By Harry Chaykun
Ridley coach Kevin Kelly and his players know that things will get very interesting when the Central League boys basketball race resumes next week.
“The league is up for grabs,” Green Raiders senior Josh Howard said Friday afternoon after scoring 16 points to help the host team to a 61-15 victory over Interboro in the opening round of the Ridley Holiday Basketball Tournament.
Ridley (5-2) will take on Martin Luther King of Philadelphia in the championship match at 7 p.m. Saturday. MLK (7-1) defeated its Public League rival South Philadelphia High, 54-41, in the other game Friday.
“We knew we still have things to work on to get better,” said Kelly, whose opening-minutes advantage over four quarters was 27-2 Friday. “Today we wanted them to play smart, take good shots, and keep focused.”
Howard and Josh Hagan both dropped in five points in the opening period as Ridley built a 12-4 lead. In the second quarter, the Green Raiders outscored the Bucs, 17-2, taking advantage of 11 turnovers. Jack Grace, the quarterback of the football team which bowed to Interboro Thanksgiving Day, got all six of his points in the second stanza.