Victorious Westtown gets earful from its coach
By NEIL GEOGHEGAN
WESTTOWN – There were a few anxious moments on the court for the ultra-talented Westtown boys’ basketball squad on Wednesday against visiting Peddie School (N.J.). But it was nothing compared to what happened immediately following a largely uninspiring 80-61 triumph.
Miffed with his team’s lack of cohesion, head coach Seth Berger delivered a post-game rant that could have peeled the paint from the walls in the locker room.
“I’ve never seen him yell like that, ever,” said 6-foot-9 junior forward Jake Forrester. “But we didn’t play as a team. We played for ourselves, so we kind of needed to get yelled at.”
According to Berger, the Moose have had more than a few outings this season where selfishness has been an issue. Against a solid Peddie squad, it hampered Westtown throughout the first three quarters before Westtown pulled away late for what some would mistake as an easy triumph.
“It’s been a problem four or five times this season,” Berger admitted.
“Our kids are so talented, if they decide to play, we are going to win. If they don’t, we will struggle. It’s pretty simple. When they play hard, share the ball, and play defense, we are an unbelievably impressive team.”
Needless to say, Berger didn’t see enough of any of it on Wednesday. But with legitimate Division I prospects up and down its lineup, Westtown still won for the seventh straight time, and are 15-2 overall. Peddie falls to 7-2.
“This group is so talented, they put up 80 points and play badly,” Berger pointed out.
“Our message coming into this season was to come to practice every day to become a better player and a better teammate. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Trailing much of the first half, the Moose were clinging to a 56-52 lead heading into the final period. But over the course of the final eight minutes, junior guard Cam Reddish and all-everything center Mo Bamba took control. The 6-8 Reddish scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the 6-11 Bamba was on the receiving end of three Reddish assists down the stretch.
“We weren’t playing together, talking bad shots, not playing defense,” said Reddish, who has 15 college offers including Duke, Arizona and UConn.
“In the fourth quarter, we had to turn it up. So I knew I had to elevate my effort and energy.”
Reddish drained two early period 3-pointers, added a 3-point play, and then dished off to Bamba for a pair of alley-oop dunks. It was all part of a 24-9 fourth quarter surge.
“(Westtown) made some really great basketball plays in the fourth quarter to kind of put us away,” said Peddie head coach Joe Rulewich.
“We’ve seen that kind of effort for 12 of our 17 games,” Berger added, when asked about the finish. “Hey, I’ve tried everything, but they are high school kids. As much as I’d like them to be, they are not perfect.”
Bamba finished with a game-high 22 points, including nine points down the stretch. The senior center is being courted by several dozen top-notch college programs, including Duke and Kentucky.
“It’s not just his athleticism and his length,” Berger said. “When (Bamba) communicates and moves on defense, opponents can’t score.
“And Cameron (Reddish) is an absolute superstar player and kid. Whatever it is that makes him click, we have to try to make sure it happens every day.
“He is one of the best high school guards we’ve seen. He could become a great NBA player someday, but he needs to be more consistent.”
In the opening three quarters, the Moose had difficulty with Peddie’s pressure defense, and wound up turning it over a dozen times. And the Falcons did a nice job hitting perimeter shots to offset a serious height disadvantage. Peddie knocked down a total of 13 3-pointers in the game, but only two in the fourth quarter.
“Peddie beat us up there last season, and they came close to doing it again,” Berger said.
“I give them a ton of credit. They got up underneath our taller guards and frustrated us at times. And they shot a lot of threes and forced us to extend our defense.”
A recent recipient of full scholarship offers from Indiana and Providence, Forrester poured in 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter. It looked like Westtown was going to pull away after opening its first double-digit lead, but Peddie buried a trio from beyond the arc to pull within six through three quarters, setting the stage for the finish.
Arizona-bound shooting guard, Brandon Randolph, chipped in 14 points, but sat out the entire final period. And Anthony Ochefu – who is headed to Stony Brook — led the Moose in rebounding but was held scoreless.
“I’ve known Seth Berger for a long time, and we talk a lot about our teams,” Rulewich said. “Coaching is pulling kids together and creating something special out of some special parts — which he has.
“He’s got some really talented kids, and he’s done a nice job putting them in the right spots. He lets them be the players they are by helping them get into spots where they can be successful.”
Tyler Jones and Bruce Edwards paced Peddie with 15 and 14 points, respectively. The Falcons were outscored from the free throw line 15-2.
Westtown 80, Peddie 61
PEDDIE – Whitfield 3 0-0 9; Prince 4 0-0 12; Jones 6 1-2 15; Torre 2 0-0 5; Edwards 5 1-3 14; Weber 0 0-0 0; Etukudo 3 0-0 6. Totals 23 2-5 61.
WESTTOWN – Kpaan 2 1-3 5; Forrester 8 2-3 18; Randolph 4 3-4 14; Bamba 9 3-3 22; Collier 1 0-0 3; Reddish 5 6-7 18; Ochefu 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 15-20 80.
Peddie 18 15 19 9 – 61
Westtown 16 19 21 24 – 80
Three-pointers: Whitfield 3, Prince 4, Jones 2, Torre, Edwards 3, Randolph 3, Bamba, Collier, Reddish 2.
