McCoy leading Cougar boys toward tourney time
The Montgomery High boys basketball team had won five straight games before facing Linden on Saturday.
And despite coming away with a 64-44 loss, the Cougars felt the experience was well worth the trip.
”I was talking to my assistant coaches after the game and I told them I hope the kids realize one day the magnitude of this game,” Montgomery coach Kris Grundy said. “Last year when I called (Linden coach) Phil Colicchio for the game I got his voicemail and figured I wouldn’t get a call back. But he called right back and said he definitely wanted to play us.
”He said we were the defending CJ IV champs and a strong program. It made me realize how far Montgomery basketball has come. We were playing one of the best public school teams in the state.”
The Cougars are a perfect 8-0 and sit on top of their division in the Skyland Conference. But the test they received against Linden will help them more than most of those earlier wins.
The Cougars received 12 points apiece from Ryan McCoy and Matt Mignon in the loss. McCoy continued his solid play this season. The Manhattan College-bound senior is averaging 12.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.2 blocks a game for the Cougars.
”They were a good team and it made us better playing against that competition,” McCoy said. “We have been playing a pretty tough out of conference schedule this year. We’ve played a lot of tough teams to help us prepare for the states and the counties. We want to go out there and play the toughest competition we can.”
Having a solid player like McCoy helps the Cougars no matter who they play. The senior can fill a stat sheet and is part of a solid mix for Montgomery.
”He is doing it all,” Grundy said. “People see that he is a Division I scholarship player and I think they expect him to score 25 points a game. But that is not what he does for us. He handles the ball and for a 6-foot-7 kid he’s the best passer I have ever seen. He’s also our best rebounder and he blocks shots and plays great defense.”
McCoy is just one piece of the puzzle for the Cougars, who have their sights set on doing well in the Somerset County and Central Jersey Group IV tournaments later this season.
”We have four guys that on any given night can drop 20 points on you with Mignon, McCoy, (Mike) Reynolds and (Colin) Geary when he gets going,” Grundy said. “We have a lot of balance, which is nice with this team. People focus on Ryan and they should because he is such a talented player. But we have a lot of kids that can play.”
The Cougars came into the week with a conference title within reach. And they’ll also be looking to repeat in CJ IV.
”I think when we came into the season we expected to be good,” McCoy said. “We lost some players from last year, but we thought we still had a good team. Matt, Mike (Reynolds) and Jon (Lott) played a lot last year, but we also have new guys like Tim Maloney and Colin Geary who have helped us this year.”
McCoy is playing a different role this year, being counted on more to rebound than he did last year after much of the frontcourt was lost to graduation.
”I’ve been pretty happy with how I have been playing so far,” said McCoy, who is among the players nationally selected as nominees for the McDonald’s All-America game. “I am not scoring as much, but I am doing the little things. Last year we had three other guys who were 6-5 or taller. This year I’m the biggest guy so I have to do more rebounding than I did last year.”
McCoy has certainly been doing his share this year. And beyond this year he’ll look to do the same things at Manhattan.
”It takes a lot of pressure off me not having to worry about schools,” McCoy said of his decision to head to the Jaspers. “I can just concentrate on this season and it has been a lot of fun.”
