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  • Going up... Princeton Senior High School Tigers’ Ryan Meadows leaps and launches a shot Saturday, as the Tigers square off against the Parkersburg Big Red. The game was Meadows’ first game back on the court, since an ankle injury in late 2011, and the Tigers marked the occasion with a 54-50 win. Greg Barnett

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January 1, 2012

Tigers run record to 4-2 on season

By CHRIS SLATER for the Princeton Times

PRINCETON — Princeton Senior High School’s boys varsity basketball team improved their record to 4-2 after winning the Tigers’ last two competitinos. The Tigers defeated Parkersburg, 54-50, on Jan. 7 and picked off Nitro, 57-53, on Jan. 9.

The Parkersburg game saw the return of Ryan Meadows, who missed the previous two contests with an ankle sprain. Head Coach Ernie Gilliard said that Meadows was sorely missed.

“When we lost him, it kind of knocked us back a step or two in terms of who was going to be the leader or assume that role while he was out,” Gilliard said. “And I think that’s probably what broke our rhythm early.”

The Tigers went 1-1 without Meadows.

“We took our time and made sure we did the right thing by him, so that it wasn’t a thing that nagged him as the year went on,” Gilliard said. “Our schedule was very favorable for us, because we only had two games after that. To come out 1-1 without him is quite an accomplishment.”

Gilliard noted the effort of several players who stepped up in Meadows’ absence, noting that Kyle Carone returned from an injury at the end of December and has performed well.

“Hunter Williams did a good job, Darnell Williams played well, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Austin Southcott,” Gilliard said.

Gilliard noted that the win against Parkersburg was good win for the team.

“It was a good win for us for two reasons,” Gilliard said. “No. 1, we beat a quality basketball team, so that represents a good, quality win. No. 2, it’s a divisional opponent and possibly a regional opponent. So, when you’re trying to position yourself for postseason play, you want as many wins in your division as you can get.”

Good decisions with the basketball, according to Gilliard, led to the victory.

“We did a lot of things right,” Gilliard said. “David Brewster had a very good game for us, in terms of offensive play as well as rebounding. He got some big rebounds down the stretch.”

Coach Gilliard pointed out the difficulty the team faced for their next game against Nitro. The Tigers had no time to prepare for Nitro, as they defeated Parkersburg on Saturday and had to travel to Nitro on Monday. State law did not allow the team to practice on Sunday.

“Basically, all of our preparation was verbal,” Gilliard said. “We gave them a scouting report and the kids were able to get some indication as to what Nitro liked to do and we were able to do some things to neutralize them.”

Gilliard said this was another quality win for the Tigers.

“It was another hard-fought victory for us, against a much-improved team,” Gilliard said. “They’re just a very scrappy group.”

The Tigers are in the midst of a three-game win streak and will put that on the line this Friday as they face Spring Valley.

“It will be physical,” Gilliard said. “We need to make sure we’re mentally and physically prepared to play the game. We need to make good decisions in the game and play as a collective unit and good things will happen for us.”

Looking past Spring Valley, Gilliard said the team’s ultimate goal is to do better than they did last season. Last year’s squad went 13-10 and made it to the sectional and regional finals.

“That is our measuring stick that we want to measure ourselves by,” Gilliard said. “We certainly want to make sure we get there. That is our goal. We don’t want to fall short.”

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