From spectator to super sub Maloney helps Cougar boys into states
Last year Tim Maloney spent most of the Montgomery High boys basketball team’s run to a Central Jersey Group IV championship watching from the stands.
This year, if the Cougars are to make a similar run through the state tournament, Maloney will be playing a prominent role for the Cougars.
”It’s pretty crazy,” the Montgomery High junior said. “I remember last year being in the stands for the state games and it seems so far away from where I am now playing big minutes. I’m loving it and cherishing every moment that I am out there and playing.”
Last year Maloney was on the junior varsity team, not even playing a huge role at that level. But after a summer of hard work he’s now the first player off the bench and a key part of the Cougars’ success this season.
”He has started some but is basically sixth man,” said Montgomery coach Kris Grundy, whose team is 14-10 and won the Skyland Conference Raritan Division championship this year. “He is doing a great job. Every time the game is over or I see coaches during the week, they are commenting on how impressed they are with him. To see where he has come from since he came to us as a freshman, his development is all from working hard in our program.
This year means a final regular season game tonight against Hunterdon Central and then a CJ IV opening round game at Trenton on Monday. The Cougars are seeded 11th in CJ IV after winning the sectional title last year.
In other state tournament games on Monday, West Windsor-Plainsboro South is the No. 4 seed in CJ IV and will host Brick Memorial. WW-P North is the No. 8 seed and will host Manalapan. In CJ III, Princeton is seeded No. 9 and will open at No. 8 Hopewell Valley on Tuesday.
Maloney is looking forward to getting a chance to contribute on the court this season as Montgomery prepares to face Trenton.
”Last year I was on the JV team and then for the state games I was in the stands,” Maloney recalled. “I was at every game. It came on quick for me this year. I put in plenty of hard work over the summer. I was working out five days a week in June and July. I worked on my speed, did a lot of lifting.
”We’re excited about being in the states. For the younger guys there are never any guarantees. We plan to devote a lot of time to getting better. We won’t have a lot of varsity experience next year but we’re still going to be confident. We just have to work hard. That is what we have done this year and we feel like we’ll be ready for Trenton on Monday.”
The Cougars have a history of tournament success under Grundy and they hope that continues.
”We’ll be well prepared,” Grundy said. “Hopefully our games against Linden, Coatesville, Point Pleasant Boro, Immaculata, and so on will have prepared us for the state tournament. That is why we scheduled as well as we did. It helped us in the county tournament, where we held the No. 3 team in the state (Gill-St. Bernard’s) to their lowest point total of the year.
”We have had some success. When I took over we had not won a state game in nine years. That first year we did not qualify. The next year we lost a close one to Brick and since then we’ve won at least one state game every year and last year went 4-1. We have had some success and understand what it means to have some success and we’ll go down and do the best the we can.”
Montgomery has scheduled some good teams in an attempt to prepare for the post-season, which has left the Cougars confident heading into the game at Trenton.
”All teams have their ups and downs,” Maloney said. “We’re just going to focus on playing Cougar basketball. If we play the whole 32 minutes the way we know we can play, we’ll be tough to beat. I think we’ll be ready.”
