For a moment, Nick Dorning sounded like a preacher.
“This is why you’re here,” Ryle’s boys basketball coach said before the fourth quarter of Friday’s game against Holy Cross. “This is why you play.”
The Raiders played well all night, actually. Landon Lorms poured in 23 points and Anthony Coppola added 21, two large parts of a 69-61 win over the Indians.
“The No. 1 thing I see is the fight in my kids,” Dorning said. “We’ve been working hard since last April, putting time in the gym and in the weight room.”
Ryle improved to 2-0 – a small sample size, but Coppola found much to like.
“We just have a winning atmosphere this year,” Coppola said. “Last year, we were really inexperienced; now, we’re playing faster, we’re playing together more.”
Lorms’ and Coppola’s combined 44 points Friday were more than 63.7% of Ryle’s scoring, but that was part of the story – they scored 12 of the Raiders’ final 16.
You may know Lorms from what he did on the football field – 91 catches, 1,023 yards, 13 touchdowns. Friday, however, he wasn’t sure whether football or basketball was his favorite sport.
“I’ve always been basketball,” Lorms said. “I started football in eighth grade. My mom never let me play football to start off; once I got into it, it was fun.”
Holy Cross’ front line and backcourt were strong – forwards Nate Rominger and William McElheney had 13 points each, and guard Gavin Goetz added 12.
“It’s a long season,” Holy Cross coach Ricardo Johnson said. “We’ll continue to work on things we do every day in practice.”
Friday’s first 90 seconds had a football feel; Lorms’ five points and Logan Verax’s two gave Ryle a 7-1 lead.
The rest of the quarter, however, belonged to Holy Cross (1-1). Buckets by Jonah Crail, Rominger and Aiden Urlage’s 3-pointer helped give the Indians an 18-17 lead after eight minutes, an advantage that improved to 24-19 two minutes into the second stanza.
The rest of quarter? Tight – five lead changes and two ties. Coppola’s 3-pointer – one of four for the night – with a few seconds before halftime was the margin in Ryle’s 34-33 lead.
Ryle tried to pull away in the third quarter – Coppola’s triple and two each from Grady Reynolds and Verax put the Raiders up, 41-36. Didn’t happen – Goetz’s 3-pointer and Luke Arlinghaus’ two let the Indians close to 46-45.
After Dorning’s pep talk, Holy Cross rode a 7-3 mini-run to take a 52-51 lead.
By the end of the game, Lorms was maybe the most excited. After knocking down a triple with less than two minutes to go, he enthusiastically pointed to Ryle’s student section.
“I’m emotional,” Lorms said. “I like to celebrate.”
Raiders 69, Indians 61
HOLY CROSS 18 15 12 16 – 61
RYLE 17 17 14 21 – 69
Holy Cross (61) — Urlage 3, Arlinghaus 11, Crail 6, Rominger 13, Adams 3, Goetz 13, McElheney 12. 3-Pt. FG: 7 (Goetz 3, Arlinghaus 2, Urlage, McElheney). FT: 10-17. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.
Ryle (69) — Lorms 23, Coppola 21, Davis 5, L. Verax 4, E. Smith 6, Reynolds 6, DeGroff 4. 3-Pt. FG: 8 (Coppola 4, Lorms 2, Davis, E. Smith). FT: 10-19. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
Records: HC 1-1, R 2-0.