Cape May County Gazette Sports :: South Jersey Sports

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

Brian Cunniff — 2008-04-28T21:48:57Z

Some breaking sports news early this week on the local front ...

Two area high school athletes have made their college choices. Allie Weiser, an outstanding softball pitcher at Wildwood Catholic, has given a verbal commitment to accept a full athletic scholarship to Division I University at Albany. Weiser, a junior, will officially sign a National Letter of Intent in the fall. She is not plaing this spring due to a knee injury but is hoping to be back on the field sometime this summer for her club team based in Pennsylvania.

Lower Cape May basketball star Victoria Wermuth will play college basketball at Division III Drew University. Wermuth, LCMR's all-time leading scorer in both girls basketball and girls soccer, will join Middle Township's Danielle Barber in Drew's inciming freshmen women's basketball class.

Dennis Scuderi Jr., who led the Middle Township High School football program in 2005 and 2006, was expected to be approved Monday evening as the new head football coach at Absegami High School, replacing former NFL player Doug Colman, who resigned to take a job with the football program at the University of Nebraska, his alma mater.

And finally, there have been strong indications that former all-state offensive lineman Josh Eames, a graduate of Lower Cape May Regional who just finished a fine four-year at Vanderbilt, could be close to signing a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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

Pat Kelly to attend Division II Holy Family

Brian Cunniff — 2008-04-17T10:39:42Z

Wildwood Catholic High School basketball standout Pat Kelly will attend Division II Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia next year, Wildwood Catholic athletic director Sal Zuccarello told us today.

Kelly, the Gazette Leader's area boys basketball MVP last winter, averaged 18.9 points per game last season as a senior and finished his career with 1,036 points. One of the top three-point shooters in Cape May County high school basketball history, Kelly, also a first team Cape-Atlantic National Conference all-star, finished his career as Wildwood Catholic's all-time leader in three-pointers made with 155. He made 77 three-pointers and 80 percent of his free-throw attempts as a senior.

Holy Family is one of the top Division II programs in the region. A member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, the Vikings finished 21-10 overall last season, reaching the CACC title game and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.

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

Wildwood holds off Wildwood Catholic

Brian Cunniff — 2008-04-17T08:07:43Z

An eight-run outburst over the first two innings and two tremendous defensive plays by shortstop Rick Palmer in the sixth inning led to the Wildwood baseball team's 8-6 victory over Wildwood Catholic Tuesday afternoon at Maxwell Field.

Wildwood used a few walks, a couple of Wildwood Catholic errors, a two-run triple by Trevor Rivera and a two-run single by Rich Fullerton to score eight runs over the first two innings.

Wildwood Catholic chipped away at the Wildwood lead and seriously threatened in the sixth inning. Nick Long's two-run single was the offensive highlight of a four-run inning for the Crusaders, who could have scored many more times if not for two stellar defensive plays by Palmer. With the bases loaded and no outs, Palmer dove to his right to field Matt Morey's hard grounder before scrambling to his feet and flipping to second base for a force out. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, Palmer again ranged to his right on Bryan Toland's grounder, gobbled up an in-between hop and threw across his body to get another force out at second base.

Wildwood Catholic loaded the bases again with two outs in the top of the seventh but a short fly ball to left field ended the game.

Wildwood improved to 5-3 with the win, while Wildwood Catholic dropped to 2-3.

Bishop to play at Bloomfield

Brian Cunniff — 2008-04-13T21:17:52Z

Wildwood High School girls basketball star Shakiyrah Bishop will play at Division II Bloomfield College next year, Wildwood coach Dave Troiano announced at the team's awards dinner Saturday evening.

Bishop, who averaged 15.5 points per game for the season but upped her scoring efforts to 17 points per outing in the state playoffs, chose Bloomfield over Division III Rowan and Stockton.

Bishop helped lead Wildwood to the South Jersey Group I title and a berth in the state Group I championship game.

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

Hopkin to sign with Siena

Brian Cunniff — 2008-04-10T09:37:46Z

Middle Township High School pitcher John Hopkin will sign a National Letter of Intent Friday morning to play college baseball at Division I Siena next year. Hopkin's decision was announced by Middle Township athletic director Scott Lodgek Thursday morning.

