Despite defeat in sectional final, Ewing feels like it’s back
Shelly Dearden has been around Ewing High basketball her entire life, so when she tells you there was something special about her team this season she means it.
That opinion is not going to change despite a heartbreaking end to the year.
“I’m so extremely proud of this team, so extremely proud of these guys,” Dearden said shortly after her top-seeded Blue Devils fell to second-seeded Nottingham, 78-71, in the Central Group III final on Monday night. “They fought to the very end and they didn’t give up. That’s something they should be proud of.”
It’s been quite the turnaround for the Ewing boys since Dearden returned from a brief retirement and reignited the spark that had begun to dim on one of Mercer County’s most storied high school programs.
The Blue Devils were 23-35 in the three years Dearden took a break from coaching, including 4-10 in the Covid-impacted 2020-21 season. That prompted a return to the sideline for the Hall of Famer and after a 14-9 campaign last year, Ewing, led by seniors Darnelle Forrest, Kenny Rankin and Naire Preston, took flight.
The Blue Devils began the season on a 13-game winning streak, won the CVC Valley Division title, reached the MCT semifinals and earned the top seed in the section.
“It means so much to me,” said Forrest, who scored 25 points on Monday night. “These guys, I swear, every day we come to practice and we work our butt off. Nobody can tell us they just gave this to us, we worked hard every day in the summer and offseason for it. We prepared for this, but we just fell short.”
In the sectional final for the first time since a Group III runner-up finish in 2017, and in front of a raucous home crowd at Emil Wandishin Gym, Ewing was maybe a little too amped up. Nottingham scored the game’s first 10 points, led by as many as 19 in the first half and never trailed despite the Blue Devils making a run to get as close as two in the third quarter.
“We just couldn’t get over that hump,” Dearden said. “Everybody looks at the fourth quarter, but you got to go back and look at the first and second quarter most times when you lose a game.”
“We tried our best to fight back, we just fell short,” Forrest said. “I felt like when we had the momentum going nobody could stop us.”
While Monday night’s setback will sting, Ewing finished with a 23-5 record, the most wins since that 2016-17 team went to the state final.
Just playing in that atmosphere was a sign that Blue Devils basketball is back like it never left.
“It’s a great place to be,” Dearden said. “When you play Ewing basketball this is what happens.”