Boys Basketball – Lewis Injures Ankle in Ranney Win over Point Beach

POINT PLEASANT BEACH - The Shore's No. 1 team kept rolling with another win over a ranked team from its division, but Tuesday's 54-42 win over No. 6 Point Pleasant Beach came at a cost for the Ranney boys basketball team.

According to a series of posts, photos and a video from the Twitter account of Antwan Richardson (@RichSport21), Junior Scottie Lewis injured his right ankle in the second quarter, did not return and left the gym on crutches with his foot in what appeared to be a protective boot.

Lewis will be evaluated again on Friday to potentially determine how much more time, if any, he will have to miss, according to Panthers assistant John Tierney.

Ranney's next game is against Westtown out of West Chester, Pa. on Sunday at the Empire Invitational at Adephi University. Westtown is led by senior forward and Duke commit Cam Reddish.

Ranney lost its last showcase game to Mount St. Joseph of Maryland on Sunday, 71-48, at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The Panthers played that game without junior Ahmadu Sarnor, who was serving the first game of a two-game suspension due to an ejection from Ranney's Jan. 11 win over Mater Dei Prep. Sarnor returned to action on Thursday against Point Beach.

Heading into Thursday's game, Lewis was averaging 16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists for Ranney and earned game MVP honors in both the Boardwalk Showcase and the Hoophall Classic. He also scored 23 points in the win over Mater Dei last week, including the 1,000th of his high school career.

In Lewis's absence, junior Bryan Antoine led Ranney with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocks, while senior Savior Akuwovo contributed 14 points and 18 rebounds. Junior Alex Klatsky also scored eight points and handed out five assists for the Panthers.

Lewis left the game with Ranney clinging to a 23-17 lead late in the second quarter and the Panthers stretched it to 29-17 by halftime and 43-27 by the end of the third. Point Beach chopped the deficit to 50-42 in the final minutes before the Panthers sealed it.

Senior transfer Mohamed Traore led the Garnet Gulls with 17 points, his second straight game with 17 after making his Point Beach debut Tuesday against Mater Dei with the same total.