WILDWOOD – Despite a barrage of three-pointers by the Wildwood Warriors, Josh Lenko and the Ocean City Red Raiders managed to hold onto their fifth straight win.
Lenko led all scorers with 25 points as he helped Ocean City High School fend off Wildwood High School 59-47 Saturday, Jan. 31. Ocean City jumped all over Wildwood in the first quarter with a 20-5 lead, but the Warriors stuck around with nine treys.
Ocean City led wire-to-wire with early help from Dean Lappin, who made a trio of three-pointers himself. The Raiders’ control on the game never vanished but whenever the team looked ready to fully pull away from Wildwood, the run was stopped by one of two key players.
Warrior duo Trevor Troiano and Nolan Mawhinney each scored 14 and had six three-pointers between them. They forced Lenko and Ocean City to stay locked into the game and wait for their moment to strike.
“We just tried to stay calm and collected and not rush ourselves once they got closer,” Lenko said. “When the second half came around, we just wanted to come out strong and end this back-and-forth game.”
Lenko and the Raiders eventually put their foot on the ground after the Warriors brought the score to 46-41 with just less than four minutes left in regulation.
Ocean City swarmed to the ball and forced four consecutive Warrior turnovers that were converted into easy points on the other end of the court. Lenko scored 12 points in the final quarter and was the beneficiary of some of the turnovers created by Lappin and Luke Tjoumakaris. He was most effective attacking the basket where he got to the foul line eight times along with nine made shots from the floor. He only missed one free throw and set up the rest of the team to close out the Warriors.
Tjoumakaris finished with 13 points for the final tally and along with Lenko, was fed the ball off turnovers for quick layups and drew contact at the rim to give Ocean City a massive free-throw advantage. The Raiders attempted 34 free throws in the game from their constant pressure towards the basket but made only 55 percent of the foul shots.
Tjoumakaris credited the win to Ocean City’s overall uniformity as a team.
“A lot of it is consistency, like how we were having a little bit of trouble from the foul line, but it is great when you can rely on a lot of the same guys, including our bench, who give great minutes.”
Within a short span in the fourth quarter, the Raiders turned a 5-point lead into a 15-point gap that shut the door on any Wildwood comeback attempt.
Ocean City enters the final month of the regular season boasting an impressive 15-3 record, including an active five-game win streak.
Asked about this final stretch of the season coming up with the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament and post season looming, Tjoumakaris said, “This is definitely the hardest part of the season with everyone fighting for better spots in the playoffs and you just have to try to do the best you can with the few remaining games. This is the time where everyone is playing their best basketball.”
The Raiders will be right back in Wildwood on Feb. 4 as they travel to Wildwood Catholic Academy. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Ocean City will get a chance to avenge its first loss of the season the next day on Feb. 5 when Middle Township comes to visit. The Panthers gave the Raiders their first loss back on Jan. 6 in a low scoring, 44-34 affair. The rematch will tip off at 6 p.m. and could prove vital for position in the upcoming CAL Tournament.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
