OCEAN CITY — The Red Raiders jumped out to a big first-quarter lead against Hammonton in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III playoffs Tuesday evening, then held off the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Ocean City won 61-46 with the help of 21 points from Dylan Schlatter.
The Red Raiders (13-13) took a 20-7 lead through aggressive play in the first quarter and kept Hammonton (11-13) off-balance.
The Blue Devils rebounded in the second quarter, holding Ocean City to 7 points while scoring 10 and narrowing the halftime margin to 27-17.
In the second half, the teams were about even, but Ocean City had the edge 17-14 in the third quarter and 17-15 in the fourth to earn the win.
That victory put the Red Raiders on a collision course with No. 1 seed Moorestown on Thursday evening in the quarterfinals.
Moorestown (22-5) beat No. 16 seed Pinelands (8-12) 50-18.
The Red Raiders are the No. 8 seed in the South Jersey sectional. Hammonton was the No. 9 seed.
Only three players scored for the Blue Devils. Kenny Smith had 19 points, John Andoloro had 16 and Jaron Hill contributed 11 for the team’s 46 points.
Ocean City spread out the scoring among seven different players.
Of Schlatter’s 21 points for the Red Raiders, 12 were from the free-throw line. Nearly a third of Ocean City’s scoring was from the free-throw line — 18 of the 61 points.
Sean Sakes and Kori Segich each contributed 12, Colin Randles and Omero Chevere each had 5, Andrew Karayiannis scored 4 and Patrick Grimley had 2.
The game time at Moorestown is 6 p.m.
Mustangs win
The Mainland Regional High School boys, the No. 6 seed, opened the first round with a 51-41 win over No. 11 Westampton Tech, showing no letdown after the team’s upset victory over St. Augustine Prep on Saturday in the Cape-Atlantic League Championship game.
Mainland (16-10) heads to No. 3 Burlington Township (19-8) Thursday for a quarterfinal matchup. Burlington beat No. 14 Absegami 59-33 in the opening round.
Game time is 6:30 p.m.
Story and photos by David Nahan/SENTINEL