The Spotswood's boys basketball team may not look all that intimidating when they take the floor, but don't be fooled.

When it comes to that intrinsic attribute called desire, Spotswood more than compensates for any physical shortcomings. It is with heart that the Chargers have crafted a 17-3 record and the growing belief that they can play with just about anybody in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

The Chargers proved that Feb. 11-12 when they bounced two highly regarded Group IV neighbors, East Brunswick and Monroe, on their own courts. The Bears (14- 8), who the Chargers knocked off, 53-51, came into the game having won nine of their last ten games and have already fortified the seeded fourth in the upcoming Central Jersey Group IV tournament.

The next night, Spotswood traveled to more hostile territory to meet the 17-5 Falcons who have been awarded the third seed in CJ Group IV. In front of a jammed pack crowd, Spotswood overcame a 17-point second quarter deficit and won a convincing 77-63 victory.

If Spotswood's second seed in Central Jersey Group II didn't seem deserving before meeting East Brunswick and Monroe, it's legitimate now. Nobody should take the Chargers lightly, even the traditional powers ranked above them in the GMC Tournament, which opens with first-round games tomorrownight. Since Blue Division leader Bishop Ahr was seeded seventh, Spotswood had to be seeded below the Trojans. Tenth seed is where the Chargers landed.

East Brunswick garnered the sixth seed and Monroe gained fifth. As a result, Spotswood travels to Bishop Ahr in a third-round game tomorrow.

East Brunswick's initial GMC Tourney action is tomorrow night when it hosts the winner of last night's J.P. Stevens-Edison game, while Monroe hosts the winner of the Middlesex-Perth Amboy game, also tomorrow night.

"If we don't get respect off these two wins," said Spotswood's coach, Steve Mate, "I don't know what we can do. The knock on us was that our record didn't reflect the better teams in our conference. I think the way we came back from being down against East Brunswick and Monroe shows what kind of team we can be."

Spotswood can lapse into shooting slumps during a game, which was the case against the Bears and Falcons. In both contests, the Chargers found themselves on the short side of first-half scores, but overcome the deficits.

"I'm not usually vocal," said senior captain, Pat Dwyer, a lanky forward, "but I stepped up and told our guys that this was when we had to dig deep and find that desire within ourselves. This was our time to show what we can do."

When the Chargers are hitting on all cylinders, they can be a deadly force. Starters Dwyer, Tim Liming and Ross Gerhart, all seniors, junior Cody Pace and sophomore Tyler Osofsky, are capable outside shooters to the point opponents can't defend against one particular player. When defenses are made to spread the floor, the Chargers can create ball movement that often leads to open shots.

That makes tomorrow night's visit to Bishop Ahr all the more interesting. It is the Trojans who have inflicted Spotswood with two of their three losses this season, Middlesex being the third.