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Cape May County Gazette Sports :: South Jersey Sports

Breaking news: College commitments; new CAL football coach; Eames going pro?

Allie Weiser and Victoria Wermuth make their college choices, a former head football coach at Middle Township takes over at Absegami and former LCMR standout Josh Eames may make it into mini camp with an NFL team.<< MORE >>

Pat Kelly to attend Division II Holy Family

Wildwood Catholic's Pat Kelly, the Gazette Leader's area boys basketball MVP in 2007-08, will play basketball at Holy Family University next year.<< MORE >>

Wildwood holds off Wildwood Catholic

Early offensive outburst, Rick Palmer's late defense fuel Wildwood's victory over Wildwood Catholic in a baseball game at Maxwell Field.<< MORE >>

Bishop to play at Bloomfield

Wildwood's Shakiyrah Bishop will play college basketball at Division II Bloomfield College next year.<< MORE >>

Hopkin to sign with Siena

Middle Township High School star pitcher John Hopkin will sign a National Letter of Intent Friday morning to play Division I college baseball.<< MORE >>

Wildwood-New Providence highlights

Here's a four-minute video highlight clip of Wildwood's 46-30 victory over New Providence in the state Group I semifinal from Wednesday night. Video production courtesy of Matt Ulmer.<< MORE >>

State title game times set

The Wildwood High School girls basketball team will play at 6 p.m. Sunday for the state Group I championship game., according to information listed on the NJSIAA web site this morning. The Lady Warriors will take on University, the 2007 Tournament of Champions winner, in the Group I title game.

The other county girls basketball team still alive in the state playoffs, Ocean City, will play at 4 p.m. against Shabazz in the Group III championship game.

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Lady Warriors roll past New Providence, will play in state title game

Wildwood goes on a 13-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Pioneers and post a 46-30 victory in the New Jersey Group I semifinal at Deptford High School. The Lady Warriors will play for the state title for the fifth time this decade on Sunday afternoon at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.<< MORE >>

LCM-Ocean City girls basketball video

Here's about a 10-minute highlight package of the South Jersey Group III girls basketball championship game between Ocean City and Lower Cape May. The Raiders picked up a 58-39 victory to win their first sectional crown since 1979 while Lower Cape May had its successful season ended at 20-9.<< MORE >>

Wildwood-Salem video

Here's about a four-minute video highlight package of Wildwood's victory over Salem in the South Jersey Group I girls basketball title game from Monday night. The video was shot, edited and produced by Matt Ulmer.<< MORE >>

Wildwood girls are South Jersey champs! LCM falls to Ocean City

The Wildwood High School girls basketball team won its fifth South Jersey Group I title this decade and eighth in program history Monday night, beating Salem, 47-38, at Southern Regional High School.

Wildwood led almost from start to finish, save for a brief moment in the second quarter when Salem held a one-point edge.

Wildwood moves on to play in the state semifinal game Wednesday night at Deptford High School.

In the Group III South Jersey championship game, Ocean City used a big third quarter to pull away and beat Lower Cape May, 58-39.

Ocean City will also play in a state semifinal game Wednesday night at Deptford.

We'll have much more on these stories, including video, shortly.

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Wildwood-Gloucester video

Here's a video clip of the final two possessions of Saturday's thrilling victory for the Wildwood High School girls basketball team. The Lady Warriors beat top-seeded Gloucester, 41-39, on Latifah McNeal's layup at the buzzer. Thanks to Kathleen Kelly for providing the video and to Matt Ulmer for editing and uploading the clip.<< MORE >>

Another big comeback sends LCM girls to first South Jersey Final

For the second straight state playoff game, a big comeback produces a victory as Lady Tigers top Shawnee to reach the South Jersey title game for the first time in program history.<< MORE >>

McNeal beats buzzer as Wildwood advances

Latfiah McNeal's layup as time expires gives the Wildwood girls basketball team a 41-39 victory over Gloucester and sends the Lady Warriors to Monday's South Jersey final.<< MORE >>

Collingswood shuts down Middle

The Middle Township boys basketball team's season is ended in the South Jersey Group III semifinal with a road loss at Collingswood.<< MORE >>

Wildwood boys bow out of playoffs

Paulsboro begins game with 15-0 run as the Warriors are eliminated from the South Jersey Group I playoffs with a 65-55 loss.<< MORE >>

