SP-F Boys Basketball Team Falls Short in Game Against Elizabeth

Scotch Plains boys basketball team knows what they have to do to beat a team like Elizabeth.

But of course knowing it and doing it are two different things.

After the Raiders fell to Elizabeth 59-45 on Tuesday afternoon, head coach Dan Doherty admitted it all came down to the fact that Elizabeth's team just played better.

"Offensively they were just better and they executed better," Doherty said. "We need to execute better offensively and work harder."

One of the few bright spots in the early part of the game was junior Charles Oliver, who scored 17 points against Elizabeth.

"He's got all the talent in the world, but sometimes he forces up shots," Doherty said. "He needs to get other players involved."

One of the players that Doherty is hoping will pick up his scoring is Patrick Dougher, who had 11 points against Elizabeth. Tim Bonacum added nine points for the Raiders, while Doran Nelson added six rebounds for the team.

But the Minutemen just had too much speed and inside scoring, as three Elizabeth players scored in double figures — Jihad Wright, P.J. Walker and Jamil Jenkins.

"You can't give up those open shots," said Doherty about the easy shots underneath.

In the first half of the game, the play of Oliver and three-point shooting of Bonacum, with a trio of threes, kept Scotch Plains in the game. The Raiders managed to get ahead with six minutes left in the second quarter, after Bonacum hit the second of his three-pointers for a 14-12 Scotch Plains lead.

The Raiders lost that lead, but managed to keep the Minutemen's advantage under double digits until two minutes remained in the third quarter. Scotch Plains' Darnell Brown hit one of two free throws to cut the Elizabeth lead to nine, 38-29, with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter. But then the Raiders saw it unravel as Elizabeth went on a six-point run, keeping Scotch Plains at bay by 15 points, 44-29, with a minute remaining in the quarter.

Oliver hit three out of four free throws in the last minute, but the Raiders were still down 46-32 heading into the fourth quarter. Elizabeth put up six of the first seven points in the fourth quarter and then the Raiders were done, down 53-33 with less than five minutes in the game.

Scotch Plains has a couple of nice battles coming up against Newark Vocational at home on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Westfield next Thursday (4 p.m.). It will be at least the second of three or more battles between Scotch Plains and Westfield. The Raiders lost 43-36 to Westfield in the recent holiday tournament. Scotch Plains hosts Westfield on Feb. 4.


Scotch Plains-Fanwood 2010 boys basketball schedule
(Games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

Jan. 9 Newark Vocational, 1 p.m.
Jan. 14 at Westfield
Jan. 19 Union Catholic
Jan. 21 Union
Jan. 23 St. Mary's-Elizabeth at Coalition Games, TBA
Jan. 26 at Linden
Jan. 28 St. Patrick's, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 Plainfield, 1 p.m.
Feb. 2 Elizabeth
Feb. 4 Westfield
Feb. 6 at Bernoski Games, TBA
Feb. 9 at Union
Feb. 11 Linden
Feb. 16 Rahway
Feb. 24 Bridgewater-Raritan, 7 p.m.