Reid Gives Chargers a New Identity

Rich Bolds has been waiting for Dominique Reid.

The first-year Regional High School head boys’ basketball coach first started training Reid when the junior was 13 years old as part of an AAU program. At the time Reid was already 6 foot, 3 inches—as a 13-year-old.

"You could see then he was going to be a special player,” Bolds said.

So when Bolds became the head coach of the Chargers, he instantly had interest in bringing Reid over from Trenton Catholic to be a major part of his basketball program. As per transfer rules, Reid had to sit out the first 30 days of the Chargers’ season, which proved to be an agonizing wait for both player and coach.

Two weeks ago, the wait was finally over.

Reid burst onto the scene in his second game with the team, scoring 28 points and grabbing an eye-popping 25 rebounds, in the Chargers’ 75-62 win over Trenton Catholic.

Reid has now been with the team for five games, seeing starter’s minutes in the last four. Over those four games he has led the team in scoring each game, posting up just under 22 points a game, while also averaging double-digit rebounds.

"He came back home and he has been a sensation,” said Bolds, who called Reid a Division I prospect. “I really think he is one of the best players in South Jersey and think sky is limit.”

One of the things that makes Reid such a special player is his ability to play anywhere on the floor. With his size—now over 6 feet, 8 inches—he is a natural low-post player, but he has the ball handling skills of a point guard and the outside shooting range of an off-guard.

In Timber Creek’s 63-53 win over Seneca, Reid drained two threes over the final minute to held the Chargers turn a deficit into a victory.

“He can play anywhere, from the point to the wing, or as a three or four,” Bolds said. “That’s what makes him such a special player and one of the best around."

Bolds was also quick to point out the Reid is a team-first guy who shares the basketball with his teammates. In his last four games he has averaged more than five assists.

It has taken the rest of the Chargers some time to get used to having the offense run through Reid, though, and the results have led to an uneven 2-3 record.

“The thing is, now we have two post players with Reid and (Dajuan) Drennon,” said Bolds. “Now we have a good high-low set where people double or triple team him and our kids have to play off him. It has been rocky.

"I think (the players) thought he was the kind of guy not give up the basketball, but he’s not that way at all. Now they are just getting get used to that and learning that all he wants to do is win.”

Timber Creek sits at 5-9 with just five days left until the playoff cutoff date. However, if the Chargers can slip into the postseason, Bolds thinks Reid gives them a dimension that could strike fear into one of the top seeds.

“Absolutely, that’s what Im banking on,” Bolds said of making some noise in the playoffs. “Hopefully we make a run and make the playoffs and if we do, I know I wouldn’t want to play us. He just changes the whole outlook of the game because you have to gameplan for him. He’s the kind of kid where the bigger the atmosphere, the bigger the player he becomes.”