(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: DEVELOPING SITUATION: Princeton Day School boys’ basketball freshman star Davon Reed heads up the court in recent action. Last Monday, Reed scored a team-high 13 points to help PDS edge Princeton High 42-38 and improve to 9-12. In upcoming action, the 12th-seeded Panthers will play at No. 5 Hamilton on February 16 in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament. PDS will also be competing in the state Prep B tournament where it is seeded seventh and will play at No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s in the opening round.

With Freshman Reed Developing Into a Star, PDS Boys’ Hoops Primed for Post-Season Play

Bill Alden

Davon Reed felt overmatched as he made his debut for the Princeton Day School boys’ basketball team this past December.

Playing against powerful Pennington and its backcourt of veteran stars Chandler Fraser-Pauls and Harold Spears was a challenging indoctrination for freshman guard Reed.

“It was rough for me playing against Pennington in the opener,” recalled Reed. “Over time, things have gotten better.”

Last Wednesday, Reed displayed how much he has improved in a short time, scoring a game-high 19 points to lead PDS to a 56-48 win at WW/P-N.

In assessing his performance, Reed said he has reached a comfort level on the court.

“I am coming into games and just trying to give what my team needs,” said Reed, who is averaging 10.2 points a game.

“I am taking the shots my team needs me to put up; I have been trying to bring what I can to the table.”

Reed acknowledged that the victory over WW/P-N showed that PDS needs some work collectively.

“I would say yes and no,” said Reed, when asked if the win over WW/P-N was a step forward for the Panthers.

“Yes because it is a win and a win is always good for our confidence,” explained Reed, who scored a team-high 13 points last Monday as PDS edged Princeton High 42-38 to move to 9-12 on the season.

“I also say no because we played a really bad game and we were lucky to come away with a win. We are a little too streaky. At times, we have good spurts but it isn’t a constant thing.”

With the Panthers having won three of their last five games, Reed thinks the club will develop better consistency.

“I think coach [Paris McLean] will reassure us,” said Reed. “We will learn from it; we are gradually getting it.”

PDS head coach McLean saw the win over WW/P-N as a potentially valuable learning experience.

“We felt we could play better in the second half,” said McLean. “It was a great first half, we saw a ton of really good things from a lot of people and some good team basketball. We are playing well in spurts but it is the same thing, not 32 minutes of it. You see four minutes here and maybe 20 minutes throughout the game. We have made great strides since January.”

McLean did like the character his team displayed in holding off a late charge from the Northern Knights which saw them cut a 15-point PDS lead to five points.

“It’s road game against a CVC team that knocked us off last year,” said McLean.

“I don’t think we won that game as much as we survived. At times, you have to be able to survive and we did what we had to. We sustained a lead and we played great defense.”

PDS has been getting some great play from the precocious Reed as he has developed into a go-to player for the team.

“You look at him and you say that’s a good senior and then you realize he is a freshman and your heart skips a beat,” said McLean.

“I love his aggressiveness. He’s 14 years old and he is still learning a lot. He wants to win and that’s rubbing off on the other guys. His shot has been looking good recently; he has caught up to the speed of the game.”

Some of the Panthers other guys came up big against WW/P-N as Cody Exter, Robby Smukler, and Adam Oresky made valuable contributions.

“Cody has been great for us all season long,” said McLean of senior center Exter who had 13 points in the WW/P-N game. “He has been very steady he entire time. Robby has been great for us lately. Oresky can play; he’s a definitely a weapon for us. When his number is called, he is ready.”

With the Panthers heading into post-season play, McLean is hoping his team will be ready to play its best basketball.

“We are feeling good, the wins are starting to add up for us,” said McLean, whose team starts play in both the state Prep B tourney and Mercer County Tournament over the next week.

“We are peaking; in the past couple of years we were starting to fall off at this time. This year, the play is going up. The counties should be exciting. We are right there with everybody in the CVC. In the prep tournament, you never know what is going to happen.”

The 12th-seeded Panthers will play at No. 5 Hamilton on February 16 in the opening round of the MCT. In the state Prep B tournament, PDS is seeded seventh and will play at No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s in the opening round.

Reed, for his part, believes some good things could happen for the Panthers over the rest of the season.

“I think we are going to do really well,” asserted Reed. “We are almost undefeated playing against the CVC teams. The preps are going to be a little bit more difficult but I think we are going to get through it. When it is higher competition, we seem to play better.”

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