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.)