(Photo by David Goldsmith) CLEAR SKYE: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Skye Ettin races to the clear in a game earlier this season. Ettin, who has moved to small forward this year from the power forward spot, is adjusting well as PHS has gotten off to a 4-1 start. In upcoming action, the Little Tigers host Trenton High on January 17, play at Northern Burlington on January 18, and then host Allentown on January 20.

With Ettin Adjusting to New Position, PHS Boys’ Hoops Looking Formidable

Bill Alden

Skye Ettin made a name for himself last winter on the Princeton High boys’ basketball team as a slashing forward.

With PHS having more depth inside this winter, Ettin has been moved to the perimeter as a small forward in taking over the ‘3’ spot in the PHS lineup.

The 6’4 junior star acknowledges that the transition to the new position has been a little tricky.

“There is definitely an adjustment to the ‘3’,” said Ettin. “Now I have to see the court and the positions on the floor. It opens a lot of things up so I have to keep my eyes open. Coach is teaching me; I am trying to pick it up the best I can.”

Last Thursday, Ettin showed that he is picking up his position pretty well, scoring 11 points and dishing for some nice assists to help PHS to a 79-42 rout of visiting Nottingham.

Ettin’s best stretch of the game came in the second quarter when he scored eight points in a row for PHS as the Little Tigers built a 36-16 halftime lead on their way to improving to 4-1 on the season.

For Ettin, the scoring outburst was a matter of being in the flow of the game.

“I know my teammates will get me the ball and I will do whatever I can to win,” said Ettin. “We’ve got a lot of weapons on this team; I know I have to be patient.”

The Little Tigers used all the weapons in their arsenal as they put together a 26-10 third quarter to put the game totally out of reach.

“We knew they were a good team and we had to come out harder than they came out,” said Ettin.

“Coach just told us you know they are going to bounce back and come out hard so we had to do the same thing.”

Showing PHS’s balance, Ettin was just one of four players in double figures as DeQuan Holman scored 18 points to lead the way with A.J. Dowers chipping in 16 and Josh Gordon adding 11.

“Any night someone new can step up,” asserted Ettin. “We have a lot of weapons; on any given night there is a new person who is going to shine so that is our strength.”

PHS head coach Jason Carter, though, didn’t think his team showed its strength in the early going against Nottingham.

“We were a little disappointed with our effort coming out; we haven’t started the games the way we have wanted,” said Carter.

“We collected our thoughts at half and just outworked them. I just think at this point in the season we are mature, talented, and we are bonded. We just need to go out there and do it; enough talking about it.”

Carter does believe that senior star Holman is doing it on a nightly basis for the Little Tigers.

“I think he is the most talented player in the county,” maintained Carter.

“When his team needs him to be a passer, or be a scorer, or be a rebounder, or be a defensive stopper, he steps up and fulfills that role for the team. He can read the game extremely well; he gives us what we need at certain points of the game.”

PHS is getting what it needs from Ettin as well. “He’s a talented basketball player,” added Carter.

“He can score from inside and outside; he is starting to read things a little better. Some of the baskets he had were off of good ball movement. We feel secure with him having the ball.”

Carter is secure with the effort he is getting from his players on the defensive end.

“I like the way we compete defensively,” said Carter, whose team held Nottingham to five points in the second quarter.

“We need to box out a little better and not give up second chance baskets. We need to keep it more consistent.”

While Carter is happy with his team’s 4-1 start, he sees plenty of room for improvement.

“There are still a lot of things we have to work on; we don’t want to get happy or comfortable with wins,” said Carter, whose team hosts Trenton High on January 17, plays at Northern Burlington on January 18, and then hosts Allentown on January 20.

“We still want to work to improve, we need to work on little technical things and fine-tuning.”

For Ettin, the team’s run last year that saw it qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2001 has the players primed to work hard.

“Last year was the taste of something special,” said Ettin.

“We knew at the end of the year after losing a close one to Monmouth Regional in the tournament that we were hungry for this year. That’s our inspiration. We are trying to get back to the position where we were and go further. We worked hard in the offseason; we have a good feeling about this team. It can do some good things.”

And with Ettin feeling more comfortable in his new spot, the Little Tigers have the potential to go far this winter.

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