Kauffman’s double-double keys Nottingham to win over Trenton
TRENTON >> Brandon Raba feels teammate Marc “Trey” Kauffman has no peers when it comes to big men in the Colonial Valley Conference.
Raba is speaking in terms of performance, not height, as Kauffman stands at a modest 5-foot-11.
“Trey’s Dennis Rodman, I actually think he’s the best big in the CVC,” said Raba after Kauffman collected 12 rebounds and a career-high 26 points in Nottingham’s 89-73 victory at Trenton Friday night. “He averages 12 rebounds a game. He might not (usually) score a lot, but he does all the little stuff.
“He’s always defending their best big man, he’s always five inches shorter than the best big man. He’s always locking them up, and you see less than 10 points for other bigs. And today he showed on the scoreboard how good he can be.”
Kauffman was unstoppable underneath as he shot a lusty 12-for-19 by getting mostly open lay-ups. Nottingham (9-4) has won eight of its last nine and done so by spreading the wealth around. Raba finished with 22 points and six boards, Josh Morrison tallied 14 points and Javon Jenkins had 11.
But it was Kauffman who modestly enjoyed a career night.
“It was just backdoor cuts,” he said. “My teammates looking and finding me in the open door. I think they forget about me. I don’t think they think I can score.”
With the way the Northstars move the ball, anyone has the potential to score. Head coach Chris Raba noted that his team had over 20 assists in each of its previous two wins and said “We probably had over 20 again tonight, I’m sure.”
“We’ve gotta play a certain way for us to take advantage of what we can do,” the Baron continued “We’re a small team, we’ve gotta defend and we have to pass the ball.” Kauffman buys into that. “It’s all about passing,” he said. “Everybody gets the ball no matter what. At least two or three people are gonna touch the ball before we score.”
Nottingham’s ball movement was evident from the start as it led the entire 32 minutes, opening leads of 9-2 and 26-6 in the first quarter. Trenton cut it to 28-18 before the Stars responded with a 9-0 run en route to a 46-25 halftime lead.
To the credit of Trenton (38), it’s young players did not mail it in during the second half. Trailing 56-31, Antwan Bridgett (12 points) nailed a 3-pointer that started the Tornadoes on a 19-6 run that got them with 12 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Morrison hit a three near the end of the period, however, to start the Stars on a 15-5 run that provided a 7755 lead and enabled Nottingham
to survive three quick 3-pointers from Jahlil Ross off the bench.
Brandon Raba was encouraged by how the Stars were able to hold off the Tornadoes challenge.
“That just shows how good of a team we can be when we play hard and listen to our coach and pass the ball and play defense,” he said. “We stress playing defense and passing the ball on this team. That’s what we’ve been doing and we’re having a pretty good season right now, I’m happy with it.”
With Nottingham currently sitting in second place in the Central Jersey Group III power points standings, he probably should be happy.
NOTTINGHAM (89)
Raba 10-2-22, Morrison 4-4-14, Kauffman 12-2-26, Jenkins 4-2-11, Collins 3-2-8, Williams 2-0-4, Douragh 2-0-4, McMillan 0-0-0, Bisset 0-0-0. Totals: 37-12-89.
TRENTON (73)
Moore 5-0-11, Bridgett 5-0-12, Taylor 4-0-8, Hutson 3-0-7, Balkcom 5-0-10, Carmichael 4-0-8, Ross 3-0-9, Wardy 2-1-5, Pratt 0-3-3. Totals: 31-4-73 Nottingham (9-4) 26 20 19 24 — 89 Trenton (3-8) 8172523—73 3-point goals: Morrison 2, Jenkins, Moore, Bridgett 2, Hutson, Ross 3.
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