 High School Basketball:
West Deptford Upsets Paulsboro
Saturday, January 26, 2002
By Jerome Michaels
SJSports Special Correspondent
It was a game that on paper, the odds were stacked against your team. Most people tend to measure an event by looking at the records, using that to determine the outcome of a game. Paulsboro (11-3) were in third place in the Colonial Conference while West Deptford (9-5) was in fifth. For this game, West Deptford ignored that theory and defeated the Paulsboro Red Raiders at home by the score of 63-47.
Early on, the Eagles used their motion offense with success jumping out to a 7-3 lead. On the defensive side of their game, West Deptford kept the Red Raiders from getting any good shots from the field. In the first quarter alone, Paulsboro only took seven shots and made three to fall behind 16-8 after one. The Raiders leading scorer Russell Carter did not take a single shot in the first quarter and ended the half with only two points. The Eagles had better success converting on Paulsboro's ten turnovers in the half. Terohn Howell came off the bench to give the Eagles a spark on route to a 15 point lead at the half.
That must of have been some half time speech by Red Raiders' coach Mike Richey as they finally began shooting the ball. Their twenty shot attempts in the third quarter surpassed the total they had in the first half. Paulsboro went on a 12-6 run behind the shooting of Joel Rone and Russell Carter to narrow their deficit to 35-26. Paulsboro was only five points behind going into the final quarter.
West Deptford didn't not get panic as they used a balanced scoring attack to pull away from their opponents. The Eagles raised their divisional record to 6-5 with the win. Tom Walls had a game high 17 points, Tim Long added 14 points while Gus Rivera ended with 10 points for West Deptford. Paulsboro was lead by Joel Rone with 15 points, Yahmeen Johnson added 11 points and Russell Carter chipped in 10 points.
Photos by Art Redd
      
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High School Basketball:
