ON THE NIALL: Hun School boys’ basketball player Niall Carpenter heads up the court in a game this winter. Junior guard Carpenter provided good work in the backcourt to help the Raiders posts 14-10 record and advance to the semis of both the state Prep A tournament and the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tourney. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

While the Hun School boys’ basketball team showed flashes of brilliance this winter, it didn’t take the final step.

“It was good not great, we did some good things and we beat some really good teams,” said Hun head coach Jon Stone, reflecting on the team’s 14-10 campaign.

“We beat St Joe’s Metuchen, they were one of the top teams in the state. We came from behind to beat them; they were a terrific team. We won nine straight games and 11 of 12. When you do that, you can’t say it was a bad season. We had a good win at Lawrenceville; we were behind and came back against a big rival. We had a great one at home against Peddie.”

But after putting together that nine-game winning streak, Hun lost its regular season finale to the Life Center Academy and then fell to the Hill School (Pa.) in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) semifinals and to St. Benedict’s in the state Prep A semis.

“We just couldn’t end the way we wanted to,” said Stone. “We lost in two semis, we wanted to make some finals.”

The season-ending loss to St. Benedict’s reflected Hun’s uneven play at times. The Raiders dug a large hole and then battled back before falling 66-55.

“We really struggled to score; we struggled going into the half,” recalled Stone, whose team trailed 28-6 at one point in the first half of the contest. “We got ourselves back into the game. We chipped away, we got it down to five. I am proud of the way we competed.”

Stone was proud of what he got this winter from his group of seniors, which included Eric Williams, Tucker Stevenson, Akash Mukkavilli, Kyle Borden, Dominic Robb, Ben Seipt, Andrew Dufort, and Chris Sharp.

“It was a terrific group from top to bottom, everyone made a valuable contribution,” asserted Stone.

“Eric, Tucker, and Akash were our 4-year guys, they were rocks for us,” said Stone. Akash was on the bench most of the time but he worked hard, he had his day in the sun. Eric’s leadership was tremendous, his experience was tremendous, he had a really good year. Kyle had been with team for two years; he came as far as anyone, he was terrific at times for us. The three newcomers, Dom, Ben, Drew were also big parts of what we did. Having Chris Sharp back was important; he brings an intensity, he has the ability to compete and just his demeanor helped us.”

Hun boasts a terrific core of returners in juniors Niall Carpenter and Austin Harriott along with sophomore Austin Hutcherson.

“They all had good seasons; they all grew as the season went on,” said Stone. “We are excited to have them back. Austin and Niall were starters most of the year. Hutcherson is younger but he developed. He had some good games. He got hurt and missed the last half of the season.”

While the season might not have been quite as successful as Stone had wanted, he enjoyed working with the squad.

“It was a fun team to coach; we got better as the year went on,” said Stone. “I just wish we had done a little better at the end.”