Something old, something new but the same

   A sign on the gymnasium wall behind where basketball players sit on game days reads, “Rutgers Prep Since 1766.”
There is no such sign in the gym at Montgomery High School, which still looks as if it had its grand opening when I took in the Somerville game Thursday night. Each gym is unique, and both provided extremely entertaining experiences the past couple of evenings.

   Rutgers Prep was standing-room-only, including people who watched the game from behind glass doors in the gym lobby. Others, including myself, had a seat on a rolled up wrestling mat against a wall, right in line for rebounding activity under one of the baskets. That provided a close-up view of Dominic Hoffman, who had 11 rebounds in 23 minutes, and who had a no-doubt-about-it look of a Division I power forward. Sophomore Jaren Sina is another D-I prospect and is about as entertaining a guard as you’ll see. He can stick the three and seems to enjoy the game more than many, especially when he attacks the glass.

   Although Prep was schooled in the second half, they might still prove to be at least the second-best team in Somerset County come the end of February. One of my favorite sights at its gym is the side baskets with the wooden backboards. Which reminds me, how can we continue to write about how many “boards” a player had in a game? There are no more boards in basketball – excluding playgrounds. Do we now write, “He had 10 glasses.” Glasses of what? Orange juice between halfs? Ten pairs of glasses because he breaks them all the time? I’m afraid us scribes are left to just use the word rebounds.

   But those fans sitting on wrestling mats, those standing in the lobby, with the silver portable bleachers at the other end filled with fans, and the shirtless students painted with Go RUTGERS PREP letters, all of that added a nice touch of atmosphere. Unfortuantely the game turned out not be close.

   And who do I see as a walk out of the gym an hour after the game? Who is there helping a young player work out at 9:30 p.m.? Kristen Somogyi. The 1997 Rutgers grad is still a gym rat, somehow got to be 36 years-old, and remains the state’s all-time high school scorer from her days at Saint Peter’s in New Brunswick. She teaches in Rahway, coaches AAU and also runs a basketball camp. Her dad, legendary hoopster from the same high school, John Somogyi, is retired and living in Florida.

   I got  a little lost trying to find the Montgomery gym. Not the high school, just the gym. Coming through the main entrance there were no sounds of basketball whistles or sneakers, but I did come across a fencing match. Fortunately one of the high school fencers, dressed like a bee keeper, directed me to the spacious gym around a couple of hallways. Somewhere in my mind I kept my eyes out for a bee hive.

   Not long before the game started, a loud burst of students charged into the place, what turned out to be about 60 Somerville High students. Self-named the “Pioneer Pack,’‘ their clothing ranged from black T-shirts with the word Pack in orange on the back, to tradtional varsity jackets, shirts proclaiming The Ville, and for one girl, whose hair was dyed half orange, who wore black and orange tights.

   As the evening progressed, the Pioneer Pack exchanged chants with their Montgomery equals on the other side of the court. I’m talking every few seconds. Comments ranged from clever, insulting, good-natured fun to even singing. With a lead at halftime of 41-18, the Montgomery contingent spent a lot of the time simply pointing to the scoreboard. But the volleys did keep the place lively for nearly 90 minutes.

   The Cougars had lost three straight coming into the game, but Thursday night looked like their old selves when they won the Central Group 4 title a year ago. A lot of new characters, but they sure can hit the 3-pointers. They had 11 total, with Matt Mignon swishing eight of them. Senior Ryan McCoy contines to draw attention, if for no other reason that he already has a basketball scholarship to Manhattan. He was much more of a defensive problem for Somerville, which isn’t exactly shocking. One Montgomery player who has caught my attention in both the Somerville game and against Piscataway last week is junior forward Tim Maloney. He blends in among McCoy’s blocks and the drama of the 3-pointers, but he plays a steady, smart game and hustles. Keep an eye on his development.

When you talk about new gyms, there was nothing more high-tech then the play-by-play calling from a couple of College of New Jersey grads. Keith Glock, a guidance counselor at Montgomery, and Jim Griffin, history teacher and strength coach at MHS, paired up to deliver the game on the school’s web site. Their catch phrase is, “Get caught on the MIRE!” That would stand for the Montgomery Internet Radio Experience. Games are archived, and in their first broadcast on Tuesday they had 68 listeners. Hey, Rome wasn’t built in 4 quarters. They will do both boys and girls games throughout the season, and all you Cougar fans have to do is log on to the Montgomery Athletics website or to “Mr. Glock’s” faculty webpage to access The MIRE!

   Speaking of gymnasiums, is it really necessary to blare that loud, annoying, pounding, distracting music during warmups? Can’t the kids get psyched up in the locker room with their I-pod, tech-pod, pollywog things and just do layup drills in sneaker-squeaky silence? I like to talk to people before a game, not scream at them. C’mon kids, keep your parents and us black and white TV folks a break. Or at least turn down the sound a couple of decades.

   How about those unbeaten New Providence Pionners? “After a couple of weeks our team is getting more comfortable with each other and now appear to have their basketball mindset back,” coach Art Cattano says. Remember, some of his players had their football season extended into December. “We still have a long way to go,” he pointed out. They’ll have a showdown soon with unbeaten Datyon of Springfield to decided who the leader is in Union County’s Valley Division. A week from Saturday they will travel to Berkeley Heights to take on cross-over opponent Governor Livingston, which has won five straight.

   Speaking of which, here’s some other games to look forward to next week: Tuesday it’s Plainfield at St. Pat’s; Thursday it’s conference unbeaten Hillsborough at Ridge, which is 3-1 in the Skyland’s Delaware Division; and in another Union County cross-over game, on Friday, hot Scotch Plains-Fanwood plays at Linden.

   Gill-St. Bernard’s has an interesting week from the 18th to the 22nd: At Ridge on the 18th, home to Hillsborough for the Delaware Division showdown, then at Immaculata on the 22nd.

   One other word on Montgomery basketball. Coach Kris Grundy and his wife are expecting twins, with the due date Jan. 26. Coach informed me Thursday’s evening that if he got a call during the game to head for the hospital, that I would coach the Courgars the rest of the way. I may cover them every game until the end of the month. Hey, it’s never to late to reinvent yourself. Especially these days. Besides, how could I possibly mess up that team the way they played?

   What, you don’t think he’s serious? Hey, I’m just dying to try a triangle and two on Gill-St. Bernard’s.