By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — The returning players for the Egg Harbor Township boys basketball team understand that last year’s 6-21 mark reflected a rebuilding year.
The Eagles are intent on proving that the rebuild isn’t going to last into the 2024-2025 season. They certainly proved a point in Tuesday night’s season opener, easily handling rival Mainland — in a rebuild itself after graduating all five starter’s from last season’s 26-win team. Sophomore guard Jalen Bell knocked down seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 35 points, and senior point guard Jake Karp added 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds as EHT rolled to a 78-54 victory in our Bunting Family Pharmacy Marquee Matchup.
EHT raced out to an 8-1 lead to start the game and never looked back. The Eagles led 24-10 after the first quarter and 44-20 at halftime.
In the absence of injured 6-foot-4 swingman Jay-Denn Reyes, Bell took over. He scored 10 points in the first quarter and nailed the first of his threes, but in the second quarter he really started heating up, nailing four long-range shots and heading into halftime outscoring Mainland all by himself with his 24 points to the Mustangs’ 20 as a team.
“I felt like I could make any shot out there. I kind of felt like Steph Curry a little bit, or maybe a young (former EHT star) Carlos Lopez,” Bell said. “This is definitely my best game (as a varsity player). I’m a lot more confident just knowing the work I put in last summer, knowing how much I lifted and how much more athletic I’ve gotten. I’m excited about this year. We have great team chemistry and everybody’s a good player.
“It was a huge summer for me, I put in a lot of work, so I had a lot of confidence coming into this season. I worked on my right hand a lot and that opened up everything. Now I can get into any move I want to and that opens up everything.”
“I’ve been trying to tell everybody about this kid this season, it’s exciting to see. We have a lot of people doubting us because last season was a rebuilding year, but I was ready (coming into this year), Jalen was ready — our whole team was ready,” Karp said. “We worked a lot this summer, got a lot of shots up, and we’re more confident. Last year was a tough year, but I feel like our chemistry is better this year. Last year we had a lot of new varsity players, but we’ve gotten a lot more playing time together on the varsity court. The biggest change this year is our experience. We’ve been working, playing as much as we can.”
Cameron Bell, the Eagles’ head coach and Jalen’s father, said he’s been impressed with the work his son has put in that led to this kind of scoring performance. Jalen Bell averaged a little more than 11 points per game last year and hit 37 threes in 27 games. He has nearly 20 percent of last season’s total after just one game.
“The biggest thing he got better at was his athleticism. He was pretty athletic coming in as a freshman, but I told him, ‘you’re not the tallest guy out there, so in order to make up for that you have to become more athletic.’ And he really put the work in during the offseason. He’s a much better ball handler — he’s just a much better basketball player than he was as a freshman,” coach Bell said. “It’s nice having those two guards who can rip-and-run and get up and down the court, that’s me to a ‘T’ and everybody knows that.”
Mainland (0-1, 0-0 Cape-Atlantic American) had trouble all night with the pace that EHT (1-0, 0-0 CAL National) played, as well as the Eagles’ ability to nail the three-point shot. In the third quarter, Mainland got to within 57-39 on a three by Luke Kerrigan, but then the Eagles blitzed the Mustangs with a six-point swing from Bell on a traditional three-point play and a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the period. After three, EHT led 63-39.
“I’m glad we have a guy like him on our team. He’s a lot more poised this year. He’s a student of the game and he’s gotten a lot better,” senior Jorden Sanchious said of Bell. “We came in with a great attitude and energy. We worked for this all offseason and we came to play. We just want to keep performing better than we even did today, and get better each game. We need to run the floor a little better because that’s how we score a lot of our points.”
“Our confidence is higher and our energy is higher this year. Last year, as the season went on, our energy dropped. But this year we’re trying to come out, play hard and keep that energy up,” Karp said. “Everything will come together as the season goes along. I think we’ll get wins. Me and Jalen, even though he’s just a sophomore, he’s been working out with us since he was in eighth grade. Our chemistry is only going to go up from here.”
If the rest of the guards can keep contributing to support Bell and Karp, the Eagles will be tough to beat. Against Mainland, Nick Cruse, C.J. Ford, Dylan Salsbery and Jackson Allen combined to nail six 3-pointers and contribute 24 points.
“We have a bunch of other solid players on the outside that we can kick the ball out to, like C.J. and Dylan,” Jalen Bell said. “So we can kick it out to them if they double (myself and Karp). They are going to get their shots, and if they get rolling it opens things up for everybody.”
Coach Bell, however, knows it’s a long season and cautioned his players about getting too confident after just one win. The Eagles have to travel to Atlantic City on Thursday to take on one of the better teams in South Jersey.
“I already said it in the locker room, you never want to get to high or too low,” he said. “After a bad loss you don’t get too low, and after a win like this — yes, it’s nice for now, but as soon as we come in (to practice tomorrow) our eyes will be on Atlantic City, that’s who we have on Thursday. That’s going to be a tough one.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Egg Harbor Township travels to Atlantic City on Thursday at 7 p.m. Mainland travels to St. Joseph Academy on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
