By TOM WILLIAMS

There has never been a boys basketball season at Ocean City High School like the one that ended on Saturday.

Not in the 90 years since Hirsh Shiding scored 6.8 points per game to lead Von Henroid’s team to a 9-7 record in 1934.

The 2023-24 Raiders wrote their names into the record books again and again.

They won their first seven games of the season and, in January, they shot 66.0 percent in a 57-41 win at Egg Harbor Township. That broke a record (64.9 percent) set 62 years earlier against Hammonton by Dixie Howell’s team led by Jerry Fadden and Dave Farina.

They won a record 26 games, three more than Dixie’s 1956-57 team, led by Tom Adams, Wayne Hudson and Larry Harrison.

The five starters – Ben McGonigle, Kori Segich, Dylan Schlatter, Charlie LaBarre and Pat Grimley – became the first OCHS players to play in 30 games in a season. The old school record (29) was by Gil Ferrari, Mike McAlarnen, Eric Dolton and Jay Toscano in 1998-99.

These Raiders shot 51.0 percent from the field over those 30 games, bettering the old school season record of 49.3 percent set by Tom Gahr’s 1988-89 team, led by Bob McAllister.

They shot 72.7 from the foul line as a team, topping the 71.5 percent by Jack Boyd’s 1977-78 team, led by Ed Paone.

And they made 462 assists over the 30 games, more than the old record of 428 set by John Bruno’s 1991-92 team, led by J.D. Asselta.

There are some individual records, as well.

Dylan Schlatter finished his career with 365 assists, including 158 this season. Both are school records, surpassing Paone’s totals of 359 and 154.

Kori Segich set three records. He made 39 straight free throws over a nine-game stretch, breaking the previous record of 24 held by Paone. He scored 20 or more points in 24 games this season, topping the record of 21 set by Derrick Yeoman in 1990-91. And he finished his career with a 44.7 shooting percentage from three-point range, bettering the school record of 43.4 percent set last year by Omero Chavere.

In addition, Schlatter tied the school record held by Al Burch (1976-77) and Joe Farina (1988-89) with 13 assists in the game against Cedar Creek. Schlatter also completed a four-point play (a three plus a free throw) against St. Joseph and Segich had one against Camden Eastside. They joined Bill Farina, who got the first one in 1992, followed by Mike Ludwig, Quan McCray, Jay Granger, Steve West, Josh Davidson, Matt Whitworth, Chris Turner and Ben McGonigle, who did it last season as a sophomore.

Those are the numbers that will be the goals of future players. The five starters all averaged more then 26 minutes per game. In the tournament game with Pemberton, all five of them played the entire 32 minutes. That probably happened before – but rarely. And not since Dixie was at the helm.

Segich and Schlatter were the team’s leaders. Segich led the CAL in scoring and three-point accuracy and was a close second in South Jersey scoring. He finished his career with 1,206 points, eighth most in school history. And his 718 points this season was second only to Yeoman’s 766 by an OCHS player. Schlatter was the ultimate point guard, though he was also a shot blocker and had a wide shooting range. Plus, he added 805 career points, No. 24 all-time.

LaBarre stepped up this season after limited experience last year to fill a void and become the team’s number two scorer. He shot 56 percent and was second on the team in rebounds and steals. And he made big plays in every game.

Grimley used his great athleticism (if you have any doubt, come out to Carey Stadium on April 6th to see him play lacrosse) to contribute as a scorer, rebounder and defender. He finished No. 58 on the all-time career scoring list with 558 points.

And McGonigle had an impressive 127 assists and took on tough defensive assignments. He also showed how he could score with a career-high 15 points in the final game Saturday.

The complete 2023-24 stats are HERE. All 30 of the season’s box scores are HERE.

Those are the numbers. But this team was more than numbers. They lost twice to Middle Township, the best team in the CAL and winners of the Ken Leary Award, by six and by eight points. They played Mainland three times, winning once in Linwood, and the combined score of the three games was 176-176.

Back in December, they trailed St. Augustine by 21 points with a little over three minutes left in the third quarter at The Paul Rodio Gymnasium. They caught the Hermits in the final 11 plus minutes and won the game in overtime. You can watch that game HERE.

Last week, they did something similar. Trailing Cherry Hill West by 19 points at the half, they rallied to win the game on LaBarre’s floater in the lane at the buzzer. That game is available to watch HERE.

This team never quit. And when it looked like they were finished Saturday in Linwood, trailing by eight with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter, you somehow believed it wasn’t over. Segich hit a three, Grimley hit a three and Schlatter scored eight points in the final minute to force overtime. It took three extra periods before Mainland could claim victory by the narrowest of margins.

There was also extra emotion in January when the Butch Gleason Memorial Coaches vs Cancer Game was dedicated to Connor Laverty, a popular former player who had died rather suddenly of the disease. Bruno draped Laverty’s jersey (No. 21) over a chair at the end of his team’s bench the remainder of the season.

Four of the “Iron Men” will graduate, along with J.R. Gilchrist, who produced steals and assists in 17 games off the bench. But McGonigle will return, with incredible experiences in his pocket, to join young players who had a great season under first-year JV coach Ryan Gill. Jack Porter, Colin Thompson, Tighe Olek, Luke Tjoumakaris, Josh Lenko, Dean Lappin, Zio Wright and Alec Bell should give John Bruno a different team next year, with a great deal of depth.

That is what Bruno does best. He gives the talent in his program the best chance to succeed. He has his favorite defenses, offenses and rotations but he adjusts them, as necessary, to fit with the players available. He will enter next season with 490 wins, fourth in the CAL all-time behind only Paul Rodio, Tom Feraco and Ken Leary.

The 2023-24 Ocean City High School Boys Basketball Team will not be remembered for the championships they won. There was only one – The Ernie Troiano Sr. Bracket at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood, where they beat Shawnee for the first time in 10 tries.

They played the game of basketball hard, worked well together and never accepted defeat until the final buzzer.

No, they won’t be remembered for championships. But anybody who saw them play will not forget them.