(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: HOT SHOT: Hun School boys’ basketball star Ryan Adams puts up a shot in recent action. Last Saturday, senior forward Adams scored 12 points to help Hun top the Solebury School 74-50 and win its fifth straight game. The Raiders, now 10-7, play at Trenton Catholic on February 4, host Academy of New Church on February 6, and then play at Pennington on February 9.

With Senior Star Adams Providing Versatility, Hun Boys’ Hoops Primed for Post-Season Run

Bill Alden

Ryan Adams and his teammates on the Hun School boys’ basketball team weren’t satisfied even though they had built a 25-17 halftime lead over rival Lawrenceville last week.

“Coach told us to keep playing hard,” said Adams, recalling Hun head coach Jon Stone’s message at intermission.

“We came out strong and took it right to them in the second half; we didn’t want to back down. We wanted to run on them over the rest of the game.”

Senior forward Adams helped Hun produce one of its best runs in the third quarter as the Raiders outscored the visiting Big Red 20-3 on the way to a 63-46 victory.

The 6’5, 180-pound Adams started the stampede, scoring the first basket of the second half. Midway through the quarter, he provided a highlight of the game, throwing down a dunk to punctuate a fast break, provoking a roar from the Hun fans.

Afterward, Adams smiled widely as reflected on his crowd-pleasing jam.

“It felt good,” said Adams, who finished the evening with 10 points. “One of my strong points is running the floor and once Pendarvis [Williams] got it out to me, I just hoped it would go in.”

Hun had a good feeling right from the start in the win over Lawrenceville.

“We had a real strong practice yesterday; we were really energized,” said Adams, noting that Hun had beaten the Big Red last month in the Peddie tournament.

“All of us had a good pre-game warm-up. We knew we wanted to take it right to them.”

With his eye on playing in college, Adams has devoted plenty of energy to make himself a stronger player.

“In the off-season, I worked on becoming a more consistent shooter,” said Adams, who is being looked at by a wide range of schools from Division I to Division III.

“I also want to be more than just a jump shooter, so rebounding wise and ball handling, I definitely still have a lot of work to do. At the next level, I know I am going to have to step my game up.”

Hun head coach Stone is happy with the way Adams has stepped up his game this season.

“Ryan has gotten better every game this year,” said Stone. “He does a lot of different things right now for us from making an open jump shot to getting out and running to getting the defensive rebound. He’s really playing well.”

Hun’s stellar play in the third quarter against Lawrenceville impressed Stone.

“We struggled shooting it a little bit in the first half yet we were getting pretty good shots,” said Stone, whose team kept shooting well as it topped the Solebury School 74-50 last Saturday to win its fifth straight game and improve to 10-7.

“I think the guys kept to the game plan in the offensive end in the second half. We got some good looks and the guys started making shots. It sure makes it a lot easier.”

Junior forward Will Wise made some big shots for Hun in its third quarter run, firing in five buckets.

“He’s really got the ability to shoot; he missed some that he could make in the first half,” said Stone.

“We talked to him about just being confident and shooting it and he certainly was. He certainly got us going in the second half.”

In Stone’s view, Hun is moving in the right direction after playing inconsistently in early going this season.

“I think we are still making strides in a positive direction,” asserted Stone, whose team plays at Trenton Catholic on February 4, hosts Academy of New Church on February 6, and then plays at Pennington on February 9 as it tunes up for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tournament.

“Hopefully we can continue to put things together a little bit. We are definitely improving but we haven’t peaked yet. We still have some growing to do and some improvement to make. We’ll get there.”

Adams, for his part, thinks that Hun’s best basketball is ahead of it.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start this year; we didn’t want to peak too early in the season,” said Adams.

“A lot of us board here and everyday in practice we go at each other. We are coming together as one whole big family and you have seen the results.”

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