(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) UPWARD MOBILITY: Princeton Day School senior guard Mike Shimkin drives to the basket in a game this season. Shimkin’s solid play off the bench helped PDS finish 14-14 this winter, a marked improvement on the 3-18 mark posted in 2006-07.

PDS Boys’ Hoops Produced Turnaround; Earned Respect in Tying for Patriot Crown

Bill Alden

It was February 12 and a snowstorm snarled traffic around Princeton.

But inside the Princeton Day School gym, things were at a fever pitch as the PDS boy’s basketball team hosted cross-town rival Princeton High in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament.

The gym was packed to standing room only as PDS looked to avenge a regular season defeat to PHS.

PDS fought hard, rallying from a double-digit first half deficit to narrow the gap to. The Panthers, though, fell short as they lost.

While PDS struggled down the stretch after that loss, dropping its last three games, Panther head coach Paris McLean saw the interest surrounding the MCT game as emblematic of the new feeling around the program.

“It wasn’t a rebuilding year because we had been rebuilding for years,” said the first-year head coach who guided the team to a 14-14 record, a marked improvement on the 3-18 mark posted in 2006-07.

“It was a turnaround. We wanted to be competitive and get respect and I think we did a lot more than that.”

In fact, the Panthers earned a title along with respect as they tied for the Patriot Conference crown. “If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would win 14 games and the conference, I would have laughed,” said McLean.

Instead, the players were smiling throughout the winter as they took pride in their progress.

“I think the basketball culture has changed,” said McLean. “The kids want to play basketball at PDS; they are excited to play basketball here. They could walk around the halls this year and hold their heads high about being a PDS basketball player.”

McLean, for his part, was excited to see his core of seniors end their careers with a title.

“They had won a total of 17 games in their first three years and they won 14 this year,” said McLean. “They led by example; they were leaders in the locker room. They were six really good guys. They all contributed in their own way and brought something to the table.”

Martino had a steadying influence on the team as he had to do the dirty work inside for the guard-oriented team. “C.J. held things together,” said Mclean. “He’s 6’3 and 190 and at other schools he’s a small forward. Here we said go get ’em big guy. He was so selfless, setting ball screens all game long to help open up our guards.

PDS’ foundation is a core of guards in junior Joe Rogers, sophomore Kenny Holzhammer, and freshman A.J. Rubin.

Rogers averaged 19.1 points a game to lead the panthers in scoring while Holzhammer fired in a team-high 75 three-pointers and scored more than 16 points a game.

“I’m pleased with the returners basketball-wise,” said McLean, noting that Rogers and Rubin are year-round basketball players while Holzhammer puts in a lot of time on his game over the summer after completing baseball. “We are going to need some of the younger guys to step up as leaders.”

Mclean enjoyed stepping up as the varsity head coach. “I was a little naïve, I thought I had done the JV thing so I’m ready,” said Mclean.

“We had 28 games and that’s a lot. When I wasn’t at games, I was scouting other teams. When I wasn’t scouting, I was breaking down film. There is a lot involved. I want to build on what we did this year.”

In McLean’s view, the team needs to develop a greater consistency if it is going build on this season’s progress.

“Winning, competing, and being in games has to be the norm,” said McLean. “We started out 9-0 which was the best record here in 30 years. The kids deserved that but then we lost six games in a row. We were inconsistent; we need to stay focused.”

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