By Scott Stump - Senior Editor
DEPTFORD - A
Neptune girls basketball team led by a precocious group of freshmen had its season come to an end at the hands of Ocean City on Wednesday night, but it still seemed like more of a beginning than an end to a team loaded with returning talent.
While the young Scarlet Fliers learned some lessons in falling 50-43 to the Red Raiders in the NJSIAA Group III semifinals at Deptford High School, they also can savor a 21-win season that included a Central Jersey Group III title, which is a feat that some talented classes over the past 18 years at Neptune could not accomplish. The future also looks blindingly bright with just about the whole team returning next season, and perhaps the Scarlet Fliers' first Shore Conference Tournament title since 1989 could be next on the agenda.
"Our season was great for a bunch of freshmen to come in and win something that my sister (Cyialece Davis) and (freshman guard) Shakena's sister (Shareese Richardson) couldn't do,'' said freshman guard Syessence Davis, who had a team-high 18 points in the loss.
The younger sisters have already surpassed their siblings when it comes to hanging a banner, and the trophy case may be swollen by the time they are done in three years.
Unfortunately for Neptune on Wednesday night, however, it looked like a team that was inexperienced in playing on the big stage as Ocean City (27-4) seized a 13-0 lead to start the game and never looked back to move on to face Shabazz in the Group III final on Sunday.
"We showed our inexperience out there,'' said Neptune coach John Brown, who called a pair of timeouts during that game-opening burst by Ocean City. "We got down 13-0, and we looked like a deer in the headlights out there in the first half. Everybody we play from this point on is good. You can't get yourself in that type of hole. It's a learning experience.''
The Scarlet Fliers (21-7) actually bottled up the Red Raiders' best player, senior point guard Nancy White, a 1,000-point career scorer who only had three points in the game and fouled out. However, inconsistent play on the defensive end and 17-for-55 shooting (30.9 percent) from the field doomed Neptune. Also, Ocean City's Kelly Brady filled the scoring void vacated by White with a tremendous game, as she had a game-high 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting and also had seven rebounds to put the Red Raiders into the Group III final for the first time in school history.
"I felt like we all saw Nancy was out and we said, 'This isn't Nancy's last game,''' Brady said. "In our last game (in the South Jersey Group III final), we were a little shaky in the beginning. We said in this game that we have to jump on them.''
That is exactly what they did as they came out firing, with guard Shannon Lane (14 points) hitting a pair of threes and Brady scoring twice in the paint to fuel that 13-0 start.
Neptune recovered with an 8-0 run of its own that included six of Richardson's 11 points in the game, but that was as close as the Scarlet Fliers would get in the first half. Ocean City grabbed a 28-17 lead at the break thanks to a combined 23 first-half points by Lane and Brady and 12 first-half turnovers by Neptune. The Red Raiders were also running whenever they had numbers, which often had Neptune on its heels because most teams don't try and run up and down the floor with the speedy Scarlet Fliers.
Ocean City was also sitting in a zone, daring Neptune to consistently hit long-range shots and collapsing on junior forward Marley Mauvais, Neptune's main inside threat, who had eight points and 13 rebounds. Neptune shot 2-for-15 from 3-point range, and with the Red Raiders sitting on a comfortable lead, the Scarlet Fliers couldn't make them come out of the zone. Neptune also usually needs to win the turnover battle in order to win the game, but both teams committed 20 turnovers.
"We knew they had size, they had athleticism, and we knew it would be a tough match-up for us,'' Brown said.
"Our first half was horrible,'' Davis said. "We brought it back together in the second half. I didn't play my best game and that kind of brought us down.''
A 7-0 run that culminated in a 3-pointer by Richardson had the lead down to 36-30 late in the third quarter, but a defensive breakdown in Neptune's full-court press resulted in a lay-up for Brady and then the Red Raiders added another basket in the final seconds for a 40-30 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
"We thought we could get back into it, but we had mental breakdowns,'' Brown said. "We cut it down to six, and they get easy buckets. In transition, we didn't know who we had. You can't have that in a game like this.''
"We went over (Neptune's press) over the break,'' Lane said. "We broke it and we did very well with it. In the end (we had some turnovers because) we just got a little nervous and excited.''
A runner in the lane by Davis trimmed the lead to 42-34 early in the fourth quarter, but once again Brady responded, as she converted a 3-point play with five minutes remaining to push the lead back to double digits. A lay-up off a steal by Davis and a jumper by Mauvais in the paint got it back down to 47-38, but by that time there was only 1:16 remaining and it was too little, too late.
The main lesson the Scarlet Fliers took away from the loss was that they can't have breakdowns or lapses for several possessions at this stage of the state playoffs because good teams will make them pay dearly for them. Inconsistent teams don't make it to the promised land, but in Neptune's defense, most freshmen aren't even ready for varsity, let alone a Group semifinal.
"We've got to compete every time we step on the floor,'' Brown said.
They should certainly be doing that and much more in future seasons, with two explosive guards in Richardson and Davis as well as the return of Mauvais and a bench that should only get deeper next year. Regardless, this is a team that expected to win now and refused to use its youth as a crutch. Once their experience matches their talent, look out.
"We're only freshmen and (Ocean City had) more experience, but that's not an excuse,'' Davis said.
Box score
Ocean City 50, Neptune 43Neptune (43): Mauvais 3 2-4 8, Thompson 1 0-0 2, Davis 6 5-6 18, Richardson 5 0-0 11, Vanness 1 0-0 2, Carter 0 0-0 0, Warren 0 0-0 0, Govan 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0-0 2, Gayle 0 0-0 0, West 0 0-0 0, Watson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 7-10 43.
Ocean City (50): Brady 10 4-5 25, Lane 4 2-5 14, Landi 2 1-2 5, Gibbs 0 1-3 1, White 1 0-2 3, Boylan 0 0-0 0, Ker 0 2-4 2, Schoyer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 10-21 50.
Neptune (21-7) 8 9 13 13 - 43
Ocean City (27-4) 16 12 12 10 - 50
Three-pointers: (N) Davis, Richardson; (O) Lane 2, Brady, White. Fouled out: (O) White.
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com