TOUGH GUY: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Ethan Guy, center, battles for the ball in recent action. Last Friday, junior forward Guy scored 15 points to help PHS defeat Steinert 65-46. The Tigers, who dropped to 4-7 with a 63-57 loss to North Brunswick last Saturday, play at Nottingham on January 24 before hosting Montgomery on January 25 and Trenton on January 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Things got off to a rough start last week for Ethan Guy.

Princeton High boys’ basketball junior star Guy took a knock to the head as PHS hosted Princeton Day School on January 13 and had to leave the game in the second half, holding an ice pack to his left eye as the Tigers fell 57-43.

A day later as PHS faced WW/P-North, Guy wasn’t cleared to play and the Tigers ended up losing 43-37 to the Northern Knights.

Returning to the court last Friday evening against visiting Steinert, Guy wasted no time getting back into the swing of things, scoring 10 points in the first quarter as PHS jumped out to a 17-3 lead.

“We had a good crowd, the energy was great in the warmups and the first quarter,” said Guy.

“It is a great atmosphere when people we come. When we score early, our mentality is a lot better.”

The Tigers kept up the energy, pulling away to a 65-46 win over the Spartans.

“We had a rough loss to North but we bounced back,” said Guy, who ended up tallying 15 points in the victory. “I think this is a good win we can build on.”

In Guy’s view, closing out Steinert in impressive fashion should be a confidence builder for PHS.

“I feel like all of our games have been within at least 10, so tonight was good to show that we are a good team,” added Guy.

“That is something we have to work on, staying in games late. Our second and fourth quarter performances have been pretty poor lately.”

Guy credited senior standout Gefen Bar-Cohen with giving the Tigers a big spark down the stretch against Steinert as he scored all 15 of his points on the evening in the second half after misfiring earlier in the contest.

“Gefen battled today; it is really cool to see him bounce back like that and stay in the game,” said Guy.

“He worked through a lot of adversity, getting a lot of boards. He did a really good job on the defensive end. We held them to 46 points, so it was not just from him but from everybody else.”

Working year-round on his game has helped Guy to become a force this winter.

“I have played AAU since seventh grade; I have been working in the offseason and not really stopping,” said Guy. “It helps with stamina and staying in shape. I think I have done pretty well with that.”

Taking his lumps last season as a sophomore starting on varsity for the first time, Guy has gained a comfort level on the court.

“It is coach [Pat Noone] allowing me to shoot more and working off of each other,” said Guy. “I can come in this year and just show what I can do.”

With the Tigers playing at Nottingham on January 24 before hosting Montgomery on January 25 and Trenton on January 28, Guy is confident that the squad can do some good things going forward.

“It is one game at a time, I feel like we can win a lot of games,” said Guy, who scored nine points last Saturday as PHS lost 63-57 to North Brunswick in dropping to 4-7.

“If we can keep getting close and we are in games, anything can happen. Our goal is to get into the states and do well there. It has been a rough start, but that hasn’t stopped us before.”