Darry Felix takes flight against Ewing in the Central Jersey Group III Championship Game. Photo by Michael A. Sabo.
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Mar. 6: The best season in Nottingham boys’ basketball history ended with not the best of performances.
“We didn’t shoot well, we didn’t defend well, we didn’t play well at all,” said Nottingham coach Chris “The Baron” Raba after his 2nd-seeded Northstars suffered a 61-52 loss at top-seeded Ewing in the NJSIAA Group III Central championship game Monday night.
A Nottingham team that had led for virtually the entire tournament in the first three games, never led in this one and the game’s lone tie was 2-2. Ewing (25-6), which won its fifth CJ III title in the last seven years, scored seven straight to open a 9-2 advantage and would never fall behind.
Nottingham got within 15-14 before a Jonathan Azoroh putback at the buzzer started the Blue Devils on a 17-5 run that made it 32-19 at halftime. Ewing did a good job by blocking seven Nottingham shots and getting transition baskets, as Azoroh had 15 of his 29 points in the half.
“They altered a lot of shots, and the first half we didn’t do a good job getting back in transition, that’s how they got the lead,” Raba said while a parade of dejected Northstars filed slowly from the lockerroom. “When you don’t get back in transition against a team like that it’s gonna hurt and that was the majority of their points in the first half. Azoroh ran straight to the block and just kept getting fed. . .lay-up, lay-up, lay-up.”
It did not help that Nottingham could not buy a jumper in the first three quarters and Cliff Joseph and Darell Johnson were limited to eight points and just seven shots during that time. The result was a 46-32 advantage heading into the final quarter.
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To the Northstars credit, they made it a game by applying fullcourt pressure and doubling the ball as soon as it got over the halfcourt line. The result was a 15-5 run as Nottingham pulled within 51-47 with 2:47 remaining.
But Ewing was able to break the pressure a few times, resulting in trips to the foul line. After going just 2-for-6 in the first three quarters, the Devils made 10 of their final 13 in the final 2:30. Ka’Ron Johnson, who finished with 14, hit 6 of 8 in the quarter.
Despite the fact Nottingham was making its first appearance in a sectional final and Ewing has made the game its own private domain, Raba didn’t feel nerves were a factor.
“It shouldn’t be. . .maybe it was, but I don’t think so,” he said. “We dug ourselves in a hole. In the second half we tried to scramble on defense, jumping the ball, all kinds of things. It worked, but you can’t do that for 16 minutes.
“We got it to four and they get two rebounds on missed foul shots. Every time we come here it seems we don’t get the loose balls and we get out-rebounded. And the Azoroh kid hit some big shots.”
The Stars were out-rebounded 31-22, while Joseph and Johnson were held to 13 points and 12 shots between them thanks to a strong defensive job by Ewing. Christian Ford led Nottingham with 18 but no other Northstar was in double digits.
Despite the loss, Nottingham can look back on this season with extreme pride. Earlier this year Raba went as far to say they changed the culture of basketball in the school.
At 23-6, the Northstars set a school record for victories and reached a CJ final for the first time in school history. All that was done with four juniors in the starting lineup – Darry Felix, Richie Jones, Joseph and Johnson.
“The guys accomplished a lot, I give them all the credit,” Raba said. “They really dedicated themselves, they committed themselves since April. They were in the weight room. We have a good group coming back and our JV team was 14-4.”
But Raba motioned out toward the gym, where the scoreboard still told the tale, and concluded with “We’ve still gotta get better. We’re still not there yet.”
But they got closer than ever before.
