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It was at those same camps that Kovacevich started to feel like someday he would be a big part of the high school program at Montgomery.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe was a kid that never missed one of my basketball camps,\u201d Grundy said. \u201cSo as a coaching staff we really got to see him develop. We were excited about him. We knew that in sixth or seventh grade he would be a special player. We didn\u2019t know he would grow and become the physical specimen he became. He ended up having a special career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kovacevich wound up as a three-year starter and four-year varsity performer for the Cougars. This past season he averaged 17.1 point and nine rebounds a game and helped Montgomery to a 27-2 record.<\/p>\n
The 27 wins were a school record as the Cougars won their division of the Skyland Conference, reached the championship game of the Central Jersey Group IV tournament, and also reached the Somerset County Tournament semifinals. The Cougars opened the season with 22 straight wins.<\/p><\/div>\n
The Cougars had a variety of players making big contributions to their wins. But no one was more consistent than Kovacevich, who finished his career with more than 1,000 points.<\/p>\n
Justin Kovacevich is the Princeton Packet Boys Basketball Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe was everything we needed him to be and more,\u201d Grundy said. \u201cIn addition to his points and rebounds he averaged three or four assists a game, three steals and two blocks. He did a little bit of everything.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt was what we needed from him. I didn\u2019t say going into the year that we\u2019ll need 20 points a game or anything like that. He did a real good job of understanding the game and what we needed. Against Rutgers Prep we weren\u2019t hitting our outside shots and they had no answer for him inside. In other games, like against Ridge on the road, they were physical with him and he didn\u2019t force the issue. Had only had eight points, but he hit two clutch free throws to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kovacevich never worried about his point total. He, like the other Cougars, has his focus on winning games.<\/p>\n
\u201dLooking back it was definitely a great year,\u201d Kovacevich said. \u201cI will always remember this year. Throughout the season we all had a lot of fun. It was the most fun I have had playing basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe group of guys we had was such a close group, probably closer than any of the other years I have been on the team. We always talk about the family aspect and this year really embodied it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
That family feeling starts early for the Cougar players, most of whom attend Grudy\u2019s camps from an early age.<\/p>\n
\u201dI have been going to those camps since probably second grade,\u201d Kovacevich said. \u201cThrough the years I would go to every single one of those camps. They get you started. It really feels like you are a part of the program at a young age. Coach Grundy talks to the younger kids and is easily accessible.<\/p>\n
\u201dI think one of the reasons we were so successful was because we\u2019re all so close and have been together so long. We just want each other to do well. We put a lot of time and effort into the program and it paid off. I know I would always hear the previous seniors say it goes by quick. You don\u2019t realize it until it is finally over just how quick it does go by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Somewhere down the line there may another young camper that will catch the eye of Grundy and coaching staff and they\u2019ll think they might just have another Justin Kovacevich on the horizon. But for now, he\u2019ll leave Montgomery as a one-of-a-kind player.<\/p>\n
\u201dI probably started in third grade and the different guys dads would coach us,\u201d Kovacevich said. \u201cI didn\u2019t play that much freshman year but I knew sophomore year I would be expected to be a starter and probably a leading scorer. I was not sure whether I could do or it or not because I hadn\u2019t played that much. I was a bit surprised to play that well and from then on I felt like I got better throughout the season.<\/p>\n
\u201dHaving the team we had this year made it so much easier. I felt like junior year I tried to force things too much. This year I felt confident and if I would get doubled I could kick it to one of my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The combination of players made this a special season at Montgomery.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201dThe cool part of it is I have gotten three or four emails from random community members who said I have no idea what the team and season have done for the community. We\u2019ve also gotten a ton of comments on the Grundy Hoops Academy Facebook page from people about the season. It was something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those comments may just have come from the next Justin Kovacevich, which would mean there would be a real special player on the horizon for the Cougars.<\/p><\/div>\n
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http:\/\/www.centraljersey.com\/articles\/2014\/03\/25\/the_princeton_packet\/sports\/doc533081391f851683071967.txt \u00a0 Senior Justin Kovacevich helped the Montgomery High boys basketball team to a school record 27 wins this season.Photo by Robert Gleason \u00a0 \u00a0 Kris Grundy got his first look at Justin Kovacevich on the court as a young camper at his Grundy Hoop Academy basketball camp. It was at those same camps that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1260,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions\/1260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhsbasketball.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}