OP Varsity Basketball Mid-to-Late Season Update

Tyler Maloney

Tyler Maloney

Will DeMilt, Staff Writer

With five more games left in the season (excluding county and state games), the Oratory Prep basketball team has compiled a strong 9-7 record. The team, who is without senior Captain Casey McKee, has caught fire the past couple of games winning the last four of five.

On January 22nd, the team traveled to Hillside in a crucial conference game. Junior Peter Byrne led all scorers with 19 points while sophomore Chris Morrison added 10 points. The team who was up at half 25-17, went down in the third quarter 34-30. However, the team pulled it together in the fourth quarter allowing Hillside to only score eight points. The team came out with a victory winning the game 46-42.  

Two days later, the team played another conference game versus Dayton at home. The team trailed in the first half allowing just 7 points on defense while putting up 28 points on offense.  The team carried its momentum to the third and fourth quarter where they closed out the game allowing just 29 points to Dayton while scoring 54 on offense. The offensive burst was lead by Tommy Conniff and Tyler Maloney who each scored 13 points apiece. Declan McKee also posted a solid performance putting up 10 points to contribute to the team’s win.

On January 31st, the team traveled to David Brearley High School to play in yet another conference game. At the end of the first half, Brealey was up by two trailing Oratory 23-22. However, a strong third quarter performance put the Rams back on top 33-29. When the fourth quarter came around, the team used the momentum gained from the previous quarter to put the foot on the gas and shut down Brearley. Peter Byrne, Declan McKee, and Lucas Pavlousnis all had 9 points apiece while Tommy Conniff added 6 points to contribute to the total of 43 points.

Last Friday, the team had a home game versus Roselle Park that was highly anticipated by the OP Rowdies.  The Rams came out of the gates strong as they took a commanding 19-9 lead at the end of the first half. This momentum carried on as the Rams only allowed 27 points on defense while scoring a whopping 69 points on offense. The offensive charge was led by a slew of players who all contributed 10 points or more. These players were Peter Byrne, Tommy Conniff, and Declan McKee.  

Overall, the Rams are rolling and are in first place in the conference. With the previous wins, the Rams are in a very good position for the upcoming Union County Tournament which has Oratory (17 seed) playing a very strong New Providence (8 seed) in the first round. The OP Rowdies should keep their eyes peeled and prepare to get rowdy as the team plays rival New Prov later this week.