COLUMBUS: NB hoops has bright future

STATE HOOPS WRAP

By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
   Even after being eliminated from the Central Jersey Group III tournament with a 56-46 loss at Hamilton last week, Northern Burlington High boys basketball coach Gene Darling couldn’t help but look optimistically at the future.
   His team, with just one starting senior, has already posted an upset win on the road in the state tournament, topping fourth-seeded New Brunswick, 39-36, before giving Hamilton a run for its money in the second round.
   ”You can’t ask for much more from these guys the way they fought back,” said Darling, whose team overcome a couple of double-digit leads to get within four of the Hornets. “They are a young bunch without a lot of experience in the playoffs and they could have easily packed it in. But they kept in the game. We were always down four or down six. We just couldn’t get over the hump. One or two extra big shots could have been the difference.”
   Cory Cort and Mike Kodia are the lone seniors for the Greyhounds, and only Cort same into the season with much experience. But the young team continued to improve and was playing its best basketball at the end of the season.
   ”We only had one varsity returner that kind of started with Cory,” said Darling, whose team finished with an 11-18 record. “These guys were still working hard, if not harder at the end of the season. I think we started to play together and buy into the system. You can’t ask much more than that with young guys. They worked very hard.”
   In the loss to Hamilton, Cort led the scoring with 15 points, while Fred Young and Alex Irvin added eight apiece. At New Brunswick, Carlos Cruz and Young each had 11 points for the Greyhounds.
   ”It was a great experience,” Darling said of the win at New Brunswick. “We went an hour away and went up there and beat the No. 4 seed. It was amazing for the kids and the program itself to give us an opportunity to play these guys. And tonight we had shots. We have not been in the playoffs in six or seven years. To have an opportunity to play a couple playoff games with a core returning group that will help us down the road. It can only help us for next year.”
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   In state tournament games involving the other teams in the Register News area, the Florence boys topped South River, 72-51, before falling to fourth-seeded Asbury Park in the quarterfinals of CJ I, 79-58. Kevin Allison had 25 points and Adam Schmidt added 10 in the loss at Asbury Park. Schmidt had 16 and Allison added 14 in the win over South River.
   In the CJ I girls tournament, the Florence girls went on the road and topped Perth Amboy Tech, 47-29, in the opening round as Sarah Muchowski led the way with 27 points. The Flashes then fell in the quarterfinals, 52-42, at second-seeded Metuchen. Muchowski had 22 points and Kaitlin Poretti added 10 in the loss.
   In the CJ II girls tournament, the Bordentown girls opened with a win over Robbinsville, then dropped a 34-25 decision at Middlesex. Emily Lawson had 13 points to lead the Scotties.
   In CJ III, the Northern Burlington girls had the tough task of opening at top-seeded Neptune, where the Greyhounds dropped a 77-28 decision to the eventual sectional champs. Rachel Dortch had 16 points to lead the Greyhounds.