They will play a third time, face each other in the opening round of the sectional tournament
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City High School girls basketball team upset rival Mainland Regional in the Cape-Atlantic League basketball tournament, but fell to No. 2 seed Middle Township in the quarterfinals.
The Red Raiders (13-12) fell to the Mustangs (8-15) 45-40 when the teams met in the regular season but were able to nip their rivals 43-38 in the first round Feb. 12. The teams will meet once again in the opening round of the South Jersey Group III sectional.
Scarlett Fletcher was a force in the rematch Feb. 12, scoring a game-high 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds for Ocean City, the No. 10 seed.
Teammate Naomi Nnewihe had 15 points, five rebounds and four steals in the game during which Mainland led throughout the first three quarters. The Mustangs led 13-11 after the first quarter and 23-17 at the half. Ocean City outscored Mainland 9-7 in the third quarter, but still trailed 30-26.
The Red Raiders had a big finish, outscoring the Mustangs 17-8 in the final stanza, leading to the win.
Although Nnewihe and Fletcher were the only players in double digits for Ocean City, the team got contributions from four others.
Allie Hudson had five points, five rebounds and three steals; Gabby Henry added three points, two rebounds and two steals; Kaia Chew contributed two points, one rebound and one steal; and Marley Ostrander had one point, three rebounds and one steal.
Reilly Nagle led the Mustangs with 10 points, Sammy Funk had nine and Callie Smith three points.
Second seed Middle Township (20-5) knocked Ocean City out of the CAL tournament, jumping out to a 28-11 lead in the first half. Ocean City kept things even in the second half but lost 48-31.
Middle Township faces No. 6 seed Our Lady of Mercy Academy and No. 1 Wildwood Catholic takes on No. 5 Holy Spirit in the semifinals. The CAL finals are noon Saturday at Egg Harbor Township High School.
MRHS, OCHS
in Power Points
The cutoff for records was this weekend to rank teams by Power Points, which are used for the seedings for the upcoming sectional tournaments. Mainland (8-15) and Ocean City (13-12) were seventh and 10th, respectively. That combination means the Red Raider girls will travel to Mainland Feb. 26 for their opening round game.
Cherry Hill West (18-4) is the top seed with Moorestown (17-6) and Absegami (19-7) second and third.
The sectional finals are March 7.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff