Delran High School’s Dennis Vittese lines up a corner jump shot while he is guarded by Holy Cross Prep’s Manny Doku during a thrilling, overtime game won by the Lancers, 57-50, on Feb. 15.
More than 100 people filed into the Holy Cross Prep gymnasium on Feb. 15 for a crosstown rivalry basketball game between the Freedom Division Champion Delran High team, with its 17-5 season record, and the Lancers, whose record is 17-6.
Fans were on the edge of their seats for most the game as the two teams battled to a 48-48 tie at the end of regulation play. Forced overtime saw the Lancers go seven for eight at the foul line for a 57-50 victory.
The pace was fast and furious from the opening tip with Delran’s Bears, coached by Orick Smith, playing a tough, man-to-man defense and Holy Cross, coached by Marcus Bullock, a swarming zone defense. After defensive rebounds, both teams tried fast breaks and moved the ball around quickly on offense looking for open shots.
Holy Cross opened the scoring with two quick buckets by Manny Doku – including a layup after a great pass from Joey Martino – and the Bears answered with baskets by David Reissman and Jack Jordan.
Liam Nesemeier made two foul shots and Doku scored on an inbounds play for the Lancers, and Delran’s Reissman buried a three pointer. The quarter ended with Uche Onunkwo making a steal and racing down the court for a layup and a 10-7 Holy Cross lead after a first quarter that featured strong defense.
The offenses caught fire in the second quarter as the teams scored 32 combined points. The Lancers notched the first 11 points as Jordan Owens hit a three-pointer followed by a steal and fast break layup, and Martino scored twice on two drives to the hoop and made two foul shots for a 21-7 lead.
Delran’s Dennis Vittese made two foul shots after driving hard to the basket, and Onunkwo answered with a three-pointer from the corner for a 24-9 lead. The Bears came roaring back as Jordan hit a three-pointer, Shane Kingsmore nailed a short jumper, Andrew Reim made two foul shots and Jordan went tough to the hoop for a bucket.
Holy Cross then got a put-back bucket by Doku after getting an offensive rebound. The quarter ended with Jordan making three of four foul shots and a great steal by Reissman as the Bears clawed back into the game and trailed, 28-21, at halftime.
Jordan and Reim both scored on layups to open the third quarter, and Holy Cross answered with two buckets from the low post by Doku and a driving layup by Joey Martino. Vittese calmly buried a three pointer for the Bears, but Owens answered with a powerful drive to put the Lancers up, 37-28.
Delran then amped up the offense as Jordan scored on a hard drive and made the foul shot for a traditional three-point play, and then buried three more foul shots after being harassed while trying to make a three-pointer from long range. Vittese scored on a powerful drive to the hoop and the Bears were back in the game, trailing 39-36.
Doku made a foul line jumper for the Lancers, and Delran’s Jackson Veneziano scored on a hard driving layup and the third quarter ended with Holy Cross leading, 42-38.
In the fourth quarter both teams played tremendous, fundamental defense. Baskets were hard to come by and the crowd roared after every play or call by an official. After Onunkwo sank two foul shots, Reissman nailed a three-pointer and Jordan made a great pass to Vittese, who scored on a hard drive and made his foul shot. The next time down the court Vittese made a jumper and Delran took the lead, 46-44.
Tony Kelly then made two pressure-free throws to tie the game with 2:45 left in the quarter. The defense for both teams took over, and in the furious last minutes, the only baskets were by Reissman and Noku as the game headed to overtime.
Again the defenses ruled. Martino grabbed an offensive rebound and scored under the basket and Nesemeier made two clutch foul shots to give Holy Cross a 52-48 lead. With 33 seconds left, Vittese made a corner jumper to cut the lead to two, but the Lancers then made five of six free throws for the 57-50 win.
The thrilling game was a warmup for the state basketball playoffs. Delran won its first Freedom Division Championship in history with a 55-45 win over Florence on Feb. 12, as Andrew Reim had a team-high 19 points and six rebounds. The Bears will play Robbinsville in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Group 2 playoffs on Feb. 27.
Holy Cross received a bye in the first round of the South Parochial B playoffs, and will play the winner of the Holy Spirit vs. Moorestown Friends game in the second round on March 3.
