OCEAN CITY — The tears in their eyes showed that the Moorestown girls' basketball team believed they could win even though they entered Monday's South Jersey Group 3 final as the No. 14 seed.
However, the Quakers' improbable run came to an end, as No. 4 Ocean City pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 48-34 win.
Moorestown, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped, upended No. 3 Pemberton, No. 6 Central Regional and No. 7 Timber Creek to reach the championship game.
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"No one expected us to do this," said Moorestown guard Stephanie Toy, who scored a team-high eight points. "For us to get here was unbelievable. It was a great run."
"It was like a flu. It was contagious," said Moorestown head coach Chris Hill about her team's confidence growing the last two weeks. "It just kept going, going and going. I don't know what got into them, but they finally started believing in each other and themselves, the team and the program.
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"It's been an unbelievable ride. I couldn't be more proud of their effort. They started to gel together chemistry-wise, like a family and they showed a lot of heart and guts. We just didn't play smart tonight."
The Quakers started the game with a 7-0 run, including five points from senior Kellen McGinley, and led 12-4 with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Emily Filoon, who finished with seven points.
"It was good to take the lead early but we let it slip," Toy said.
The Red Raiders slowed the Quakers down in the second quarter and stole all the momentum with a 12-2 run, including eight points by guard Emily Gillian, to take a 20-17 lead. The two teams went into halftime with Ocean City ahead 22-20.
Moorestown tied the game at 24 in the third quarter, but Ocean City grabbed the lead for good on a foul shot by Julia Duggan, who had 14 points. The Quakers stayed close until the Red Raiders went on a 9-2 spurt to start the fourth quarter.
Ocean City attacked the heart of the Moorestown defense, and was content with taking their chances at the free throw line. The Red Raiders were 28-for-40 from the foul line while the Quakers attempted 12. Both Toy and Filoon fouled out in the final minutes of the game.
"Unfortunately they showed they are the better team tonight," Hill said. "I would like a rematch."
The Quakers will have to wait until next season for that chance. Both squads are relatively young, and return most of its players.
"We are only losing Kellen—I know it is a big loss, but we have everybody else back next year," Toy said. "We should be good again next year."
"It was incredible," McGinley said. "We came together as a team. I wish we could have finished better. But it was amazing.
"We really thought we were going to go all the way."
