Kelsey Ladd Flourishes As a Starter for the Ocean City Girls

Practice makes perfect.

In Kelsey Ladd's case, practice made her a starter.

The Ocean City High School senior impressed her coach during basketball practice, and became an addition to the Red raiders' starting lineup.

Ladd scored 12 points in the Red Raiders' 50-25 win over Millville on Wednesday night at the Dixie Howell Gymnasium.

"One day at practice, she was playing her butt off, and hustling all over the place," Ocean City coach Paul Baruffi said. "She deserved a shot to start and she gives energy to the team. As a senior, I think she deserved the chance, and she has held the spot.

"She hustles, she plays great defense, and is contributing more on offense," he said. "She is getting more confident."

Ladd admitted that her lack of confidence was a weakness, but that is no longer the case.

That was evident against Millville, as she scored six points in each half, and helped the Red Raiders take control of the game.

"I feel more confident," Ladd said. "The big thing before was my (lack of) confidence, and I have gotten it more and more as we play, and we play well together."

Ladd's role increased over the past two weeks, which only makes an already solid team that much better.

With Ladd in the starting lineup, the Red Raiders have players on the bench that already have starting experience and have logged important minutes.

"I think it gives the younger girls an opportunity to watch a bit and then come into the game," Baruffi said. "I like having a bigger rotation. We can go deeper and work on pressure, and things like that."

The Red Raiders had five players score at least six points against Millville—with center Julia Duggan leading the way with a game-high 14 points.

No matter what group was out on the floor, the Red Raiders spread the ball around efficiently, especially in the second quarter when Ocean City ballooned a four-point lead into a 14-point halftime advantage.

The Red Raiders opened the quarter with a 16-2 run with Duggan scoring six, and Sam Robinson adding four in the spurt.

When Duggan wasn't scoring or rebounding, she was finding an open teammate for an easy layup.

"If she gets that down, she is going to be dangerous," Baruffi said of Duggan's passing. "I talked to her about that before the game. I told her, 'You are going to get double- and triple-teamed and you have to look at where some other people are because somebody has to be open.' I think she made a conscious effort to do that tonight."

"I have always been good at looking around the court to see who is open," Duggan said. "It has helped a lot."

The Red Raiders put the game away with a 12-2 run to open the second half for a 24-point lead. It was plenty of a cushion even though the Thunderbolts ended the quarter with a 9-0 run to make it a 38-23 score.

That's the closest the Thunderbolts would get, as the Red Raiders held them to two fourth-quarter points.