Eagles hope to continue team’s recent progress
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

EDISON — Edison High School boys basketball head coach Charlie Mohr has doubled his wins in each of his first three seasons as head coach.

His rookie year, the Eagles struggled to a two-win season and followed it up with a five-win season in 2005. Last year, Mohr and company enjoyed a 10-win season, which led Red Division coaches to name Mohr the division’s coach of the year in 2006. The question is, will the trend continue?

“It will be very difficult to get 20 wins,” Mohr said. “We are a very athletic team this year and we should be able to put pressure on people and really get out and defend. The Red Division is very tough. It’s a dog fight every night. We just hope to build off the success of last year.”

The Eagles will get a chance to see how they stack up against such formidable conference foes when the season kicks into full-swing this week. After opening against the county’s pre-season favorite Piscataway Monday, the Eagles will host St. Joseph tonight at 7 p.m. before finishing the week with a road game Dec. 22 at Old Bridge. Last year’s Edison team ended conference play tied for fourth place with Old Bridge.

“We suffered a loss with Sean Ogunnoiki now playing for Middlesex County College,” Mohr said. “He averaged 17 points and eight rebounds a game so we’ll need to find a way to replace his scoring.”

Three returning starters in Zach Manfre, Mike Campbell, and Terry Roland could provide the answer.

“Zach will be the floor general and he knows what I expect of him,” Mohr said. “He really understands the game and he’s a tenacious defender.”

Campbell’s 6-3 frame made him a standout on the gridiron this fall where offers from Division I schools such as Hofstra, Temple and Delaware are turning up in his mailbox.

“He creates match-up problems because he’s so versatile,” Mohr said. “We can play him down low or bring him out to play guard. He’s a solid player no matter where he is on the floor.”

Roland also measures up to 6-3 which should provide the Eagles with nice inside presence.

“Terry loves to play defense and rebound the basketball,” Mohr said. “He knocks down the open shot and he’s all over the floor diving for loose balls. He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the scorebook.”

Junior guard Josh Williams saw some varsity time last season and appears ready to assume a starting role. Like Roland, Williams gives the team energy and toughness.

“He’s a very strong kid,” Mohr said. “He can play solid defense and slash to the basket.”

Classmate Barry Holmes is also expected to crack the starting lineup. Holmes should provide some offense to fill the void left by Ogunnoiki’s departure.

“Barry’s another slasher and he can hit the outside shot,” Mohr said. “He played well on JV last season and I look for immediate contributions from him.”

At 6-2, junior Nathan Otokiti should provide a nice lift from off the bench. A wrist injury cut his season short last year.

Also expected to get plenty of minutes off the bench is 6-3 junior forward Ron Lordi and senior guard Mike Mackus.

“Mackus gives us some depth at the point guard position and Lordi gives us another offensive threat,” Mohr said. “We also have guys like Andy Hernandez, Quenta McDonald, and Shaarod Shuford that can come off the bench and give us some quality minutes. We should be a little deeper than we’ve been in previous years.”

After this week’ schedule, the Eagles will host the annual Gene Haley Holiday Tournament Dec. 27-28. The same lineup is slated for the event Edison won last season. Carteret, JFK, and Montgomery will try to prevent a repeat performance from the Eagles.