It has been a long, hard road for the Derby boys basketball team this season under head coach Dave Scrivines. They entered the final week of the NVL season still in search of their first victory.
It happened Thursday night in Ansonia when the Red Raiders overtook the Emmett O’Brien Condors 77 – 65.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Scrivines, a reference to the team’s 0 – 16 record coming into the game. “It’s a big weight off their shoulders. The kids have done quite well dealing with the adversity and they never quit. Hopefully we can build on this and grab few more before the season ends.”
O’Brien Tech (3 – 15) has also had a rough go of it this season head coach Dan Nemergut. They were filled with emotion against Derby, celebrating the final home game for O’Brien seniors Jon Acevedo, Shane Sweeney, Mike Pelaccia and Filipe Villavicencio.
The Condors went toe-to-toe with the Red Raiders in the opening period as Dennis Roan threw down the final seven points in the stanza. O’Brien Tech trailed by a bucket 14 – 12 going into the second period.
Derby was just too much to handle on this night with a suffocating defense that caused 16 first half turnovers. That fueled a transition game that saw the Red Raiders explode for 27 points in the second period to take over the game.
Rashawn Hendricks (24 points, seven steals) literally stole the show with 13 points and six assists in the first half as Derby ran the floor to a commanding 41 – 24 lead at the break.
Four Red Raiders hit for double figures with Ronte Byrd 17 points, Ray Kreiger 14 points and DeSean McBride 11 points doing most of the damage. A 15 – 2 run to start the period set the tone for the remainder of the first half but it did little to stem the enthusiasm of the Condors.
O’Brien Tech came out and made the adjustment in the second half with Acevedo (19 points) Sweeney (14 points) leading the way for the Condors. Derby still continued to drop its shots through the cylinder and took a comfortable 59 – 35 lead into the final period.
“I saw them early in the season and the one thing I worried about was their three-point shooting,” Scrivines said. “But we played a tight defense and it actually got the offense going in spurts. That allowed us to build a double-digit lead and we held them off down the stretch.”
What a stretch it was, as the Condors pulled out all the stops erupting for 30 points in the fourth period. It wasn’t enough to catch the Red Raiders, as Derby added another 36 points on the scoreboard in the second half to secure the win.
