Sports
Ocean City Girls Set for Playoff Run Beginning Tuesday at Home
The Red Raiders host Pineland in opening round of the state Group III basketball tournament.
The Ocean City High School girls' basketball team enters the playoffs as winner of three straight and seven of their last eight.
The Red Raiders believe they are playing their best basketball of the season and hope that continues for the next few weeks.
Ocean City, the No. 4 seed in the NJSIAA Group III South playoffs, hosts No. 13 Pinelands 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Dixie Howell gymnasium.
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"I try to look at the playoffs like a whole new season," Ocean City coach Paul Baruffi said. "The only thing we talked about early is to win as many games as we can to get home games.
"You have to take it one game at a time," he said. "At this point, win and you keep going. Lose and you're done. It's really that sudden."
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The Red Raiders have been winning and doing it with contributions throughout the lineup.
Ocean City has played solid defense for most of the season, but the Red Raiders' offense has improved over the season, and has blossomed as of late.
Julia Duggan, Emily Duggan, Emily Gillian, Reilly Larkin and Katie Johnson all have contributed on the offensive end in recent victories.
That kind of production is needed if the Red Raiders want to make a deep run in the state tournament.
"We have to make the shots we have been making the last few games," Baruffi said. "We have played much better since the St. Peter's game (Feb. 20), because we are hitting a higher percentage of shots.
"That to me is the key to us advancing. We just have to put a few more points on the board than we have this season."
Pinelands, a Shore Conference team, has a losing record, but the Red Raiders won't take their opponent lightly.
Mija Coursey is a talented rebounder and can score points, as can Ashlee Paknas. Lexi Feldman runs the Pineland offense, and is the team's top distributor.
"They look pretty athletic," Baruffi said. "That's what they liked to do. They want to push the ball up the court."
The winner will play No. 12 Highland or No. 5 Seneca on Thursday. If Ocean City wins, it will host the quarterfinals game.
