Last Thursday, December 14, OP Hoops opened up against cross-town opponent Summit High School in the Morris Avenue Rivalry. As a December home opener, this game was designated as Oratory’s annual Hypemas — one of the strongest ongoing traditions in OP Sports. With the Rowdies packing the stands, Coach Daughtery’s squad came out red hot in front of the roaring crowd. After starting the game on a 16-1 run, the Rams would finish the first quarter up 24-10. Oratory’s early offensive outburst was fueled by John Pirone’s 4-of-5 shooting from behind the arc to give him 12 of OP’s 24 Q1 points. Asher Bradley’s crafty interior scoring would then propel the Rams to a dominant 37-20 half-time lead. The half was capped off by a Rowdie masterclass, with Summit PG Matt Caplan being so intimidated by the noise that he went 0-3 from the stripe, including an airball that frankly wasn’t even close.
Despite the vast amounts of momentum that concluded the 2nd quarter, the swift yet calm and composed offense displayed in the first half would prove to be absent for an overwhelming majority of the game’s final quarters. Only scoring 12 points in the last 16 minutes, including various unforced errors, the Rams would rely on their defense to hold on and escape the upset. The obvious reason for the offensive differential between the two halves was the output of Asher Bradley. Battling an apparent affliction to the lower leg, the junior guard admirably fought to stay in the game, but understandably could not produce the same statistically. While Bradley remarkably forced the game-winning turnover in the game’s final seconds in spite of the injury, the Rams will need better than a single-digit total of points scored by players not named Asher Bradley or John Pirone, who each tallied 20 points. Although there was an excessive difference between the offensive highs and lows, the Rams still exhibited perseverance to squeak out the title of “Kings of Summit”, and had multiple momentum that illustrated the team’s potential for this season. John Pirone was awarded with the Player of the Game Chain, and OP advanced to a record of 1-0.
