VIDEO: LaBarre’s big late baskets help Raiders rally past surging WCA

Posted: December 14th 2023

Charlie LaBarre scored two critical baskets in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points to help Ocean City to a 66-61 win over Wildwood Catholic .

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

OCEAN CITY – There was no lack of excitement when the new high school boys basketball season opened at Ocean City High School.

The Raiders squandered an 11-point halftime lead before rallying from a three-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Wildwood Catholic, 66-61, in the season opener for both teams Thursday evening.

Dylan Schlatter’s three-pointer with 4:30 to go tied the game at 52 before Kori Segich gave the Raiders the lead for good with two free throws with 3:49 remaining.

Shortly thereafter, Charlie LaBarre put the Raiders in control with difficult baskets in the lane on consecutive possessions, the second while also being fouled. He made the free throw to cap a decisive 10-1 run for the Raiders.

“Charlie is our X-factor in that you don’t really know what you’re going to get out of him,” Ocean City coach John Bruno said. “Sometimes he can be spectacular and sometimes he can drive you crazy but he always plays hard and he got us two big baskets tonight.”

LaBarre finished with 15 points, scoring seven of them in the fourth quarter.

Helped along by 12 Wildwood Catholic turnovers that led to many easy baskets, Ocean City raced out to a 36-25 halftime lead as Kori Segich tallied 16 first-half points for the Raiders.

But three three-pointers from Charlie Dunner and good second-half performance by Alex Daniel, who had 14 of his 16 points in the second half, fueled the Crusaders, who went on a 27-13 surge to take their three-point lead with less than five minutes to play before the Raiders rallied.

Wildwood Catholic made 10 of 17 three-point attempts in the loss.

“I thought we took too many quick shots and it was a lot of jump shots, not drives trying to get to the basket,” Bruno said. “We have to learn how to play with a lead. We kept shooting quick and with the way they shot threes, that got them back in the game.”

Dunner (14), Pat Bean (11) and Kelshaun Russell (10) were also each in double figures for Wildwood Catholic, which played without two rotation players due to illness.

Ocean City shot 13 for 15 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Segich led the Raiders with 21 points and Schlatter added 20 points and five steals.

Despite his team losing a brief lead in the fourth quarter, Wildwood Catholic coach Will Wareham rued his team’s first-half struggles with controlling the basketball as the difference in the game, the Crusaders committing 12 turnovers in the first half compared to just four in the second.

“That was the biggest difference,” Wareham said. “They were able to impose their will on us a little bit in the first half and we turned the ball over too much and you can’t do that. I thought we did a great job battling back and taking the lead but we just couldn't close it out. They shot 13 for 15 from the line in the fourth quarter and we gave up 20 points in that fourth quarter. You’re not going to win games if you give up 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“The one thing I can leave here being OK with was our effort because that never went away. Down 11 at halftime, with some guys out, we could have put our tail between our legs in the second half and gone home but we didn’t do that.”