HMHS Boys Basketball: Dawgs’ offense isn’t Spartan
By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today
While I saw all three of the Haddonfield boys basketball games this past week, I only attended one in person—the matchup versus the Hawks at Haddon Township. And, as it turns out, that was the one to be in the stands for. It was also the middle game of the week, and the one I’m going to focus on the most. But, first I will highlight the Colonial Liberty game at Paulsboro on 1/20 and the nonleague game at Holy Spirit on 1/24.
The Dawgs gave the Red Raiders a tough time when they came to town on Dec. 18, beating them handily 69–45. Now it was time to play on the Raiders’ turf. The first quarter was pretty even. Although the Dawgs jumped out to a 5–0 start on two field goals and a foul shot by senior Chris Beane, the Raiders answered with a 3 and two foul shots of their own to even it at 5 with about 5 minutes on the clock. Beane scored two more times before Paulsboro got 2 back from the foul line. Every time Paulsboro started getting close to tying it, the Dawgs (and unless otherwise noted, when I say “the Dawgs” I mean Beane) would score.
With 2:30 on the clock, Paulsboro hit its second 3 of the quarter, making it 14–12, Haddonfield. That’s when someone other than the very hot Beane got the ball in the net. Senior Michael Douglas’ field gold made it 16–12 before a steal and a bucket by, you guessed it, Beane, upped the advantage to 18–12 with 2 and change left in the 1st. The Raiders then scored 6 unanswered points, four from the line and then a field goal, to knot it at 18 with 16 seconds left. Just ahead of the buzzer, Beane swooshed in his second trey of the game, putting the Dawgs back on top 21–18. (That 3 meant that Beane himself outscored Paulsboro by 1, 19–18.)
That 3-point deficit was as close as the Red Raiders would get the rest of the night. In the second, other Dawgs picked up the scoring, as the team put 17 more on the board. At the half, Haddonfield was ahead by 9, 38–29. After 3, the lead had expanded to double digits, 57–43, and when the final horn sounded, the Dawgs had beaten the Raiders by 20, 72–52.
Not only did the Raiders have a rough night, so did the scoreboard operator toward the end of the game. A little more than halfway through the 4th, as I was keeping an eye on the small shot of the scoreboard that appears in the bottom left corner of HUDL streams, I suddenly realized what I had as the Dawgs’ points and what it had were not the same. “What did I miss?” I said to myself and rewound the feed. I must have done that six times and still couldn’t figure out how Haddonfield had gotten extra points. Finally, I stopped rewinding and started watching the now not live feed. It turns out that within a 40-second span of play, the points changed three times before reverting to what I had had originally in my book. So maybe it was a good thing I wasn’t at the game myself, as I may have charged the scorer’s table!
As for the players scoring, on-fire Beane reached double digits in each half, finishing with 33 points. Douglas added 14 and junior Ryan Guveiyian put up 10.
Quarter Scores:
1st: Haddonfield, 21, Paulsboro, 18
2nd: Haddonfield, 17, Paulsboro, 11
Half: Haddonfield, 38, Paulsboro, 29
3rd: Haddonfield, 19, Paulsboro, 14
4th: Haddonfield, 15, Paulsboro, 9
Final: Haddonfield, 72, Paulsboro, 52
Player Scores:
Chris Beane: 33
Michael Douglas: 14
Ryan Guveiyian: 10
Ethan Miller: 5
Mike Mooney: 4
Jack McKeever: 4
John Scipione: 2
Saturday, the Dawgs traveled down to Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, which is about an hour’s drive. It was another noon game, and this time I was sitting in front of my computer screen again instead of on a hard bench, hoping there would be a better outcome than the previous Saturday noon game versus Kingsway Regional at Paul Vi.
In my opinion, out of all the games I’ve seen so far this season, the Dawgs and the Spartans seemed pretty evenly matched. Both teams could do pressure defense. Both had good ball handlers. Both could drive to the basket and make outside shots. In the first quarter, after the Dawgs got a quick 2 off a steal from (who else?) Chris Beane, the Spartans tied it a few plays later. Ryan Guveiyian got fouled going up and in and made 1–2 from the line, putting the Dawgs up by 1, 3–2. After another basket by the Spartans flipped the lead to Holy Spirit, Guveiyian went up and in and this time the ball found the net. He was also fouled again and made his shot, so with 3:45 on the clock, the Dawgs were back up by 2, 6–4, but only briefly.
As quickly as Holy Spirit tied it at 6, Beane put the Dawgs back on top by 2, 8–6. However, the Spartans scored the next 4 points, two from the line and 2 from the field, putting them up by 2, 10–8, when the 1st quarter ended.
To start the second quarter, the Spartans would rattle off 7 straight points on a pair of 2’s and a trey, putting them up by 9, 17–8. At this point, I confess, I was starting to wonder if this was going to turn into another bad Saturday loss for the Dawgs, especially after their intense and physical game on Thursday. Beane, however, scored 4 straight, 2 from the line and then off a drive, closing the gap to 5, 12–17. A basket by the Spartans made it a 7-point advantage with 5:15 on the clock. (I will add that I had a very hard time reading the clock on this HUDL feed, which showed up in red against a red background, so I often had to make a guess when I was scribbling down the play-by-play action.)
