Raiders rid themselves of Mandarin monkey

Of the six losses suffered by last year's Orange Park boys basketball team, three of them came at the hands of the Mandarin Mustangs. Not only did those losses knock the Raiders from the unbeaten ranks and keep them from winning their district championship, but the third one, in the district title game, forced them onto the road for the playoffs, where they lost in the first round.

Tuesday night, the Raiders proved that 2007 won't be a rerun as they defeated the Mustangs, 60-48, to remain undefeated at 8-0.

Clarence Tillman gets fouled on his way to the basket.

Many more Orange Park-Mandarin pictures on Spotted.

"We got a monkey off our back tonight," said coach Daryl Lauderdale, admitting that the Raiders inability to overcome Mandarin's giant starting lineup was "very frustrating." And the monkey came off not in a comfortable home game, but on the Mustang's own home court.

This year, Mandarin's big men, lead by 6-6 senior P.J. Gaynor, weren't able to get their usual four or five shots every trip down the floor as Orange Park's lightning-quick defense shut them down. As a result the Mustangs suffered their second loss of the season and fell to 6-2.

Lauderdale credited Clarence Tillman with holding Gaynor to only 14 points, while David Marlar drew praise for his work against Akeem Washington, who could not even break through into double-digits (9).

On the offensive side, three-year starting guard Jerome Clyburn poured in 25 points, including two three-pointers and a solid nine-of-11 effort at the foul line that helped keep the Mustangs at bay toward the end of the game.

"Jerome's being more assertive on the offensive side of the game," Lauderdale said. Last year, with Michael Harris' extraordinary shot-making ability, Clyburn hesitated to take some shots, Lauderdale said. This year, his shooting is crucial to the Raiders success, and he hasn't disappointed.

Tony Baker followed Clyburn with 14 points, while Marlar scored 12. Tillman put up five and Sammy Mojica had four.

The Raiders have a chance to relieve themselves of yet another monkey on Thursday as they travel to Flagler Palm Coast, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year in a very controversial game.