SHOOTING STAR: Princeton High boys’ basketball player Jaden Colvin follows through on a shot in recent action. Last Saturday, junior guard Colvin tallied a career-high 24 points to help PHS top visiting Steinert 56-45. The Tigers, who improved to 8-12 with a 60-44 win over WW/P-South on Monday, host Northern Burlington on February 5 and then play at Bordentown on February 6. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
As the Princeton High boys’ basketball team held its annual Senior Day celebration by hosting Steinert last Saturday, it was a junior who came up big.
Exploding for a career-high 24 points, junior guard Jaden Colvin led the way as PHS pulled away to a 56-45 win over the Spartans.
In his first year playing varsity, Colvin has learned a lot from the team’s seniors and was inspired to step up for them on Saturday.
“They have taught me how to be mature out on the court, keep focus and listen to the coach,” said Colvin, who drained four three-pointers in the contest. “I just wanted to win for my seniors. I didn’t want to see them sad and losing.”
In reflecting on his big day, Colvin credited his teammates with setting him up for success.
“I was just focusing on my shot, following through, staying composed for the game, and breathing,” said Colvin. “My teammates keep feeding me, they know when to hit me and how to hit me. They pass it to me — it is just my job to knock it down.”
The Tigers took care of business down the stretch as they held off a late Spartan rally.
“That was very important, we didn’t want to turn the ball over and bring them back into the game,” said Colvin. “Our coach (Patrick Noone) teaches us strategies — like keep moving the ball, get extra passes, get to the rim, pass it back out, and play smart.”
In moving up to varsity, Colvin has focused on playing smarter.
“It was catching up to the guys who had already been on varsity,” said Colvin, who kept rolling on Monday, tallying 21 points to help PHS top WW/P-South 60-44 as it improved to 8-12. “I have gotten more fundamental with the game where before I was wild, just dribbling all over.”
PHS head coach Noone was happy to see the things go well for his senior group on their day.
“It is really sweet to go out with a win on Senior Day, the guys have been playing so hard since their freshman year,” said Noone, whose Class of ’26 includes Matt Ghaim, Jheki Gordon, Ray Han, Zion Madden, Samuel Raymond, and Noah Wadler. “They stuck with it. This year we are getting more and more wins. We are at seven right now, so that is really good for the guys. They are such good hard workers. It is great for the program.”
In Noone’s view, Colvin was primed for a breakthrough game.
“The minute Jaden hit that bucket in the second quarter the basket got uncovered and we played really good,” said Noone. “He was very big for us today, that was an awesome performance. It is pretty funny to see a junior do that on Senior Day. He has been getting better and better. Today was a culmination.”
The Tigers have been getting better at closing the deal. “I think this year we have done a great job of getting over the hump in close games,” said Noone. “We saw it again there in the fourth. With four minutes left we are up 12 or 13 and we were able to kill about two minutes with no turnovers. We did an awesome job there. That is what sets the tone and wins those games when you are able to do the things to kill two minutes, and then hit our free throws. That was great to see.”
Senior guard Madden led the way for his classmates, tallying 16 points in the win over the Spartans. “Zion has been great all year, he has been awesome,” said Noone. “It is a good way for him to go out on Senior Day.”
It was a good day collectively for the Tigers as they snapped a two-game losing streak.
“I think the whole team did well, it was just a good program win after two tough losses,” said Noone. “That is the way to do it, especially in a sluggish start. It is very important to go out like that.”
With the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament starting next week, Noone believes that PHS can do well.
“It is just keep plugging away, get a touch better each day, and hopefully we beat South and whatever happens, happens,” said Noone. “We will see what we can do and hopefully it will be good.”
Colvin, for his part, is confident that the Tigers will build on the win over Steinert as they head into postseason action.
“We are going to win these next couple of games,” said Colvin. “Then we are going to head to the tournament and plan to knock some teams out.”