In the midst of a three-game losing streak, the Pirates wanted to get back into the win column Tuesday night against a 4-win, yet tough New Egypt squad. It took overtime, but the Pirates came away with their 12th (12-5) victory of the year by taking down the Warriors 59-56.
“The boys have been working very hard, we just haven’t found ways to win ballgames,” head coach Mike Fries said. “We haven’t been playing four good quarters of basketball, but we got the ‘W.'”
The win couldn’t come at a better time with 17-1 Freedom rival Bordentown looming large on Thursday.
Seniors Will Cabbler and Devon Taylor led the Pirates with 18 and 14 points, respectively.
The only time the Pirates led at the end of a quarter was the only one that mattered; the final score. Cinnaminson trailed 16-11 after one and 30-29 at the break.
Cinnaminson then saw itself down 46-41 after three and tied at 53 after regulation.
In the fourth, the Warriors converted on a three to take a 49-41 lead. Despite trailing by eight midway through the quarter, the Pirates dug deep and reeled off 10 in a row to take a 51-49 lead.
“We could’ve put our heads down and walked out of here with a loss,” Fries said. “The captains stepped up tonight and got the guys fired up.”
A Cabbler three tied the game at 49 before the Pirates took the lead on their next possession.
“This brings our confidence really, really high,” Cabbler said. “We gotta get back to playing Cinnaminson basketball. We should play a lot better, especially with Bordentown coming up Thursday.”
The Warriors did everything possible to hand the Pirates a fourth straight loss, but Cinnaminson would have none of it on Tuesday night. Every bucket New Egypt made, the Pirates had an answer.
“We wanna win every game,” Cabbler said. “We gotta bring the intensity every single quarter, just like we did on that run. If we keep that energy in all four quarters we will be fine.”
With the game tied at 53 with 43 seconds left in the fourth the Warriors came out of a timeout with the ball and killed the rest of the clock without getting off a shot.
It was a low-scoring overtime session, with the Pirates putting up six points, four of them by Cabbler from the free throw line to seal the victory.
Two of Cabbler’s four made free throws came with the Pirates leading 55-54 and one minute remaining. He then converted on the final two of the game with the Pirates holding a 57-54 lead with 29 seconds left.
“Being a senior leader, I have to make those kind of shots,” Cabbler said. “We have a lot of seniors on the team, so everybody wants to take the initiative of going to the line and making free throws. In this case, it was me tonight and we got the job done.”
New Egypt scored a quick bucket to pull to within 59-56, but could not get a game tying three attempt as time expired on their final possession.
Cinnaminson returns to the court Thursday, February 11 when Freedom rival Bordentown visits for a 6:15pm tip.
“We need to be confident,” Fries said of the game Thursday. “Going out on the floor and being confident with your jump shots. If you make a mistake, forget about it and move on to the next play.”
The Pirates dropped the first meeting 69-52 for their first loss of the season.
“Tonight was key to get that out of our system,” Fries said. “We go into Thursday with some confidence and see what happens. We are playing the top team in South Jersey. We want this win.”
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New Egypt
|
16 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 56 |
|
Cinnaminson
|
11 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 59 |
Pirates Scoring:
Will Cabbler – 18
Devon Taylor – 14
Pat McCarthy – 9
Conor Bresnahan – 8
JP Rickus – 6
Kyle Roberts-DeLoach – 2
Rich Rickus – 2
[…] Pirates Snap Skid with 59-56 OT Win Against New Egypt […]