After the Spartans missed both shots from the foul line, senior Chase Stadler hit both of his, getting the Dawgs back to within 5, 14–19. Holy Spirit had to call a timeout because they couldn’t inbound the ball and then missed their next scoring attempt. Beane pulled down the defensive board and Guveiyian drove hard in the paint for 2. Now it was 16–19. Beane almost stole the ball, but the Spartans committed a foul, so it was the same result: Dawg ball. Beane dished it to Guveiyian, and this basket put the Dawgs within 1, 18–19, with (I think) 2:55 left in the half.
The Dawgs would go back in front, 21–19, on a 3 from Stadler. He would send a pretty jumper into the net on Haddonfield’s next possession. Meanwhile, the Spartans, who had gone cold after going up 19–12 in the middle of the quarter, still couldn’t score. When the halftime buzzer sounded, Haddonfield had gone from being down as much as 9 to being up by 4, 23–19.
In the 3rd quarter, the Dawgs outscored the Spartans 12–6 and were ahead by 10, 35–25, going into the last 8 minutes of play. The Spartans got to within 6, 35–20, getting the first 4 points on a foul shot and a 3, but that was as close as it got. While the Dawgs got those 4 points back, this would be the lowest-scoring quarter for both sides, as each only added 5 to their tally. When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had maintained that 10-point edge and won by a score of 40–30.
Quarter Scores:
1st: Haddonfield, 8, Holy Spirit, 10
2nd: Haddonfield, 15, Holy Spirit, 9
Half: Haddonfield, 23, Holy Spirit, 19
3rd: Haddonfield, 12, Holy Spirit, 6
4th: Haddonfield, 5, Holy Spirit, 5
Final: Haddonfield, 40, Holy Spirit, 30
Player Scores:
Chase Stadler: 9
Chris Beane: 8
Ryan Guveiyian: 8
Michael Douglas: 7
John Scipione: 4
Mike Mooney: 2
Jack McKeever: 2
So, that covers the Dawgs’ first and third games of the week, leaving the Thursday, Jan. 22 game at Haddon Township. The past two seasons, the Dawgs and the Hawks have been in different Colonial divisions, the Patriot and Liberty, respectively. That means the two teams only go up against each other once during the regular season. Last year, you may—unpleasantly—recall that the Hawks upended the Dawgs at home, upsetting them by 4, 49–45. Now, a day shy of 1 year later, the Dawgs were hoping to ruffle some feathers at the Hawks’ nest.
Haddonfield won the tipoff, but despite a nice drive, did not score. Haddon Township got fouled in the act of shooting and made both foul shots to take the early, 2–0 lead with less than a minute having ticked off the clock. The Dawgs kept missing shots but getting the offensive board their next possession, and one paid off as Michael Douglas drove in for a layup, tying the game at the 5:31 mark.
Neither team scored on the next few trips up and down the court, but thanks to a pilfered ball, Douglas went cross court to score another bucket to put the Dawgs up 4–2 with 3:48 on the clock. The Hawks tied it a play later and also got fouled, but did not make the shot from the line, keeping it 4 all. Mike Mooney pulled down two offensive boards, the second one resulting in a basket by Mooney off a feed by Ryan Guveiyian, putting the Dawgs back up by 2, 6–4. The Hawks didn’t score, the Dawgs didn’t convert from the foul line, the Hawks retook the lead 6–7 off a trey with just under 2 on the clock.
Guveiyian got another assist under the Dawgs basket, this time setting up John Scipione for 2. Scipione was fouled in the process and his basket off the line pushed the Dawgs back in front 9–7 with 1:28 to go. Guveiyian and Douglas’ tough “D” led to a pickoff and a Guveiyian field goal, but the Hawks answered with their own 2, with about 42 seconds left. The last bucket of the quarter came off a feed to Jack McKeever from Douglas and as the horn sounded, the Dawgs were up by 4, 13–9.
In the second 8 minutes, helped by a trio of treys by the “Mikes”—one by Mooney and two by Douglas—the Dawgs put up 13 points to the Hawks’ 7 and took a 10-point, 26–16 lead into the locker room. In the third quarter, the Hawks actually outscored the Dawgs by 1, but going into the final 8 minutes, Haddonfield was still ahead by 9, 37–28.
Because I still have half a driveway to shovel (I’m sure if I lived in Haddonfield instead of Voorhees, I’d have plenty of Dawg players coming round and offering to do this for me for free, right guys??) I am going to cut to the last part of the 4th when things really got dicey for the Dawgs. With 3:10 left on the clock after a nice pass from Guveiyian to McKeever, the Dawgs were up by 9, 41–32. On their next possession, the Hawks hit a 3, cutting the Dawgs’ lead to 6, 41–35, with 2:54 left in regulation.
