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  • Princeton Tigers’ Kyle Caron muscles his way toward a two-point shot Monday, Jan. 16, as the Tigers take on Riverside in Princeton. Princeton won that competition by a 68-55 margin and advanced their record on the season to 5-4. Greg Barnett

    PT Tigers Kyle Caron.jpg

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January 18, 2012

Tigers falter, rebound with win against Riverside

By CHRIS SLATER for the Princeton Times

ATHENS — Princeton Senior High School’s boys varsity basketball team is in the midst of a three-game road trip, after splitting their last two contests, losing on the road to Spring Valley on Monday and defeating Riverside at home Tuesday night.

The Tigers lost to Spring Valley by a final score of 72-55. Head Coach Ernie Gilliard believes it was a breakdown in several areas that led to the loss.

“From coaching, we didn’t coach well,” Gilliard said. “And, playing, we didn’t play well. As a result, we lost the game we feel we should have won.”

A single game does not define a season, and Gilliard said the Tigers’ team will grow from the experience.

“Of course, it’s a growth process, and hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes as coaches and players and we will move forward,” he said.

Moving forward took the Tigers back home the Tuesday night to host the Riverside Warriors, from Belle.

With both teams tied at 11 points apiece in the first quarter, Princeton took the lead and never lost it, winning with a final score of 68-55.

While pleased with the victory, Gilliard said his team still has room to improve.

“We’ve got a great concern; we’ve got to do a better job rebounding and keeping other people off the boards,” Gilliard said. “We could have had a comfortable lead if we had not allowed them second or third shots, and we’ve got to take care of that.”

Riverside Head Coach Duane Estep also sees rebounding being a problem for his team.

“Bottom line is, even in our offensive set, we didn’t run our offenses, and we didn’t play defense,” Estep said. “And, we didn’t rebound. Against a team who has size, we have to rebound.”

Estep said that this has been a troubling season for his team.

“If you go out and don’t play hard, then you’ll lose a lot of games,” Estep said. “I’ve been trying to get that through to our players all year; when we play hard, we can play with anybody. That’s the thing we’ve been having trouble with all year, and our record shows it.”

Riverside’s record was 3-8 at press time.

“We’re basically starting over,” Estep said. “We hit a little stretch where the team’s confidence is down. I’m trying to boost their morale, but if they don’t play hard, we’re going to keep coming up with games like we had.”

Tigers coach Gilliard noticed the issues the Riverside team seemed to be having.

“They’re a hard team to figure,” Gilliard said. “Extremely talented, but at times their unity seems to be off. They’re just a very tough basketball team in my opinion to compete against. Now, whether they’re putting everything together or not, I just don’t know and I don’t know what the reason is.”

Gilliard said he believes Riverside will be ready once the season-ending tournament begins.

“I think they’re going to be a very dangerous team come tournament time,” Gilliard said. “They’re a member of our section, so this was a big win for us in terms of positioning ourselves for the sectional tournament.”

Several players were spotlighted by Gilliard for their effort, but he noted the entire team contributed to the victory.

“It was a collective team effort,” Gilliard said. “Darnell Palmer played very well for us. I think Ryan Meadows had a very steady game for us. He didn’t get his usual scoring involved, but he distributed the ball well and managed the team well. David Brewster played well. Hunter Walters also great. And, I’ve got to mention Kyle Caron.”

Princeton is on the road for the next week, as they traveled to Huntington Thursday night, and then they will play at St. Albans Saturday and Ripley the following Wednesday. Gilliard said he does not believe the road trip will adversely affect the team.

“A lot of people put a lot of emphasis on it, but I think if the kids are eating right and getting the rest that they need that it will take care of itself,” Gilliard said. “At this point, I think playing games probably are just as beneficial as a good practice. So, the kids have to play hard, play all out.”

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