OCEAN CITY — The 2024-25 girls high school basketball season tipped-off last week with a battle between two up-and-coming teams in Lower Cape May Regional and Ocean City high schools.
Ocean City’s Red Raiders jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they took down the Caper Tigers 44-17 on Dec. 17 in the season opener.
Raider Naomi Nnewihe led all scorers with 10 points, followed by standout sophomore Brooke Robinson, who led the Tigers with 9 points.
Two three-pointers by Kaia Chew gave Ocean City a confident start in the first quarter, helping to ease the rest of the Raiders into the game. With the lead, Allie Hudson’s job as the offensive facilitator became easier as she led a clean passing game. Ocean City moved the ball among all five players, looking for open lanes.
As the only active senior on the roster, Nnewihe led by example and was aggressive with the ball in her hands. She drew two fouls in the second quarter after attacking the basket and made all four of her free throws.
“We have a lot of work to do but we played hard,” Ocean City head coach Trish Henry said. “We played as a unit and were very unselfish. Defense needs some work because we did some serious reaching today, but overall the effort was really solid.”
All nine Raiders scored in the game with young players such as Casey Adamson providing two more three-pointers for Ocean City. Marley Ostrander started every game for the Raiders last season as a freshman and made three buckets from the field in her first action of the year.
The season opener featured a lot of new players for both sides who do not have much varsity experience. Early in the game, the Caper Tigers were hasty on offense and rushed through a couple of passes, leading to turnovers.
“We have some girls who are playing varsity for the first time, so you could tell they were a little nervous today,” Lower Cape May head coach Scott Douglass said. “You make the mistakes in the first half and don’t capitalize on the easy baskets, then the game gets away from you.”
The Caper Tigers came out of the halftime locker room with renewed energy. Robinson and Alex Vogt got to work and put together Lower’s best quarter of the game.
Vogt became more active under the net and hauled in offensive rebounds for extra chances to score. The senior also scored twice off her own rebounds for 4 points and looks to be one of the team’s main offensive threats after scoring 165 points a season ago.
Defensively, the Caper Tigers forced the Raiders into some contested shots in the second half while Robinson turned her defense into offense. She intercepted an awry pass and sprinted down the court, then drew a foul on her layup for a three-point play.
Robinson is coming off a strong first year at Lower Cape May where she eclipsed 200 points and started nearly every game as a freshman.
“At halftime we preached to them to just have some confidence and settle down, and I believe they showed it there,” Douglass said. “A couple minutes of each quarter they played well but we have a lot of work to do to get better.”
The next two games for both teams will be held at the Wildwoods Convention Center during the annual Boardwalk Basketball Classic.
Lower Cape May gets the showcase started Dec. 23 as the Caper Tigers will face off against Glassboro High School. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Their final game of the showcase is at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 28 against Barnegat High School.
Ocean City’s first opponent in the event will also be Glassboro, at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 26. The Raiders will wake up early for their second game as they will play Newark Academy down in the Wildwoods on Dec. 30. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m. on the final day of the tournament.
Ocean City 42
Hammonton 37
The girls picked up their second straight victory Dec. 19 with a 42-37 win over the Hammonton Blue Devils.
Ostrander and Nnewihe led the Raiders with 11 points each and Hudson contributed 10. Henry had 5 points, Adamson 3 and Scarlett Fletcher 2.
Adamson, Henry and Hudson each had a three-pointer.
On Sunday night, the Raider girls fell to Holy Spirit 50-31. They are 2-1 on the new season.
The Caper Tigers rebounded with a 37-33 win over Cedar Creek, before falling 57-52 to Bridgeton.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
