Mainland leads by 8 near end; Ocean City storms back
OCEAN CITY – The Red Raiders boys basketball team pulled out an entertaining 44-39 win at home over rival Mainland in the back half of the Jack Boyd Memorial Double Header Sunday night.
“When our teams get together there’s an inherent intensity of the game,” said Red Raiders head coach John Bruno. “It may not be the prettiest game, but I don’t think there’s anybody here who didn’t appreciate the excitement of that game.”
After the teams went step-for-step with each other through three quarters, Mainland built an 8-point lead with three minutes to go before the Red Raiders rallied to steal an early-season win from their rivals.
“It was good because it was close and it was back-and-forth,” said Mainland coach Dan Williams, “but it was a sloppy game. Good was Camden and Roselle Catholic the other night. But it was a tight game, that’s for sure.”
The Red Raiders led 13-11 after the first quarter.
Mainland began pressuring the ball in the second, forcing Ocean City into turnovers.
Ocean City was able to limit the damage enough to head into halftime trailing 22-20.
The teams continued to trade blows throughout the third, neither able to pull away in a game that featured 11 lead changes.
“Almost every time we play it’s like this,” Williams said. “It’s a fun game. I’m kind of glad we have it early because it’s a good test. It gets people excited early in the season after a year like last year. So it was a nice environment and a lot of fun. Unfortunately this feeling is not fun now, but most of the game was.”
While the Red Raiders were forced into 25 turnovers from the Mainland pressure, they made up for it by out-rebounding the Mustangs 34-26.
“They started to make some plays in the second half,” Williams said, “and (playing press) wears you down a little bit. We got away from it. It generated most of our offense. Unfortunately we didn’t really hit anything that didn’t come from it.”
“We started to figure it out by halftime,” said Red Raider Omero Chevere. “We started to break through it. It’s something we have to execute in the future.”
“I think Mainland is at their best when they force the tempo,” Bruno said. “Not to take anything away from them, but we didn’t handle it well because it’s the first time we saw it. So we can learn from that.”
Ocean City also shared the ball well.
“Tonight we played together,” Bruno said. “We had 13 assists on 15 made field goals.”
The Red Raiders led 28-25 at the end of the third quarter.
To start the fourth, Mainland’s Tim Travagline knocked down one of his three three-pointers to tie it up.
A Christian Rodgers put-back inched the Mustangs ahead.
The Mustangs looked to their press defense to close it out and it forced a turnover for an easy hoop to extend the lead.
A Travagline basket stretched the lead to 37-29, the largest by either team all night, with 3:07 to play.
Chevere answered with a jumper to keep the Red Raiders alive.
“We stuck to the game plan, listened to coach Bruno, and kept playing hard,” Chevere said.
After a crucial defensive stop, Chevere knocked down another to pull within four with less than two minutes to go.
However, he fouled out on the next possession and had to watch the rest from the bench, finishing with 13 points.
Mainland had a chance to seal it from the free throw line, but key misses kept the Red Raiders in it.
Down four in the final minute, Dylan Schlatter knocked down a pair at the line.
Turning the tables and using a trap themselves, the Red Raiders forced a turnover and Schlatter tied it up at 37 with a baseline jumper.
“I can’t say enough about Dylan Schlatter,” Bruno said. “For a sophomore he’s very calm. He sees the floor well.”
After an ill-advised Ocean City foul, Travagline converted a pair to put Mainland back ahead.
Red Raider Conor Muskett answered with the biggest bucket of the game, a go-ahead three with 29 seconds left.
“It was crazy,” Chevere said. “He got that one foul that almost killed us, but he came right back and hit that shot. He put the team on his back.”
The Red Raiders got the stop they needed on the next possession and closed it out from the line for a wild win.
“This feels great,” Chevere said. “It’s a good hard win.”
“I’ve got to give our kids a lot of credit,” Bruno said. “We were down 37-29 with 3:07 left. Not only did we come back, but in doing so Mainland didn’t score another field goal. If they score any field goals it’s harder for us to come back. But we were able to get a stop and we hit a couple of big shots.”
After taking part in a tournament in Wildwood over the holiday, the Red Raiders will travel to Absegami at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4.
“Sometimes things don’t go your way,” Bruno said, “but if you play hard, play together, and guard somebody you played the game the way you’re supposed to – win or lose.”
Mainland, also 1-1, will head to Holy Spirit for a 7 p.m. tip-off Tuesday Jan. 4.
“You just keep working and hopefully you have better nights,” Williams said. “Better nights shooting, better nights with the coach maybe making better decisions, and that’s all you can do. It’s a young team. They’ll learn some things, and I’ll learn more about this group and where to put them.”
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports