ACTION JACKSON: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Jay Jackson puts up a shot in a game this season. Sophomore Jackson emerged as a bright spot in a tough season for PHS as it went 4-21. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Having lost 19 of its first 20 games this winter, the Princeton High boys’ basketball team could have gone through the motions over the last two weeks of the season.

Instead, PHS saved its best for last, going 3-2 in its last five games, highlighted by a 58-54 win over Steinert in its home finale on February 9 and a 54-51 victory over WW/P-South on February 20 in a Mercer County Tournament consolation game to end the season.

Little Tiger head coach Patrick Noone was proud of how his players kept battling.

“We won three of our last five games so that was great,” said Noone, who was in his second season guiding the program.

“The seniors got to go out with a win at home on Senior Night, which was awesome. They won their last game, which in basketball is unusual. There may be just a few teams that win their last game, the winner of the Tournament of Champions and us. Not many teams can say that so that is pretty cool.”

In Noone’s view, being cooler under pressure helped PHS break through down the stretch.

“I think we had a lot of nerves and we didn’t know how to win,” said Noone.

“Once we finally got over the hump against Steinert that gave us a lot of confidence and a little more breathing room in those last few games. Before that, we would get close and you could see the tension take over, almost like you are trying too hard rather that just letting it come.”

The progress shown by senior Yannick Ibrahim over the last few weeks of the season exemplified how things came together for the Little Tigers.

“He played really well, he played with a lot more confidence,” said Noone of Ibrahim, who scored 15 points in the win over WW/P-South and also had 18 in a 50-46 victory over Lawrence on February 13. “He really grew and you saw that in the last few games. I think he took a lot off of his shoulders and he just played. You saw how well he did.”

Ibrahim’s fellow seniors, John Girouard, Sam Tartar, Charlie An, Michael Frost, Tom Doran, and Will Poston, provided stability for the program.

“What an awesome group, I wish we could have gotten more wins for them,” said Noone.

“Overall it was just a great bunch of guys to coach. We never had any problems, no ego problems, no attitude problems or any problems showing up at practice. That speaks a lot about them and their parents that they were able come in every day and work hard even when we were losing. A lot of times you can run into problems when you are not winning. Luckily for us, it didn’t happen.”

With a solid core of returners in sophomore Jay Jackson, junior Jaylen Johnson, sophomore Riley McMahon, junior Brendan Rougas, and sophomore Gefen Bar-Cohen, Noone believes that PHS could be piling up more wins next winter.

“Jay played well in the middle. Overall you have to be really excited about how he came along,” added Noone.

“He showed at times that he can be a good player and the same with Jaylen. We also have Riley, Brendan, and Gefen; they came on too. It is looking pretty good heading into future.”

In order to be good going forward, the Little Tigers need to be calmer at crunch time.

“The huge thing to take from it is that there is no need to get nervous down the stretch of games,” said Noone.

“We saw this year that you just have to play and let things play out. They put so much on themselves and these little mistakes. They take it too much to heart so that they didn’t play through them. Hopefully the guys coming back will learn that it is not the worst thing in there world to make a mistake, you just got to move on.”

While the steady diet of losing could have have made it a long winter for Noone, he was energized by the upbeat approach of his players.

“They are a great bunch of kids. The big thing is that we never had any attitude problems or quit,” said Noone. “If you don’t have wins but you have that, then it is a joy to coach.”