City of Basketball Love

Eugene Rapay (@erapay5)
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For the second straight year, Ridley and Conestoga met for the Central League title game.

And for the second straight time, Ridley took home the trophy.

The Raiders were dominant from start to finish en route to a 62-38 win over the Pioneers.

“It’s not easy to win a league title,” Ridley head coach Mike Snyder said. “We’ve got 12 teams in our league that are very good teams, so anytime we can get an opportunity to win a league title it’s special. It’s not easy to win one. To get two in a row is a testament to the players we’ve had.”

Not only does the win mark the Green Raiders' successful defense of their championship, but also the finishing touches on their perfect campaign in league play. It was hard enough to come back and win again, let alone do it undefeated.

Thanks to finishing the regular-season undefeated, Ridley was granted a bye into the league's final while Conestoga had to get past Strath Haven on Saturday for the right to the rematch. The rest made Snyder uneasy going into Monday night.

“I was little worried,” he said, after the game. “Sometimes, the bye isn’t helpful. I like to get out and play the game. Sometimes that can hurt a bit. I said listen we’re not here to protect our 16-0 record, we’re here to attack and that’s what our basic game plan was.”

Snyder quickly found his fears dispelled as his team raced out to a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, showing few signs of rust.

Ridley (20-1, 17-0) got off to a quick start behind the play of Brett Foster. The East Stroudsburg commit set the tone early on both ends of the court.

On one end, he was disruptive on defense, getting his hands into passing lanes to jam Conestoga’s momentum. His three steals in the first quarter allowed Ridley to keep the Pioneers (18-5, 13-5) at bay early and also create scoring opportunities on the other end.

Foster found much success attacking the basket and driving into the paint. His ability to get dribble penetration gave Conestoga fits and the Pioneers’ frustration sharply increased once he started hitting his shots from long range.

His spark early on was a preview of what was to come. He finished with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

“We just came out with a lot more energy than they did and we kind of sealed it early,” Foster said. “You always want to come out early with a lot of energy. We’ve played them before, so we were familiar with their game plan. We knew everything that they would do.”

Foster wasn’t the only one to enjoy a solid performance. Ridley’s team-oriented offensive scheme that’s dependent on ball movement allowed fellow seniors Julian Wing (17 points) and Ryan Bollinger (12 points) to make their presence felt on the scoreboard.

Once Ridley built a comfortable lead in double figures, it continued to play suffocating defense to help maintain it all throughout the game.

“We wanted to stay close to their shooters,” Wing said. “We wanted no threes.”

Conestoga was limited to only one 3-pointer that came from Andrew Larkin, but other than that the Pioneers were unable to find their shooting stroke.

Darryl Caldwell led Conestoga with 17 points, but his efforts were nowhere near enough to overcome the wide gap between both teams.

The continued attention to detail even when in front is not limited to only games and has been a recurring theme throughout the season.

According to Snyder, finding other ways to compensate for weaknesses and the team’s focus has helped spurred them to where they are now.

“Our lack of overall height that presents problems for us,” Snyder said. “We’re a small team but we’re quick. We’re fundamental. I think we’ve improved on defense as the season went on. Tonight was a good example of us just getting a little more focused and doing the little things and not letting some things slide.”

Now, with league play completely finished, Ridley turns its focus to the upcoming PIAA District 1 AAAA playoffs. The Raiders will have North Penn (9-11, 6-8 SOL Continental) to start.

With districts looming, they won’t have much time to enjoy Monday night’s win.

“They’re going to have a day off and then they’re going to come in and practice hard on Wednesday to get ready,” Snyder said.