STEPPING UP: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Zion Madden dribbles the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior guard Madden scored 13 points to help PHS defeat Voorhees 48-39. The Tigers, now 5-8, play at Trenton Central High on January 21, at Princeton Day School on January 23, at Toms River South on January 24, and at Ewing High on January 27. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

As the Princeton High boys’ basketball team got off to a shaky 1-5 start this winter, Zion Madden felt a disconnect.

“From the beginning of the season, we weren’t a team,” said PHS senior guard Madden. “We didn’t feel like a team.”

But after some soul-searching and a 59-49 win over Bound Brook on January 3, the Tigers got on the right track.

“That Bound Brook game really set the tone,” said Madden. “It was a self-reflection game — do we want our season to be like last year and be 5-20, or do we want to win?”

The Tigers got on the same page, going 2-2 after that victory.

“The more we have been playing together, there we have been practicing,” said Madden. “We have been getting better, we are starting to grow a bond as a team. The more we became a team off the court and practice together, the more we become a team in the game.”

Last Thursday against WW/P-North, PHS played well in the early going, jumping out to an 18-14 lead early in the second quarter as they looked to get a win with head coach Pat Noone not on hand due to a death in his family.

“It was clicking really well,” said Madden. “We missed out on our head coach today. I felt without him, it was hard getting through practice. It was hard setting up for the game but we felt like we were playing good.”

Madden got clicking individually, hitting a three-pointer in the second quarter.

“I feel like once I hit a shot, I get that intensity in me,” said Madden.

Hitting another three-pointer at the end of the third quarter, Madden helped PHS forge ahead 42-41 heading into the fourth. The Tigers, though, fell behind 50-46 and rallied to tie the game at 50-50 but ended up losing 51-50.

“In that fourth quarter we got slowed down,” said Madden, who scored a team-high 11 points in the game. “If we don’t slow down and keep our intensity up in the third and fourth quarter, we are going to be good.”

In the last second of the contest, Madden fired up a last gasp shot from the corner that bounced off the rim.

“I just saw that the defender wasn’t paying attention and I was wide open in the corner,” said Madden. “I just thought wide open fadeaway. It was a good closeout, No. 2 (Jordan Hunte) was on me.”

Stepping up in his senior year, Madden is shouldering more responsibility on the court.

“I am versatile,” said Madden, who also played football this fall for PHS. “I like to be known as a shooting guard but a lot of times I get put in that point guard position. It just comes with the flow and however we come down the court. We have no lead role. My role from last year completely changed to this year. Now, I feel like I am more in it than I was before.”

With the Tigers playing at Trenton Central High on January 21, at Princeton Day School on January 23, at Toms River South on January 24, and at Ewing High on January 27, Madden believes they have to keep in the flow from beginning to the end.

“We need to keep our intensity through the entire game,” said Madden, who scored 13 points to help PHS defeat Voorhees 48-39 last Saturday as it improved to 5-8. “Instead of starting off or ending hot, if we keep it throughout the whole game, that would be good. We are coming, we are going to be there.”