Delran boys basketball coach Travis Murphy was not thrilled about the way his team started in the opening period of its first two games this season.
That problem was corrected in a major way on Saturday afternoon at the Collingswood Holiday Tournament.
The Bears went on a 15-0 run after allowing the first point of the game and led 20-3 after the first quarter on their way to a 48-27 win over Salem. They improved to 2-1 and will face host Collingswood in the championship game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
“We played well,” Murphy said. “I keep stressing to the guys to come out fast, be ready to play and not put ourselves behind the eight ball. Our first game (a loss to Burlington City) we didn’t have a good start and against Woodstown we were a little slow, but today I was really proud of how we started.”
Senior Tommy Murphy had 10 of his game-high 17 points in the opening period as Delran built a double-digit lead it never surrendered. His backcourt mate, senior point guard Glenn Morrison, also stood out from the opening tip and finished with 16 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals.
The performance was even more impressive considering Delran had not played since Monday. Murphy was pleased with how the Bears practiced the last two days, and Morrison agreed.
“Coach told us that we had to be ready from the jump,” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve played, but we’ve been giving it our all in practice and it translated to the court. I was ready to go and I think we all were.
“(The first quarter) just showed us that what we were doing was working and we had to keep doing it.”
Morrison consistently got into the lane to create opportunities for himself or his teammates. Forward Ahmed Johnson was the third Bear in double figures with 11 points.
“I like to attack and draw defenders and then kick it out to open guys,” he said. “Sometimes I look to score, sometimes I look to pull up. I like getting my teammates involved. We have a big man, we have shooters, we have everything. I’m confident in my guys.”
Tommy Murphy was often on the receiving end of Morrison’s passes. The two have developed great chemistry from years of playing together, according to their coach, Tommy’s uncle.
“He’s a smart player and a good kid and he works hard,” the coach said of his nephew. “They’ve been playing together since they were 8 or 9, all through travel. They complement each other and know what each other does well. It’s a big benefit to me because I don’t have to worry about those two.”
The victory avenged a 58-46 loss to Salem in last year’s championship game. Delran will look to complete the redemption by winning the tournament on Sunday.
“That’s what Coach said from the start, that they beat us last year and we had to come out and prove that that shouldn’t have happened,” Morrison said. “This was kind of a revenge game. We’re glad to be back in the final and we have to go out tomorrow and play like we did today.”
Salem was plagued by early foul trouble after getting whistled for 15 fouls in the first half. Starting point guard Keith Brown had four of them and starting center Zilon Cupe had three.
“That hurt us,” Salem coach Cameron Smith said. “We had to take (Cupe) out and you saw what that did to our defense. We didn’t have our rim protector out there.”
Gage Ausland led Salem with 13 points and Cupe had eight points and six boards. The Rams – who are coming off an 18-8 season in which they claimed the Tri-County Conference-Classic Division title – are 0-2 and will look to bounce back Sunday morning against New Foundations of Philadelphia in the consolation game.
“We have a target on our back from last year, which isn’t a bad thing,” Smith said. “Most winning programs like that target, and I want to enjoy wearing it. But I told the boys if we want to continue being a winning program, we can’t be getting buzz sawed like this to open the season.
“Every loss gives you things you things you can work on, and for us it’s mostly effort, getting up the court and running our offense.”
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December 29, 2019 at 06:12AM
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Fast start sends Delran to commanding win over Salem (PHOTOS) - nj.com
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