Nottingham’s Richie Jones launches a 3-pointer against Lawrence (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Mar. 4: How about this for a dominating statistic.
In 96 minutes of state tournament play so far; the Nottingham boys’ basketball team has led for 93 minutes and 42 seconds. The Northstars have led the final 30 minutes of all three games and did not trail at all on Saturday in a 75-63 win over 6th-seeded Lawrence in the NJSIAA Group III Central semifinal in The Galaxy.
When informed of that statistic, coach Chris “The Baron” Raba seemed unimpressed with Fish4scores’ painstaking research.
“That’s how you win,” he said flatly, before adding with a grin, “I’m (Greg) Popovich, I’m just giving one-word answers now.”
Christian Ford drives to the basket against Lawrence’s Myles Mitchell-White (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
The one word for Nottingham so far has been “Wow!”
The 2nd-seeded Northstars (23-5) have won their three state games by an average of 22 points and are literally making history every other day. On Tuesday they tied the school record for wins and on Thursday they broke it. Today they won a sectional semifinal for the first time and will play for their first CJ III title.
It will be an opening-day rematch on Monday at 7PM, when Nottingham travels to Ewing for the championship game. The Stars opened the season with a one-point win over the top-seeded Blue Devils.
“Word’s can’t describe how I feel,” said forward Darry Felix, who had eight key points.
“I’m just happy for the kids,” Raba said. “These kids broke every record the school had. It’s the first time we’ve been in the sectional championship. The kids really, really played well today.”
Darell Johnson, who went for 25, gets ready to make another dominating move inside against Lawrence (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
Indeed they did, especially the big guns. Darell Johnson, who would be the frontrunner for the CJ III Most Valuable Player Award if there were such a thing, had 25 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Cliff Joseph, who struggled offensively for six straight quarters, exploded for 18 of his 23 points in the second half and also had six rebounds, four blocks and four steals.
“That man is amazing,” Felix said, motioning to Joseph as the student body carried him on their shoulders. “He helped us go to the finals. Big ups to him, man.”
Felix deserves a few ups himself. Not known for his offense, he scored eight points and was one of several role players to provide offensive sparks.
Nottingham (23-5) led 18-9 after one quarter and got the Cardinals into quick foul trouble. That led to Myles Mitchell-White and Shemar Robinson, Lawrence’s top offensive threats, getting a lot of bench time in the second quarter. It also meant a foul line fest for the Stars, who hit 16 of 22 in the first half to open a 35-17 lead.
The Cardinals tried getting back in it in the third quarter behind Robinson and Mitchell-White, who scored all 20 of Lawrence’s points in the period. But Nottingham had an answer to every potential uprising.
After the Cards scored the first four of the third quarter, Felix hit two straight buckets to start a 6-0 start. Lawrence got within 41-25 before Johnson responded with two straight lay-ups. With the score 45-31, two buckets by Edwin Lakie offset five points by Robinson. And at the end of the quarter, with the Stars up 49-37, Joseph hit two 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds. The second came at the buzzer after a steal.
Suddenly, the man who had just eight points in six quarters against Matawan and Lawrence, was on a vintage tear.
“My teammates all kept telling me to keep shooting, it will be there,” Joseph said.
“He’s a threat,” Raba said. “When he’s on the court, you have to know he’s out there. He helps his other teammates because you have to guard him.”
And those other teammates take advantage of it, as Raba continued to harp on the fact his team doesn’t consist of just two stars.
Richie Jones drives to the basket against Lawrence’s Earl Clark (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
“We have seven, eight nine guys we play,” the Baron said. “Kastro (Montina) hits a big three pointer and a lay-up in the first half.”
“People come into games thinking Cliff is gonna do something, Darell’s gonna do something,” Felix said. “But it turns out the little role players come out and get big points some times.”
Nottingham has not shown a weakness. It can score inside and out. It defends well. It can play up-tempo or run a halfcourt offense, it rebounds, it has depth and the chemistry is evident during games.
“These kids have been a pleasure to coach,” Raba said. “I’ve been fortunate and blessed to coach a group like this.”
And it’s a group that’s not just happy to be in the final.
“This is a fun team,” Felix said. “We expect to win a championship.”
Raba won’t argue with his player.
“Our goal wasn’t just to get to the sectional finals,” the Baron said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
