Nottingham’s defense carries it to state final

BRICK >> This year’s underdog Nottingham boys basketball team is shining a prime example of how far stout defense can carry you.

All the way to a state championship game, to be exact.

The Northstars put the clamps down on Moorestown on Wednesday night at Brick Memorial, and the result was a 56-49 win in the Group III state semifinals.

Nottingham (22-8) is heading to its second state final in program history and will take on Ramapo (29-3) on Saturday at Rutgers at a time still to be determined.

“I’m still speechless, man,” said senior guard JP Dickerson, who led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 21 points. “Yes, definitely, we were very counted out and I’m proud of how far we came, but we’re not finished. We have unfinished business to handle.”

Fresh off winning the program’s second sectional title Monday night at Ewing, Nottingham played like a team that was unsatisfied to simply make it further than anyone predicted.

After two ties and four lead changes in the first quarter, the Northstars took over in the second quarter by limiting Moorestown (23-8) to 2-for-13 shooting on field goals and holding a 16-7 advantage in rebounds to lead 27-14 at halftime.

“We came in here and we knew that our defense is one of the main keys to our game,” Dickerson said. “We wanted to definitely switch it up and throw a couple things at them.”

Nottingham kept Moorestown out of rhythm by mostly mixing between man and its 1-3-1 zone. The Quakers shot about 38 percent from the field overall, which was particularly detrimental considering they also shot merely 5-for-18 on free throws.

“(Nottingham) came out with some energy,” Moorestown coach Shawn Anstey said. “I think our kids looked a little nervous early on. We missed a lot of our shots, missed a lot of our foul shots, and just made some uncharacteristic turnovers early. They played solid D, but they capitalized on our mistakes and our missed shots early on.”

Senior TJ Keese added nine points and four big free throws, while senior Joe Lemly and Dante Alexander each contributed eight points and two 3-pointers to help the Northstars space the floor and open up a 36-16 lead with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Senior Leo Hinshillwood paced Moorestown with 14 points including four 3-pointers — three in the fourth quarter — to fuel a 21-8 run that cut Nottingham’s lead to 52-49 with 53 seconds left. The Northstars committed seven turnovers in the final eight minutes.

“We went to a little extended 2-3 zone,” Anstey said. “Our guys kind of woke up a little bit when we did that. Our man-to-man is usually our bread and butter, but I think we were on our heels a little bit. So went to 2-3 and we were able to create some turnovers, some quick shots and some bad shots. We had some steals, and then we were able to capitalize.”

Nottingham responded with two clutch free throws by Alexander in a one-and-one situation, Moorestown bricked a pair and then Dickerson added two more free throws with 26 ticks remaining for the final margin.

Defensively, Dickerson was also key in slowing down senior David Gheysens. Moorestown’s top scoring threat finished with only seven points. But he also had to leave the game late in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle and then gutted it out in the fourth quarter with three points during the Quakers’ big rally.

“We just had to calm down. Definitely play our game and not let them speed us up,” Dickerson said. “Coach called a timeout, told us to breathe and that if we play our game and pass through the defense and not try to dribble through, because I did try to dribble through a couple times. He said look opposite and we’ll be open.”

The heart-pounding final few minutes in which both student sections were going ballistic was reminiscent of when Nottingham won in overtime at Moorestown in the Central Jersey Group III sectional final back in 2018.

Nottingham captured its first state title that year, so Anstey has respect for the program that coach Chris Raba has built.

Moorestown has been equally impressive the last few years and won its first state crown in 2019. The Quakers were battletested for this game after moving to the Olympic Conference this season and playing a tough schedule, which was a big reason why Nottingham had to hold on for dear life in the end.

“Five years ago we had a great game, and both teams, both programs I think are very good,” Anstey said. “They’re well-coached, and it showed. Our guys battled to the end. We didn’t give it up, got it to three points. They have some pretty good athletes who can finish at the basket, but both programs are pretty solid Group III teams.”