Coach Akridge satisfied with effort

By Jonathan Cheung
Staff Writer
Published March 19,2009

As the gym emptied and the lights dimmed, Englewood coach Gerald Akridge sat
silently on the bench. The coach that personified moxy and poise throughout
this season and in his entire career, certainly was disappointed.
But above all, he was proud. 
"It's been an incredible season and to do what we did was tremendous," said
Akridge. "[We were] not even considered a dark horse in the tournament and
to be section champions, we have a lot to be proud of. If anything, this
game taught the young kids to be more aggressive and gives them insight on
what it takes to be successful."
The lengthy Raider season came to an abrupt end, as the Lincoln Lions
established an insurmountable first quarter lead that stuck throughout, in
the 84-69 loss.
Akridge found solace and chose to focus on two key aspects - his boys
battled until the end and there is always next year.
He talked about the fact that the five starters and the rest of the seniors
on the team are magnificent players and key components of the Raiders
triumphant season.
"David Mofunanya had a great year and did his best," said Akridge. "Naeem
Carter hit big shots and played well throughout the season. Josh Jones and
Adam Marrakchi were the unsung heroes of the team and also solid. We have
nothing to hang our heads about. You don't win 19 games by luck."   
Two minutes into the game, Lincoln jumped out to an 11-2 lead, silencing the
Englewood fans that made the long trip to Vernon High School.
"We came out really soft and tentative with the ball," said Marrakchi. "They
had an amazing back-cut and we had no communication."
Marrakchi tried to rally his squad as he whipped a behind the back pass to a
dashing Carter under the basket, cutting the lead to 16-10.
The Raiders continued to have trouble keeping up, as the Lions only missed
four shots in the entire quarter. Every firefighter in the county could have
been called in and that wouldn't have been enough to extinguish the fired up
Tymel Jackson, who torched the defense for 15 points in the first.    
"We never found a rhythm and didn't really play defense," said Jones. "It
was a big game and our key players didn't hit their shots."
To end the quarter, Jones, scoring two of his 18 points, flashed from coast
to coast for the layup to cut the deficit to 28-16.
Midway through the second quarter Mofunanya astounded the crowd not only
swiping the ball on defense, but also elevating for the emphatic dunk.
But the slam seemed to have sparked the wrong team, as the Lions were
motivated and capped the quarter on a 10-3 run and a 45-32 halftime lead.
Englewood opened the third quarter with a promising 10-3 run of its own.
"We tried to play harder, but it was too late and the hole was too deep,"
said Mofunanya. "We're a tough team and have been battle-tested this whole
season that's why we were able to stay in it."
The Raiders closed the gap to six points, but it seemed like the Lions
controlled the scoring of the game and would sink shots when they saw the
Raiders in the rearview. Daquan Pettiford single-handedly stomped on the
gas, fueling an 11-4 streak, leaving Englewood behind and unable to creep
any closer.
Pettiford ended the night with a game high 32 points.
The Raiders outscored the Lions in the fourth quarter 23-21, but even with a
strong finish they couldn't dent the deficit.
"We didn't want it to be over and Coach Akridge didn't let us give up," said
Marrakchi. "We all bought into that message all season. I think we had a lot
of talent and scoring threats at every position, which made the year big."
E-mail: cheung@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6709