Wildwood runs by Pitman to advance

Balanced offensive attack and solid defense carry the Lady Warriors to a relatively easy playoff win at home. Wildwood faces top-seeded Gloucester on Saturday.<< MORE >>

Another local playoff thriller -- LCM girls stun Moorestown at the finish

Another high school basketball playoff game goes down to the wire as Lower Cape May's late run stuns upset-minded Moorestown. The Lady Tigers move on in the Group III playoffs to face Shawnee Saturday afternoon.<< MORE >>

Middle-Collingswood will be on radio

Scott Wahl of WCZT-FM 98.7 The Coast radio has just confirmed that Friday's Middle Township at Collingswood South Jersey Group II semifinal game will be broadcast live by the station. Game time is at 6 p.m., with the broadcast beginning at about 5:50 p.m. John Leon of Prime Events will have all the live play-by-play. Log on to www.987thecoast.com for more information and for the internet broadcast of the game.

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Middle-Haddonfield video highlights

Here's about a seven-minute video highlight package from the Middle-Haddonfield game, courtesy of Matt Ulmer's video and the 98.7 the Coast radio feed. Enjoy.<< MORE >>

Another 2 OT thriller as Middle shocks Haddonfield; Wildwood Catholic girls lose playoff game

Middle Township pulls off 41-point turnaround in just two weeks to get revenge over Haddonfield and advance in the state playoffs. Also, Wildwood Catholic's girls team bows out of the state playoffs with a loss at St. Joe.<< MORE >>

Instant classic: Wildwood tops Tech in 2 OT

There have been lots of great and exciting high school basketball games over the years in Cape May County. The boys teams from Cape May Tech and Wildwood added to that legacy Tuesday night.

In front of a sold-out gymnasium at Wildwood High School, the Warriors fought back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Cape May Tech in double overtime, 66-59, in a whale of a South Jersey Group I playoff game.

Matt Schiff and Jared DeGroff hit a pair of huge three-pointers in the final minute of regulation, DeGroff's tying the game at 44-44 with 18 seconds to play. The three-point shot represented DeGroff's only points of the night. Wildwood made four three-point shots in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter.

Overtime was equally exciting, as both teams had their chances, but ultimately, Schiff's miss from 27 feet away at the buzzer sent the game into a second overtime. Wildwood then scored the first eight points of the second extra session to pull away from the Hawks.

Schiff had a game-high 20 points, James Bevans added 17 points and Kevin Fetsick knocked down three three-pointers and finished with 16 points for sixth-seeded Wildwood (16-11), which moves on to face third-seeded Paulsboro in the sectional quarterfinal round on Thursday.

No. 11 Cape May Tech, which had its season ended at 10-17, got 19 points from Jamie Coleman and 10 points each from Nick Ranalli and Gary Farrow. But the Hawks, after falling behind in the second overtime, couldn't come back as three of its top six players had fouled out.

You can read more about the game in Thursday's editions of the Gazettes.

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Staphanie Dugan scores 1,000th point

Congratulations to Lower Cape May Regional senior guard Stephanie Dugan, who scored her 1,000th career point in the Lady Tigers' 51-36 victory over St. Joseph in the regular-seasn finale for both teams.

Dugan, who needed 17 points to reach the milestone, got her 999th and 1,000th points on a drive through the lane with a little over a minute to play in the contest.

Lower Cape May, which plays a state playoff game Thursday night at home, finished the regular season at 18-8.

You can read more about Dugan in this week's editions of the Leader and the Gazettes.

State tournament play begins Monday night. Locally, the Middle Township girls will play Cinnaminson in a Group II game at 7 p.m. WCZT-FM 98.7 will provide a live radio broadcast.

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Crusaders sweep series from Wildwood; playoffs on radio

Wildwood Catholic tops Wildwood; playoff radio broadcast schedule<< MORE >>

LCM's Wermuth out for season

Victoria Wermuth will miss the rest of the season after being hospitalized.<< MORE >>

Cape Tech falls to Atlantic Christian

Cougars outscore Hawks 33-18 in the second half en route to 57-49 victory.<< MORE >>

LCM girls edge Wildwood; other hoops news

The Lower Cape May girls basketball team beats Wildwood for the first time in 12 seasons in a defensive struggle ... and some other local basketball news.<< MORE >>

Pat Kelly highlight

Here's a short highlight package of Pat Kelly long-distance shots from Monday's Wildwood Catholic game at Cape May Tech. Video courtesy Matt Ulmer.<< MORE >>

