If there is one thing any basketball team in the Colonial Valley Conference knows, it is that Trenton is always a hard team to beat. Apparently the High School South boys missed the memo.
The boys overcame Trenton, 58-46, on January 3, but as if that accomplishment was not enough, the boys have remained undefeated at 5-0 so far led by four towering forces in the box — Austin Witter at 6-8, Dan Block at 6-4, and Jack Dennehy and Dan Balevski at 6-5. The Trenton team may be a little young and lack some experience this year, but South was out to prove that it is a force to be reckoned with. Witter had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocks in the game.
The Pirates entered the season by claiming the Boardwalk Classic title at the Wildwood Convention Center over the winter break, taking down Pleasantville, 63-47, to head to the final, where they overcame Timber Creek, 45-44, with Dennehy’s layup with 12 seconds left in the game. South also rolled over crosstown rival North, 56-44, on December 23 along the way.
It seems the Pirates are much more poised for a great season than they were in early January last year, when their record was at 4-4. The Pirates will take on Hightstown on Friday, January 9, at Hightstown.
Meanwhile, North has its own reason for bragging. The Knights hockey team overcame South, 2-0, on January 2 for their 11th win of the season, experiencing only two losses so far, one that was an out-of-conference game, and one coming against Notre Dame, 2-1 on January 7, a game that was expected to be a challenge. Still, the game could have gone either way, and the Knights will have more chances to test themselves as the season progresses, namely against Hopewell and Brick Memorial again later in the season.
The good news for the Knights is that they have already registered a win against Brick Memorial, which always proves to be a challenge for them. While the team fell to Jackson Memorial, the team finished third in the Hamilton holiday tournament, and seems to be on the way to as good a season as it had last year, when it finished 17-6-2 as Patriot Division champions.
While they have much talent in seasoned players and seniors James Komianos, Scott Litwack, Scott Martin, and juniors Andrew Washuta, Marc Raziano, and Andrew Lalli, new talent has stepped up in freshman defensemen Casey Litwack and David Sandberg, who played a big part in shutting down South earlier this month.
