OCHS suffers first loss of season to Middle Township, runs away from EHT
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City High School boys basketball team continued its hot start to the season with a 57-41 win over the Egg Harbor Township Eagles on Jan. 5 following its first lost of the season two days earlier.
The Red Raiders fell 50-44 to the Middle Township Panthers on Jan. 3 at home.
Middle Township’s Jamir McNeil led all scorers with 16 but Ocean City senior Kori Segich was close behind with 15.
The Panthers jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the first quarter and stretched that to an 18-14 lead at the half.
Ocean City clawed back in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to just two points 32-30, but Middle had an 18-14 fourth quarter to seal the victory, dropping the Raiders to 7-1 on the season.
Against EHT, Segish led the Raiders with 26 points and played a huge role in Ocean City’s dominant rebounding.
The teams played to a 23-23 tie late in the second quarter, which featured six lead changes. Segich found his groove right before halftime with five quick points and the Raiders never looked back.
Four Raiders had six or more rebounds in the game, which was key in stopping the Eagles from getting second shots at the basket.
Egg Harbor Township’s game plan offensively was centered around their sharpshooting guard Jayden Dixon. He scored 21 points off seven three-pointers and kept his team in the game for as long as possible.
Seniors Charlie LaBarre and Dylan Schlatter had nine and eight rebounds respectively by attacking the net after the rare miss by Dixon.
Ocean City moved to 8-1 on the season after the win. They lost their undefeated record in their first game of the new year. The Raiders lost 50-44 to the 9-1 Middle Township Panthers. They were within two points of the Panthers entering the fourth quarter but did not have enough to overcome the equally talented Panthers.
The Raiders will hit the road for their next couple of games. On Jan. 13, they will travel to Holy Spirt to take on the Spartans at noon. Then they will play Wildwood Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 16. Ocean City will be looking to sweep both schools as they have already defeated both at home this season.
EHT gave Ocean City all it could handle in the first half. Dixon started hot with two three-pointers and gave EHT an early 8-5 lead.
Segich matched Dixon step for step and made two three-pointers in response. Patrick Grimley followed with a beautiful spin move for a layup to put the Raiders up 12-10 to finish the first quarter.
The Raiders could have extended their lead in the quarter with two minutes left but they were shut out by the Eagle defense. Even with two offensive rebounds and a steal in transition, the Raiders had to settle for a two-point lead.
Four straight lead changes started the second quarter in a scoring frenzy. Great ball movement by EHT got Dixon wide open multiple times. Ocean City’s defense was a step behind every pass in the quarter.
Luckily their offense made up for it as every Raider starter scored in the period. Schlatter converted a three-point play as he was fouled driving to the basket.
LaBarre snatched every rebound he saw and either scored or assisted on four scores in the period, which brought the game to a 23-23 tie with 2 minutes left in the half.
Segich and the Raiders did not repeat their mistakes of the first quarter and used that time efficiently to extend the lead to 28-23 at the break.
Throughout the game, the Ocean City student section was loud and cheered on every play like they always do. However, EHT had brought along its own student section and the two groups played their own game against each other.
Fouls were met by “You can’t do that” chants by the opposing fans as they competed to see who could cheer harder for their team.
Eventually the Eagles fans were drained out by Raider Nation as the Raiders on the court started to pull away from the Eagles.
Ocean City quickly jumped out to a 41-26 lead. Schlatter made two three-pointers in the stretch thanks to Ben McGonigle’s passing.
EHT’s offense became too reliant on Dixon’s shooting in the second half. He made two more three-pointers but also started missing. The Raider defense challenged him more and forced his shooting. Schlatter ended the quarter with a huge block on Dixon that erupted Raider Nation and effectively ended the mini game between student sections.
McGonigle and Segich had two steals to start the fourth quarter and put the Raiders up 51-35 with 6 minutes left in the game.
The Eagles got desperate down 16 points and only shot three pointers for the remainder of the game. Those shots did not fall the Eagles’ way and the Raiders won 57-41 after LaBarre floated the ball over a defender to complete the scoring.
Thanks to great rebounds by the entire Raider squad, EHT was not given much opportunity to get back into the game. The Raiders limited EHT’s shooters to only one shot per possession. If Dixon or other Eagles were able to get two or three shots a possession, the final score could have been drastically different.
Every Raider played a part in the victory in which they stayed calm after a hectic first half and controlled the second half.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
