Basketball: Defense key to Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s hot start

SOUTH PLAINFIELD - Coming off its first winning season since 2011-12, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys basketball team entered this year determined not to go backwards.

Five games into the season, the Raiders have seemingly picked up right where they left off. Scotch Plains-Fanwood won the Anthony J. Cotoia Holiday Tournament for the second-straight year with a 64-47 victory over host South Plainfield on Wednesday to remain undefeated at 5-0.  

On Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament, Scotch Plains-Fanwood defeated J.P. Stevens 47-31 to earn a berth in Wednesday's final. 

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"It's great, it's a great feeling," Scotch Plains-Fanwood senior guard Tommy Drubulis said. "We wanted to take it again since we took it last year, so we're really excited with where we are right now."

The mood on the court is a relaxed one for Scotch Plains-Fanwood this season, which can be attributed to the fact that the players know what's expected of them and that they're comfortable with each other. The Raiders lost five players to graduation last year, but returned 11 varsity players, and 10 of them are seniors. 

"I think it's a lot more experience because a lot of us were young last season, and now since we know what's going on and we know what to do, we're fine," senior forward Dwight Laylor said. "We're not pressured for anything, we just go out relaxed and play."

Scotch Plains-Fanwood ended last season in the NJSIAA North 2 Group IV quarterfinals, and despite the loss, the Raiders believe the experience they gained will only help them go even farther this year. 

"We definitely just know how to win more now, I feel like everything just comes easier for us, and even when we're down we know how to get back up," Drubulis said. "We want to get a lot further in the sectional tournament, and counties and win the conference."

That mentality, along with a strong side of defense, has been a big reason why the Raiders are off to a 5-0 start. Scotch Plains-Fanwood, which has allowed opposing offenses an average of 35 points per game, got going early on Wednesday as the Raiders led 18-1 with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter, and led 18-6 after the first eight minutes. 

"We definitely wanted to win (the game), we knew defense had to come first, so right away we got off to a great start," Drubulis said. "Defense we thrive on every game, so we really brought it today. Communication definitely helped."

The Raiders' defense kept South Plainfield (1-4) off-balance for most of the game, causing multiple turnovers and forcing hurried shots. At the half, Scotch Plains-Fanwood led 33-17, and held a 22-point lead, 52-30, after three quarters. 

"Offensively I feel like we were able to penetrate a lot and we were able to dish it to open threes on the corner, on the wing, and we could just dump it down to Dwight (Laylor)," Drubulis said. "Dwight also got a ton of offensive boards, so that helped a lot. I think a lot of guys got involved, Anthony Porter played good off the bench, Lamont (Cruse) played good again today, Jack Brady, (Ryan) Muench, all-around we played really good."

Laylor, who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, led the Raiders with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

"It feels great," Laylor said of winning MVP. "All the hard work is paying off now, and I'm just going hard every time."

Drubulis finished with 15 points and Cruse added nine points and seven rebounds. Brady chipped in nine points. 

For South Plainfield, Gio Dudley led with 19 points. Dheer Patel added nine points and Joe Siegenthaler scored eight points. 

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego