There’s a reason why “again” might be one of the most-used words in Jim Ray’s vocabulary. There’s a reason why the Cape Elizabeth boys basketball coach believes that repetition breeds success.
The Capers learned that on Friday night against rival Greely. His team trailing by a point with 12 seconds to go, Ray used a timeout to draw up a play whose success depended on perfect execution by all five players.
It was the type of play that the Capers repeatedly run at practice, and it showed. Senior forward Matt Allen cut to the hoop when the man covering him stepped up on the ball handler, sophomore guard Tommy Ray. When Allen was wide-open, Ray threaded a bounce pass that led to a routine lay-up.
The Capers won, 48-47, and improved to 14-2.
“The kids have been great in practice because they’ve been working hard, and they’re starting to understand that they have to bring the intensity level,” said the elder Ray. “When something’s taken away you’ve got to play basketball. From a teacher’s standpoint, as a coach, it’s beautiful because all that stuff (we do at practice), there’s the situation.”
The need for the situation developed when Greely’s Caleb Jordan, a junior forward, intercepted an errant pass by the younger Ray and slashed in to make it 47-46.
Based on the way things had transpired after the first quarter, no one in attendance should’ve been surprised by game’s frenetic final minute of play.
“This was maybe the best game I’ve ever been a part of as far as excitement goes – back and forth,” said senior center Joe Geoghegan, who led Cape with 13 points. “You never knew, you know, we were up one, they were up one, they were up three, we tie it.
“It was a see-saw game, and I think a win like that gives us more momentum than had we beat them easily.”
The Rangers raced out to an 11-0 lead at the start of the game thanks to nine points by Jordan, who finished the quarter with 14. The Capers weren’t about to lay down, though.
“We just hate losing to Greely, especially on our home court,” said Geoghegan. “We really didn’t want to let it happen, and we started playing basketball.”
By the time the first quarter buzzer sounded, the Greely lead had been cut to 16-9. With 3:30 left in the second, the score was tied, 16-16. Cape took its first lead of the game 1:15 into the third quarter when Liam O’Shea (11 points) knocked down a jumper on a kickout by Geoghegan.
“I think we just didn’t come out as hard as we wanted to,” said Allen, a captain. “I don’t think there’s any specific cause for why we didn’t come out hard, just intensity-wise they came out a little harder. It took too long for us to get back into it.”
Part of the problem was the absence of sophomore forward Shaine Burks, a player Ray called “one of our best on-the-ball defenders.” Burks, in Virginia for a funeral, was unable to make it home in time for the game.
The Capers did adjust, though, and it helped that Greely’s Jordan, the man Burks would’ve been covering, got in foul trouble early. When the fourth quarter began, it was a whole new game, as the score was tied at 34.
Three minutes in, when Ray hit a three-pointer that made it 42-38, it looked like the Capers might be ready to kick the offense into high gear and take charge, but Greely’s Gabe Balzano-Brookes hit a three of his own to set the tone for the final five minutes.
The Rangers took the lead back with 3:21 to go when Jordan put in a pair of free throws. Less than a minute later, Geoghegan provided a low-post lay-up, taking back the lead for his team.
O’Shea added a runner to get the lead to 46-43, but Greely wouldn’t quit. Matt McDonough dropped in a hook shot over Geoghegan to make it 46-45, before Jordan’s lay-up put Greely back on top.
Then came the fateful timeout.
“Right out of the timeout we knew what we wanted to do,” said Allen. “Coach designed a play and everyone knew what their responsibility was and everyone did their job…
“I was the clear-through. I had to make space for Tommy. I was on the back side and he rounded the corner and made a good drive to the hoop. The guy stepped up on him, and I saw the opportunity for a cut and he made a really good pass.
“It was a rush. There’s no thoughts going through your head. You’re just taking the ball and going right to the hoop.”
The Capers close the regular season Friday at home with a rematch against Falmouth.
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