Gbayor leads Steinert over Princeton
HAMILTON >> It took Malik Gbayor until his junior year to get on a high school basketball court and until his senior year to hit the varsity hardwood.
He sure looks a lot more experienced than that.
Gbayor continued his impressive debut season Friday night, collecting 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists in Steinert’s 71-45 victory over Princeton.
It marks the first time this season Steinert (4-3) has won two straight, and Gbayor played a big role in both victories.
“It’s a shame we got him so late,” coach Kyle Flanagan said. “Before we got him last year he was only a football player and he’s learned so much. He’s a sponge. Everything we work on in practice, he somehow finds a way to transition it right to the game.”
Flanagan felt it started opening night against Allentown.
“We worked our post moves because we knew we had size advantage in that game, and he knew when to drop step, when to kick out,” the coach said. “He’s done a very nice job. He’s probably giving up three inches and 30 pounds, but he’s strong as anything.”
His strength and width help Gbayor occupy space and he fights hard for every ball off the rim. It helps guys like Mario Mazur and Aaron Lal (6 rebounds) to also pound the glass.
“Coach Flan told me to go out and dominate and do what I know best — crashing the boards and going up strong,” said Gbayor, who played JV last year. “I just feel like me in the post, I draw a lot of attention to myself. It gets Mario, Ny(mere Whitaker) and Trevor (Giordano) a lot of shots and then I just worry about scoring after that.”
Although he struggled at the foul line (1-for-8), Gbayor has a nice touch around the rim and shot 6-for10 from the field. And by getting to the line, he got Princeton’s bigs in early foul trouble.
The Spartans took advantage, rolling to a 34-12 halftime lead after limiting the Little Tigers (2-4) to four second-quarter points. Whitaker had 10 at the break to lead the way, and Mazur scored 12 of his 17 in the second half as the Spartans continued to pull away. Ethan Guy led Princeton with 12.
Gbayor felt a three-point loss to Pinelands in the New Egypt holiday tournament final provided impetus for Steinert.
“I would say the Christmas tournament gave us a boost,” he said. “Losing a game that close gave us a push to go out and get a win streak going. This is really helping us right now. We said this is a new year, new team. We had to make a statement. This was a statement tonight.”