injury to score 13 and Qwanza Harper had 11.
It was the final game for Lopez and Harper, who both provided Hightstown with some outstanding play over the years.
"You look at those two kids, really carried the team on their back the last four years," Hess said. "Sam has been a monster inside for two years, because he broke his leg as freshman playing football and was still recovering as a sophomore.
"Harper had four years with us and of course he’s quite special for me with his parents both playing for me (in basketball and track). He’s very special, he’s been a good kid. I never ever had any problems with Harper.
"We some nice kids coming back, a nice nucleus. But those two kids are irreplaceable."
They helped the Rams to a 12-12 season and a share of the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division title along with Princeton.
"We had a decent season," Hess said. "We hung a flag, which is one of our things every year that we want to do, and we got a home game in the state tournament. It was unfortunate we didn’t carry out the rest."
The Rams also suffered through some injury problems, losing Blair Alford and Wallace Cooper for the season and Lopez and Borden for several games.
"We lost some quality people, but guys picked it up and showed a lot of character," Hess said. "We were in every game except for the second Ewing game. So they battled."
And the cupboard is hardly bare next year, as Parrish, Fusik, Rob Reddington, Borden and freshman Chad Preston all return. There was also some talent on a JV team that went 10-9 and a freshman team that went 10-10.
Thus, next season is one of promise.
But it would be nice if Monmouth either went up to Group IV or down to Group II, just in case.

