TURNING A CORNER: Hun School boys’ basketball player Anthony Loscalzo dribbles past a foe in recent action. Last Saturday, junior guard Loscalzo scored 21 points to help Hun defeat Solebury School (Pa.) 71-48. The Raiders, who improved to 12-9 with the win, will play the Peddie School on February 10 in the opening round of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tournament at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.). (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After starting last week by sinking to a low point with a discouraging loss to rival Lawrenceville, the Hun School boys’ basketball team found itself at a crossroads.

Hun head coach Jon Stone was hoping that the 85-65 defeat to Lawrenceville on January 31 would be a wake-up call as Hun finished the week by playing at Academy of New Church (Pa.) last Thursday and Solebury School (Pa.) two days later.

Bouncing back, the Raiders rallied to edge ANC 61-60 and then cruised to a 71-48 triumph over Solebury as they improved to 12-9.

“We had a really gritty, gutty win against ANC,” said Stone. “We trailed the whole game and we were down 15 twice, so for us to come back and win that game on the road was a really good sign.”

In Stone’s view, the comeback had as much do with character as with skill.

“It was mental toughness more than anything else,” said Stone. “We could have packed it in several times. We were just showing a lot of grit and resilience; it was great to see that out of our guys.”

Junior guard Mac Kelly led the way for the Raiders in the win with 19 points and some clutch buckets.

“Mac was certainly our leading scorer that day, he made big shots, including a couple late when we were making our run,” said Stone of Kelly, who went two of three from three-point range. “He hit a big pull-up three, which made a big difference. When you are up three versus being up one with under a minute to go it is a big deal. He was terrific that game for sure.”

Hun took care of business in the win over Solebury as senior guard Anthony Loscalzo tallied 21 points and post graduate guard Dan Vessey contributed 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

“We started slow and then we got it going,” said Stone. “Loscalzo was really good and Vessey was really good. He didn’t score as much as he normally does but he was just very efficient and steady which was great, Anthony Aririguzoh showed a lot of good signs yesterday too.”

With Hun playing the Peddie School on February 10 in the opening round of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tournament at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.), Stone believes his squad is headed in the right direction coming into the postseason.

“We play a really, really good team on Tuesday in Perkiomen, that is going to be a real challenge,” said Stone. “Hopefully that will prepare us for next weekend and we can come in and make some noise.”

Even though sixth-seeded Hun defeated third-seeded Peddie 70-59 on December 11 and 83-75 on January 18, Stones knows the Falcons will pose a challenge for the Raiders.

“They are good, they have got a lot of good guard play,” said Stone. “We are excited for the challenge and looking forward to playing them.”

Stone is excited about his team’s prospects of producing a good postseason run as it will be competing in the Prep A state tourney after wrapping up action in the MAPL competition.

“It is coming together as the right time; being consistent with everything we do is the main thing,” said Stone. “When we are consistent, we are really good. We have shown that we can play with anybody on our schedule this year, we have just got to win. It has been a great group to coach and we are really looking forward to the postseason here. We are excited about making a run, hopefully.”