HARD DRIVING: Hun School boys’ basketball player Jose Morales drives to the basket in a game earlier this season. Last week, post-graduate and Princeton-bound guard Morales scored 13 points but it wasn’t enough as fourth-seeded Hun fell 64-58 to fifth-seeded Lawrenceville in the opening round of the state Prep A tournament. The loss in the February 16 contest left the Raiders with a final record of 10-13. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

In mid-January, the Hun School boys’ basketball team overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to pull out a thrilling 68-66 win in double overtime against Lawrenceville School.

So, when fourth-seeded Hun found itself trailing fifth-seeded Lawrenceville 50-39 entering the fourth quarter last week in the opening round of the state Prep A tournament, Jose Morales and his teammates believed they could produce another stirring comeback.

“We always feel like we can come back,” said Hun postgraduate guard Morales, who has committed to Princeton where he will be playing for its men’s hoops program.

True to form, the Raiders mounted a rally in the February 16 contest, starting the quarter with a 16-7 run to narrow the Lawrenceville lead to 57-55 with 1:35 remaining in regulation. Hun, though, could never get closer than that as it fell 64-58.

“Today we just didn’t hit those shots, we didn’t get those key stops,” lamented Morales. “We had a couple of breakdowns on defense, they made more plays today.”

While the outcome was disappointing, Morales was proud of the Hun’s fighting spirit.

“That is one thing I love about this team is that we are going to battle every game no matter how much we are down by,” said Morales.

In going 10-13 on the season, Hun faced some uphill battles as it dealt with a number of injuries.

“There were a lot of ups and downs; for a lot of the season we weren’t whole,” said Morales.

“We were missing a few guys pretty much the whole season but we kept fighting.”

The Raiders did play some of their best basketball down the stretch as they posted wins over Life Center and Peddie in the last week of the season.

“We got better as time went on and as we got guys back in the rotation,” said Morales.

“We jelled pretty well at the end. Today was just one of those days where we didn’t make the plays that we needed to.”

For Morales, a native of Miramar, Fla., spending the year at Hun has been a way to better prepare himself for matriculating to Princeton.

“One of the pros about coming here is that I get to be around the area and the campus and the guys that are currently on the Princeton team,” said Morales, noting that he is still getting used to the chilly winter weather in New Jersey.

“I am pretty well acclimated with the area right now. I like the style that coach  (Mitch) Henderson is running over there. I like the program he is building. I fit the system and I feel like we have a good chance of making the tournament; that is always cool and then you add that with the education you get, there are not many negatives.”

Like Morales, Hun head coach Jon Stone felt his team had a good chance of authoring another comeback story against rival Lawrenceville.

“We have been able to do it in the past so you always think that you can make it happen when you have done it before,” said Stone. “Give them credit, they made a lot of good plays and we didn’t.”

Coming off a tough 63-58 loss to Blair Academy in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) semis the previous Saturday, Stone was bitterly disappointed by the setback to the Big Red.

“It is just a frustrating way to end,” said Stone. “I felt we could have beaten Blair, we had some tough breaks in that game. Today we didn’t make our own breaks. It is tough to end with two games like that.”

Stone liked the toughness and skill supplied by Morales and backcourt mate, senior Niall Carpenter.

“They both bring a lot of energy, they know how to compete,” said Stone. “We are certainly going to miss them.”

The program will miss its other departing seniors and post-grads, which include Savoy Drummond, Like Apuzzi, Austin Harriott, and Sasha French.

“They are a great group, they are all going to go on and do great things in college and we wish them the best of luck,” said Stone.

“Five of the six are going on to play basketball in college and one is playing football. They are all going to mean a lot to the program. It will be fun to watch them grow and progress.”

Junior guard Austin Hutcherson, who tallied a team-high 14 points in the loss to the Big Red, should mean a lot to the Raiders going forward.

“He shows what he can do, he has been out a lot, I think that was only his seventh game all season,” said Stone. “We look forward to him being back next year and being healthy.”

With other key players such as sophomore Justin Cort, sophomore Tyler Washington, sophomore Lorenzo Spinazzi, and junior Ewan Lancaster slated to return, Stone is looking forward to next season.

“We have some great young guys and returning guys, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen,” said Stone.

“We are excited about them all returning and hopefully we can build on some things we did this year.”

Morales, for his part, tried to set a good example for those returning players.

“Just being a guy who has played four years of high school basketball, I wanted to bring some experience, some energy,” said Morales. “I wanted to be someone to look up to, especially for the younger guys.”