Christian Otufale’s three-pointers weren’t enough for North Warren Regional to prevail over Pen Argyl in the first round of the holiday break Belvidere Tournament at Belvidere High School Dec. 27, but they came back the next day defeating the host team Belvidere County Seaters in a 77-26 blowout.
In the Dec. 27 game, the Patriots fell 50-36 being outplayed particularly in the third quarter.
“We had a tough third quarter,” said head coach Rob Steingall. “It goes down to they made the shots, we didn’t.”
Nevertheless, Steingall said he was pleased with the effort his team put into the game against the generally taller Pen Argyl team. He said the team played strong in the first half.
“We stayed pretty competitive in the first half,” Steingall said. “We’re a developing team, we’re trying to improve on last year. We’re making progress one day at a time.”
Steingall said Otufale, who also scored 10 points in the Belvidere game, has been producing good numbers all season. He also cited the play of Craig Shipps, who scored 29 points in the Belvidere game.
“Craig Shipps has been an animal,” Steingall said. “We wouldn’t be competitive without Craig.”
On Dec. 30, despite putting 65 points on the board, North Warren lost to Delaware Valley 85-65. In that contest, Luke Stefankiewicz scored 22 points, including a trio of three-point shots. Shipps scored 14 and Otufale put 10 points up.
The Patriots open 2023 at Kittatinny Regional Jan. 4, taking a 2-5 record with them.
Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer
Joe was lured out of retirement by the opportunity to be a part of the Ridge View Echo. During a decades-long career in publishing and journalism, he has covered government on many levels from local school boards to the United States Supreme Court.
Along the way, Joe has worked at American Lawyer Magazine, The National Law Journal and The Record among other publications, and as the Press Officer of Columbia Law School. His work has been recognized with several first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the New Jersey Press Association.
Being part of the Ridge View Echo brings Joe back to his roots and the kind of news coverage he loves: Telling the stories of people and local communities as well as keeping an eye on how their money is spent by their government officials.
Joe lives in Blairstown with his wife Rose, the founder of Quilting for a Cause, and their two wiener dogs. He is an artist in his spare time.
