Rebel Uprising: Parker, Howell Storm to 4-1 Start, Buc Classic Final
LITTLE SILVER – Howell senior Cayden Parker began his boys basketball season with a streak so impressive, his head coach did not even want him to extend it that much longer.
In each of the Rebels’ first four games of the season, Parker set a new career high for points in a game, culminating with a 33-point performance Saturday in a Howell win over Old Bridge in the Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classic quarterfinals.
Parker’s streak indeed ended Monday in the semifinals of the tournament, but the senior’s game-to-game focus was never to keep scoring more points, but to keep leading Howell toward a standing its boys basketball program has not experienced. On the latter pursuit, Parker and his team are still on track.
Parker posted 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists Monday and combined with his junior brother, Jayson Parker, and junior Eddie Garcia to lead a game-changing third-quarter run that carried Howell to a 63-59 win over an East Brunswick team that entered with a 6-0 record.
“We’re all moving the same way: we all just want to get a win,” Cayden Parker said. “We don’t care about who scores the most points, how many points each of us are putting up. Hitting a three is the same thing as getting a stop on defense — that’s the mentality we look at.”
“I like the fact that he is not chasing career highs every game,” Howell coach Dave Emery said. “He understands that at some point, we have to share the basketball. We have five guys who can score in double figures, and I think he is willing to let the numbers go down a little bit to get wins on the board.”
Cayden Parker with buckets on back-to-back trips and Howell leads Old Bridge 69-57 with 2:30 to go. pic.twitter.com/YkaqG5kjvz
— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) December 28, 2025
Howell is the second seed in the Buc Classic, off to a 4-1 start on the season and will play the only team that has beaten the Rebels this season in the tournament championship game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Red Bank Regional: fourth-seeded Marlboro. The Mustangs beat Red Bank 53-51 in the other semifinal.
Parker scored 15 of his 19 points Monday in the second half, including nine during a 23-3 Howell run that turned a 25-21 deficit into a 44-28 lead in a span of less than seven minutes during the third quarter. Jayson Parker also scored nine points during the run, and Garcia threw in five to account for all 23 of the points between the trio. Jayson Parker finished with 16 points to go with three assists, and Garcia put up 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.
“We hit one shot, we get electric,” Parker said. “We hit another shot, we get more fired up. That’s all it is.”
Garcia’s performance was a bounceback effort after he scored only four points in a 79-70 win over Old Bridge on Saturday. A first-year starter, Garcia opened his season with 11 points and eight assists in a win over Middletown North, then put up 19 in the loss to Marlboro before failing to clear five points in either of the last two games.
Junior center Noah Musto added nine points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots to help Howell counter East Brunswick’s size, led by 6-foot-6 junior Corey Thomas.
“The only thing we could have done is it’s got to be a five-man box-out,” Parker said of Howell’s effort on the boards. “Keep everyone together, keep our composure and get stops on defense.”
Howell’s lead on Monday grew to 55-36 in the fourth quarter before East Brunswick fought its way back to within 57-52 with 2:05 to go with a 16-2 run. Howell did not let the Bears get closer until a three-pointer by Matt Mikulka made it 61-57 with 22.3 seconds left. Howell nearly turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, but Garcia ran the ball down, threw up a shot off the rim, grabbed his own rebound and flipped a pass to senior Chris Kahwaty for the layup. Mikulka scored again on the other end and Jayson Parker missed a pair of free throws, but time ran out on East Brunswick’s comeback effort.
An uninspired fourth quarter was Howell’s undoing in a 54-50 loss to Marlboro on Dec. 18, in which Marlboro outscored Howell, 17-6, in the final period to steal the win.
“We have some kids who haven’t been in this moment yet,” Emery said. “That hurt us against Marlboro. Some of these guys like Eddie Garcia, Chris Kahwaty have not been in the spotlight before, and it’s different. I think this is only going to benefit us for later on.”
By holding on to beat a 6-0 team on Monday, the Rebels have already shown improvement.
At the individual level, Parker’s improvement has stood out, even as players like his brother and Garcia exhibit the strides they have made over the last 10 months. Howell is still moving toward a full roster as Freehold Township senior transfer J.C. Farley awaits becoming eligible and senior guard Mark Fagan gets closer to full health after rehabbing a torn ACL. In the meantime, amid the many improvements on the roster, Cayden Parker has been the standout with averages of 24.2 points, six rebounds and three assists per game through Howell’s first five games.
“I feel like this year it’s my responsibility to go put the ball in the basket,” Parker said. “Other years, we have had guys like (David Orloff) and Pete (Barkauskas), but it’s my turn this year to really show them how to score.”
“Everybody sees the points, and obviously he has been great scoring the ball, but he is also guarding the other team’s best player,” Emery said. “He’s handling the ball, he is not turning it over, he is doing so many of the little things. We think we have a lot of good kids, but we’re 4-1 right now because of Cayden Parker.”
