A league championship is an attainable goal for the Bordentown Regional High School boys’ basketball team.
Bordentown improved to 3-0 in the Burlington County Scholastic League when the Scotties took the short trip to the next town over and knocked off rival Florence Township Memorial High School, 49-37, on Jan. 5.
Bordentown had defeated Delran High School, 66-58, on Jan. 3, a league game that led up to the Scotties’ victory over Florence.
The Scotties will leave the league and play three games outside the BCSL before they square off with Pemberton Township High School on Jan 17. That division game will be held in Pemberton.
A strong second-half effort, led by Christian Burnett, enabled Bordentown to pull away from Florence. Bordentown held just a one-point lead at halftime.
Burnett was the force when he paced Bordentown with 13 points and 18 rebounds. Gavin Shiver and Roshon Vankline combined for 22 points to contribute to the victory.
Defense also came through in Bordentown’s victory against Florence.
“We’re trying to move the ball around the perimeter a little bit more, and we’re really concentrating on defense,” Bordentown coach John Myers said. “Our goal right now is 48 [points] for a game. We’re trying to keep teams under 48.”
While Bordentown is undefeated in the league, the Scotties have dropped four games outside the division
Myers said that his the team has to work to come together.
“We’re still struggling with consistency,” Myers said. “These are great wins because they’re division wins, and Florence is always a rivalry, but we’ve just got to become more consistent. We can be as explosive as any team, but sometimes we, as young talented players – we’re struggling with understanding who we’re playing sometimes.”
While Bordentown looks to build on the victory over its rival for the upcoming week, Florence, under coach Cesar Pereda, will now seek to rebound from that defeat.
“[Pereda] is as good of a coach as there is in South Jersey,” Myers said. “His kids played hard.”
Among the Florence players who played hard and scored against Bordentown were Cole Connelly, Jayson Emery and Justin Tisdale, who combined for 24 points.
As Bordentown continues to move forward in their early-season schedule, Myers looks to set up success for his team later on in the season.
“Every day I draw a ladder and someone gets to add a rung,” he said. “The rung is trying to get up to that division championship and get ourselves set up for how we’re going to play in the playoffs.”
