Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey SSN Player of the Week

Paul Eckleberry, Keansburg

Keansburg is off to a 3-3 start to its season, but considering who those three losses came against – Mater Dei, Ranney and St. Rose – the Titans are probably feeling even better about their start than the record would indicate. Last year, Keansburg won just two games all season and this year, the Titans managed to match that before the calendar even turned to 2017.

Two of those wins came at Henry Hudson’s holiday tournament on Dec. 27 and 28 against South River and South Amboy. Among the key contributors in the two wins was junior Paul Eckleberry, a first-year varsity player whose immediate impact has helped Keansburg lay a foundation for a vastly better season than the one the Titans endured last year.

During Keansburg’s run to the tournament championship, Eckleberry scored 18 points in an 81-76 overtime win over South River in round one and posted a team-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and three assists in a 46-40 championship victory over South Amboy. Eckleberry was named tournament MVP.

Eckleberry won the Player of the Week voting with a comfortable majority of the vote, collecting 59.6 percent of the vote total. Freehold Township’s Steve Staklinski finished second at just above 30 percent of the more than 7,500 votes.

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