Hopkin, a 6-3 left hander who at times can throw into the low 90s, is one of the top pitchers in the Cape-Atlantic League. Last year as a junior, Hopkin struk out 68 batters in 37 1/3 innings pitched while going 4-3 for the Panthers.

Hopkin will be the first Division I scholarship baseball player produced by current Middle Township coach Chuck Dougherty.

"This is outstanding for the program, it's outstanding for 'Hoppy' and it's outstanding for the school," Dougherty said. "This is really a great thing. I'm very happy for him."

You can read more about this story in next week'd editions of the Gazette and Wildwood Leader.

Wildwood-New Providence highlights

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-06T14:31:19Z

State title game times set

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-06T10:27:34Z

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.

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

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-05T20:33:01Z

DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP -- The Wildwood High School girls basketball team's extraordinary run through the state playoffs has now taken the program to the state Group I championship game.

Latifah McNeal posted 18 points and an incredible 23 rebounds to carry the South Jersey champion Lady Warriors past Central Jersey winner New Providence, 46-30, in the state semifinal Wednesday night played at Deptford High School.

Wildwood, which won three consecutive state titles from 2000 through 2002 and also was a state finalist in 2003, will play for the program's fifth state title overall Sunday afternoon at the Ritacco Center in Toms River at a time to be determined.

"At the beginning of the season I didn't think there was any way we could get this far," said McNeal. "It's incredible to me that we're now in the state championship game."

Ahead by five points late in the third quarter, Wildwood scored the last five points of the period before erupting for the first eight points of the fourth quarter to pull away from a young Pioneer team that started two freshmen and two sophomores.

Wildwood (21-7) used its delay offense to start the fourth quarter to draw the Pioneers out of a 3-2 zone, and the strategy worked to perfection as the Lady Warriors scored layups on four out of their first five possessions to build a comfortable 18-point lead. The Lady Warriors were up by as much as 20 points in the final period.

"Every time playing against the zone, Latifah seemed to have two people guarding her," Wildwood coach Dave Troiano said. "I just didn't feel they had any one person that could stop her so we went to the V-cut, and the girls are getting pretty good at that offense because they really look for each other with the back-door cuts. The kids really seem to enjoy doing that."

Wildwood scored only two points over the first five minutes of the third quarter as New Providence cut an eight-point halftime deficit to five, but Katie McWade's putback and Shakiyrah Bishop's basket and free throw allowed Wildwood to take a 10-point lead going into the final quarter.

"Except for the first four minutes of the third quarter, I thought we really came alive offensively in the second half," Troiano said. "I don't know if we were any better defensively, but our offense really picked up, and once we got a 10- or 12-point lead, (New Providence) had to start rushing their offense a little bit and that's when things really started going our way."

Bishop added 15 points for Wildwood, which won its fifth straight game -- four of them playoff contests.

Kaitlyn Cresencia scored 10 points and Shelly Montagna, the team's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, was held to one field goal and nine points for New Providence (21-5).

LCM-Ocean City girls basketball video

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-04T19:07:54Z

Wildwood-Salem video

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-04T10:53:11Z

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

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-03T22:03:22Z

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.

Wildwood-Gloucester video

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-02T19:39:13Z

Another big comeback sends LCM girls to first South Jersey Final

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-01T21:23:33Z

The Lower Cape May Regional High School girls basketball will enter unchartered waters for its program when the team plays in its first-ever South Jersey championship game Monday night.

Trailing by eight points to Shawnee early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers used a swarming press defense and incredible late-game free-throw shooting to overtake the Lady Renegades, 43-38, in a South Jersey Group III semifinal in front of a packed house at the Erma school.

Lower Cape May made 15-of-16 free-throw attempts in the final quarter, including a 7-for-8 performance by Janzell Rodriguez, to stun a Shawnee team that had led from the start of the game until less than two minutes remained.

