Mater Dei Holds Off Ranney To Clinch Share of B Central For First Title since 2005

Photo above: Junior forward Elijah Barnes at the free throw line in yesterday’s action

MIDDLETOWN – Back on January 12 Mater Dei beat Ranney by 14 points, 64-50. Thursday night in front of a jammed-packed standing room only crowd the Seraphs again handled their newly found rivals by the almost identical score, 64-52, as the Seraphs used a balanced attack to withstand a spirited challenge from a young but skilled Panthers team to win their first divisional title in 11 years.

Both teams are much improved since their first meeting. Mater Dei – ranked second in the Shore Conference and No.15 in the state – has added transfers Kenny Jones, Marvin Pierre and Maleek McKnight since that game to reinforce a lineup that’s already deep and ultra-talented. While Ranney’s ever-improving freshmen sensations Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine have put the Panthers – ranked No.6 in the Shore Conference - on the map as one of the best up-and-coming teams in the state and a force to be reckoned with come tournament time.

Mater Dei (16-1, 12-0) has now won 13 games in a row since their 38-35 loss to No.18 Pope John last January 3 while Ranney (16-2, 10-2) had won seven straight since their initial loss to the Seraphs.

Thursday’s game was decidedly different from their first meeting when Mater Dei bolted out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter and went into the fourth quarter ahead 47-26. Thursday, behind Lewis’ eight first-quarter points, the Panthers grabbed a 12-10 lead with a minute to play in the first on freshman Alex Katsky’s three-pointer before NyQuan McCombs answered with a three of his own to give the lead back to the Seraphs, 13-12. Lewis then made one-of-two free throws to tie the game at 13-13 after one.

“We jumped on them early the first time we played them,” Mater Dei head coach Ben Gamble said. “This time we didn’t attack the offensive boards the way we can in the first quarter,” “And I think that gave them a lot of confidence.”

Ranney took their last lead of the game, 15-13, on a pair of Lewis free throws to start the second quarter before Mater Dei went on a 14-0 run to take 12 point lead, 27-15 with 3:37 remaining in the second quarter. Six-foot-7 forward Elijah Barnes came alive in the paint scoring 10 of the 14 points during the spurt while grabbing four boards and blocking a shot in the process.

The Panthers cut the lead to 29-20 on a Lewis hoop but McCombs hit a three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in the half to once again push the lead to 12, 32-20, as the halftime buzzer sounded.

“In the second quarter we able to keep them off the offensive boards a lot more than the first quarter,” Gamble said. “Marvin (Pierre) gave us a lift in second quarter and we able to get a more comfortable lead.”

Pierre came off the bench in the second quarter and gave Mater Dei a spark off the glass after the teams struggles in the first quarter. He finished with four rebounds and two blocked shots with two points.

Barnes scored 12 of his 17-total points in the first half while McCombs also scored 12 in the first half before finishing with 18.

Most the second half was spent with Ranney attempting to whittle away at the Mater Dei double-digit lead and to their credit the Panthers never folded and kept fighting when a lot of teams would’ve packed it in for the night. However, in the end Mater Dei’s experience, depth and strength was too much for the Panthers to weather.

Two quick baskets by Antoine and Lewis cut the lead to 32-24 to start the third quarter but three minutes later Kyle Elliot sank a three and McCombs hit for two to push the lead to 41-28 with 2:00 remaining in the third quarter.

But again the resilient Panthers refused to sink as Antoine scored the next six points before Elliot hit one of three foul shots after being fouled at the buzzer from three-point range for their first points in two minutes to get the lead back to eight, 42-34 after three. Antoine scored eight of his 17 points in the third quarter while Elliot netted six points for Mater Dei.

Entering the third quarter Ranney had switched to a zone defense which gave Mater Dei fits trying penetrate inside as they were limited to just 10 third-quarter points while allowing Ranney to score 14 and stay close enough to make it a game entering the fourth quarter.

“Once they switched and went to zone we weren’t moving the ball the way I wanted to move,” Gamble said. “We were a little bit out of rhythm there and our guards didn’t attack the zone as much as I wanted them to. Instead of attacking we were going side-to-side and not getting the looks we needed.”

Mater Dei eventually figured it out as they exploded for 22 fourth-quarter points behind Elliot’s nine and Elijah Mitchell’s six points. Elliot scored all 15 of his points in the second half along with four assists, five steal and two rebounds while Mitchell finished with 10 points, four boards and one steal.

However, Ranney still wouldn’t go away scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter and crept to with seven, 52-45, with 3:20 remaining in the game before Elliot sank a baseline fadeaway to push the lead back to nine and later sank a pair of free throws inside a minute to put his team ahead 60-50.

Mitchell closed out the scoring for Mater Dei burying four straight free throws for the 64-52 final.

In addition to his 17 points, Barnes added six rebounds and two blocks while McCombs finished with six assists, two rebounds and two steals to go with his team-high 18 points to lead four Seraphs in double-digit scoring.

The six-foot-5 Antoine scored 17 points for Ranney but shot only 5-for-13 from the field a direct result from being guarded all night by McCombs. He did finish with a team-high nine rebounds along with four steals. Lewis dropped in a game-high 20 points with eight boards and three steals.

“I thought we played hard,” Gamble said. “They came really prepared today and their young kids attacked the rim today. Lewis was much more aggressive attacking the basket today and it was a good thing we were able to hold on and win the game. This thing is developing into a good divisional rivalry. It’s a rebirth here. We won the division for the first time since 2005.”

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” Barnes said. “Expectations were high. I know a lot of people were expecting big things with coach Gamble coming in and bringing everybody with him, but our expectations for ourselves were even higher.

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