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Feb. 10, 2015 Boys Basketball
Nottingham's Dorian Johnson goes up for a shot surrounded by three Spartans during tonight's game at The Galaxy (Photo
by Wes "The Media Mogul" Kirkpatrick).
Feb. 10, 2015 Basketball
Nottingham continues to come together in blowout win over Steinert
By Tony Piscotta
Fish4scores.com
Feb. 10: Watching Nottingham’s boys’ basketball team pull away from Steinert in the second half of
tonight's 79-51 win, it would be hard to imagine that this is the same Northstars team that lost its first
three games.
Junior Tyquier “Shady Brook” Billingsley, who led a balanced Nottingham attack with 23 points, feels
the Northstars are finally finding their identity.
"We all had to find our roles," he said. "We found our roles. It started to pick up a little bit. Then we had
a downfall because everyone wasn't getting along. Then we started to pick it back up. We look to stay
as a family, as a team going into the tournament. Without that you're not going to win."
It would be hard to disagree with that. If the Northstars (10-7) are a family it seemed that even the
most distant cousins were getting involved tonight. Twelve different players had points and those who
didn't either chipped in with steals, rebounds, assists or just tight defense.
"That's what we've been practicing all year," said senior James Jenkins, who scored all six of his
points in the second quarter when Nottingham stretched it's 17-8 first quarter lead to 16 at the break.
Nottingham went into the locker room up 34-18 after a nice dish from Cliff Joseph to Nekayle Whitaker
in the closing seconds.
Jenkins also had two steals, five
rebounds and a blocked shot.
"We decided to play together as a team
because in the beginning of the year
everyone was trying to be selfish and it
would be one-on-ones and stuff," said
Jenkins. "Now we're learning how to
play together and actually build on
things and be a family at the end."
Neither team shot particularly well in the
first half, with the normally reliable
Joseph hitting just one of six field goal
attempts. On the other side of things
Steinert (2-for-14) was just 7-for-26,
including 0-for-6 on 3-pointers.
"We were battling there in the
beginning. We just started missing
shots," said Steinert head coach Dave
Perry. "We just couldn't convert. We
were shooting everything up in the air
and it wasn't going in."
In a prelude of things to come
Billingsley opened the second half with
a 3-pointer off a feed from Bam
Johnson. A basket by Chris LaBelle off
a feed from Stephen Loney cut the
Nottingham lead to 37-20 but The
Shady Brook Show was just beginning.
Billingsley would make three more 3pointers in the third and score 16 of his
23 points as the Stars stretched the
Cartier Bowman comes down with a rebound against Steinert's Patrick Carr
(12) and Garrett Mazur (Photo by Amanda
lead to 59-31 and essentially sealed
away the win. Joseph, after making just Ruch/[email protected]).
one field goal before the half would score seven of his 13 points in the third.
"Not this year," said Billingsley, when asked if he'd had a quarter like that before. "That was the first
time this year. It felt good. It felt great. If I see my team having a bad night I try everything in my power
to bring us up. Whether it's a defensive stop, a quick three, a pass for a fast break. I'll do anything."
With the big lead Nottingham coach Chris “The Baron” Raba had the chance to get some of his more
inexperienced players onto the court in the fourth and they responded — with freshman Cartier
Bowman scoring all 13 of his points in the last quarter.
According to Jenkins that has been the key to the Stars' success of late.
"That's the best part of this team if one person is struggling then another person knows that he has to
step up," said Jenkins. "It's not just one guy it's everybody. Cliff's been on a roll. He's down and then
another guy steps up and that's how it is. You've just to keep moving."
From the Steinert side of things
juniors Garret Mazur (18 points, 11
rebounds) and Patrick Carr (nine
points, three rebounds, one block)
battled all night but were simply
overmatched with the consistent
intensity of the Stars.
"They're some very tough players,"
said Jenkins. "I credit both of them.
I know that we just play hard and
give them all we've got. Coach just
wanted us to front guys and stuff."
The real key was the defensive
pressure all over the floor by the
Stars, whether it was Johnson,
Joseph, Billingsley or pesky
sophomore Javade PearsonMackson. The Nottingham pressure
defense made life troublesome for
whoever tried to bring the ball up
the floor for the Spartans. .
"It's just pressure," said Jenkins.
"Defense, defense, defense. If you
speed the game up it's going to
make people think quicker."
Bryan Renda dribbles upcourt against Nottingham's Cliff Joseph (Photo by Wes
"We try to teach that every day,"
"The Media Mogul" Kirkpatrick).
said Perry, when asked about dealing with the pressure. "Coach (Joe) Radice and I we work on it and
work on it. I don't think they get the concept of it. Every team knows that we're weak handling the ball
and they put that pressure on us. Hopefully over the summer we can get better and work on that."
At the same time the former Nottingham coach admits that the Stars could have something special
this season.
"They're a very athletic team," said Perry. "They hustle. They go for the loose balls. They box out.
They look to tip the ball. They do the intangibles."
Jenkins feels that those things will be what leads to any post-season success the Stars enjoy.
"I believe we're where we need to be," said Jenkins, when asked about the upcoming Mercer County
and Central Jersey Group III tournaments. "This is as hard as I've seen us play right now."