Ryan Johnson leads th break in a win over Nottingham High School, Feb. 16, 2010. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)

With a slam dunk and a 33-point fourth quarter, in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament, Ewing High School’s boys basketball team kept chugging toward the NJSIAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils rolled over a feisty Nottingham team, 88-61 at Ewing High School, Feb. 16, 2010. The Northstars, who didn’t qualify for the state tournament, actually led second-seeded Ewing after the first quarter 19-16 thanks to a disruptive effort on defense, but the Northstars couldn’t match Ewing’s firepower down the stretch.

“We played three quarters, which is something we’ve done a lot of this year,” Nottingham assistant coach Joe Radice said. Head coach Mike Walsh was sick and couldn’t attend the game.

Nottingham had seemingly corralled Ewing’s penetration with a zone defense, but guards Daryl Griffin and Darius Nixon helped bust it with three 3-pointers apiece. Griffin led the Blue Devils with 24 points.

Ewing’s hot shooting forced Nottingham to switch to man-to-man defense, which the Blue Devils tore apart in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Northstars by 17. By the end of the game, Ewing’s defense had seemingly sunk its teeth into Nottingham, and they made turnovers and fast break scores frequent.

David Azoroh punctuated the run with a dunk that sent Blue Devils fans running onto the court in a frenzy. Fans were ejected for the outburst.

Bill Kiernan was a big part of Nottingham’s early success against Ewing. He swatted several Blue Devils drives out of bounds, afterwards clapping his hands and screaming.

“When I block a shot, I just go off, but the refs usually yell at me for it,” Kiernan said.

Radice said Kiernan has been blocking shots all season, reaching double digit rejections in a few games. Next season Radice hopes Jaheed Reid will develop into an equally potent front court force to pair with Kiernan.

“Bill’s an incredible energy guy,” Radice said. “He’s a lot of fun, he’s a great kid, he gets up and down the court and he does everything we ask of him.”

For Ewing, it was another strong result for the young team. The Blue Devils lost several players to graduation this year, but the team has posted big wins thanks to ball hawking defense.

Ewing coach Shelly Dearden has high hopes for the team, and has set winning the state tournament as the team’s goal.
“We knew we would be pretty good this year, but I think the team worked really hard,” she said.

Both teams will be looking to improve during the offseason. Only three seniors between the two squads will be graduating. The Northstars will hope to be more competitive with teams like Ewing next season.

“My expectations, along with [head coach Mike Walsh], are just to keep making progress every day,” Radice said. “We need to improve and we want to be one of the top teams in the league in defense next year. That’s our focus.”