OCEAN CITY — The Red Raiders jumped out to a big first-quarter lead against Hammonton in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III playoffs March 1, then held off the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Ocean City won 61-46 with the help of 21 points from Dylan Schlatter. On Thursday, their season ended with a loss to No. 1 seed Moorestown, 61-45.
Red Raiders beat Blue Devils
The Red Raiders (13-14) took a 20-7 lead through aggressive play in the first quarter and kept Hammonton (11-13) off-balance.
The Blue Devils rebounded in the second quarter, holding Ocean City to 7 points while scoring 10 and narrowing the halftime margin to 27-17.
In the second half, the teams were about even, but Ocean City had the edge 17-14 in the third quarter and 17-15 in the fourth to earn the win.
That victory put the Red Raiders on a collision course with No. 1 seed Moorestown on Thursday evening in the quarterfinals.
Moorestown (22-5) beat No. 16 seed Pinelands (8-12) 50-18.
The Red Raiders are the No. 8 seed in the South Jersey sectional. Hammonton was the No. 9 seed.
Only three players scored for the Blue Devils. Kenny Smith had 19 points, John Andoloro had 16 and Jaron Hill contributed 11 for the team’s 46 points.
Ocean City spread out the scoring among seven different players.
Of Schlatter’s 21 points for the Red Raiders, 12 were from the free-throw line. Nearly a third of Ocean City’s scoring was from the free-throw line — 18 of the 61 points.
Sean Sakes and Kori Segich each contributed 12, Colin Randles and Omero Chevere each had 5, Andrew Karayiannis scored 4 and Patrick Grimley had 2.
Moorestown wins
Segich led the Red Raiders against Moorestown with 14 points, but the Quakers outscored Ocean City through all four quarters on their way to a 61-45 victory in the tournament quarterfinals.
Moorestown jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first quarter, but Ocean City fought back and kept the other three quarters much closer.
The were down 17-15 in the second quarter, 15-11 in the third and 13-12 in the fourth.
Grimley added 12 points and Schlatter had 5. Chevere and Karayiannis had 4 each, and Sakers and Conor Muskett had 3 each.
Mustangs top Westampton,
fall to Burlington
The Mainland Regional High School boys, the No. 6 seed, opened the first round with a 51-41 win over No. 11 Westampton Tech, showing no letdown after the team’s upset victory over St. Augustine Prep Feb. 26 in the Cape-Atlantic League Championship game.
Mainland (16-11) headed to No. 3 Burlington Township (19-8) Thursday for a quarterfinal matchup. Burlington beat No. 14 Absegami 59-33 in the opening round.
Cohen Cook, who was named the MVP of the CAL championship game, also had a big game against Burlington Township, scoring 20 points, hauling down 6 rebounds and getting 5 steals, but it wasn’t enough. Burlington Township (20-8) won, 55-49.
Burlington Township got a 15-7 lead after the first quarter, but Mainland fought back and outscored its opponent 16-10 in the second. The third quarter also went to Burlington, 12-9, but the Mustangs kept it close in the fourth with 17 points to Burlington’s 18.
Jamie Tyson also was a force in the game, scoring 17 points, getting 5 rebounds and blocking 2 shots.
Teammate Christian Rodgers had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists; Tim Travagline had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Stephen Ordille had 3 rebounds and Owen Meade and Noah Myers had 1 rebound each.
Young teams
Ocean City and Mainland both had young lineups this year with few returning varsity members. The Mustangs started out slowly this season, losing four of their first six games, including a narrow one to Ocean City (44-39) then got their feet under them and won the next four games.
Two of the teams they lost to in the regular season, Egg Harbor Township, which led the United Conference, and St. Joseph’s of Hammonton, they beat in the CAL tournament. They also beat St. Augustine Prep in the CAL final.
St. Augustine and EHT both finished their seasons with 23-3 records, and led their respective conferences, the National and United.
Ocean City had a streaky season, winning three in a row twice, but losing three in a row twice and losing four in a row at the beginning of February. The rest of February was more of a bright spot as the Red Raider boys won five of their last seven games.
Both the Mustangs, under head coach Dan Williams, and the Red Raiders, led by coach John Bruno, should return a lot of experienced players in the 2022-23 season.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
