The South Hunterdon Regional High School boys basketball team defeated Belvidere at home 86-22 on Tuesday to improve to 3-6 on the season.
Junior guard Elio Ambrosino came off the bench to lead the Eagles in scoring with 18 points, earning the honor of player of the game, while freshman guard Kris Thomas had 10 points and led the team with four assists. Junior forward Aaron Zalescik had nine points and grabbed eight of the Eagles’ 20 rebounds.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for South Hunterdon, who had last won on Dec. 28 against Princeton Day.
South Hunterdon’s gym hosted a booming speaker system and an active student section that brought a high level of energy to the game. The Eagles matched this energy from the beginning, starting on an 11-0 run marked by Belvidere turnovers against the South Hunterdon’s suffocating full-court press zone defense.
The defense was the most striking part about South Hunterdon’s strategy and its use led to Belvidere turnovers and fast-break opportunities for the Eagles. It required a high level of effort and aggression, with South Hunterdon players constantly racing to disrupt passing lanes and double the ball handler.
While this level of defensive effort would tire most teams, the Eagles were up to the challenge. They maintained the press for the entire first half, only removing it with about three minutes left in the third quarter with the score at 62-10.
South Hunterdon head coach Shayle Keating matched his team’s energy. He continued to call plays and motivate his team throughout the entire game, helping maintain their focus and hustle even as they ran up the score.
Keating discussed the significance of the full-court press, stating his desire to run it for the entire game. “We want to be able to run the press for 32 minutes. That was our mantra coming into the season,” said Keating.
The Eagles’ style of play requires constant substitutions to keep the players fresh, a fact not lost on Keating. “We always preach 11 strong. We have a lot of guys that can play so we try to go as deep as we can,” explained Keating.
Senior guard Bryson Johnson, who contributed four points, echoed the importance of the full-court press, stating, “our full-court press is the foundation of our defense and our entire gameplan. We capitalized off it.”
Even when Belvidere broke the press, they rarely had any any open shots and had every pass and dribble hounded by South Hunterdon. In contrast, the Eagles ran an efficient offense that often ended up with open jump shots or looks in the paint. Senior forward Thomas Warms especially benefited from these looks and fought for offensive rebounds, scoring eight points with five rebounds and two assists.
Keating attributed his team’s success to their defensive intensity: “The guys played really hard, we preach defensive intensity, ball pressure, and forcing turnovers. They really did a good job with that today.”
On the other hand, Johnson viewed taking advantage of opportunities on offense as the key to their success. “We came with the right energy, we had great ball movement, and we capitalized on our open shots.”
From any perspective, it was clear that South Hunterdon dominated. Despite their success, both Keating and Johnson felt that they could improve.
Keating called on his team to continue working on limiting turnovers. “We still have to take care of the basketball, but it’s a process. We play very fast so we turn the ball over, but as long as we take care of the ball we’ll be all right,” said Keating.
Johnson recognized his defensive role on the team, while also stating his goal of becoming a factor offensively. “I’m the defensive anchor of the team. I feel like I did my job I just want to slowly contribute more offensively. I have an offensive side to me that the team sees in practice that I just haven’t been able to translate into games,” said Johnson.
The Eagles have an opportunity to continue their momentum on Jan. 17 at home against 9-2 Delaware Valley, whom they lost to on the road in their second game of the year 79-74.
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