The Falcons started the season 4–1 as they aim to end a four-year playoff drought.
It’s been a long time since Burlington Township High School boys basketball has been in a playoff game.
The Falcons have missed the playoffs the last three seasons. Burlington Township’s last playoff game was a 70–54 loss to Hammonton High School on March 4, 2014. Burlington Township’s last playoff win and last winning season was even longer ago, in 2013.
However, this year’s Falcon team is confident it can end its playoff drought and be a surprise contender in Central Jersey Group III this season.
“These kids want to make the playoffs this year and they want to make an impactful run in the Central Group III playoffs,” head coach Ryan Derry said. “We have the talent to do that.”
Burlington Township features a young but talented roster with a core of sophomore and juniors who earned a ton of playing time on the varsity roster last year. Junior Omar Rogers is one of the players who is expected to step up this season.
“I think we can do big things this year and win a lot more games than last year,” Rogers said. “We’re really trying to build a culture here.”
The culture at Burlington Township revolves around family. Many of the players feel some of the program’s lack of success in past seasons was due to poor team chemistry. This season, Derry has preached to his team the concept of being a family.
“The one thing I want to stress is this team is a family, because we spend every day with each other for three and a half months,” Derry said. “If you don’t like each other, it’s going to be a long season.”
One of the players tasked with promoting the family atmosphere is senior captain Jarek Johnson. Johnson is in his second season as a team captain and feels his experience from last year will help him improve as a leader this year.
Johnson also feels the team’s chemistry improved even before the preseason started. He said the team’s unity was apparent during the Falcons’ summer league play.
“In the past, we had some attitudes problems,” Johnson said. “But things have changed.”
Senior Jarrell Ellis said Burlington Township had a much better summer in 2017 than 2016 and it helped the team enter the 2017–18 season with some momentum.
“We have more chemistry, better fundamentals and we’re better in the system,” Ellis said.
Derry described the Falcons as a very athletic squad who will play at a high speed in every game.
“We will be a team that plays with a lot of intensity,” Derry said. “We’ll need to push the tempo. We have a lot of good athletes at this school and we’re going to use them.”
Wins have been tough to come by for the Falcons in recent years. The team won just six games in 2014–15 and seven games each in 2015–16 and 2016–17.
However, this year’s team is leaving the past behind. Many of the players are convinced they will not only make the playoffs this year, but they will also make some noise once they get there.
“We definitely want to see us make the playoffs,” Johnson said. “One of my goals is a sectional championship. That’s what I’m striving for.”
“We feel like we can actually win it all,” Rogers added. “We feel like we can go deep into the playoffs.”
The Falcons have been one of South Jersey’s most improved teams in the first few weeks of the season. After an opening night loss to Burlington Township, the Falcons won four consecutive games to end the month of December.
