HEAVY TRAFFIC: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Lior Levy, center, encounters some heavy traffic in the paint in recent action. Last week, Levy tallied a team-high 12 points in a losing cause as 12th-seeded PHS fell 50-47 at No. 5 Ocean Township in the first round of the Group III Central Jersey sectional. The loss left the Little Tigers with a final record of 12-13. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Playing at Hamilton with a chance to win the CVC Valley Division title outright, the Princeton High boys’ basketball team came up short.

“It was a setback,” said PHS head coach Jason Carter, reflecting on the February 24 contest that saw the Little Tigers fall 53-38.

“We got out of the gate slowly and got down 14-2. It was too many points down to recover. Hamilton has talent and they seem to peak at the right time.”

Looking to put that disappointment in the rear view mirror, PHS worked overtime to prepare for its clash at Ocean Township in the first round of the Group III Central Jersey sectional.

“We were looking to bounce back from the Hamilton game,” said Carter.

“We had Ocean scouted out and had a detailed scouting report. We saw them play Point Borough and we watched a half-hour of video on them the night before. We felt we could pressure them and cause some turnovers.”

The 12th-seeded Little Tigers put No. 5 Ocean under pressure, battling hard before falling 50-47 with junior Lior Levy scoring a team-high 12 points and senior Davon Black adding 11.

“We played them straight up, it was an up and down game,” said Carter, whose team trailed 24-22 at half and outscored Ocean 16-13 in the fourth quarter.

“We had a shot with 14 seconds left; we got a wide open look on a 3-pointer but came up empty. Maybe we should have gone for a two but you have to trust your instincts. A few weeks earlier against WW/P-N we were down late and Scott Bechler hits a 3-pointer to give us the win.”

The Little Tigers have come farther than Carter expected in producing an encouraging 12-13 campaign.

“I think it was completely positive,” said Carter, noting that the team did tie Hamilton for the division title.

“Having a new roster, I had no expectations going into the season. The team just formed on the second day of tryouts; some of the guys had played together before but they were not a team.”

In Carter’s view, senior leaders Matt Hoffman and Black played a key role in molding PHS into a team.

“I couldn’t be prouder of two seniors,” said Carter. “They had confidence in themselves; they listened to the coaches and believed in what we were saying.”

Carter gained more and more confidence in Hoffman as the season unfolded.

“Hoffman had a big year; he averaged 12 points and had several games with two or three 3-pointers,” said Carter.

“He had 25 points against Pennington. I didn’t expect him to put up those kind of numbers.”

Black, for his part, put his heart into every game, shouldering a lot of responsibility at both ends of the court.

“Davon ran the offense, distributed the ball, and finished,” said Carter. “He covered the other team’s best athlete every night and then was faced with double teaming when we had the ball.”

The influence of Hoffman and Black rubbed off on their younger teammates. “I think a lot of guys wore the varsity jersey for the first time and took advantage of the opportunity,” asserted Carter.

The PHS corps of juniors has the opportunity to be something special.

“We need the juniors to keep improving,” said Carter, whose junior group includes Jordan Phelps, Scott Bechler, Elliot Golden, Ellis Bloom, and Peter Schulman in addition to Levy.

“We need to scrimmage as much as possible and the guys need to play AAU. As Michael Jordan says, great players become great when no one is looking. They need to work on their own games. They have got to want it and I think they do.”