Ewing beats Ocean City, will play for state title
No one said it would be easy.
Like every matchup has been between the Ewing and Ocean City High girls’ basketball teams have seemed through the years, nothing ever seems to be.
The South Jersey champion Red Raiders clawed their way back to tie the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletics Association Group III Tournament semifinal at Deptford High Thursday.
But with Joi Johnson, Rhian Stokes and Shawnae Biggs taking control, the Central Jersey champion Blue Devils were able to regain control of the game the rest of the way to grab a 5544 win and a spot in Sunday’s Group III state final at the RWJBarnabas Center on the campus of Toms River High North (at a time to be announced).
“It feels good to get this win. They were tough,” Ewing’s six-foot junior forward Johnson said. “I’m one of the oldest, so the team looks to me when things get difficult.”
Johnson had a little extra stake in the game since her mother had played for OC’s head coach Stephanie Gaitley at St. Joseph’s University. Little did either Johnson know that Joi would end up playing such a big part until 5-9 junior lead guard Stokes picked up her fourth foul with 2:21 left in the first half. Johnson went on to score a game-high 20 points with 16 of those coming in the second half. Seven of those came in the fourth quarter, all after the Red Raiders tied the game at 41 on a drive by Maddy Monteleone with 4:14 left.
Stokes, who had re-entered for the final eight minutes, also scored seven points in the final quarter, and Biggs hit a pair of free throws late to secure Ewing’s first trip to a state final since 2018.
“When Rhian went out, we knew they were going to press us, so me, Te’Yala (Delfosse) and Shawnae had to control the ball, score on offense and play tight defense,” Johnson said.
Delfosse came close to handling the problems by scoring 17 points in the first three quarters to pull within three points of 1,000 for her career.
The milestone never happened, however, and Stokes, who finished with 16 points, was badly needed in the final stanza.
“With or without Rhian on the court, we knew we were going to have to play harder to beat them,” said Johnson, who also grabbed 15 rebounds.
She worked hard against senior Tori Vliet, who led Ocean City with 16 points and four 3-point field goals, to help the Blue Devils, who hit 18-of-20 foul shots, outscore the Red Raiders, 14-3 down the stretch.
OCEAN CITY (44)
MAdamson 3-1-8, Monteleone 1-2-4, AJackson 2-3-9, Vliet 6-0-16, Chisholm 3-0-7, Morton 0-0-0, Nnewihe 0-0-0. Totals — 15-6-44.
EWING (55)
JJohnson 6-7-20, Stokes 5-5-16, Delfosse 6-4-17, Biggs 0-2-2, Durham 0-0-0, MMiller 0-0-0, TWilliams 0-0-0. Totals — 17-18-55. OceanCity(23-7) 9 12 12 11
— 44
Ewing (29-3)
— 55
3-point goals — MAdamson, AJackson 2, Vliet 4, Chisholm (OC), JJohnson, Stokes, Delfosse (E).