BIG BEN: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Ben Moyer looks to pass the ball in recent action. Senior guard Moyer’s hard-nosed play helped PHS advance to the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals and post a final record of 13-12. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Winning eight of its last 10 regular season games, the Princeton High boys’ basketball team was primed for a big postseason run.

Hosting 10th-seeded Trenton in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament on February 19, seventh-seeded PHS got off to a good start, racing past the Tornadoes 69-41.

“That was great, we hadn’t beat them in a very long time; we beat them twice this year and that is saying a lot,” said PHS head coach Pat Noone.

“It was a rough first quarter but the team really hung in there. We started hitting shots and we really defended well against them and stopped them in transition so that was really good. We hit a lot of shots that game, that was good to see. That was a big momentum builder for us.”

Unfortunately, the Tigers didn’t hit shots in the MCT quarters two days later, falling 46-29 at second-seeded Robbinsville.

“Our offense really struggled in that game,” said Noone. “It was a pretty big moment for us, there was a lot of emotion. I don’t think we handled our emotions well in that game. We missed some shots that went in and out early against them and the panic kind of set in. It seemed like we forced stuff instead of letting things go like how we were earlier in the season.”

Playing at eighth-seeded Manalapan in the first round of the Group 4 Central Jersey sectional on March 3, ninth-seeded PHS looked to bounce back from the loss to the Ravens.

“We had a real good mindset, we felt like we didn’t put our best foot forward against Robbinsville and you never want to go out like that,” said Noone. “I think we were really hungry going into that game.”

While the Tigers lost 60-54 in overtime, the squad played a good game as it ended the season with a 13-12 record.

“We did a really good job defensively in the first half; they were scoring a lot of points and they only scored 26 in the first half, which is pretty good, and 49 through four quarters,” said Noone, who got 20 points from senior star Gefen Bar-Cohen in the loss with senior guard Jack Suozzi chipping in 14 points and junior standout Ethan Guy adding 13.

“Our defense really did well and then we started hitting shoots. Suozzi hit a three here and Gefen hit a three there. We got rolling. It was the foul shots that killed us, we were 10-of-20 from the free throw line and we didn’t score well in OT.”

Reflecting on the season overall, Noone was proud of what the team accomplished even though it didn’t go as far in postseason action as it had hoped.

“You fall short of what you want to do, you want to get to the arena in the county tournament and you want to win a state game and you lose in overtime so we were very close,” said Noone, noting that PHS posted wins over such formidable foes as Nottingham, Montgomery, Robbinsville, Trenton, and Hamilton during its late surge.

“Overall, it was a great season, especially since we started 0-3 and we were 4-8 at one point.”

Noone credited his senior group of Bar-Cohen, Suozzi, Judd Petrone, Riley McMahon, Ben Moyer, Matt Rinaldi, and Brian Frost with making a big impact.

“It has been a great class; this is my fourth year here so this is the first class where we came in together,” said Noone.

“These guys only know me; they grew with us and then you get to reap those benefits of having the first winning season in a while. We have been awfully close, we were one game below .500 last year and in my first year we were one game below then we finally got over the hump this year. That was really positive.”

Each of the seniors made a positive contribution over the course of the winter.

“Gefen has been unbelievable; he is going on to play college basketball and his improvement has been great,” said Noone of Bar-Cohen, who has committed to attend Kenyon College and play for its Division III men’s hoops program.

“Suozzi started hitting shots halfway through the year. When he hit shots that gave us a fourth option and that is when we got rolling. Judd stepped up huge this year. Riley has been with us the whole time. Moyer began starting halfway through the year and when he became a starter, we took off. He had a knack of always being around the ball. He was the guy that would take away their best offensive player. Rinaldi and Frost were great supporting guys.”

With a returning cast featuring junior standouts Guy and Tim Evidente, PHS has the potential to keep rolling.

“Ethan and Timmy are very good players, they have been awesome,” said Noone.

“We are going to miss the seniors because of how good a group they have been but with those two coming back, we should be good. We have got two sophomores in Jaxon Petrone and Connor McDowell and a couple of other juniors in Zane Scott and Charles Hamit who really improved. This is another group that only knows me running the program.”