More than a minute went by before the Hawks got a 2 to get to within 4, 41–37. Douglas drove in the lane for 2, to the relief of the Dawgs’ fans, putting Haddonfield back up by 6, 43–37, with 1:26 on the clock. After another 3 by the Hawks, it was suddenly a one-possession, 43–40, game with 1:14 to go in the quarter. The Dawgs got to the foul line but came up empty at the 47.3 mark. Then the Hawks swooshed in another 3. The game was now tied at 43 with 27 seconds on the clock.
Haddonfield fans were now more than a bit nervous. However, the young man behind me, who I had been having running conversation with for the second half (he is a ref himself, and I think comes to games to observe and learn and to be supportive of the people in black stripes) had been hoping for OT. As neither team could get that final basket to secure the W, he got his wish.
Overtime puts 4 minutes back on the clock and starts with a jump ball. Douglas went up as the ball was tossed and succeeded in tipping the ball to Scipione. Scipione passed it back, and Douglas put the ball in the net to give the Dawgs that important first score of OT.
Haddon Township got called for a travel (the player slipped on the court), but Haddonfield could not take advantage of getting the ball back and did not score. On its next trip down the court, the Hawks did, and with 2:18 on the clock. Douglas responded with another basket, and again the Dawgs went up by 2, 47–45, with 1:24 on the clock. After Haddonfield knocked the ball out of bounds, Haddon Township could not get an open pass to put the ball inbounds and had to call a timeout. That worked and not only did their next attempt to put the ball in play succeed, it also resulted in the field goal that knotted the game at 49 all with—whoops, I did not mark down the time here. Not only that, the next thing I wrote down is illegible—and that’s saying a lot for me, as my handwriting is bad to begin with
What happened next, though, was that with 7.9 on the clock, Douglas drove in for what looked like a basket. Except he was called for an offensive foul, so no points went up on the board. I thought I showed great restraint when “junior ref” yelled “good call, good call,” as I refrained from turning around and whacking him with my scorebook. A lot happened in those last 7.9 seconds, but what didn’t was a score. So, yup, the Dawgs and the Hawks were heading into double OT.
Speaking of my scorebook, while it has a column for OT, it does not have one for double OT, so I had to improvise a bit. Meanwhile, as he prepared to do his third jump ball of the game, I thought Douglas exhibited great sportsmanship by smiling at the ref who was getting ready to once more toss the ball in the air. Douglas again got the ball into the hands of Scipione. And then Mooney, who had been showing signs of either leg cramps or the after-effects of going down hard on the court late in the game, leapt up, got the offensive board, and scored.
That put the Dawgs up by 12, 49–47, with only 6 seconds gone, and in the next 2:54, it was all Dawgs. Douglas made a foul shot, Guveiyian went up and in off a pass from Scipione, Beane sunk two from the foul line, and then so did Douglas. And in between, the Hawks just couldn’t find the net. When the final horn blew, 8 minutes later than it would normally have, the Dawgs had won by 9, 56–47. Ironically, it was almost like the last 16 minutes never happened, since the Dawgs went into the 4th up by 9.
I was really proud of the boys for hanging in and winning. When they gave up the lead in the 4th, it felt like the momentum had switched to the Hawks, but the Dawgs toughed it out. Michael Douglas, who accounted for 7 of the Dawgs’ 13 OT points, finished with 22 and looked as wrung out as I have ever seen him. But he was smiling—make that grinning—despite how exhausted he must have felt. No one else reached double digits for the Dawgs, but Mike Mooney had 9; Jack McKeever, who, if I haven’t mentioned it before, plays really tough D, especially under the opposing teams’ basket, had 8. Chris Beane and Ryan Guveiyian each had 6. It was really a huge team effort.
Quarter Scores:
1st: Haddonfield, 13, Haddon Township, 9
2nd: Haddonfield, 13, Haddon Township, 7
Half: Haddonfield, 26 Haddon Township, 16
3rd: Haddonfield, 11, Haddon Township, 12
4th: Haddonfield, 6, Haddon Township, 15
1st OT: Haddonfield, 4, Haddon Township, 4
2nd OT: Haddonfield, 9, Haddon Township, 0
Final: Haddonfield, 56, Haddon Township, 47
Player Scores:
Michael Douglas: 22
Mike Mooney: 9
Jack McKeever: 8
Chris Beane: 6
Ryan Guveiyian 6
John Scipione: 3
Ethan Miller: 2
The Dawgs are now 13–3 overall, undefeated at 9–0 in Colonial Conference play, with a 6–0 record in the Liberty division. Weather permitting, it will be Senior Night at Haddonfield on Tuesday, 1/ 27 as the Dawgs host West Deptford. Next, also at home, the Silver Knights of Sterling come in on Thursday, 1/29. Both games are at 7. The week finishes with the Dawgs participating in the Jeff Coney Classic on Saturday, 1/31. They go up against St. Augustine Prep with the game scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.