Catholic boys top Tech; Wildwood girls pull off surprise win

Pat Kelly leads Wildwood Catholic over Cape May Tech and the Wildwood get a surprise double-digit win over a 14-2 Glassboro team to highlight Monday night's local basketball action.<< MORE >>

Danielle Barber scores 1,000th career point

Here's Matt Ulmer's video clip of Middle Township senior guard Danielle Barber scoring her 1,000th career point during her team's victory over Wildwood Catholic Thursday night.<< MORE >>

local sports tidbits

Some local sports notes to pass along ... << MORE >>

Wildwood boys, girls both fall to Salem

The Wildwood boys and girls teams each lose key games with Salem. click through for more detailas, as well as the other results from Tuesday night's basketball.<< MORE >>

Monday hoops: Tech qualifies for playoffs, Middle nearly upsets Spirit

The Cape May Tech boys team qualified for the state playoffs with a win and the Middle Township boys team nearly upset Holy Spirit to highlight Monday evening's local high school basketball action. << MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Philadelphia Electric 58, Wildwood Catholic 50

Crusaders drop to 8-8 for the season, must win one of next two to qualify for state tournament.<< MORE >>

Catching up

Wanting to catch up since it's been a few days since the last post. I tried to post Friday morning, but about 85 percent through what was going to be a pretty long post, my computer froze up and nothing was saved, and I didn't have the energy to re-create the post. UGH!!! << MORE >>

Tuesday hoops: LCM girls go to 11-2

Lower Cape May's girls basketball team runs its recrd to 11-2 with home win over decent AC squad; Middle girls fall to Sacred Heart; Catholic boys lose at Prep; Tech boys lose late to Bridgeton ...<< MORE >>

Cape Tech upsets Middle

The Hawks beat Middle for the first time in program history behind a big second half.<< MORE >>

Wild night in local hoops -- WCHS girls upset Spirit

The wild 2007-08 high school basketball season continues as the Wildwood Catholic girls team upsets Holy Spirit on the road. Other local results as well<< MORE >>

Mussachio's next fight Feb. 15

Wildwood resident and pro boxer Chuck Mussachio to fight in Washington Township.<< MORE >>

CMT-LCM video

Here's Matt Ulmer's video, with the 98.7 The Coast radio feed, from Wednesda night's Cape May Tech-Lower Cape May OT thriller.<< MORE >>

Tech outlasts LCM in OT thriller

Hawks thwart Lower's extraordinary comeback by scoring the first 15 points of overtime.<< MORE >>

New boys soccer coach at WCHS

Mike Saioni to return to Wildwood Catholic as its new boys soccer coach<< MORE >>

W. Catholic-Middle video

Here's the entire game video of last week's Wildwood Catholic-Middle Township game. Video courtesy of Matt Ulmer, radio feed provided by WCZT-FM 98.7<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Middle 29, St. Joe 27

Panthers snap Wildcats' eight-game win streak on a shot by Taz Harris with 1.9 seconds to go.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Wildwood Catholic 42, Middle Township 35

After competing in the Boardwalk Basketball Classic, local teams return to league play Wednesday evening.<< MORE >>

WW-WC boys basketball video

Here's some video of the final 15 seconds or so of the Wildwood-Wildwood Catholic boys basketball game at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic. Contact Matt Ulmer for full videos of both the girls and boys Wildwood-Wildwood Catholic games.<< MORE >>

WCHS sweeps Wildwood at Boardwalk Classic

Sally O'Donnell has a big game to pace the Crusader girls, while the WCHS boys stun Wildwood with a 32-point fourth quarter.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Middle trips Vineland

Panthers overcome slow start to earn a split in holiday tournament play.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Middle falls to Timber Creek

The Panthers lose to Timber Creek at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic<< MORE >>

Wildwood sweeps title games at BBC

Wildwood's boys and girls teams each win bracket championships to highlight local teams' efforts at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic.<< MORE >>

Boys hoops video: LCM vs. Sacred Heart

Here's video of Lower Cape May's victory over Sacred Heart at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Cape Tech falls to Seneca

The Hawks lose to Seneca in the Ray Martin Memorial Boys Bracket title game and suffer their first defeat.<< MORE >>

WCHS girls fall to Vineland

Vineland gets the winning bucket with 24 seconds to play to nip the Crusaders by a point.<< MORE >>

Holiday hoops: MT girls win bracket title, WC boys lose in OT

Middle girls roll past Oakcrest, comeback by Crusader boys is squelched in OT.<< MORE >>

