West Deptford Boys' Basketball Back in the Playoffs

Two years removed from a 2-24 season, the boys’ basketball team is heading to the playoffs—and in a fashion appropriate for the team's rise, the Eagles didn’t back their way in, but earned an automatic spot with a 50-39 win over Audubon that improved the team’s record to 9-9 in the final game before Saturday's NJSIAA playoff cutoff date.

“It’s a great feeling,” said senior Tom Jakubowski. “As seniors, we knew the last time they were in the playoffs here was our eighth grade year. We knew by the time we were seniors we would be able to compete because of the way we played at the freshman level. We knew it was going to happen eventually, we just worked hard and it paid off for us.”

The improvement became noticeable last season, when Eagles went from two wins to six wins. Then the team jumped out of the gates with two wins to start this season, and was 6-3 nine games in. After weathering a tough stretch in the middle of the season, the Eagles won two of their final three games before tomorrow's cutoff to secure their fate.

“It’s sweet, it really is,” said West Deptford head coach Don Clark. “It’s special for those kids – the Jakubowskis, the (Ryan) Flahertys, the (Tim) Fairs, the (Tim) Krotts, the (Brandon) Flaccos.

"They went through the 2-24 season and they were starters, if not first guy off the bench. Those sophomores were the ones that went through that. They are the ones this is special for, not me, because they are the ones that had to go through the ridicule at school. Now, they are 9-9 and in the playoffs.”

Getting in at .500 made it extra special. Three years ago, the NJSIAA changed formats to allow teams under .500 to reach the playoffs to fill a 16-team bracket. West Deptford could have limped into the postseason with a loss and been one of the final teams in, but Thursday’s win gives them a legitimate chance at making their playoff appearance more than just a cameo.

“We had two wins my freshman year, six wins last year, and now we are at that amount of wins we have wanted to at,” said Jakubowski. “It feels good to know we won’t be getting in as a No. 16 seed. We may be a 10 or 11 and we will be in there playing hard and competing."

Being .500 also meant a lot to Clark.

“Personally, I wanted to say ‘We got in because we were 9-9,’” Clark said. “Don’t give me ‘we were 4-13 and got a 16 seed.’ We got to 9-9 and worked our butts off to get there.”

Thursday’s win didn’t come easy. Audubon had plenty of fight, coming off two-straight wins while fighting for a playoff spot itself. The Eagles led just 21-20 after the first half and 37-32 after three quarters.

The lead was 39-36 with five minutes, 58 seconds left when Tim Fair, saddled with foul trouble all night, scored four straight points to stretch the lead to its biggest all game. Jakubowski added a layup and West Deptford executed on offense to run down the final two minutes and wrap up the win.

Jakubowski finished with a game-high 20 points, while sophomore Justin Hansen had 11.

Even though the win wasn’t as smooth as the Eagles’ 60-28 win over the Green Wave in the second game of the season, it was a win nonetheless.

“It shows how much better we have become talent-wise, and how mature we have become,” Jakubowski said. “We used to get beat bad, and then last year we lost a ton of close games. We learned we had to execute our offense and score and even when it’s sloppy, just play good defense, and that is what we did tonight.”