Nottingham’s Joseph earns Player of Year; Ewing’s Dearden is Coach of the Year
At one point during the season, when the standout performances had become so routine, Nottingham head coach Chris Raba referred to his star junior simply by saying, “Cliff is Cliff.”
By that, Raba did not mean that Cliff Joseph was by any means ordinary or mundane on the basketball court. Rather, the 6-foot-2 combo guard was so consistently effective that his value to the Northstars went without saying.
Joseph, the catalyst of the best season in Nottingham boys basketball history, is The Trentonian’s Colonial Valley Conference Player of the Year.
As the Northstars surged toward a school-record 23 wins and their first-ever sectional final, Joseph emerged as an elite twoway player. Despite struggling with foul trouble in the postseason, he still ended the year with 19.2 points per game, good for second in the CVC, along with 1.2 triples per game.
Joseph did it all for Nottingham, proving lethal on all areas of the floor with crisp touch both around the rim and from beyond the arc. He dazzled with dunks. He regularly found open teammates for assists. He rebounded in traffic and brilliantly attacked in the open floor.
And, perhaps most important, Joseph conserved enough energy to also play tough defense by using his length to block and alter shots in the lane, swat passes on the perimeter and help the Northstars get out in transition as much as possible.
The distinction of best team in the CVC, though, belonged to Ewing.
Led by The Trentonian’s Cliff Joseph lifted Nottingham to a school-record 23wins and its first appearance in a sectional final as the CVC Player of the Year.
Coach of the Year in Shelly Dearden, the Blue Devils (26-7) were the only Mercer County team to win an NJSIAA sectional title by beating Nottingham in the Central Jersey Group III championship.
Ewing then defeated Winslow in the state semifinals and came within one quarter of knocking off North Jersey champion Teaneck in the state final at Rutgers, a win that would’ve advanced the Blue Devils to the Tournament of Champions, New Jersey’s final six teams. No other local team besides Nottingham even qualified for a sectional final.
Most impressive was the fact that Ewing did so despite not rostering any Division I talent nor very much outside shooting. Without a dominant scorer, the Blue Devils won with hard-nosed defense
and methodical offense thanks to a cohesive starting five.
Dearden coached one of the state’s top defensive units highlighted by a fullcourt diamond press that caused fits for teams all year. In the state playoffs, Ewing limited opponents to 51.5 points per game.
Dearden and her staff also helped Ewing improve dramatically on free throws throughout the season, and after a 3-4 start, the Blue Devils won 23 of their final 26 games. That included 21 straight victories against CVC opponents — two against reigning Mercer County Tournament champion Notre Dame.
Here is a look at some of the CVC’s best this winter: LAWRENCE JOSEPH
EWING The 6-foot-3 senior forward was arguably Mercer County’s best defensive
player. Despite being undersized for his position, Joseph effectively matched up with the opposing team’s top big man in every game. He averaged 1.8 blocks for the season and blocked 22 shots in six state games, including six in the sectional final against Nottingham. Joseph also corralled 6.5 rebounds per game. He was Ewing’s defensive anchor by controlling the paint while providing strong help defense. JON AZOROH
EWING At 6-foot-4, the versatile forward was the Blue Devils’ leading scorer with 17.2 points per game. Azoroh rose to the occasion on big stages, notching 29 points and eight rebounds in the sectional final against Nottingham. The senior then went for 18 and eight in the Group 3 final versus
The 6-foot-5 swingman bound for Saint Peter’s University ends his high school career with 1,496 points after averaging 15.6 for the Irish this season. Dixon, one of Mercer County’s most intense on-ball defenders, also averaged 2.6 steals per game. This marks Dixon’s third consecutive selection to The Trentonian’s All-CVC First Team. ISAIAH WONG NOTRE DAME The 6-foot-2 combo guard surged into the Irish’s starting lineup as a sophomore by averaging 16.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Wong already holds four Division I scholarship offers and possesses one of the best midrange games in the area with still two more years to develop in high school. ZAHRION BLUE
PRINCETON The 6-foot-3 senior guard kept the Little Tigers afloat in the CVC’s Colonial Division by averaging a league-best 22.3 points per game. Blue, who consistently proved he can score from virtually anywhere on the floor, went for more than 30 points three times and scored a ridiculous 43 points against Hillsborough on Feb. 23. He ends his high school career with 1,261 points. MYLES MITCHELL-WHITE
LAWRENCE The 5-foot-10 senior guard capped arguably the greatest career in Cardinals history when he broke the school’s scoring record in the Central Jersey Group III first round. Mitchell-White, a rare four-year starter, would go on to finish with 1,607 career points. He was also one of Mercer County’s best passers with 5.6 assists per game and routinely flashed one of the smoothest handles in the area. Forward Lawrence Joseph Ewing Sr. Forward Jon Azoroh Ewing Sr. G/F Cliff Joseph Nottingham Jr. G/F Manny Dixon NotreDame Sr. Guard Isaiah Wong NotreDame So. Guard Zahrion Blue Princeton Sr. Guard Myles Mitchell-White Lwrence Sr. Center Peter Sorber NotreDame So. Forward Lucas Olshevski Robbnsvlle Sr. Forward Darell Johnson Nottingham Jr. G/F Ji’Ayir Brown Trenton Jr. G/F Cartier Bowman NotreDame Jr. Guard Edamiyon Doggett Ewing Sr. Guard Shemar Robinson Lawrence So. Guard Kar’ron Johnson Ewing Sr. Nahshon Taylor (Allentown); Ryan Conde, Justin Reed (Ewing); Carsimir Paul, Mark Bethea (Hamilton); Jamal Anderson, Jaquan Owens (Hightstown); Zaire Rogers, Davon Hemingway (Lawrence); Travis Cumber, Joe Baldachino, Julian McGowan (Notre Dame); Richie Jones, Christian Ford, Darry Felix (Nottingham); Sam Serxner, Isaac Webb (Princeton); Carnie Bragg (Robbinsville); Mario Mazur (Steinert); Angel Rivera, Javade Pearson, Jaqae Alfred (Trenton); Saubhagya Balyan, Tristan Dunn (WW-P North); Jonathan Kline (WW-P South).