Girls hoops: LCM wins title

The Lower Cape May girls basketball team tops Paul VI to win a bracket title at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Cape Tech goes to 5-0

Cape May Tech moves to 5-0 for the first time in program history.<< MORE >>

Holiday hoops: WC boys, MT girls each post wins

Wildwood Catholic boys and Middle Township girls teams each win night games at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic Wednesday.<< MORE >>

Boys Hoops: Wildwood 83, Barnegat 55

Schiff and Bevans carry the Warriors to an easy victory.<< MORE >>

Local hoops: LCM boys, Wildwood girls win

LCM boys and Wildwood girls each win opening games at Boardwalk Basketball Classic<< MORE >>

Girls Hoops: Lower Cape May 31, Highland 27

The Lady Tigers (3-1) used pressure defense to force 28 Highland turnovers and overcome a poor team shooting effort (11 for 49 from the floor, 22.4 percent) to get the victory.<< MORE >>

Wildwood Catholic international transfer ruled ineligible

Lazar Sutanovac, a 6-7 senior forward, cannot play basketball for Wildwood Catholic, the NJSIAA rules<< MORE >>

Boys soccer: Salvesen out at Wildwood Catholic

Wildwood Catholic to make a coaching change in boys soccer, the school announces.<< MORE >>

LCM swim star makes college choice

Lower Cape May Regional swimming standout Kathryn Moorby will swim at Division I University of Maryland Balitmore County next year, LCMR athloetic director Mark Schiffbauer told us Friday. << MORE >>

More OC-West Windsor video

Here's some edited video from last night's game, which includes Kevin Curran's goal in regulation and the penalty kick shootout.


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Boys soccer: Ocean City 1, West Windsor-Plainsboro North 1 (OC wins 4-3 in PKs)

The Ocean City High School boys soccer has made it to the state championship game. The Raiders beat West Windsor North in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw Tuesday night at Toms River East High School. Here's video of the penalty kick round, courtesy of Matt Ulmer. We should have more video on the game later

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NJSIAA fails to assign Wildwood consolation game

The Wildwood High School football team had its season ended by a telephone call Monday afternoon. The NJSIAA, citing an odd number of playoff non-qualifiers, told the school it could not assign it a game this weekend. << MORE >>

Boys soccer playoff: Haddon Township 3, Middle Township 1

The Middle Township High School boys soccer team had its season ended with a 3-1 loss to Haddon Township in a South Jersey Group II quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon. << MORE >>

Boys soccer: Middle claims conference title

The Middle Township boys soccer team earned a share of the Cape-Atlantic National Conference championship with St. Augustine Prep by beating the Hermits, 1-0, Tuesday night in Cape May Court House. << MORE >>

Field hockey: LCM falls to Collingswood in playoff

The Lower Cape May Regional field hockey team had its season ended Tuesday afternoon with a first-round state playoff loss to Collingswood. << MORE >>

Boys soccer: Prep-Middle postponed

The key Cape-Atlantic National Conference boys soccer game between Middle Township and St. Augustine scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Cape May Court House has been postponed due to inclement weather, Middle athletic director Frank Riggitano said. << MORE >>

Boys soccer: Wildwood Catholic 1, Sacred Heart 0

Julian Miller's head-ball goal with two minutes remaining in the first overtime lifted the Wildwood Catholic boys soccer team to an important 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart Monday afternoon in Stone Harbor. << MORE >>

Wildwood football game postponed


Wildwood High School's home football game against Springfield Montco (Pa.) scheduled for Friday evening at 7 p.m. has been postponed due to inclement weather, the school announced early this afternoon. The game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday at Maxwell Field.

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County cross country championships video (girls)

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OC sweeps county cross country meet

The Ocean City boys and girls cross country teams captured Cape May County Championships Thursday afternoon in the meets held at Cape May County Park. << MORE >>

LCM sports teams back to National Conference next year

Lower Cape May Regional's athletic teams will drop from the larger-school American Conference to the smaller-school National Conference for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 scholastic years, according to converations with area athletic directors from the Cape-Atlantic League, which held its annual realignment meetings this week. << MORE >>

Wildwood Catholic out of playoffs

The rumors that have been flying around for the past six days have proven to be true -- the Wildwood Catholic High School boys soccer team will NOT participate in the state playoffs this fall. << MORE >>

Boys Soccer: Wildwood Catholic 4, LCM 3

The Wildwood Catholic boys soccer team's state playoff future is in doubt due to the three red cards the team was issued in its game earlier this week against Pleasantville. But that didn't stop the Crusaders from putting forth a solid performance Saturday afternoon against rival Lower Cape May. << MORE >>

Boys Soccer: Eastern 2, Middle Township 1

The Middle Township boys soccer team could not overcome a very poor start and lost in the first round of the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Tournament Friday afternoon to Eastern, 2-1.

