Boys basketball: Princeton claims conference championship

In a season with many first and new records, the Princeton Tigers enjoyed another milestone Friday at Prouty Gymnasium.

The Class 2A No. 1-ranked Tigers rode a 20-2 run to close out the second-quarter for a 27-point halftime lead, and cruised to an 80-32 victory over Newman to capture their first conference championship in 13 years.

[ Photos of Princeton vs. Newman boys basketball ]

The Tigers (28-1, 12-0) ran the table in the Three Rivers East, putting the first conference championship numbers on the gym wall since the 2009-10 team finished atop the NCIC Lincoln.

“Definitely something special. It will be cool to put the numbers on the board,” Princeton senior Teegan Davis said.

“I didn’t realize it was that long. I don’t study the numbers like everybody else does,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “Coach Freds [Michael Fredericks] said in the pregame we got a chance to do something that hasn’t been done since 2010. That’s special, right? The whole year has been special. We’ve got to continue on.”

The Comets (22-8, 10-2), whose only conference losses are to Princeton, kept up with the Tigers early, down just 14-10 in the first quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Davis and Grady Thompson and a strip steal and layup by Davis stretched the Tigers’ lead to 22-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Then the fun really began for the home crowd.

Davis fueled a 20-2 run to end the second quarter, scoring 16 of his game-high 29 points. He scored 14 straight points on his own, including two dunks, a 3-pointer and a three-point play.

Thompson, who finished with 22 points, added two hoops before Davis closed out the half on the break to send the Tigers to a 45-15 halftime lead.

“We played a complete game. We just kind of put our foot on the pedal and tried to create a gap and keep working hard,” Davis said.

“I knew it was a big run. 20-2? That’s pretty big,” Smith said. “I knew we had some momentum on our side. I think [Newman] Coach [Ray] Sharp was about ready to run out of timeouts. When we had them on the ropes like that and they’re as well-prepared as they are, you know you’re doing some good things.”

Noah LaPorte got in on the fun in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 14 points. In a season of highlight reels, the sophomore forward may have had the best dunk of all when he slammed a one-handed, tip-in dunk to give the Tigers a 57-26 lead midway through the third quarter.

LaPorte said it was all a reaction.

“I’ve always wanted a put-down dunk, and there it was,” LaPorte said.

“It’s about time he did a dunk like that. Been waiting for that,” Davis said with a smile.

Smith said the dunk was an eye-opener.

“It wasn’t expected. I think that’s what makes it better,” he said. “You don’t ever expect a tip-dunk from a high schooler, especially at a 2A school, so that’s pretty special.

After the dunk, the Tigers scored the last 12 points of the third quarter, capped by a Davis layup off an assist by Thompson to take a 69-28 lead at quarter’s end.

Sharp has coached his share of good teams and seen his share of them. He was very impressed with the Tigers.

“Princeton has a great team, and is very well-coached. They’re not just athletes, they’re good basketball players,” he said. “We did not match their intensity. We let them be more physical than us and let their physicality take us out of our game.”

The Comets coach said the Tigers are poised to make a deep postseason run.

“They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason, right?” he said. “They’ve got the athletes and coaches and players to win it. Hopefully, they don’t stumble.”

Lucas Simpson led the Comets with 16 points.

Smith said he always thinks they can play better, but said that’s the best game for the Tigers since Thanksgiving.

“Couple things we could have done defensively better. I think we can be finishing more at the basket a little bit better. Outside of that, I’m just nit-picking,” he said. “I thought we played really well. I don’t think we’ve played this well since over at Ottawa against Pontiac. That’s the last complete game we’ve played. We’ve shown signs when we’ve put a quarter or two together, but not four quarters like this.”

Tiger tales: The Tigers will play Pleasant Plains (21-6) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Riverton Shootout. It’s the Tigers’ first appearance at Riverton since playing in 2010 and 2011, going 0-2. “I think it’s important for us to play well,” Smith said. “The kids want it. I think they want to show everybody they’re deserving of [the No. 1 ranking]. And we saw tonight what they’re capable of doing.” ... Princeton won the sophomore game 41-32 behind Jordan Reinhardt (19 points) and Luke Smith (12). The Kittens (24-4) finished as co-champs in the TRAC East with Kewanee at 11-1.