Her big fourth quarter puts Mainland Regional over the top, 45-40
OCEAN CITY – Basketball games between Mainland Regional High School and Ocean City High School often come down to crunch time. The latest chapter in the rivalry featured one Mustang who delivered when her team needed it most.
Reilly Nagle helped the Mainland Mustangs snap a six-game losing streak as she scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Ocean City Red Raiders 45-40 on Saturday, Jan. 18. The sophomore sealed the win for Mainland on the road and finished off a wild second half that saw nine lead changes.
Confirming the reason behind the win, Mustang coach Scott Betson attributed it to “Reilly Nagle in the fourth quarter making a bunch of huge plays. The shot from the top of the key was enormous. She made a couple plays under the basket. She made some free throws late. I was really happy for her.”
Nagle said it was a great game in an exciting atmosphere with plenty of fans.
“My teammates came through and I was knocking down some shots in the end,” she said, adding she didn’t mind the pressure.
“You just have to take a deep breath and block everything out and shoot,” Nagle said. “It was fun. Ocean City and Mainland are rivals. It was a great game. Ocean City played well.”
The two teams traded scores throughout the second half up until Nagle’s takeover in the final three minutes. She tied the game up at 36-36 with a long-range two-pointer but Raider Naomi Nnewihe answered with a jump shot off an offensive rebound.
After two missed free throws by Mainland, Nagle boxed out Raider defenders and came up with the rebound and put-back score for another tie. Great team defense by Jade O’Neil and the rest of the Mustangs left the Raiders without a clean shot and put Mainland in position to take the lead with under a minute left.
The Mustangs continued to ride the hot hand of Nagle and gave her the ball in open space. She found an opening just outside of the paint for a pull-up jump shot that put Mainland ahead 40-38.
With time running out the Raiders intentionally fouled Callie Smith and Nagle and were given a path to victory as they were only down 43-40 with 12 seconds on the clock. Down by three, Ocean City’s final shot of the game that would have sent it to overtime fell short.
Nagle finished the game with 10 points, which all came in the fourth quarter, including a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line to seal the game. Smith led the Mustangs with 12 points and gave Mainland its first lead of the game in the third quarter with back-to-back three pointers.
Ocean City kept Mainland at arm’s length for the entire first half but could never pull away. The biggest lead by either team was a six-point Raider lead after a three-pointer by Gabrielle Henry in the second quarter. The Raiders took a slight 32-30 lead into the fourth quarter but were outscored in the final frame 15-8 by the Mustangs.
Nnewihe led the Raiders with 12 points followed by Scarlett Fletcher, who had 10 points in one of her best games of the season. Fletcher had a hand in the Raiders’ early lead in the first half and now has back-to-back games with double-digit points.
The loss to Mainland capped off an important string of games for the Raiders. Earlier in the week, Ocean City defeated Egg Harbor Township (10-1) on the road in a tight 36-31 game. The Raiders had a six-point lead entering the fourth quarter and held off EHT to pick up their biggest win of the season so far on Jan. 15.
The Raiders’ big win came behind a huge performance by Nnewihe, who had a whopping 19 points. The senior was aggressive all game long as she attacked the rim and reached the free throw line 12 times. Nnewihe made seven of her free throws.
Mainland got back into the win column with the victory over Ocean City and now sit at 5-9 on the year. One newcomer to the roster this year, Brielle Smith, has had a great start. She leads the team with over 200 points followed by fellow sophomore Sammy Funk, who form a potent offensive duo.
The young Mustang roster was off to a solid start to the season but came up a bit short in close games. The Mustangs outscored Holy Spirit High School (10-3) in two of the four quarters but had a lopsided 17-6 third quarter that led to their close 55-50 loss. Funk scored 17 points while Brielle Smith added 15.
“I was happy for the kids to be able to play in a fun atmosphere,” Betson said about heading into Ocean City with big fan bases for both teams there to watch the girls and the boys in a double-header. “That rivalry thing is something more for the kids and they really enjoy it. We’ve just been preaching to them about competing. They’re a young group and have a lot to learn.”
Betson said this season, after winning the state Group III championship in 2024 and graduating the key players from that team, the emphasis is to compete and be in games.
“We hit a stretch there that we weren’t competing, but I felt this past week, even with the losses, we were definitely competing,” Betson said. “This whole year is an investment year for these guys.”
The Mustangs’ next game will be on the road as Mainland looks for the season sweep of Atlantic City High School (4-11) on Jan. 23. Finally, Mainland will get consecutive home games against Cedar Creek (0-12) and Our Lady of Mercy Academy (6-7). The Cedar Creek game will tip-off at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 25. Mainland will host Our Lady of Mercy on Jan. 27.
The 7-6 Raiders have two games this week with the first coming on Jan. 22 on the road versus Hammonton. Ocean City won the first matchup of the year 42-37 with three different players reaching double-digit points. The Raiders will host Millville High School on Jan. 27. Both games are set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
Editor’s note: Staff writer David Nahan contributed to this story.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
