A different approach

Penns Grove skips halftime meeting to regain its stroke; it worked in second half, but Red Devils come up short

BOARDWALK CLASSIC
Saturday’s Boys Games
Tatnall 63, Pleasantville 50
Triton 54, Paulsboro 50
Brandywine (Del.) 66, St. Paul’s (Md.) 52
Ocean City 54, Shawnee 41
Kingsway 55, Glassboro 47
Lower Cape May 51, Penns Grove 38
Middle Twp. 63, Rancocas Valley 42

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILDWOOD – Damian Ware would have liked to have thought that fourth quarter slump his Penns Grove basketball team went through in its last game against Vineland was just an anomaly, a one-time thing that would disappear the next time the Red Devils took the floor.

Well, it didn’t disappear. It actually carried into the first half of their Boardwalk Classic game Saturday against Lower Cape May.

It took nearly 10 minutes of game clock for the Red Devils to hit their first field goal of the game and they had only three in the first half. The did find the range in the second half after a unique bit of strategy and got as close as three, but they couldn’t come back completely and eventually lost 51-38.

The shooting woes were such a concern that when the horn sounded to end the first half and the Caper Tigers (4-1) sprinted to their locker room, Ware – for the first time in his career – kept his team in the bench area and then rolled out the basketballs to get in some halftime shooting practice. Given the Red Devils would’ve had to walk halfway to the Crest to get to their dressing area, that might not have been such a bad an idea.

“That wasn’t it at all,” Ware said. “I just wanted to get some shots up because we couldn’t score the ball at all and that’s been part of our problem. I wanted them to shoot some extra shots to see the ball go through the net, especially in this gym. It’s a different feel, it’s a different acoustic in here, so I wanted them to get a better rhythm for the shots.

“I’m no genius. I figure you get more shots and get more repetitions, you get better looks at the basket. I didn’t feel we played bad in the first half. We got what we wanted. We just missed the shots and we missed free throws. That’s part of our problem all season. We get what we want on offense, it comes down to executing and finishing and making the shot.”

The slump actually started in the fourth quarter against Vineland at Delsea. The Red Devils rallied to take a lead in the third quarter of that game, then in the fourth quarter they went 1-for-10 from the floor, committed seven turnovers and were outscored 19-2.

They scored only four points in the first quarter against Lower Cape May and they all came from the free throw line, and even that could have been better. Lower’s deliberate style didn’t give the Red Devils many shots to begin with, but the ones they were getting they weren’t making. They were just 0-for-4 in the first quarter and 3-of-15 in the first half. On top of that, they were 4-for-10 from the foul line in the first quarter.

Mr Peterson finally broke the ice with a short jumper in the lane with 6:09 left in the second quarter. Giomar Conrad hit a 3-pointer a minute later and Carmen Thompson scored with 35 seconds left in the half.

While the Red Devils were missing, Lower Cape May sophomore Josh Gretta was torching them from outside. Penns Grove had 11 points at halftime, Gretta had four 3s and 14 points for Lower Cape May.

“It was frustrating a little bit, but I always had in the back of my mind we could always come back,” Peterson said.

The shots were falling in the halftime shooting session and it continued in the second half. The Red Devils hit six of their first seven from the floor and had the deficit down to three with four minutes to go in the third quarter. KaRon Ceaser hit the first two buckets, Mekhi Ballard hit a pair of 3s and Conrad had a three-point play and a layup.

“I’m glad he did it,” Ballard said. “I was happy when he said that because in the first half we weren’t making any of our shots. I was kind of annoyed (with the first half), but I knew I had to keep shooting if we wanted to get back into the game.”

The Caper Tigers stretched the lead back out to a safe distance and with time now the enemy it forced the Red Devils to rush some shots in hopes of making one last push. They missed the four shots they got in the final 2:15 to finish 10-of-20 from the field in the half and 13-of-35 for the game.

LOWER CAPE MAY 51, PENNS GROVE 38
PENNS GROVE (2-5) – Giomar Conrad 4 6-6 15, Willie Slocum 1 0-7 2, Mekhi Ballard 2 0-0 6, Carmen Thompson 1 0-0 2, Mr Peterson 3 0-0 6, Jaden Sorrell 0 2-2 2, Khiry Higgs 0 0-2 0, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0, Roman Gipson 0 0-0 0, KaRon Ceaser 2 1-2 5, Brandin Robbins 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-19 38.
LOWER CAPE MAY(4-1) – Mackey Bonner 4 1-2 9, Oguer Nunez 1 0-0 2, Ty Bonner 3 5-5 13, John Fernandez 3 0-0 6, Josh Gretta 5 0-0 14, Brayden Melo 1 1-2 3, Mason Cronin 2 0-0 4, Amir Clark 0 0-0 0, Matt Dicave 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-9 51.

Penns Grove	4	7	16	11 –	38
Lower Cape May	14	10	10	17 –	51