Boys basketball
By: Mike Molaro
After The Pennington School boys basketball team fell to West Windsor-Plainsboro North 59-45 last Saturday in the opening round of the J. Michael Tucker Memorial Tournament at Bordentown, Bernie Gurick talked to his guys about what went wrong.
Whatever the veteran coach said made an impression, as the Red Raiders (4-5) rebounded with a solid 54-41 triumph Monday over Point Pleasant Beach in the consolation round to place third. Point Pleasant Beach lost to Bordentown 52-42 last Saturday.
"Following the loss to North, we went into our gym and talked about that game," Gurick said. "We knew we had to work on three things. We didn’t want anyone to beat us baseline. We needed to step up and take charges in the lane. Everyone had to get back into the paint to stop the fast break.
"The guys improved on all three of those things against Point Pleasant. We played an extremely strong defensive game."
Senior forward Fernando Cardenas scored a game high 18 points, and junior guard Jess Morrison contributed 14 as Pennington broke a 20-20 halftime deadlock with a solid second half.
Leading 37-30 after three quarters, the Red Raiders turned up the defensive pressure and pulled away against Point Pleasant over the final eight minutes.
"We went into a full-court man-to-man deny-defense in the fourth quarter," Gurick said. "We played great defense. I was very happy with our defensive intensity.
"Point Pleasant opened in a zone. We broke their press and went to the hole. We played a smart game offensively and a solid game defensively."
WW-P North used a 25-7 second-quarter blitz to open a 40-22 halftime advantage last Friday. Cardenas topped the Red Raiders with 16 points, and senior center Kenny Love added 15. Pennington outscored the Knights 26-19 in the second half but couldn’t overcome that halftime deficit.
"We didn’t play well at all in the second quarter," Gurick said. "We did a lot of things poorly. We weren’t moving our feet, we weren’t boxing out, and we weren’t stopping the penetration. It was a bad defensive half. I was happy with what we did in the second half, but we have to do it for four quarters instead of three.
"Fernando (Cardenas) had a nice tournament. It’s good to see other teams that you normally wouldn’t play during the season."
With 10 days between games until they host Gill-St. Bernard’s on Jan. 8, the Red Raiders are looking to build on their first nine game and to get healthy as they hit the meat of their Prep B schedule.
"I’m pleased with how things have gone so far," Gurick said. "We’ve taken our lumps, but we’re coming together. We’re looking to get (senior guard) Andrew Reeder and (junior forward) Will Lo back. Andrew dislocated a couple of fingers diving for a loose ball and Will hurt an ankle in a scrimmage and hasn’t played at all this year.
"Getting them back will give us two more solid scorers. It will also provide us with more maneuverability and depth."
The Red Raiders will have some time off to spend with their families before they come back and prepare for Gill-St. Bernard’s and focus on what they hope is a successful run at the Prep B championship.
NOTES: The Pennington girls basketball team split two games in the ESCIT over the weekend.
On Saturday, the Red Raiders defeated McCorristin 52-48. Meghan Reed netted 22 points, while Anitra Tucker contributed 10.
Pennington then lost to Hun 38-18 Sunday in the tournament final. Keri Washington led the Red Raiders with four points.