Boy’s basketball opened the South, Group 2 Tournament Tuesday night by hosting #12 Cedar Creek in front of an incredible crowd. The #5 Pirates were able to fend off their opponent to secure their 19th win (19-7) of the season, 55-45, and advance to the second round.
The win put the Pirates home record to 12-0 this season and 14-0 dating back to last year.
“We wanted this really bad,” Will Cabbler (13 points) said. “We had an 11-0 record coming into this game at home, so we wanted to keep that streak alive.”
Cedar Creek had an answer for everything the Pirates threw at them on Tuesday night, trailing by only five after the first quarter, 16-11.
“Their zone defense gave us fits tonight,” head coach Mike Fries said. “We missed too many easy buckets inside. We allowed them to get too many second-chance shots. We just weren’t finishing right around the rim.”
Conor Bresnahan (9 points) scored the Pirates first seven points of the game.
“A lot of teams want to play zone against us,” Cabbler said. “We practiced a lot on the zone and we really got it done. On the defensive end, we stepped up our game and got a lot of turnovers.”
Devon Taylor led the Pirates with 17 points, 11 of them from free throws.
“We were very determined not to lose,” Taylor said. “This is the pride of the last basketball game we will play in this gym ever, so we had to finish on a good note.”
It took a last-second bucket from Pat McCarthy (10 points) at the end of the first half to give Cinnaminson a 24-22 lead at the break.
“They (Cedar Creek) left it out on the floor. They were really athletic,” Taylor said. “We need to practice boxing out and bring it to Woodstown on Thursday.”
Cedar Creek won the third quarter, 12-10, as the teams entered the fourth tied at 34. Cabbler took over in the third, scoring seven points to pace the Pirates in the quarter.
Cinnaminson took over in the fourth, proving to be too much for Cedar Creek, by outscoring their opponent 21-11. Eleven of those 21 points came at the free-throw line for the Pirates (11-14 in the fourth and 18-26 for the game).
The game was won at the charity stripe in the fourth, with an assist from the crowd, as Cedar Creek shot just 6-of-17 from the line in the quarter and 11-of-28 for the game.
“Since game one, I’ve been saying we had to work on our free throws,” Taylor said. “We’ve been working hard in practice and we made them when it counts.”
The Pirates found ways to grab key rebounds late in what was one of the most physical games Cinnaminson played in all season. Cinnaminson’s work on the boards in the second half drew numerous fouls and put Cedar Creek into foul trouble early in the third quarter.
“We kept our composure, we made our free throws and we didn’t panic.” Fries said.
Cinnaminson had foul trouble of its own, with Bresnahan fouling out of the game and Taylor and Rich Rickus (6 points) playing with four fouls apiece towards the end.
“We have to do a better job of putting the guys in a better position on the floor so they are not in foul trouble,” Fries said.
The Pirates will travel to #4 Woodstown on Thursday, March 1 at 6pm. Check Cinn City Sports Wednesday for a full preview of the second round game.
“Woodstown has athletic ability in the zone,” Fries said. “They play a matchup 2-3 that we’re just going to have to really prepare for tomorrow in practice. They’re an athletic team.”
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cedar Creek
|
11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 45 |
|
Cinnaminson
|
16 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 55 |
Pirates Scoring:
Devon Taylor – 17
Will Cabbler – 13
Pat McCarthy – 10
Conor Bresnahan – 9
Rich Rickus – 6
