DOING HIS BESS: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Michael Bess Jr. controls the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, sophomore guard Bess scored a team-high 12 points in a losing cause as PHS fell 53-46 to visiting Nottingham. The Tigers, who lost 66-49 at the Pingry School last Saturday to move to 5-5, host Allentown on January 19 and Florence on January 20. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

The first quarter was painful for Michael Bess Jr. and the Princeton High boys’ basketball team as the Tigers hosted Nottingham last Friday.

PHS ended the quarter trailing 8-4, mustering just two buckets on nearly 20 shots while sophomore guard Bess took a knock.

“We just started off slow, that is how we have been in a couple of games,” said Bess. “I cut my hand in the first.”

In the second quarter, PHS began to click as it tallied 16 points.

“We started to kick it up,” said Bess. “I started getting hot.”

Trailing 28-20 heading into the second half, the Tigers outscored the Northstars 14-9 in the third quarter and trailed by just 46-43 with less that two minutes left in regulation but couldn’t get over the hump as they ultimately lost 53-46.

“We came out with a lot more energy, I thought we had it,” said Bess, who ended up with a team-high 12 points in the defeat. “I came out and started to fire shots up.”

As a key reserve for the Tigers, Bess is looking to make an impact when he enters the game.

“It has been good coming off the bench, getting shots up and helping everybody out,” said Bess.

Moving up from the junior varsity, Bess has been gaining a comfort level with varsity ball this winter,

“Last year, I didn’t play varsity. It is a big change really,” said Bess. “I have to get used to it, the game speed and playing under control. I needed my ballhandling stronger. I am a smaller, lanky guy. I had to get my first step quicker and stuff like that.”

PHS head coach Pat Noone credited his players with putting up a good fight against once-beaten Nottingham but acknowledged that they misfired on the offensive end.

“I think we played hard and defended, it was 2-2 for a while, it was just a battle,” said Noone. “We couldn’t hit any shots all night. The 1-3-1 was good and I thought we got a lot of good open looks. We had some untimely turnovers. I think the open looks we have got to hit; you get the momentum. Tonight, we didn’t hit them and I think that cost us, it carried throughout the game.”

After his team’s strong third quarter, Noone was confident heading into crunch time.

“I think we had a lot of momentum,” said Noone. “We were getting a lot of turnovers, we made some buckets and we made some changes on the 1-3-1. We had better ball movement and better, timely cuts and finished some baskets.”

With PHS drawing to within 46-43 in the waning minutes of the contest, Noone believed that the Tigers were going to pull out the win.

“We had a good shot there and then our shots just didn’t fall,” lasted Noone. “We had two drives and then a missed three with 15 seconds left and it just carried out.”

Bess has emerged as a key contributor for the Tigers. “Michael gives us a great spark off the bench with his ability to hit some threes,” said Noone. “Sometimes people forget about him and he hits a couple in a row.”

Senior Remmick Granozio also sparked PHS against Nottingham with eight points and some heady play.

“We missed Remmick big time the other day against Hamilton West, but now he is back,” said Noone. “He is just a good catalyst, he knows all of the rotations. He is a really good team leader, like a coach on the floor.”

While Noone was disappointed by the result against the Northstars, he feels like the Tigers are on the right track.

“I think we are in a really good place 100 percent,” said Noone, whose squad lost 66-49 at the Pingry School last Saturday to move to 5-5 and hosts Allentown on January 19 and Florence on January 20. “Once you start seeing some shots fall that could really help. Defensively I thought we did a good job. I thought we did a good job on the boards; they are bigger than us. We just have got to make more plays. We have to do a better job coaching to get them to execute those plays. We just have to find ways to score.”

Bess, for his part, believes that PHS can do some big things this winter.

“I think later on in this season we are going to be good,” said Bess. “We have to get used to each other a little bit and find our momentum.”