Ewing’s Justin Porter reaches for a layup during a 68-49 home win over Ocean Township in the first round of the Central Jersey Group III tournament. (Photo by Albert Rende.)
There was no shortage of disappointment in the Ewing High School boys’ basketball team locker room following the Blue Devils’ overtime 80-72 loss to Bergenfield in the NJSIAA Group III championship game at Rutgers on Mar. 15. But there also was no lack of pride for what the squad accomplished.
Ewing’s return to the state final for the second consecutive season—and play throughout the entire campaign—was head coach Shelly Dearden’s true barometer in gauging the character of her team.
“I’m very proud of the kids and how they played,” Dearden said. “They got us back here, and it’s very hard to come back-to-back. I thought the kids really worked hard and had a very good season. We were 29-3. You can’t take anything away from any team that goes 29-3. I’m very proud of the whole team. We just came up one game short.”
Ewing missed its chance to capture the fourth state title in program history—to go with crowns in 1986, 1992 and 2012—but won its fourth state sectional championship since 2011 by knocking off Hamilton West, 85-42. The Blue Devils’ 29 wins this season established the school record, and they accomplished that feat while carrying the burden of expectations and facing some of the best competition around.
“They dealt with the pressure all year,” said Dearden, whose squad’s losses were to top 10-ranked Trenton Catholic and Patrick School, in addition to Bergenfield. “They really worked hard together, throughout the year and the offseason. They really looked out for each other. They came together as a team.”
Ewing was led by Colonial Valley Conference Player of the Year Trey Lowe, who finished his scholastic career as the CVC’s all-time top scorer, with 2,492 points.
The 6-foot-6 Lowe, who will continue his career at Temple University, averaged 24.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season.
“Trey is an absolutely great person, great kid,” said Dearden, who was named the CVC’s boys’ Coach of the Year. “He had a wonderful career here at Ewing. Nobody could say anything bad about the kid. He gave his all for everybody. For the community, for the high school, for his family, for his teammates, for himself.”
Dearden said he has a presence that will be missed.
“He’s just a great person to have around the program,” she said. “We’re going to miss his little smile, and coming around and saying, ‘It’s OK coach. We’re going to be alright.’ We’re going to miss him being there for his teammates and wanting them to succeed just as much as him. We’re going to miss all that.”
Lowe knows he could not have succeeded alone.
“All my accomplishments have come from my teammates,” Lowe said. “They helped me reach the level that I’m at right now. I have to thank all of them, for all the years that I’ve been playing. I’m going to miss everyone here; teammates, fans, cheerleaders, everybody. I’d say we had a very successful year. We played our hearts out to the very end. We never gave up. We were all one big family.”
James Wright, a senior who transferred from Trenton Catholic and surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in Ewing’s state sectional championship win, averaged 15.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest. Junior Justin Porter contributed 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per outing and senior Herbie Ellis added 9.1 points per game.
Deon Hale, a junior, and senior Colin Haynes both averaged more than 6.5 points per game. Hale handed out nearly four assists per contest.
“It was honestly a very great season,” said Ellis, who transferred to Ewing from Trenton. “A lot of people expected a lot from this team. We all wanted a state championship, but we fell just short. But it was fun to play with these guys. Even if we yell at each other on the court, it was all out of love. Nobody wanted to see anyone do bad. We were always there for each other to pick each other up.”
Ellis added that the squad realized what it was up against just by looking at its schedule.
Ewing, which went 56-8 over the last two seasons and won the NJSIAA Group II championship in 2012, will bid farewell to six dedicated seniors, with Brandon Bartlett and Josh Morris joining Lowe, Wright, Ellis and Haynes in departing from the program.
“We had a couple newcomers this year that fit into our program and really stepped up and bought into our program and what we believed in,” Dearden said. “That’s hard to do in a matter of a month or so before you starting playing. All six seniors are great kids and they’ll be successful when they move out from here and do well for themselves. It’s going to be extremely tough to say goodbye to them. They’re a special group.”
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