OCEAN CITY – The Mainland Mustang girls basketball team grabbed control early and never looked back in a convincing 56-30 win at Ocean City Sunday, Dec. 19, in the first half of the Jack Boyd Memorial Double Header.
“I like the way we executed on defense,” Mainland head coach Scott Betson said. “We kind of locked them down start to finish, and I really liked how we got up in transition on offense. We got to the basket and we got fouled quite a bit, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
Mainland was aggressive – and successful – attacking the rim from the opening tip, particularly senior Camryn Dirkes.
“That was just about keeping up the intensity,” she said. “That’s one of our strong suits – getting to the basket and putting it in. So we’re just keeping with what we’re good at.”
“We want to be aggressive on offense and defense,” Betson said, “but you can be smart and aggressive.”
“We missed some tough shots early, and it’s important to get out to a good start,” said Ocean City head coach Michael Cappelletti. “I think once they started to hit some shots, they were settled and for whatever reason we were never able to get ourselves settled tonight.”
Kaitlyn Boggs was active on the offensive glass, helping Mainland build its lead as the Mustangs would end the first quarter up 15-5.
“I tell these kids all the time, they’re so quick and athletic, ‘Just get to the basket first,’” Betson said. “You wear teams down.”
“We have to find a way to tighten up and get out to a better start,” Cappelletti said. “We have to get into the game and focus so we can compete for four quarters.”
Ocean City struggled with turnovers, Mainland consistently disrupting their passes.
“We have to keep moving on offense,” Cappelletti said. “We can’t get stagnant.”
Led by Dirkes, the Mustangs dominated the second quarter.
“They have two fantastic leaders in Boggs and Dirkes,” Cappelletti said. “It’s really like having two coaches on the floor.”
In one sequence Dirkes scored on a put-back, grabbed a steal after the in-bound, and laid in another bucket to push the lead to 17 points.
In total Mainland outscored the Raiders 22-5 in the second quarter to take a 37-10 lead into halftime.
The lead would grow as large as 33 in the third quarter before the bench players began filtering in.
“We feel good about our depth, regardless of the score,” Betson said. “We have a number of girls who can play.”
Avery Jackson’s play was a positive takeaway for the Red Raiders; she finished with 11 points.
For Mainland it was a second straight blowout win to start the season, this one on the road against their rival.
“We expected to come out hard,” Dirkes said, “and we just executed really well. So it was really fun.”
Dirkes finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
“It’s unreal,” Dirkes said. “It feels like a dream, especially after last year having little or no fans. We couldn’t ask for anything better, honestly.”
Mainland will look to keep building on what looks like promising team chemistry.
“The chemistry is strong,” Dirkes said. “We’re all from neighboring towns, we all grew up playing together, and we’re all friends so it’s really strong.”
“The kids love each other,” Betson said, “so we’re really enthused that they really enjoy playing together.”
The team is confident, but doesn’t want to put out bulletin board material.
“I don’t want to put anything out there,” Dirkes said, “but I expect big things from our team. We’re really talented and we’re just going to do the best we can this season.”
“I still think we can clean up a few things,” Betson said, “like some fouls early on. We weren’t very clean from the free throw line.”
“All we can do is go back to work,” Cappelletti said.
The 1-1 Raiders hosted Cedar Creek after the Sentinel sports section went to press.
Mainland will look to stay unbeaten when the Mustangs host Neptune Monday, Dec. 27, at 3:15 p.m.
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports