VIDEO: Middle uses shutout defensive effort in 4Q and hot shooting to hand Ocean City first loss

Posted: January 6th 2026

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Chris Pontari put the Ocean City High School boys basketball team in a good position going into the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against Middle Township by making a free throw and later a layup in the final minute of the third quarter. 

Those three points gave Ocean City a 34-32 lead going into the final quarter. It was the Raiders’ first lead of the game.

Little did anyone in Middle’s crowded gym know that those would be the last points Ocean City would score in the game.

Middle got back-to-back three-pointers from Derion Hawkins and Kanye Perkins early in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good and held Ocean City without a point in the final period to pull away for a 44-34 victory in a key Cape-Atlantic American Conference contest.

After playing mostly man-to-man defense for the first three quarters, Middle employed a 2-3 zone in the fourth. Ocean City struggled to get good looks at the basket against it.

“We like to save something for the fourth quarter if we need it,” Middle coach LaMarr Greer said. “We thought we could go to it. It helped that we got the lead right away in the beginning of the quarter so they had to play against it.”

The three-point shots by Hawkins and Perkins highlighted an excellent shooting effort by Middle, which made 17 of 31 shots from the floor overall, including 7 for 17 from three-point range. The good shooting numbers made up for the team’s 18 turnovers.

Middle had 12 assists on its 17 made field goals.

“We tell them to make your teammates better by being on time and on target with their passes,” Greer said. “Then guys are able to be in rhythm and step in and shoot it. We work on our shooting every day.”

Mason Murawski scored five of his team-high 12 points later in the fourth quarter to help Middle pull away. Chase Moore posted 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots and Perkins added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Panthers (2-3 overall, 2-0 CAL American).

It was a needed victory for Middle against a very good Raider club after losing three games to tough out-of-area competition (Lenape, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Samuel Fels, Pa.) early in the season.

“That’s why we play those tough games,” Greer said, “to get us ready for the conference.”

Luke Tjoumakaris had 13 points and six rebounds and Dean Lappin contributed 11 points, four rebounds and four steals for the Raiders (6-1, 2-1).

Ocean City was just 1 for 11 from three-point range and 5 for 12 from the foul line.