Clarence White gave some tough love to Princeton Basketball Club (PBC) 9th grade AAU boys’ basketball team this season.
“The effort last year didn’t satisfy me,” said head coach White. “In the 6th and 7th grade, they didn’t appreciate going to the [AAU] nationals. They didn’t go to the nationals last year; they didn’t play as well as they should. I issued a challenge to them to finish .500 or better this season.”
The players answered White’s challenge, going 25-22 in regular season play and earning a trip to the AAU Nationals East 9th Grade Division III tourney at Hampton, Va.
“They went out and competed this year and got an at-large bid,” said White.
“We won a couple of tournaments, one in Danbury, Ct and another in Massachusetts.”
As the squad looked ahead to its third trip to the nationals, White wanted his players to aim high.
“In the 6th and 7th grades, the team got blown out of the water,” recalled White.
“I think it was due to the bright lights and the atmosphere. I wanted to finish in the top 30 this time.”
In its opener in Pool 9Q last week, PBC showed it was ready to shine on the national stage, edging the Va. Beach Explosion in a 42-41 thriller.
“We came up big on the winning basket; it came off a very well executed play,” said White.
“They celebrated quite a bit afterward, maybe too hard. When I saw their jubilation and excitement, I said this is what you want to remember from this.”
White will remember the courage the team displayed as it overcame a key injury in pulling out the victory.
“We lost Nick Mazzone with an injury; he sprained his ankle in the first game,” said White.
“That was tough because he and Alex Levine are the heart and soul of our defense. Max Tarter had a really good game; Luke Apuzzi also played well. Andrew Hart, a rising 9th grader, hit the winning shot.”
PBC lost its final pool game but did advance to the final 32 where it fell to the Lehigh Valley Timberwolves 58-47 and ended the tournament with a 53-39 loss to Va. Team 757 in a consolation contest.
“We got down by 15 to Lehigh Valley and cut it to five,” said White. “We ran out of gas. Kevin Kane had a good game. In the final game, we started with seven players and were down to six by the end. They had 12 players and used them all. It was a really tough, really physical game. We gave a good effort.”
In White’s view, the memory of the team’s effort in the opener should serve as a confidence builder for the players.
“The main thing I want them to take out of this is the first game,” said White.
“We had a chance to talk about it and think about it. I want them to remember that snapshot. I told them you want to have other celebrations like that in the future; like maybe after a high school state tournament game.”
White believes the team can positively impact the Princeton High program, both in the short term and in the long term.
“If they continue to work hard, it should pay off for them and the high school,” said White, noting that the players figure to take an important role this winter for the PHS junior varsity team.
“What these guys have done is set the bar. We have a group of rising seventh graders who want to go to nationals next year.”