KEEPING UP WITH JONES: Troy Jones of Princeton Supply dribbles upcourt last Friday in the action in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League. Jones scored a game-high 24 points in the contest to help Princeton Supply defeat Iron Peak 81-62 in the season opener for both teams. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
With Princeton Supply getting knocked out of the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League playoffs last year after having won the title in 2023 and 2024, star guard Troy Jones was considering taking this season off.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to play this year,” said Jones.
“I love playing in the league. I love showing out for everybody.”
Jones ultimately decided to play this summer and last Friday he showed out in a big way, scoring a game-high 24 points to help Princeton Supply defeat defending champion Iron Peak (formerly known as Lob City) 81-62 in the season opener for both teams.
“We are out here, we are hungry,” said Jones. “We are a new team, we have got new players. I feel like we jelled well tonight.”
After falling behind Iron Peak 11-5 in the early going, Princeton Supply went on a 37-25 run to forge ahead 42-36 at halftime.
“As the game went on, we just felt more comfortable with each other,” said Jones. “We just trusted each other to make shots and shots fell tonight.”
Jones was taken aback by his sharpshooting in the win. “This is the first time I have played hoops in about two months,” said Jones, who also chipped in 10 rebounds, five assists, and three blocked shots in the victory. “I surprised myself tonight a lot.”
In pulling away from Iron Peak in the second half, Princeton Supply produced some high-level hoops.
“I know all of the guys that we played with,” said Jones. “We have chemistry, we have played over the years. We have played in different leagues together. It is good to see this mesh because we have never played all together. It looked pretty good out there to me.”
Princeton Supply manager Phil Vigliano acknowledged that he needed to shake things up a bit after his squad fell to Play Smart (the Mercer Community College team) in the playoff quarterfinals last summer.
“Last year we had guys coming and going when we played Mercer,” said Vigliano. “They were just young kids going up and down. We had a 10-point halftime lead but it caught up to us and then I think we checked out a little bit. I had to make some adjustments there.”
Learning that Jones hadn’t played in weeks before the opener, Vigliano wasn’t supposed to see him come up big.
“He must be doing something I don’t know about, it is just amazing,” said Vigliano of Jones. “When you have high IQ and you have skill, sometimes it comes together a little faster than others. I have never seen him play a bad game. If his scoring is down it is because he was trying to get other people involved with the passes. He had three blocks tonight and they were tremendous blocks; not just an easy one like putting your hand up. He went after it.”
Vigliano liked the way his players went after it collectively in the opener.
“We want to get up and down, we have that kind of team,” said Vigliano. “We need to be focused in the beginning of the game a little bit more so teams don’t get a little bit of confidence because I think that happens at times.”
Princeton Supply has a special inspiration to make good things happen this summer.
“We are dedicating the season to Quayson Williams, rest in peace,” said Vigliano of Williams, who passed away at age 28 last November after a battle with cancer. “He played last summer. We want to represent him in the right kind of way, he deserves it. It is still a tragedy to all of us, I haven’t gotten over it.”
Jones believes that Princeton Supply can get back in the title mix by dedicating itself to the basics.
“It is playing defense, knocking down shots and just taking advantage of time of possession,” said Jones. “If we do those keys, we should be able to run through this league and have the good, successful season that we are wishing for.”