By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
LINWOOD – While Gannon Brady may be going to Fordham on a baseball scholarship, he is getting the most out of his senior year of basketball so far, helping Ocean City beat Mainland in the season opener last Tuesday, Jan. 26.
For Mainland, which lost nearly all of its scoring and rebounding from last season, the Mustangs will be a work in progress with a small group of seniors and several promising young players coming to the front.
The Red Raiders opened the coronavirus pandemic-shortened basketball season with a 69-55 road victory over Mainland.
Brady, who needed 11 points to break the 1,000-point barrier Thursday against Lower Cape May Regional, scored 31 in the Mainland contest, 25 of those points coming in the first half where it seemed nearly unstoppable.
“He led the league in scoring last year and he’s going to always be our first option,” Ocean City coach John Bruno said. “He’s gotten a bit stronger, handles the ball well and can shoot from the outside, so he’s really hard to guard.
“What he’s learning to do better this year is sharing the ball with his teammates. He’s been doing a good job as far as distributing the ball. When he kicks the ball out, he’s been pretty good. Now he can drive, shoot it and when people come in he can share it,” Bruno said.
Brady was awfully good going against Mainland, going down into the post where he often out muscled his defender and at times drawing the foul to add a free throw to his effort.
“Gannon Brady, make no mistake, is an exceptional player,” Mainland coach Dan Williams said. “I thought he was the best player in the league last year. John [Bruno] has been doing this for over 30 years now and he’s not going to get any better coach and scouting anywhere else than from John. At times [Tuesday], I thought he was calling our plays before we called them.
“That first game was a good test for us,” Williams said. “It was a tough test for the first night of play. I feel kind of sorry for Ocean City because they do have a team that I think could make a big run in the playoffs this year.”
Bruno said he was pleased with the inside presence of Tommy Finnegan while Joe Repetti and Ben Hoag provided some punch at the guard spots to complement Brady. He also pointed out the contributions of such players as Brendan Schlatter, Will Drain and the addition of Jake Schneider.
“When teams come in to stop Gannon, which a lot will try to do, I think it will be nice to have some of the other guys step up,” Bruno said.
“Jake Schneider was a nice addition to come in. He hadn’t played for years. So he was a nice addition and he’s a very good athlete and a very smart basketball player. He’s going to help us. So we have really good senior leadership from that point of view, in the fact that they’ve been friends for a long time,” Bruno said.
For Mainland, senior guard Marvin Aguilera showed why he may be the Mustangs’ best scoring weapon this season. In his first season as a starter, Aguilera knocked down four 3-point shots on his way to a team-high 14 points against Ocean City.
Another senior guard, Tommy Travagline, scored 11 points along with junior Christian Rodgers.
“In the second half, I thought we had a couple of opportunities and we played well,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to figure it out. In the second half, [Marvin] did a lot of things we hoped he might do.”
Freshman Cohen Cook hit two 3-point shots and at times played like one of the Mustangs more experienced players in contributing away from the basket and on defense.
“He’s still trying to figure things out as to where exactly do I fit in,” Williams said. “He looked like he certainly belonged on a varsity basketball court.”
The challenge for both teams will be the opponent you can see only under a microscope — the coronavirus. In a short six-week season, about a fourth of the season can be wiped out with one test. Bruno said he has stressed to his players to make the most out of each and every game.
“We hear others say you should play every game like it’s a championship game,” Bruno said. “You don’t want to say it, but you know, it could be your last game. So you want to make sure that you put every effort into what you’re doing. And you say that to the seniors all the time you never know what’s going to happen.
“Like our kids playing at Mainland last Tuesday. That’s the last time they will ever go to Mainland to play a basketball game. That’s a big rivalry game for us. You want to leave everything on the floor. I think that’s the approach we have to take every game,” Bruno added.
Mainland, which played Atlantic City on Monday, acknowledged how tough the Cape-Atlantic League schedule is and how hectic the pace will be.
“We’re doing all of this inside a six-week window,” Williams said. “So it’s pretty much practice and game, practice and game.”
Ocean City takes the floor again Wednesday at Middle Township before returning home Friday against perennial power Wildwood Catholic and Atlantic City next Monday. Mainland will play Middle Township on Friday before taking on Wildwood Catholic on Feb. 10. The Mustangs and the Red Raiders will square off again Feb. 12, this time at Ocean City.
Bruno and Williams both acknowledged this is a season in which nothing is written in stone and practices, schedules and even school attendance are literally taken on a day-by-day basis with the uncertainty of the coronavirus.
“There’s no question how truly different this season is,” Bruno said.
