Ridge Hangs Tough, But Falls to One of State's Elite

At times, what’s left on the scoreboard at the end of a game is not what a team takes home with them.

On Tuesday night, the Ridge High School boys basketball team was left with the end result with of a 62-56 loss to Gill St. Bernard’s School from Peapack and Gladstone. But in the greater spectrum of the entire basketball season, the Red Devils proved they will be a team to be feared and reckoned with.

Those who were inside Ridge’s gymnasium saw an evenly played game between Red Devils and Gill's Knights, ranked as one of the state’s best teams.

The Red Devils dropped the nip-and-tuck affair to their fellow Skyland Delaware Division brethren and their record drops to 5-6 overall, and 4-3 in the division. The Knights moved up to a 10-2 record and an undefeated 6-0 in the Delaware Division.

“We've got a great team,” said Red Devils Coach Mark Taylor. “We’re probably the best 5-6 team in the state right now.

“We played great competition and (have) gone toe-to-toe with everybody," Taylor said. "We gave Gill everybody they can handle tonight but (Jaren) Sina made some big shots — give the kid credit,” Taylor said of the opposition's player.

True to their coach’s words, the Red Devils mounted a spirited comeback to begin the fourth quarter. Ridge was then trailing 47-40 but led by the hot-shooting of senior guard Conor Skea, who drained two 3-pointers early in the fourth, the Red Devils got back into the game.

After Skea’s connections, senior forward J.B. Kole drained a corner jumper to tie the game at 49-all with a little under four minutes left in the game.

But then, Gill’s star player Jaren Sina drained two consecutive 3-pointers that lifted the Knights to a six-point lead at 55-49. The Knights tacked on free throws to offset another Ridge comeback attempt. Skea scored nine of his team-leading 17 points in the fourth. Sina scored 24 for the game, 18 of which came in the first half.

“We know we’re just as good as them,”  junior guard Jack Kerwin said later. “We have to find a way to close out these games against the ranked teams.”         

The close losses to some of the state’s best teams this year, among them a 70-63 overtime loss to Plainfield on Saturday and 44-42 setback to Hillsborough a week ago, has left the Red Devils confident in their ability to eventually pull out these games when the stakes are raised, especially in the Somerset County Tournament.

“We've got a really good team and we all know that  — that’s the number four team in the state and we were right there,” Jack Kerwin said. “We outplayed Plainfield and they are a top 20 in the state and we’ve been fighting back in those games.”

The Kerwin twins  —Jack and Dylan —along with Gill’s Sina displayed a shooting match at the beginning of the game. Jack Kerwin kick-started the game with a 3-pointer, Sina followed with a jumper, and Dylan Kerwin answered with a 3-pointer for Ridge.

Five minutes into the game, Ridge had a 15-11 lead. Jack and Dylan Kewin combined forces to score 13 of the team’s first 15 points. Overall, Jack scored 12 points in the game and Dylan chipped in with nine.

“We are getting better and better each game,” Dylan Kerwin said. “It’s frustrating not getting the win but all you can ask for is to get better and once we get into the counties and states, if we keep improving like this in every every game, we’ll be in good shape.”

The hot-shooting by both teams continued in the second quarter and Red Devils took a 35-33 lead into the locker room. What was impressive for Ridge in the second quarter was the number of players who scored. Six different players  —Dylan Kerwin, Eric Thomas, J.D. Moore, Brett Matzen, Kole, and Skea — scored points for the Red Devils in the quarter.

“Everybody is contributing right now who plays,” Taylor observed later. “We’re getting more focused, we’re executing better on offense and we’re taking better care of the ball."

Taylor added, "Thomas, Brett, and J.D. are giving us good minutes. We've got a nice little rotation going.”

Despite another hot shooting quarter by Gill in the third, which was highlighted by four 3-pointers by Knights’ guard Alex Mitola, who scored 16 points in the game, Ridge managed to mount its comeback in the fourth.

As Ridge looks forward to their next stern test, Franklin Township, on the road Thursday night at 7 p.m., one new player – senior Larry Traynham -- will be in uniform for the Red Devils.

“Larry is a transfer student. He becomes eligible and he’s another guard,” said Taylor.  

Thus, despite another close loss to a highly-touted team, the Red Devils, according to Coach Taylor, are still in position for potential greatness as the season marches on.

“Right now, I really like where we are at,” said Taylor. “It’s hard not to get frustrated but measuring success — you can measure it in so many ways.

“We’re successful the last three games, it’s making us so much better but I tell you, if we keep up this pace, we’re going to be very good the second half of the season," Taylor said.