By LESLEY GRAHAM
The Ocean City High School girls basketball team honored its six seniors Tuesday night by posting a dominating 50-25 win over visiting Cedar Creek.
The victory gave the Red Raiders a piece of the title for the National Division in the Cape Atlantic League along with Mainland. The win improved Ocean City to 17-6 (13-1 conference), while Cedar Creek dropped to 7-15 (7-9 conference).
The senior class for the Red Raiders consists of Abbey Fenton, Delaney Lappin, Lauren Mirsky, Emma Finnegan, Katie Mazzitelli and Megan Crawford.
In a post-game interview, Ocean City Head Coach Paul Baruffi spoke about the leadership and growth in his senior class.
“A lot of the seniors have been with me for four years, and they have worked hard, been leaders, and most importantly contributed a lot over the past four years,” Baruffi said.
In a game that saw 10 different Red Raiders in the scorebook, senior Delaney Lappin led the way with seven points.
The first quarter saw the closest point spread of the game as the Raiders and the Pirates traded baskets for the opening eight minutes of play. Ocean City took a two-point lead going into the second quarter, 11-9.
Then the cylinders started firing for Ocean City in the second quarter. The Raiders put up 14 points to Cedar Creek’s two.
The Raiders were able to cycle players through the lineup to keep the ball moving and keep the legs fresh. They increased their full-court pressure defense, creating turnovers and second chance opportunities to find the basket. Ocean City led going into halftime, 25-11.
As the second half got underway, Ocean City continued its dominance, scoring 17 points in the final eight minutes of play, with freshman Ayanna Morton adding six of her own.
Baruffi was proud of the effort his team showed, especially in clinching a part of the divisional title.
“Especially when we started the season 1-5, to win something like that is an accomplishment,” he said. “Winning divisional titles, conference titles, group titles – they are all important and they are all accomplishments. We take pride in all of it.”
The Red Raiders will close out the regular season on Thursday at Williamstown in a nonconference match-up before starting the conference playoffs.