The Lady Tigers' press forced turnover after turnover, leading two a couple of layups and numerous free throws as the team finished the game on a 15-5 run, two days after scoring the final nine points of the game to beat Moorestown by a point one round earlier.

"Our press was unbelieavable," said Lower coach Roy Wright, normally the most well-dressed coach in South Jersey but who had ripped his suitcoat and tie off and untucked his shirt at various points of the game. "I think the kids just made up their minds that weren't ready to go home yet."

Rodriguez led the Lady Tigers with 16 points. Victoria Wermuth added 12.

The South Jersey title game will have an all-Cape-Atlantic League flavor as the Lady Tigers will face Ocean City, which defeated Seneca in the other semifinal.

McNeal beats buzzer as Wildwood advances

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-01T20:58:18Z

The Wildwood High School girls basketball team had trouble executing on offense for almost the entire second half Saturday afternoon.

But on the last possession of the game, the Lady Warriors couldn't have executed any better.

Shakiryah Bishop drove into the top of the lane and dished off beautifully to a wide-open Latifah McNeal, whose layup at the buzzer gave Wildwood a 41-39 victory over Gloucester in a South Jersey Group I semifinal Saturday afternoon.

The basket was McNeal's only field goal of the second half.

Gloucester actually had the ball with a chance to take the last shot, but Bishop forced a jump ball with 7.3 seconds to play, giving Wildwood the ball at halfcourt. Following a timeout, Bishop used a screen from Shaniqua Roper to get into the lane before passing off to McNeal. The buzzer sounded as McNeal's shot kissed off the backboard, before the ball fell softly in the basket to give Wildwood the win. The Lady Warrior players and coaches mobbed the floor in celebration while Gloucester's players, coaches and fans stood in stunned silence.

"For the first time all game, the girls actually listened," said laughing Wildwood coach Dave Troiano, who drew up the winning play in the timeout. "We couldn't have executed that any better. I told Shaniqua to make sure she set a good screen, and then I told Shakiyrah to look for Latifah if the defense stepped up to her. We did a great job on the last possession."

Bishop scored 15 points, Loretta Kelly added 11 points and McNeal had nine points, 17 rebounds and six steals for the Lady Warriors, who led by 12 points at one stage of the first half only to see Gloucester take a lead as large as four points early in the fourth quarter.

Gloucester (19-8) had beaten Wildwood twice in the regular season by a total of five points combined.

The win sends Wildwood (19-7) to Monday's South Jersey Group I final for the second time in as many seasons. Wildwood, which lost to Palmyra in last year's sectional title game, will take on Salem, which beat Penns Grove by two points in the other semifinal Saturday afternoon.

NOTE: Check back frequently as we hope to add some video highlights from the game shortly.

Collingswood shuts down Middle

Brian Cunniff — 2008-03-01T10:00:16Z

The Middle Township High School boys basketball team's season came to an end Friday night as the Panthers lost a South Jersey Group II semifinal at Collingswood, 58-34.

Collingswood scored the first 10 points of the game to take a a commanding early lead. Middle responded with a 7-0 spurt to get back in the game but its Colonial Conference foe was simply too strong and too athletic for the overachieving Panthers.

Leading by five after the first quarter, collingswood went on a 15-4 run over the course of the second period to build a double-digit lead it never relinquished.

Tom Salvesen scored 10 points for Middle (15-13), which made just 12 field goals for the game.

Collingswood moves on to play Cinnaminson in the South Jersey Group II final on Monday.

Wildwood boys bow out of playoffs

Brian Cunniff — 2008-02-29T10:49:16Z

The members of the Wildwood High School boys basketball team must have felt like they were getting hit by a Mack truck dirving 75 miles per hour.

Wildwood, coming off a thrilling double overtime win against Cape May Tech in the first round of the state playoffs, watched Paulsboro go on a 15-0 run to start Thursday night's South Jersey Group I quarterfinal. The host Raiders went on to lead 25-4 after one quarter and cruised to a not-as-close-as-it-looks 65-55 victory over the Warriors, although Wildwood did manage to cut the big Paulsboro lead to 10 points when it went on an 8-0 run to start the second half.

