Lior Levy has experienced a star-crossed career with the Princeton High boys’ basketball team.

As a freshman, Levy made the varsity but saw his progress curtailed by a bout with mono.

Last season, Levy cracked the starting lineup but suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the winter.

Due to the injury, Levy didn’t get to do as much work this summer as he wanted heading into his junior campaign.

“I couldn’t really do too much conditioning on account of my knee; I was able to get a bunch of shots,” said the 6’7 Levy.

Levy acknowledged that he is not yet at full speed. “I have been fighting the knee injury,” said Levy. “I am close but I am not there yet. I am limiting myself a little bit.”

Last Thursday against visiting Hopewell Valley, Levy felt more like himself, scoring 12 points in a losing cause as the Tigers fell 54-48.

“In the first couple of games, I wasn’t playing that well so I wanted to come out strong today,” said Levy, in assessing his effort against the Bulldogs. “I think I definitely got my confidence up. Tonight, it felt good.’

It didn’t feel good for Levy and his teammates to lose to the Bulldogs. PHS led 25-22 at halftime and 43-40 after three quarters but went cold down the stretch, getting outscored 14-5 in the fourth as it dropped to 1-3 on the season.

In reflecting on the loss, Levy admitted it was a frustrating evening for the Little Tigers.

“They stepped up their defense in the fourth quarter and we just couldn’t hit our shots,” said Levy.

Levy, whose father, Howard Levy, played and coached for the Princeton University men’s basketball team and now is the head coach for the Mercer County Community College program, showed his hoops acumen with some deft passes and blocked shots.

“I don’t really work on that; it just kind of comes.” said Levy, referring to his sophisticated floor game.

PHS head coach Jason Carter was disappointed by his team’s work in crunch time against the Bulldogs.

“I think our shot selection was poor; we just have to make basketball plays,” lamented Carter, who got a game-high 19 points from senior Davon Holliday-Black in the loss with junior Ellis Bloom adding nine and junior Scott Bechler chipping in eight.

“We have got to make foul shots; we have to take some charges and grab some rebounds. We have to make good decisions and be able to make pressure shots and finish on the offensive end.”

The Little Tigers were under some extra pressure before the game even started due to some health issues.

“We played without a starter; Jordan [Phelps] was sick; Lior was a little banged up so we had to reserve his minutes,” said Carter.

“Davon had hurt his back a little bit in the Notre Dame game so we were banged up. We have got some young guys stepping up and we are going through some growing pains.”

In Carter’s view, PHS can grow into something special this winter. “The team is young; the attitude is outstanding and the guys are dedicated,” said Carter, whose team are slated to compete in the Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery High on December 27 and 29 before playing at Allentown High on January 3.

“The practice sessions have been great; we just aren’t winning games. Everything else is outstanding; I really enjoy coaching this team. We laugh in the locker room, the guys are close, they make jokes. I thoroughly enjoy coming to practice everyday and I think those guys enjoy coming to practice. We have got to figure some things out.”

Levy, for his part, is confident the Little Tigers can figure things out as the season goes on.

“We are a really young team right now; we have a bunch of new players on the varsity,” noted Levy.

“It will take a little bit of time but I think we have the talent to do well. I have been on varsity for three years now and this is the best listening team; coach tells us what to do and we will do it.”