TRUE BLUE: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Zahrion Blue heads to the hoop in recent action. Last Friday, Blue scored 28 points to help lead PHS to a 70-65 win at Steinert. Against WW/P-N on Monday, Blue netted 25 but it wasn’t enough as the Little Tigers fell 61-54 to the Northern Knights. PHS, now 3-6, plays at Nottingham on January 13, hosts Notre Dame on January 15, and Hopewell Valley on January 19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Zahrion Blue wasn’t much of a factor for the Princeton High boys’ basketball team in the first half as it hosted Lawrence last week.

The  6’3 star junior forward scored just two points as PHS clung to a 30-25 lead at halftime in the January 5 contest.

“I wasn’t being me, I wasn’t playing how I usually play the game,” said Blue, reflecting on his quiet half.

“I wasn’t going to the basket, I was passing the ball, trying to get my teammates involved.”

In the second half, Blue was a huge factor for PHS, slashing to the basket with great effect, scoring 15 points over the last 16 minutes of the contest.

“I just had to play basketball,” said Blue. “I saw that we were up so I wasn’t really scoring. When it was getting close, I had to bring the lead back up.”

Blue’s heroics helped the Little Tigers build up a 60-51 lead with four minutes left in regulation but PHS faltered down the stretch, getting outscored 19-7 from that point on the way to suffering a 70-67 loss.

“If we had boxed out
better and had gotten rebounds, we probably would have won the game,” said Blue. “We need to let our record motivate us.”

After enjoying a superb debut varsity campaign last winter, Blue was motivated to be even better this season.

“I improved because I practice a lot; I work on my game in order to be a good player,” said Blue, who scored 28 points as PHS rallied to a 70-65 win over Steinert last Friday and then contributed 25 points in a losing cause as the Little Tigers fell 61-54 to WW/P-N last Monday, dropping to 3-6 on the season.

Blue enjoys working with senior forward Matt Hart, the team’s other main scoring threat.

“We have been playing with each other for a year and our chemistry just builds up every single practice,” said Blue.

“In the games, we look for each other. We are the main two scorers and we have to put the team on our back. We have to get everyone involved too.”

In reflecting on the loss to Lawrence, PHS head coach Mark Shelley was disappointed with his team’s lack of execution down the stretch.

“It wasn’t like we had freshmen or sophomores in there, we had seniors and juniors and we didn’t make good decisions,” lamented Shelley.

“If you are in the driver’s seat like that, good decision-making should salt the game away. We have to do better against pressure, move the ball and get through the traps. We like to run but at times we have to pull it back.”

Shelley liked the way Blue did better in the second half. “Zahrion did play well, he is an incredibly talented player,” said Shelley.

“Our concern with Zahrion is that we feel sometimes the effort is not 100 percent with him all the time. We have got to get him to internalize that and motivate himself. To his credit, he came on.”

Hart came up big all night long against Lawrence, tallying a game-high 23 points in the loss.

“Their coach was just throwing up his hands every time he was dribbling,” said Shelley of Hart, who scored 27 points in the win over Steinert and then added 23 in the loss to WW/P-N. “He played like the first-team CVC player that he was last year and should be again.”

In order for PHS to make an impact in the CVC, it needs to focus on fundamentals.

“We have to talk about the process, all you can do is flush it and try to come out and try to take care of the ball,” said Shelley.

“We will evaluate lineups and substitutions, but at the same time it is a matter of being more fundamental and I say that to them every day, you have to be the more fundamental team in almost every game. In every single game, we have a chance to be competitive and come away with a win but we also could lose any game.”

Shelley believes his team can come up with some big wins over the final stages of the season.

“Last year we lost six or seven in a row in January and it wasn’t nearly as difficult a schedule as we have just played,” said Shelley, whose team plays at Nottingham on January 13, hosts Notre Dame on January 15, and Hopewell Valley on January 19.

“We won a double overtime game at North and went on a big run. We won six or seven in a row, even when Hart got hurt towards the end. That is the lesson, we have to stay together as a team, keep positive.”

Blue, for his part, is confident that things will come together for the Little Tigers.

“We can bounce back,” said Blue. “We just have to play defense, box out, and rebound; do all the little things.”