Central Jersey Group III Sectional Semi-finals: Princeton High School-55; Monmouth Regional High School-46

BY JAMIE PERETZMAN-


The Seniors just refuse to quit.

Senior captains Brian Dunlap, DeQuan Holman and AJ Dowers are carrying the Tigers on their backs through the playoffs. They have marched them through number four seed Point Pleasant Boro and won. They have marched them through number one seed Monmouth Regional and won. And on Tuesday, they will march them into battle with third seeded Neptune for the Central Jersey Group III sectional championship.

With 5 minutes left in the first quarter, the game was tied 4-4. A couple seconds later PHS went ahead 6-4 and never relinquished the lead.

PHS ran its offense through leading scorer, (17 ppg) DeQuan Holman. Holman kept his composure throughout the entire game and handled the ball very well. Second leading scorer, (13.3 ppg) Brian Dunlap hit 12 out of 15 free throws, many of them with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game, when MRHS started to foul intentionally. Finally, the man in the middle, AJ Dowers had arguably the game of his life scoring 10 points, and bringing down 12 rebounds. He also had 3 blocks.

As this Hoosier-like dream continues, PHS will take on Neptune High School on Tuesday, March, 10 at 7:00 pm at Franklin High School.

BOX SCORE:

BRIAN DUNLAP-21 POINTS, 5 ASSISTS

DEQUAN HOLMAN-12 POINTS, 7 REBOUNDS, 3 ASSISTS

AJ DOWERS-10 POINTS, 12 REBOUNDS, 3 BLOCKS

SKYE ETTIN-6 POINTS, 2 REBOUNDS, 2 ASSISTS

JOSH GORDON-4 POINTS, 3 STEALS

THATCHER FOSTER-2 POINTS

Central Jersey Group III sectional Quarterfinals. Princeton High School-47; Point Pleasant Boro-35

JAMIE PERETZMAN-The Little Tigers are moving on to the Semi-finals in the Group III central New Jersey tournament. Princeton's stifling defense caught Point Pleasant off guard. The momentum swung in PHS's favor when in the third quarter, off a pass from Brian Dunlap, AJ Dowers rose above the rim, and dunked the ball with authority. After that, Point Pleasant's morale was deflated and their fans were out of the game. This is the first state playoff win for PHS since 1994. They will take on Monmouth Regional High School (the team that beat them in the states last year) on Saturday. Time TBD.

BRIAN DUNLAP-18 POINTS, 2 ASSISTS, 3 STEALS

DEQUAN HOLMAN-18 POINTS, 2 ASSISTS

AJ DOWERS-9 POINTS, 3 REBOUNDS AND ONE HUGE DUNK

SKYE ETTIN-2 POINTS, 3 REBOUNDS, 1 ASSIST. (DID NOT PLAY MOST OF GAME DUE TO FOUL TROUBLE.)

Game Against Palmyra High School. PHS-63; Palmyra-50

SCORES POSTED BY JAMIE PERETZMAN

Brian Dunlap-24 points, including 4 of 6 from three, and 4 assists. 

DeQuan Holman-22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. 

Skye Ettin-7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists. 

Thatcher Foster-4 points, 2 blocks. 

Josh Gordon-5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists 

Chris Bechler-1 point

Game against Lawrence High School. LHS-60; PHS-55

SCORES POSTED BY JAMIE PERETZMAN

Brian Dunlap-22 points, including 8 for 8 from the free throw line. 

Skye Ettin-15 points, 9 rebonds. 

DeQuan Holman-10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists. 

AJ Dowers-7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks. 

Thatcher Foster-1 point, 5 rebounds

State Tournament

BY JAMIE PERETZMAN-The Princeton High School Little Tigers have been awarded the 5th seed in the group 3 NJSIAA state tournament. 

They will have a bye in the first round and then on March 5 they will play at Point Pleasant Borough, the 4th seed. 

Until then, PHS will play Allentown at home in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament. PHS, the 2nd seed will play Allentown on Tuesday, February 17. 