Paulsboro, however, eventually opened up a lead as large as 18 points in the fourth quarter before Wildwood, to its credit, came up with a late run to make the final margin a respectable 10 points.

Wildwood, the sixth seed in the bracket, had its season ended at 16-2, while Paulsboro advanced to the sectional semifinals.

James Bevans scored 18 points and Matt Schiff added 17 points for the Warriors in the loss.

Wildwood runs by Pitman to advance

Brian Cunniff — 2008-02-29T10:34:41Z

When the Pitman High School girls basketball team scored the first six points of Thursday night's South Jersey Group I playoff game, it seemed as if host Wildwood might be in for a lot of trouble.

That is, until the Lady Warriors responded from that deficit with a hellacious 20-3 run.

Wildwood spotted Pitman those six early points but was otherwise brilliant as it raced past the Panthers, 57-33, to advance to Saturday's South Jersey Group I semifinal at Gloucester.

Wildwood closed the first quarter on a 12-1 run, then scored eight of the first 10 points of the second quarter to build a 20-9 lead. The Lady Warriors led by no less than eight points the rest of the way and established an 18-point lead by the middle of the third quarter.

"The seniors didn't want to lose in their last game here," Wildwood coach Dave Troiano said. "They were very determined."

Wildwood got great scoring balance in the game as Shakiyrah Bishop and Latifah McNeal each scored 14 points and Loretta Kelly added 13 points for Wildwood (18-7), which shot an outstanding 19 for 24 from the foul line and turned the ball over just seven times.

Mary Beato, Pitman's all-time leading scorer in girls basketball, had 17 points to pace the Panthers (15-10) in her final high school game.

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

Brian Cunniff — 2008-02-29T10:05:50Z

The Lower Cape May Regional High School girls basketball trailed Moorestown 39-31 with about 3 1/2 minutes left Thursday. The Lady Tigers then staged a furious rally ensuring that their season wouldn;t come to an abrupt end.

Stephanie Dugan's two free throws with 13.6 seconds to play capped a 9-0 Lower Cape May run to close the game to give the Lady Tigers a thrilling 40-39 victory in a South Jersey Group III quarterfinal.

It was the third straight evening a playoff game involving a local club when down to the last possession or was decided in overtime.

The victory was Lower Cape May's first in the state playoffs since the 2001-02 season, and it came in front of the largest crowd of the season for a basketball game at the school, with a student section of about 150 spectators donned "Sixth Man" T-shirts to cheer for the Lady Tigers.

"I'm really happy for the seniors and for all the kids to get the experience of winning a playoff game," said Lower coach Roy Wright. "I said in the preseason that I knew this was going to be a group that I would really enjoy working with and now I get to work with them for at least two more days."

The win moves second-seeded Lower Cape May into a sectional semifinal game against 10th seeded Shawnee on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Alex Matthews, whom Wright said played the best game of her career, knocked down a three-point shot and hit a tough bank shot in the lane to sraw Lower to within three points. Janzell Rodriguez then made a difficult scoop shot off the glass to draw the Lady Tigers within a point.

With less than a minute to play, Moorestown missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Lower Cape May possession. Out of the team's spread offense, Dugan drove down the right side of the lane and was fouled with 13.6 seconds to play and calmly made both foul shots to give Lower its first lead since the first half.

"Obviously, I felt very good that it was Dugan on the line," Wright said. "She's one of the best foul shooters in our league."

Moorestown raced down the floor and got off two shots, both of which were heavily contested by the Lady Tigers. After the ball was batted around a couple of times following the second miss, Dugan pounced on the loose ball to the left of the lane as time expired, touching off a wild celebration at center court.

Matthews scored 12 points and Dugan and Khadijah Clark each added seven points in the win. Victoria Wermuth, given full medical clearance to play only a few hours before the game in the wake of an emergency appendectomy earlier this month, chipped in five points.

Middle-Collingswood will be on radio

Brian Cunniff — 2008-02-28T12:28:17Z

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.

Middle-Haddonfield video highlights

Brian Cunniff — 2008-02-28T10:17:43Z