Nottingham’s Cliff Joseph takes flight against the Princeton Little Tigers in the Mercer County Tournament basketball quarterfinals.  Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick.

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Feb. 20: For Nottingham coach Chris “The Baron” Raba, this year’s team is about more than numbers.

Yes, the Northstars’ 78-50 win over Princeton in Monday’s Mercer County Tournament basketball quarterfinals puts them one win from tying the school record set by Nate Webber’s 2000-01 squad.

Darry Felix drives to the basket against Princeton in the MCT. Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick.

And yes, Nottingham’s trip to Wednesday’s semifinals at the Sun Bank Arena is their first Final Four appearance since that same Webber team did it.

But Raba says it’s more than all that.

“No matter what happens the next two weeks in counties or states, these kids have changed the culture of Nottingham basketball,” Raba said. “There’s a lot of kids at Reynolds and Crockett that want to be these kids now. They have aspirations, when they come to the game, to be the next Richie Jones, Christian Ford, Clip Joseph, Darell Johnson.

“That’s a legacy that they’ll always have. No matter how we end up doing by the end of the year, they’ll always have that.”

Raba has been saying for so long that this is a “special group” it should probably be emblazoned across their jerseys instead of Northstars. But they have looked special as the win over Princeton was their 14th in the last 15 games, putting them at 20-4.

Christian Ford defends against Princeton. Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick

“That means a lot,” said Cliff Joseph, who collected 25 points and 15 rebounds in the victory. “Last year we had 12 wins so we’re eight games over that. And I haven’t been to the semifinals, so it means a lot. I’ve never played (at the Sun Bank Arena) so I’m excited.”

Joseph and Darell Johnson were a two-man wrecking crew against a 10th-seeded Little Tigers team with designs on an upset. Second-seeded Nottingham trailed by deficits of 8-2, 22-12 and 28-20 as Princeton was riding hot shooting and the play of Zahrion Blue (26 points).

But the Little Tigers were called for a technical foul and Joseph took it from there, scoring nine straight points to give Nottingham a 29-28 lead, its first of the game. The Stars tacked on eight more to end the first half on a 17-0 run.

Darry Felix muscles the rebound. Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick.

“When the other team starts missing shots we can get out in transition,” Raba said. “They made a lot of shots in the first quarter, we couldn’t get the ball in quick enough to go. Once they started missing it was tough for them to get back in transition. They were playing that zone, playing it real tight and once they started missing, we get the ball down quick. One or two passes and we’re down the court.

Holding a 37-28 edge, the Stars bumped it to 49-31 with another burst at the start of the third quarter and Princeton would get no closer than 13.

“We just came out with the same intensity that we left the first half with,” Joseph said.

Johnson scored 16 of his 20 points after intermission and added 12 rebounds.

“Darell’s a good player,” Joseph said of his fellow junior. “When he’s in a zone, it’s hard to stop him.”

Joseph got into a pretty good zone himself, but said it had nothing to do with facing Blue, who averages over 22 per game.

“I just always want to come out here and play my best and come out with the win,” Joseph said.

Sounds like a sound philosophy for changing a culture.

Christian Ford had 10 points for the Stars, while Edwin Lakie added eight, and Kuyler Fowler and Darry Felix had six apiece. Nottingham held a whopping 38-20 rebounding advantage.