LINWOOD – The Mainland Mustangs and Ocean City Red Raiders girls basketball teams tipped off their season Thursday, Dec. 15, with the hosting Mustangs grabbing control early and not letting up to win 51-35.
“I thought we were a little sloppy on offense,” Mainland head coach Scott Betson said. “We turned it over a little more than I would like, just took some rushed shots when we didn’t need to. But we hit a lot of big shots and I thought we defended pretty well all night.”
“A big rival for so many years now, it feels amazing and it’s definitely a confidence-booster,” Mustang Ava Mazur said. “Going into the season, preseason rankings and all that, it’s kind of a surprise in some of the articles. We just have to go and prove everyone wrong. Coming into this game the nerves get to you a little bit at the start, but we love to come out with a win.”
The Mustangs quickly jumped on the Raiders by bombing away from beyond the arc.
Ava Sheeran and Mazur knocked down three-pointers in the early going to build the lead.
“They’ve got so many weapons,” Raiders head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “They have three guards who are really good and a good post player. They’re solid, they’re well-coached and we just have to understand the importance of the little things. If we’re going to try to beat some of the better teams we have to do the little things better.”
Mainland closed the first quarter with a 13-1 run.
Mazur knocked down two more from long distance in the second to match the Raiders’ scoring output by herself as the lead grew to double digits by halftime.
Along with their shooting, the Mustangs’ defense was excellent as they forced turnover after turnover all game long.
“More turnovers means more possessions, more chances to score,” Betson said. “I just thought we were a little slow in our rotations on the help side, things like that. On a couple occasions we got mixed up and gave up wide-open layups, but all in all we’re pretty comfortable with it; holding teams in the 30s is a pretty good night.”
“We always say, and Betson always says, our defense turns into offense,” Mazur said. “We love to pressure the ball and love to get steals.”
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Gaitley said. “Mainland is a really good team, really well-coached. We’re trying different kids by committee at point guard and they play with a lot of pressure. They’re a championship team and we’re trying a lot of new things. And it’s hard when you open up with a team as good as Mainland, one of the top teams. Our kids fought back, I saw some good things we can build on, but we have to cut back on the turnovers.”
Some of those were the result of the Red Raiders getting out of structure.
“They just got frustrated,” Gaitley said. “Instead of going to what we know, like dribbling through, they just got frustrated by the pressure and lost a little bit of focus. You learn; every game you want to get a little better with that.”
The Mustangs, meanwhile, weren’t perfect but shooting covers up a lot of miscues.
“We talked about that at halftime,” Betson said. “We were getting away with some things because we were hitting shots in the first half. I really liked the way we played in the second half; we were getting to the basket more, made them extend, and then we extended the lead more from there. Overall, I was happy.”
After pulling ahead from long range, Mainland looked to drive more as the game wore on.
“Hitting those big shots early is helpful,” Betson said, “especially as fatigue sets in in the second half and at times those shots won’t be there. We just wanted to see them get to the rim more and I thought we did. We got to the foul line more in the second half so that was good.”
“Shooting is my best ability,” Mazur said. “I love shooting them, sitting in the corner, and I want to be able to do that without my sister (Bella) or Kasey (Bretones) giving me assists.”
The Mustangs looked locked in together, especially for a season opener.
“Communication was key for this game,” Mazur said. “We knew switching was going to be our defense in this game. We’re all kind of the same height so we knew switching was going to be the key for us winning. You can’t switch without communicating.”
“We have some new people in new spots,” Betson said. “We returned some experience but we’ve got some new faces and they have some learning to do. We’re just feeling out roles, rotations, things like that. But that will come; this is just game one and it’s a long season. The whole point is to invest in the end of the year, so we just hope to work out the kinks and be running like a machine come the end of the year.”
Mazur and twin sister Bella will be key pieces for this year’s Mainland squad, to say the least.
“Just another year of experience,” Betson said. “They’re super aggressive, they’re physical. We just need them, at times, to just understand situations a little more. It will come with time. We had Cam Dirkes as our floor general for four years and now someone else has to fill that role and that someone will have to learn a little bit.”
The standard is set high for this program with their run of success under Betson.
“We practice like we play in a game,” Mazur said. “We take practices very seriously. We have consequences when we turn over the ball, or miss our foul shots. I think the tough practices really help when we have these big games.”
Ava Mazur finished with 17 points; Sheehan and Bella Mazur had 8 each and Bretones, Jane Meade and Sydney Stokes had 6 each.
Ocean City, meanwhile, looks to build the program back up under Gaitley, a former standout Red Raider player herself and longtime successful college coach.
The Raiders played hard to the final whistle and even cut into the lead in the late minutes.
“I’m proud of them, it’s a great group of kids,” Gaitley said. “We just need to understand the importance of listening and details, like taking care of the ball.”
There was plenty to take away from playing a sectional champ so early on.
“I think we’re learning,” Gaitley said. “We had two wins in our scrimmages without our starters who were out. Now we’re trying to put the pieces together, and we start against a team like that. I told them we’ll find out who we are when we face EHT (Egg Harbor Township). They’re a very good team and we’ll see how we respond. That will tell a lot about our team.”
The coach is enjoying the process.
“It’s been great,” Gaitley said. “The community is great, the kids are great. So I’m enjoying it and hoping they’ll continue to grow.”
Wildwood Catholic 38,
Ocean City 31
On Monday night, the Red Raiders lost in overtime to Wildwood Catholic. Avery Jackson and Maddy Monteleone led Ocean City with 13 and 10 points, respectively, and Tori Vliet added 8.
The Raiders dominated the second quarter 9-2, but Wildwood Catholic edged Ocean City in the other three to tie the game at 30-30 in regulation. Catholic controlled overtime, outscoring Ocean City 8-1 to win.
Mainland now 3-0
After beating Ocean City, the Mainland girls improved to 3-0 with a 40-28 win over Atlantic City and a 40-31 win over Absegami.
Ava Mazur had 13 points, Bretones 12, Bella Mazur 9 and Stokes 4 in the win over Atlantic City.
Against Absegami, Ava and Bella Mazur scored 16 and 13, respectivelly, Stokes added 6 and Bretones 5.
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports
