This is it. The season that Colonial Valley Conference basketball teams have been dreaming about. The year that Trey Lowe won’t take the court in a Ewing High School uniform.
With Lowe safely tucked away at Temple University after setting what feels like a zillion scoring records over the past four years, area teams are hoping the days of Blue Devil dominance are over. During Lowe’s four years, Ewing went 102-23 with three trips to the state finals and one state championship.
And Ewing not only lost Lowe—one of the greatest players to ever come out of Mercer County—it graduated studs like James Wright, Herbie Ellis and Colin Haynes from a 29-3 team that reached the NJSIAA Group III finals. That foursome combined for 1,699 points last season and Lowe finished his career as the CVC record-holder with 2,446 points.
But as Lowe and company move on, so too, do the Blue Devils.
“We’re not about looking back,” veteran coach Shelly Dearden said. “We’re all about looking forward.”
Ewing suffered the kind of graduation losses most schools can’t survive. The Blue Devils players, however, look upon it as a chance for the next group of stars to emerge. They plan on surprising some people.
“I feel as if teams will be sleeping on us very much because of the loss of Trey and other seniors,” said senior guard Justin Porter, the team’s top returning scorer at 10 points per game. “But our talent level is right there where our caliber of team has always been. We have a lot of young pieces that are going to step up. It’s a lot of new faces, it’s a new picture of Ewing basketball, but if everybody comes together and we do what we can do best, hopefully we’ll be keeping the winning tradition of Ewing alive.”
Dearden said some players who have been waiting in the wings for most of their careers are ready for their opportunity to get on the court.
“We have some guys who can’t wait to show what they can do,” Dearden said. “They’ve had to wait for their time and now with the seniors having graduated, that has paved the way for them and they want to prove what they can do.”
Returning along with Porter is senior point guard Deon Hale, which gives the Devils a solid nucleus to build around.
When a team is reloading, having an experienced backcourt is crucial. Dearden expects the duo to fill that role.
“Those two guys will definitely have an impact with their experience,” she said. “We’re expecting both of them to be leaders right off the bat. Both have to be leaders. No one is asking either to score 30 points a game or anything like that. Their most important role is to help others, along with the responsibility of taking care of basketball, shooting the ball when they’re open and playing defense. But mostly to help the other kids.”
Porter and Hale are looking to aid the newcomers in the same way Lowe helped them. Porter noted that Lowe emphasized relying on teammates when things got tough, and that the game was about more than just scoring points.
“It’s about taking charges, getting deflections; there’s more than one way to help a team,” Porter said. “Deon and I have taken the initiative of making sure the young guys understand the philosophy. We’re taking the program and putting it under our wing, and we’re mentoring them to prepare the next generation to continue to win.”
Winning in this generation would be nice too, of course. And waiting to step up and do just that are seniors Howard Gammage, Jonathan Azoroh and Justin Reed, juniors Lawrence Joseph and Edamiyon Doggett—who had an outstanding season as quarterback of the football team—and sophomore Ryan Conde.
Dearden pointed out that last year’s JV team went 19-2 and won the high-powered Toms River JV Tournament. Over the summer, the Blue Devils won the regular-season title in the Moody Park League.
“The summer league was the seed that started it all,” Porter said. “It allowed young guys to get out the jitters and nervousness. Young guys can be shell shocked when they play on the varsity level sometimes. But playing in the summer, they started getting it.”
In doing so, the “new look” Blue Devils began coming together as a team. “That’s our most important task every year, to get our chemistry down,” Porter said.
Dearden also felt that the summer sessions provided a lot; not just in games, but in other areas as well.
“This whole past summer they put a lot of time in,” she said. “They lifted every day, did their assignments, they hung out with each other and liked each other so that helps with the chemistry. These kids stepping up are not just used to winning, they’re used to hard work and everything else. That’s really a plus for us. I mean, yes, we lost a very good team with a lot of talent, not just Trey. All of them had a role, and now we have to find the pieces to fill the roles of the guys who left.”
And while Dearden is definitely looking ahead, she can’t help but miss Lowe. Not just because of his ability, but because of his personality. She coached him for four years, as he was a rare varsity regular as a freshman. The two remain close.
Lowe recently stopped by Dearden’s house just to check in on a weekend home from Temple. He reported that he loves the school and loves Fran Dunphy’s program.
Those are the kind of things she’ll miss. Those little gestures.
“Let’s not even talk about his play, but what he brought to the table outside of basketball,” the coach said. “The friendships he had. The kids he made feel important. Everyone was important to him, it wasn’t just about him. And yes, he was a great player. It’s gong to be sad he’s not here. Anyone would be nuts if they told you otherwise.”That being said, the Blue Devils are confident they will move on and keep winning, no matter what the rest of the county thinks.
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