Game Against West Windsor Plainsboro South High School. WWPS-60; PHS-48

SCORES POSTED BY JAMIE PERETZMAN

Skye Ettin-17 points, 5 rebounds

DeQuan Holman-14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds

Brian Dunlap-8 points, 2 assists 

AJ Dowers-5 points, 4 rebounds

Josh Gordon-2 points, 4 steals. 

Game against Ewing High School. PHS-57; EHS-50.

BY JAMIE PERETZMAN-In the process of winning its ninth straight game, PHS clinched a very rare home playoff game in the Mercer County Tournament. 

Ewing appeared to be a very talented and athletic team, however a lack of cohesiveness cost them the game. On the whole PHS played a strong game but a fourth quarter lapse nearly cost the Little Tigers the contest.

A 17-0 PHS run from the last minute of the first quarter until 3:57 remained in the first half staked the Little Tigers to a 14 point lead. However Ewing chipped away and PHS took a five point lead into the locker room.

After a spirited half time speech by assistant coach Bobby Davison, PHS came out with fire in the second half. PHS came out to a 14-9 run to bring their lead to 10 points with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter. They ended the third with a 46-36 lead.

In the fourth quarter after a plethora of PHS turnovers Ewing cut the score to 51-50 PHS. Then, with 1:10 left in the quarter, Devon Holman stole the ball and passed it to his brother DeQuan for the lay-up and the foul. He missed the free throw, but his layup extended the lead to 3 points. Then, with 11 seconds remaining, Brian Dunlap stole the inbounds pass and hit the layup to ice the game.

DeQuan Holman was the high scorer with 20 points. He added 8 rebounds and 4 steals. Brian Dunlap had 14 points and 5 assists and Skye Ettin, who fouled out late in the game, had 13 points.

PHS will be taking on its rival, West Windsor Plainsboro South on Tuesday, February 10 at 6:00. Please come out and support the playoff bound Little Tigers. This game has major post-season implications including seeding for the Mercer County Tournament.

Game against Hamilton West. PHS-41; HWHS-39

BY JAMIE PERETZMAN-In a packed gym, with Hamilton West's season in the balance, Princeton High School prevailed by the skin of its teeth.

The score fluctuated the entire game, with PHS leading one minute and Hamilton West leading the next. It was not until the fourth quarter that Hamilton West opened a five point lead on the Little Tigers. The way the game had been going, it seemed as though a five point lead would be enough.

However, PHS managed to chip away at the lead until the score was tied. That is when AJ Dowers came to the foul line. Dowers, a 55% free throw shooter hit two clutch shots to put PHS ahead. After Hamilton hit one free throw to cut PHS's lead to one. It was Skye Ettin who then came to the line.

It would have been ideal for him to hit two free throws to bring PHS's lead to three points in order to force HW to hit a half court three to send the game to overtime...a very unlikely prospect. Instead Ettin, a 60% free throw shooter missed his first, but made his second.

HW came charging down the court with six seconds remaining. Star point guard, Brandon Johnson found his teammate wide open under the basket. Unfortunately, he missed the lay-up and PHS went home with the victory, which effectively ended Hamilton West's season.

It is crucial in this part of the season for PHS to win every single game in order to ensure a high seeds in the Mercer County Tournament and the Central Jersey Group III state tournament.

DeQuan Holman, who fouled out late in the game led PHS with 15 points and he added 8 rebounds. Skye Ettin had 13 points and AJ Dowers had 9 points 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Hamilton Game Postponed

The Hamilton game scheduled for today has been postponed until tomorrow February 4th 2009

Game against Robbinsville High School. PHS-74; RHS-54

Scores posted by JAMIE PERETZMAN

DeQuan Holman-28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals. 

AJ Dowers-10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks. 

Thatcher Foster-2 points, 1 steal

Chris Bechler-6 points, 3 steals

Brian Dunlap-7 points, 5 assists, 2 steals

Skye Ettin-19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals