Red Raiders come back from 10-point deficit to tie with 4 minutes left
DEPTFORD – Ewing’s 55-44 victory over Ocean City in the NJSIAA Group III girls state basketball semifinals on Thursday evening hides the fact that the Red Raiders came back from a 10-point deficit to tie the contest with four minutes left.
But the Blue Devils outscored the Red Raiders 14-3 down the stretch, seven of those points on free throws in the closing seconds, ending Ocean City’s season at 23-7. Ewing (29-3) moves on to play for the Group III state title this weekend in Toms River.
“I’m so extremely proud of this group,” Ocean City coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “Ewing is a great team and very well coached. They were the better team tonight but I want to thank this team for such n incredible run this year.”
Ocean City entered the game with a four-game winning streak and victories in eight of their last 10 games, including a convincing victory Tuesday against rival Mainland Regional for the South Jersey title, a team they lost to twice the regular season.
It was a grind for the Red Raiders, who trailed virtually the entire contest and entered the fourth quarter down 39-33. Avery Jackson knocked down a 3-pointer and Madelyn Adamson hit a jumper, giving Ocean City new life, behind 39-38.
But it was Maddy Monteleone’s jumper with 4:10 left to play that knotted the score at 41-41, giving the Red Raiders a shot at advancing. But Ocean City uncharacteristically missed four consecutive free throws around the same time that could have given the Red Raiders the lead.
Ewing, though, made 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.
Making three of those free throws and a critical basket for Ewing was junior Joi Johnson. Johnson’s mother played for Gaitley in college at St. Joseph University. Johnson led all scorers with 20 points.
“I went over to [Johnson’s mother] and said, ‘I hate you. I love you,’” Gaitley said with a laugh. “I told her wait, I thought Joi was a dancer when she was little and didn’t like basketball. Now, she’s outstanding. I’m proud of Joi and I wish Ewing the best in the finals.”
It was a heartbreaking night for Ocean City’s four senior starters who contributed mightily to the Red Raiders’ late-game rally.
“Ewing’s a great team and they’re a talented team,” said Jackson, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, a leading scorer for Ocean City most of the season. “We knew that coming in and each quarter we just keep it close. I’m pretty much at a loss for words. My four years at Ocean City, I would not have wanted to spend it with any other team.”
“My senior year has been absolutely amazing. It was a big one for us with the South Jersey championship. It’s hard to fall short here but this season means to world to me. The team and the coaches mean the world to me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Tori Vliet, who kept Ocean City in the contest early with her 3-point shooting, said to come so close to reaching the state finals will always be a great memory for her during her senior year.
“At the beginning of the season, we weren’t even listed as contenders for anything,” said Vliet, who topped Red Raider scorers with 16 points. “The fact that we were able to prove everyone wrong and make it all the way to win the South Jersey title and play this way in the state semifinals is just great.
“It’s such a great feeling for our team because we were able to accomplish so much and everyone was counting on us. It was just a really good feeling.”
Ocean City trailed virtually the entire game, leading just briefly in the first quarter. Trailing 13-9 at the end of the first period, Ewing went on an 11-4 run midway through the second quarter to build their biggest lead at 26-16 after a turnaround jumper by Johnson.
But right after that, Ewing’s sparkplug point guard Rian Stokes, who scored 16 points, picked up her fourth foul with 2:27 left before halftime.
The Red Raiders held the Blue Devils scoreless the rest of the half and cut into Ewing’s lead with a Monteleone free throw and put-back by McKenna Chisholm, and a driving shot by Adamson, making the score 26-21 at the break.
“At halftime, I told them we are right where we want to be,” Gaitley said. “We just needed to clean up a few things but I felt good about where we were at that point. We didn’t do some things well and we didn’t do a terrific job at the foul line. In a game like this, that really hurts and we know we left some points out on the floor at some important times.
“Overall, I mean just to make it here shows that we have a great group of kids and a great group of parents and they truly left it all out there on the court.”
Going against one of the top Group III players in the state in junior forward Te’yaia Delfossen (17 points, 10 rebounds), the Red Raiders tried to make things difficult in the middle. Delfosse, though, was still able to snatch several offensive rebounds that gave her team second chances.
“I thought we showed a lot of toughness out there,” Gaitley said. “We had some open threes that went in and out for us and Ewing did a great job getting offensives boards that gave them second and third chances.
“They have a really talented group with three [NCAA Division I] players out there. But our kids are fighters and they fought to the end with a chance to win it and that is all I could ever ask for them. I just have to keep saying how proud I am of them.”
The sharp long-range shooting of Vliet kept Ocean City in the contest over the first period with three 3-point shots to provide all of the Red Raiders’ scoring. She finished the game with four 3-pointers.
“I have no clue what was going on today,” Vliet said. “I normally don’t shoot them that far out but it felt good and my team needed to score early. I made the first and it felt good so I kept shooting them.”
Adamson had 8 points and 4 rebounds, Chisholm addd 7 points and 3 rebounds, Monteleone had 4 points and 2 rebounds, Naomi Nnewihe had 3 rebounds and A’yanna Morton had 2.
The Red Raiders will graduate Jackson, Vliet, Monteleone, Morton and Jamie Wilkenson. Chisholm is a junior and Nnewihe and Adamson are sophomores.
– By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
