"He will help us," Little said.
This has been an interesting season for the Lions. In late December, three players who began the school year at Winslow Township but moved into Lindenwold's district became eligible. They are guard Tommie Adams, forward Tyler Pedro, and 6-2 senior Austin Walker, who has become a prolific scorer.
Walker has had some big games: 34 points against Audubon, 29 against Woodbury. Against Collingswood, he had 13 points.
"I think he ran out of gas early," Little said. "I guess we will have to do more running."
Walker sees plenty of room for improvement.
"We're a work in progress," Walker said.
Actually, the same could be said for Collingswood. A program that has appeared in the South Jersey Group 2 final in five of the previous eight seasons, the Panthers are experiencing a rare rebuilding year.
Collingswood is now 1-13.
"They don't look like a 1-13 team to me," Little said.
No, they don't.
Senior Malik Clark, a transfer from Camden, has given the Panthers a recent boost, and he scored 22 points against Lindenwold.
Yet even with Clark gone after the season, the future appears extremely bright. Three freshmen - Jordan Wallace, Tyree Mann-Barnes, and Ibrahim Kargbo - are seeing serious minutes.
And Collingswood, despite winning or sharing four consecutive Colonial Conference titles, isn't hanging its collective head.
The Panthers were right in this one until the end. Clark hit a three-pointer to cut the Lindenwold lead to 57-56 with 38.1 seconds. Lindenwold's Denzel Tuberville then scored on a follow with 14 seconds left to increase the margin to 59-56.
Collingswood missed a trey, but the Panthers' Samir Inge scored on a follow with 1.9 seconds left to end the scoring.
"What I liked about our team is that we have continued to play hard despite our record," Collingswood coach Joe McLoughlin said. "We are playing with a lot of heart."
