By: Sean Moylan
The Florence Township Memorial High School boys’ varsity basketball team used its smothering defense to hold Maple Shade to single digits in each of the first three quarters of a decisive 93-33 triumph at Maple Shade on Tuesday evening.
On the strength of a remarkable 15-point second quarter by Akiwande "A.O." Oshidi, who netted a game-high 27 points, the Flashes built up a massive 69-20 lead after quarter number three and never looked back.
Point guard Matt Ordog set up the Flashes’ potent offense while scoring 18 points in the process. Hot-shooting Dan Miller knocked down seven field goals for 14 points while Maurice "Mo" Calhoun and Ryan Shafer each chipped in with 13 points.
Joe Spahn (five points), Abree Jones (two points) and Francis Ugawe (a point) also got into the Flashes’ record books. The Flashes’ defense, as always was unbelievable.
Last Saturday, McCorristin was able to slip by Florence 50-34 with a strong 18-8 fourth quarter. Florence trailed by only six going into the final stanza, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback.
"They (the Iron Mikes) are favored to win it (the Freedom Division). We made mistakes at the end of the game that cost us the game," noted Florence head coach Art Bobik.
"Defensively, we did well as a team. But offensively we had too many turnovers and made too many mistakes to win the game."
Calhoun, nevertheless, continued his standout play with 14 points for the Flashes. "Mo (Calhoun) has been doing a good job for us. Hopefully, he’ll get even better," added Coach Bobik.
Ryan Shafer, who stood out defensively netted two points while Dan Miller scored seven points, Abree Jones scored six points and Matt Ordog chipped in with five points.
Florence (3-1) is scheduled to host Palmyra, another huge league rival, today (Thursday). Then on Friday Florence is scheduled at Medford Tech.
