Young O.B. team seeks improvement from last year
0-4 start last year doomed Knights; team opens campaign Dec. 14
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer
The Old Bridge High School boys basketball team will put a relatively young group of players on the floor when it opens the season Dec. 14 at home against East Brunswick.

A year ago, the Knights got out of the gate at 0-4 and were never able to recover, finishing the campaign with a 7-17 mark. Only one starter, point guard Quinton Crawford, returns from a year ago.

Crawford is being counted upon by coach Rocky Knowles to play a leadership role on and off the court. As the only player on the roster with significant varsity experience, Crawford, who averaged 11 points and six assists, will help mentor the newcomers and be one of Old Bridge's go-to guys.

"We've really only had one scrimmage so far, so I'm still assessing who's going to be playing where," Knowles said. "I really need to see more of them and to get them to come together as a team."

Among those who are likely to see playing time are senior forwards Davis Obi and Rasean Padron, as well as junior guard Nick Perez. All four saw a limited amount of varsity time a year ago. Others contending for playing time include

junior forward Cody Daily, and

several sophomores. The latter

group includes 6-foot-3 Stuart

Luciow, who plays center and

forward; a pair of 6-foot-2 forwards,

Jeremy Kutner and

Tyler Abad, and guards

Jimmy Gaffigan and Andrew

Tomlin. Tomlin, who has a

good outside shot, transferred from Newark. "This is a very young group and we don't have a lot of varsity experience, so a lot will depend on how quickly our players adapt to the level of competition," Knowles added. "The style of play will be more physical and faster, hopefully they'll get used to it sooner rather than later."

The Knights play in the Greater Middlesex Conference's tough Red Division, which won't make the adjustment period any easier. After its opener with East Brunswick, Old Bridge faces games against divisional rivals Piscataway and Edison before the holiday break.

"We have some guys who can shoot the ball and I think our free-throw shooting will be better this year," the coach said. "The key for our guys will be continuing to work hard every day, learning our system and to get better with each game."