Eastern, the ninth seed in the tournament, scored a pair of goals in the first nine minutes of the game to stun No. 8 Middle.

Joe Keegan, making a strong run from his stopper position, knocked home the rebound after Middle keeper Scott DeCecco made a brilliant diving save, the ball caroming off the post and directly to the foot of Keegan, unmarked in the area. That tally came before the match was two minutes old.

Marco Romanicito gave Eastern a two-goal edge in the ninth minute, volleying home a cross to finish off a strong Eastern counterattck.

Middle finally settled down from there and put enormous pressure on the Eastern defense. After three good chances didn't result in a goal, Austin Johnson finally broke through by touching home Zach Todd's corner kick.

The Panthers played well in the second half as well, enjoying more of the possession, but never could mount an eqaulizer.

"You look at what this (tournament) is all about and it's a benefit for us because we were able to compete well against a very good Olympic Conference team," said Middle coach John Maher. "We showed we can take it to a team like that.

"I'm disappointed in the first nine minutes. It wouldn't have taken much on our part to make that different. You take away those first nine minutes and the jitters and the poor response on our part, we competed the whole time."

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Wildwood Catholic banned from state playoffs?

Could the Wildwood Catholic boys soccer team be banned from the state playoffs?

Multiple sources told us Wednesday that the team was issued three direct red cards by game officials during its 4-3 victory at Pleasantville Tuesday afternoon.

According to NJSIAA rules, any soccer program that receives three direct red cards in a season is disqualified from participation in that season's state playoffs.

Wildwood Catholic athletic director Sal Zuccarello would not comment on the matter, other than to say it is being investigated by the proper parties.

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Ocean City, Middle get Coaches Tournament bids

Two area high school boys soccer teams have earned bids to the prestigious South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association Tournament. Ocean City and Middle Township will compete in the event, which includes the top 16 teams in South Jersey regardless of enrollment grouping. << MORE >>

Catholic boys top Tech; Middle girls fall to Spirit

A couple of key high school soccer games were played Tuesday. In a boys game at Cape May Tech, Wildwood Catholic topped the Hawks in a high-scoring affair, 7-3. In a girls game featuring two of the top teams in the Cape-Atlantic National Conference, Middle Township dropped a 4-0 decision to Holy Spirit. << MORE >>

Ocean City sweeps LCM

Ocean City High School's boys and girls soccer teams each knocked off Lower Cape May Monday afternoon.

In the boys game at the Tennessee Avenue Field in Ocean City, the Raiders got first-half goals from Kevin Curran and John Granese and a shutout effort in goal from John Fogarty to win, 2-0. The Raiders moved to 10-0 for the season, while Lower Cape May dropped to 3-7.

In the girls game in Erma, Lower Cape May took a surprising lead less than a minute into the game, but the Raiders exploded for seven straight goals to win going away, 7-1. Ocean City improved to 6-2-1; Lower Cape May fell to 2-9.

You can read more about these games in this week's editions of the Gazettes.

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Phillies fever!

Everyone in Phillies nation is obviously hyped up by the team's division-clinching victory Sunday and is anxiously awaiting the start of the playoffs. In this week's editions of the Wildwood Leader and the Gazettes, read about a Cape May County native, John Fetsick, a former athlete at Cape May Tech, who is getting an up close and personal look at the Phillies' wild ride as an employee in the team's front office.

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Wildwood falls at Clayton

Something had to give. When the Wildwood High School football team traveled to Clayton Saturday, it was a matchup of one team -- Wildwood -- that hadn't won a varsity game since 2002 and another -- Clayton -- that was on a 28-game winning streak. << MORE >>

Friday football -- Middle, LCM lose again

The Middle Township and Lower Cape May Regional high school football teams are still searching for their first victories after both clubs lost games Friday night.

In Cape May Court House, Middle Township hung in for a half against mighty Holy Spirit, but the Spartans exploded for three touchdowns in the third quarter and eventually ran away with a 39-0 victory. Behind william Washington and Nick Hall, Holy Spirit rushed