Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week Kovacevich has MHS hoops perfect

DATE POSTED: Friday, January 17, 2014 9:07 AM EST
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor

ris Grundy already knew Justin Kovacevich was a special player.

But what the Montgomery High senior has done this year to help the boys basketball team to a 9-0 start has given the veteran coach an even greater appreciation of Kovacevich as a player.

”He is so confident and relaxed this year,” Grundy said. “This is a special team and it is great when your best player doesn’t care if he leads the team in scoring or not. This is his fourth year with the varsity and third as a starter and he knows how good this team can be. We have six players that can go for 20 points on any given night.”

Kovacevich has scored more than 20 points in a game just once this season. But the impact the 6-foot-5 forward makes every game isn’t necessarily measured by point production.

”He was pretty amazing,” Grundy said. “Against Somerville he had 19 points,10 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. He did a little bit of everything. Against Elizabeth he had 13 points and eight rebounds. And against North Hunterdon he had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
”He is our go-to guy. Physically he is very impressive. We’ll need him big time when we play against Ridge.”

Kovacevich’s performances against North Hunterdon, Somerville and Elizabeth helped the Cougars to a perfect week, which led to a 9-0 start after Tuesday’s win over Voorhees.

Justin Kovacevich is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.

”We need for him to give us 16-20 points every night and 7-12 rebounds, which he gives us,” Grundy said. “In our new style he also averages 3-5 steals. He is doing everything we wanted and more this year.”

Through nine games Kovacevich is averaging 18.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. In addition, he leads the team with 3.4 points and 2.7 steals per game. He was happy that the Cougars could come out of last week with three wins as they prepared for Ridge on Thursday.

”We’re happy to get out with all three wins,” Kovacevich said. “It was our first full week with three games and it was great to see how we responded. We were happy to get the wins. We have played a lot of different types of teams and that will be good for us going forward.”

The Cougars have been a far more explosive team offensively this year than they have been in the past, while at the same time continuing to play the strong defense they have been known for over the years. Having a player with Kovacevich’s versatility makes playing a more up-tempo offense possible.

”I definitely like the new style this year,” he said. “Since we put it in over the summer we have played more up-tempo and that leads to more baskets. It is a fun style of play and the fact it is leading to wins is even better.

”We definitely still pride ourselves on defense. This year is different because we’re trapping more and pressuring teams. I think we all like to play defense and the way we’re playing this year with the new style is a lot of fun.”

The Cougars entered Thursday night ready for a showdown with Ridge, which was also 9-0. Being able to win games like they did last week helped them prepare for this latest challenge.

”This past week was going to be a good test for a variety of reasons,” Grundy said. “Tuesday we played a well-coached North Hunterdon team. Kyle Rehrig used to coach with us at Montgomery and he does a great job. And then knew we would be in a hostile environment at Somerville and we battled and won that game. And then we faced a totally different animal in the Coaches vs. Cancer event here at our place against an Elizabeth team that has gone to the Group 4 semifinals two years ago and last year got knocked off in the sectionals semis.

”To get them to come down and take it to them and be up 19 and then have them cut it to two and then win was nice for us.”

The Cougars have high hopes for the season and Kovacevich is a big reason why. He has steadily improved through high school and is having his best season despite opposing defenses locking in on him every night.

”As a player I feel like I am the strongest I have been,” Kovacevich said. “I know teams focus on me and teams have tried to be physical. Coach Grundy told me that would happen. I worked out in the weight room a lot in the off-season I have always been coming to the weight room and working with Coach (Jim) Griffin. He does a great job with all the athletes.”

Kovacevich came into this season thinking the Cougars could have a special year and so far he has been proven right.
”Toward the end of last season I saw flashes from guys like Greg Tarca, Tim Youreneff and Chase Ta. And this year Alex Miller has been shooting the ball really well and Darren Wallace is having a real good year.

”One of the great things about our team is that on any given night any guy can lead the team in scoring. That is something that makes us tough to defend. Hopefully we can stay healthy and have a great rest of the season.”