Depleted by graduation, Paulsboro boys still contending

Earlier this week the Paulsboro boys' basketball team didn't exactly get off to the quickest start against Audubon. After one quarter it was Audubon 2, Paulsboro 1.

That sort of matches the season for the Red Raiders, one that started slow but is picking up some serious steam. The Red Raiders would win that game, 54-35, and after Thursday's victory over Haddon Township, they have won eight in a row.

Despite losing four starters to graduation, including three 1,000-point scorers from last season's state Group 1 championship team, the green Red Raiders look to be among a long list of contenders in South Jersey Group 1.

"In Group 1, there are five or six teams that can get it done," Paulsboro coach Sean Collins said. "It is much more balanced than in the past."

In the recent past, Paulsboro has worn the bull's-eye, and for good reason. The Red Raiders have won three of the previous four South Jersey Group 1 titles, in addition to earning last year's state championship.

Paulsboro is 11-3 heading into Saturday's game with Eastern at Rancocas Valley. The Red Raiders still have a month for fine-tuning before beginning defense of their sectional and state titles.

This season is unlike last year, when anything other than a Paulsboro championship would have been considered a major surprise.

Still, the Red Raiders have regrouped and if anybody has noticed, they figure to be a tough out this year in Group 1.

"I think in a month from now we will be pretty hard to beat," said 6-foot-3 senior Tyrique King. "We are hard to beat now."

King was a key reserve player on last year's team, a double-figure scorer who brought a major spark off the bench. This season he has been the main offensive man, averaging 23.2 points.

"He is a flat-out scorer," Collins said.

On many teams last year he could have probably been the leading scorer, but King filled an important role and now he's thriving in his new one as go-to scorer.

This isn't surprising to Collins. Two years ago in summer league action, Collins says that King scored 42 and 39 points in successive games. That was done with a number of the starters missing.

So he showed that type of explosion, and it has happened frequently this year, where he has scored 26 or more points seven times.

Not bad for a football player.

King was an Inquirer second-team all-South Jersey defensive lineman, who had 141 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and six sacks. He is headed to Valley Forge Military College to play football.

Then again, all five Paulsboro basketball starters were football players - 6-6 senior John Pellegrini, sophomore point guard Dehron Holloway, 6-2 junior Cherron Quarles and 6-1 junior Kyle Jones.

Yet this team isn't just a bunch of football players, filling their offseason time with hoops. They are a cohesive unit, one that is still striving for more offensive consistency.

"I told people we would be better at the end of the year and we are starting to show that improvement," Collins said.

One thing Collins wasn't going to do this season with a team of football players was punt. The word rebuilding never crossed his mind.

While Paulsboro doesn't have the same unbeatable aura of last year, the Red Raiders recent success ensures opponents will have no trouble being extra motivated when facing the Red Raiders.

"We are Paulsboro," King said. "Everybody wants a piece of Paulsboro."

Getting that piece won't be easy, as this slow-starting group is beginning to move into overdrive.

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard