Boys basketball heads into winter break with victory
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Matt Hart and the Princeton High boys basketball team went into their extended holiday break feeling pretty good about themselves.
The Little Tigers didn’t play in a tournament over the late-December break, but Princeton went into its off time with an impressive 75-71 win at West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Dec. 22. Princeton had opened the season with a 67-55 loss to Hamilton.
”Both games were pretty good,” said Hart, who scored a team-high 27 points in the loss to Hamilton and had 17 in the win over the Pirates. “We had good ball movement. I feel like we are playing well as a team. I thought we played well overall against South and I think we’ll be ready to play well when we get back out on the court after the break.”
Princeton is one of the rare teams that does not play in a holiday tournament. So when the Little Tigers take the court at Hillsborough on Saturday they will have gone 11 days between games.
”We ran a lot of scrimmage in practice and did a lot of game-like drills,” Hart said. “It has given us time to work on things we didn’t do as well in the first couple of games. We’ve had some good practices.”
Kevin Kane led the Little Tigers with 27 points in the win over WW-P South. Hart chipped in with his 17 and Zihrion Blue added 11 for the Little Tigers. Some nights Hart will be a big scorer for Princeton and on other nights that will fall to another player. The overall goal is just to see the team be successful.
”I am just trying to help my team win,” Hart said. “I think we have a chance to go far this year and win the division. I think if I can help lead the team any way I can it will help us.
”We have a lot of seniors and a few juniors that should help us. We played in a summer league and in the fall. The kids playing now, we have played together for years and we have been on same AAU team for several years.”
The Little Tigers have a solid mix of returning veterans and newcomers to the varsity. It has led to a lot of optimism for the season.
”Zihrion Blue had been playing well and is a big contributor off the bench and has also started a game,” Hart said. “We have a few different point guards that have been playing well dishing the all off and hustling a lot. And I think our bench players have been positive contributors to the team. We feel like we are very deep and we have a lot of faith in the bench.”
The Little Tigers are deep at point guard with JC Silva, John Morelli and Sam Serxner. The Moore brothers — Tad and Tommy —, as well as Michael Dowers, have stepped up from the JV and contributed early in the season.
Now after a layoff to work out the kinks, Princeton will be eager to see what kind of progress it has made.
”I don’t know what to expect from Hillsborough,” Hart said. “They are always a very good team. And Morristown was good last year and they beat us. I know they lost all of their starters to graduation so we’re looking to beat them this year.”
The Little Tigers play Morristown on Monday before jumping back into CVC play on Tuesday against Ewing.
While the Little Tigers were idle, several other teams in both girls and boys basketball were playing over the holiday break.
The Montgomery boys participated in the Vaughn Stapleton Classic at Bridgewater and opened with a 52-47 loss to host Bridgewater-Raritan. Chase Ta led the Cougars with 25 points. The Cougars bounced back in their second game of the event and defeated Medford Tech, 50-49, as Ta scored 15 points and Alex Miller added 13. Darron Wallace chipped in with 11 points for Montgomery.
WW-P North fell to South Brunswick, 61-45, in the opening round of the Viking Classic at South Brunswick. Miles Gordon led the Knights with 12 points in the loss. In the Knights’ second game of the tournament, Ajeet Malhotra scored 11 points in a 53-37 loss to East Brunswick.
WW-P South dropped a 59-47 decision to East Brunswick in the opening round of the Viking Classic at South Brunswick. Jon Kline led the Pirates with 24 points. In the Pirates’ second game of the tournament, Justin Turner scored 15 points and Kline added 12 in a 50-49 loss to South Brunswick.
The Princeton Day School boys reached the championship game of the Wardlaw-Hartridge Tournament, falling to North Warren, 39-28. Josiah Meekins led the Panthers with 10 points. PDS had opened the tournament with a 43-41 win over Keyport. Chase Lewis had 19 points and JP Radvany added 10 points in the win.
In girls tournament action, Montgomery opened the Vaughn Stapleton Classic at Bridgewater with a 51-46 loss to Oak Knoll. Alison Geary led the Cougars with 14 points in the loss. In the second game of the event, the Cougars dropped a 44-34 decision to Bridgewater as Zojajha Ayub led the scoring with nine points.
Stuart Country Day School reached the finals of its own tournament before falling to Germantown Friends, 45-17. The Tartans had opened the tournament with a 44-31 win over Doane Academy in the opening round. Kate Walsh scored 24 points to lead Stuart in the win.
Princeton topped Doane Academy, 58-23, in the consolation game of the Stuart Country Day School tournament. Mira Shane led a balanced Princeton offense with 12 points. Princeton had fallen to Germantown Friends in the opening round.
WW-P North fell to South Brunswick, 49-46, in the opening round of the WW-P South tournament. Natalie Everett led the Knights with 10 points. In their second game, the Knights dropped a 43-26 decision to East Brunswick. Jasmine Watson led the North scoring with 12 points.
WW-P South lost to East Brunswick, 43-28, in the opening round of its tournament. Rachel Goldfinger had 14 points in the loss. The Pirates lost to South Brunswick, 54-35, in their second game of the event.