Olare Oladipo leads Cherokee past Shawnee in South Jersey Group 4 opener
The senior swingman scored 10 points, played his typically tough defense and took his team-high 36th charge.
Olare Oladipo jumps center for the Cherokee basketball team at 5-foot-10.
But the Chiefs’ senior swingman does his best work with both feet firmly on the ground.
Oladipo specializes in taking charges. He has fallen backward to Cherokee’s benefit 36 times this season.
“He’s our glue guy,” Cherokee coach Eric Cassidy said. “He does all the little things that win ballgames.”
Oladipo was front and center in Cherokee’s 54-38 victory over visiting Shawnee on Monday night before a near-capacity crowd in a South Jersey Group 4 tournament opener.
He scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, played his typically tough defense and took another charge for good measure as the second-seeded Chiefs (19-8) advanced to host seventh-seeded Cherry Hill East in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Cherry Hill East beat Vineland, 72-59, in another opener on Monday.
“It’s that time of the year,” Oladipo said. “You lose and you go home -- and we don’t want to go home.”
Seniors Gavin Gibson (14), Anthony DiCaro (13), and Damian Smith (11) also scored in double figures for the Chiefs, who seized command with a 22-2 run that spanned the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third.
Senior Connor Deveney, a key player on two South Jersey Group 4 championships teams, including last year’s state champion, scored 20 in his final game for 15th-seeded Shawnee (13-13).
“He had to play through everything that every defense threw at him,” Shawnee coach Joe Kessler said of Deveney. “I’m so proud of him, so proud of what this team accomplished in the last month after a slow start.”
Shawnee was a dangerous matchup for Cherokee as a school-district rival and because the Renegades ended the season with nine wins in their last 10 games, including an overtime victory at Camden.
A huge crowd nearly filled Cherokee’s gym in anticipation of the matchup between two of South Jersey’s top programs.
“You see that crowd?” Cassidy said.
Of Shawnee, Cassidy said, “That’s not a 15 seed. Excellent coach, tough kids and a great player in Deveney.”
Shawnee burst out to a 18-10 lead as Deveney, Cole Fleming, Ryan Heine, and Nick Tamburro all hit three-pointers.
But Oladipo’s return from the bench, where he spent some time with two fouls, energized Cherokee’s defense and the Chiefs took command.
“I wasn’t frustrated,” Oladipo said of his time on the bench. “I’ve been in that situation before. I knew I had to come back and play with energy.”
Oladipo converted a slick pass from DiCaro for a transition layup, one of several the Chiefs converted as a result of their pressure defense.
And in the fourth quarter, Oladipo sacrificed his body to take another charge, sprawling backward and hitting the floor. It was a play that symbolized his commitment to the team, and also the Chiefs’ approach.
“Anything and everything I have to do to help the team, I’ll do it,” Oladipo said.
Shawnee 10 10 6 12 -- 38
Cherokee 7 16 16 15 -- 54
S: Connor Deveney 20, Ryan Heine 3, Cole Fleming 9, Jon Searcy 1, Nick Tamburro 5.
C: Anthony DiCaro 13, Gavin Gibson 14, Damian Smith 11, Olare Olapido 10, Zach Miller 2, Justin Kang 4.