Mustangs, Raiders combine for 49 foul shots
OCEAN CITY — Free throws and a quick whistle dominated the game between the Mainland Mustangs and Ocean City Red Raiders on Jan. 28.
Following an ugly 55-42 win on the road, Mainland Regional High School’s girls basketball team remains undefeated with a perfect 18-0 record this season.
The Mustangs had four girls score double-digits, while Madelyn Adamson led the Raiders with 15 points.
The storied rivalry between Mainland and Ocean City took a backseat as both teams fought through tough officiating.
Mainland attempted 27 free throws in the game while Ocean City added on another 22 attempts.
Two players from each team eventually fouled out, and multiple players ended the game with three or four fouls of their own. The game was stopped multiple times to give coaches a chance to figure out how many personal fouls were on each of their players.
“It’s a shame. I feel like neither team really got a chance to play a game today,” Mainland head coach Scott Betson said. “It is honestly the worst-officiated game of basketball I have ever been a part of.”
Even after improving to 18-0 and beating their heated rival, Betson and the Mustangs were not overly excited.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Betson said. “The rivalry is supposed to be a fun thing and instead it became a misery to watch.”
Mainland will quickly move on as the girls have only a few more games in the regular season. On Feb 1, Mainland will host Atlantic City High School at 5:30 p.m.
Then they will tip off early against St. John Vianney High School at 11:30 a.m. Feb 3. The regular season finale will be a road game against Absegami High School on Feb 5.
The Cape-Atlantic League Tournament is scheduled to begin Feb 7.
At 4-12 on the season, Ocean City can still make a run in the CAL Tournament if it can string together a couple of wins to close the regular season.
First, the Raiders will travel to Cherokee High School on Feb 1. Then on Feb. 3 in the War vs. the Shore basketball event at Mainland, the Raiders will play Red Bank Regional High School at 3 p.m. A play-in game for the CAL Tournament could be held Feb. 5 for the Raiders
The much-anticipated game between the rival Mustangs and Raiders started peacefully. No points were scored in the first two minutes of the game as they traded missed shots.
Eventually Mainland found an early 12-3 lead thanks to senior Kasey Bretones. The first points of the game were scored off a Bella Mazur layup thanks to a quarterback-like pass from Bretones down the court to an open Mazur under the basket.
Ocean City responded and cut the lead to five late in the first quarter once Adamson converted a four-point play after being fouled on a three-pointer. With only 1:30 left in the first quarter, both teams were in the bonus. In each quarter of the game, both teams were in the bonus at one point with at least five fouls each.
A key to Mainland’s victory was its offensive rebounding. The older and taller Mustang team, with four seniors starting, got second-shot opportunities and had scored multiple times immediately after a missed free throw.
The second quarter featured a rotating door of Mustangs and Raiders. Some key players on both sides picked up their third foul of the game early in the second quarter and had to sit.
At least nine different players logged some minutes for each team as they tried to get into a rhythm.
Ocean City had good ball movement but struggled to finish at the basket.
Raider Gabby Henry had a couple of good passes and converted a steal into an easy layup to cut their deficit to 10.
Before halftime, Betson started using an unusual strategy to keep his starters out of foul trouble. Due to the number of free throws, he would sub four of the five players on the court out and put in a more defensive-oriented lineup. Then, on the eventual free throw for the Raiders, he would sub the starters back in to play offense.
Mainland went into halftime up 27-17.
After the break, the game calmed down and the first four minutes went by with only two fouls. Sydney Stokes and Bretones helped reinforce the Mustangs’ lead by snatching three offensive rebounds that led to points in the third quarter.
Defensively, Mainland was stout and did not give Ocean City many open looks throughout the game.
In the last four minutes of the quarter, both teams picked up four more team fouls each and were sent into the bonus once again. Raider starter Brielle Smith picked up her fourth foul in quarter and sat along with Mustang starter Bella Mazur, who also had four fouls.
The fourth quarter started with the Mustangs holding a 38-24 lead and eventually improved it to 44-27. In the middle of that scoring run, Mainland lost both Mazur and Ava Sheeran as they fouled out early in the quarter.
Ocean City made a last-ditch effort and brought the deficit to single digits. Three different Raiders scored to make it a 45-36 ballgame.
Senior McKenna Chisholm fouled out in the process, but the comeback was eventually cut short by Bretones. She drew two fouls as she attacked the basket to seal the game for Mainland 55-42.
Both sides were subject to the quick whistle, but Mainland took advantage of the situation more efficiently. Bretones scored twice off free throw misses and attacked the basket aggressively to draw more fouls.
For the undefeated Mustangs and defending South Jersey champion Raiders, they will need to clean up their play if they want to advance through the playoffs.
An unfortunate game will be put in the rear-view mirror with both teams looking forward to postseason play come February.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel