March 26, 2003
The best (and worst) of the high school basketball season
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
Competitive high school basketball in New Jersey ended Tuesday night with a doubleheader in the
Meadowlands. The only thing left are some all star games and the 2002-03 season will find its permanent
place in history.
But first, it is time for our basketball buffet, a list of the best (and occasionally, the worst) of the just
completed season from one point of view. So, here we go.
All Cape-Atlantic Boys: Mike Bradway, Mainland; Anthony Farmer, St. Augustine Prep; Andrew
Morrison, Wildwood Catholic; Terrence Woodson, Oakcrest; Lamar Wright, Absegami.
All Cape-Atlantic Girls: Kara Ayers, Absegami; Shantae Barnes, Absegami; Bryna Batten, Holy Spirit;
Adrienne Rochetti, Sacred Heart; Ikea Witt, Sacred Heart.
Players of the Year: Andrew Morrison and Ikea Witt.
All Rookie Boys Team (freshmen or sophomores with limited prior experience): Jarrod Frazier, St.
Augustine Prep; Charles Johnson, Lower Cape May; Ryan Lancaster, Egg Harbor Township; Ed Keys,
Pleasantville; Phil Schaffer, Ocean City.
All Rookie Girls Team: Kristin Bowen, Sacred Heart; Tasha Cannon, Atlantic City; Alicia Hall, Holy Spirit;
Kristina Rosario, Absegami; Jordan Sykes, Holy Spirit.
All Transfer Team: Mark Petrongolo, St. Augustine Prep (from Bishop Eustace); Mark Porter, St.
Augustine Prep (from Reno NV); Maurice Ragland, Pleasantville (from Absegami); Viktoria Sholokhova,
Sacred Heart (from Russia); Durrell Vinson, St. Augustine Prep (from Sacred Heart).
Best New Addition: Wildwood’s new Convention Center made its debut this season, hosting the
ever-expanding Boardwalk Basketball Classic. It was the star of the season, offering high school teams
and their fans incomparable surroundings that brought out the best in performances.
CAL Boys Coach of the Year: There were a number of coaches who could claim the top honor but the
edge goes to Wildwood Catholic’s Champ McGaffney. He guided his team to a third straight division title,
the proverbial Cape May County championship and a second straight South Jersey final appearance.
Special mentions to Tom Feraco of Middle Township, Paul Rodio of St. Augustine Prep, EHT’s George
McNally, Oakcrest’s Dave Lewis and Mainland’s Whitey Haak.
CAL Girls Coach of the Year: Her last name is part of the legend of CAL basketball but, this year, Katie
Ford, the daughter of Chris, wrote her own chapter. The first-year coach at Oakcrest kept the Falcons in
the division race until their final game, guided them into the NJSIAA tournament after eight straight years
of futility and won a tournament for the first time since 1982. She did it with a very young team that could
make even bigger waves next year. Honorable mentions to Absegami’s Greg Goodwin, Sacred Heart’s
Steve DiPatri, Holy Spirit’s Larry DiGiovanni, Mainland’s Karl Geisinger and Ocean City’s Paul Baruffi.
Best New Addition-Part 2: Hammonton’s new gymnasium, along with an incredible assortment of playing
fields, gives Blue Devil teams the type of facilities high school athletes dream about. And the gym has
already brought new activities to the community, hosting the Olympic-Cape Challenge.
Comebacks of the Year: Both Rachel Constantine of Ocean City and Liz Schiff of Wildwood underwent
knee surgery before the season started. Both were told to basically forget about their final basketball
seasons. Instead, each girl worked extra hard, proving she was far more than just a pretty face, and
surprised even their doctors by returning to action in February. Constantine made some key free throws in
the game that clinched a division title for OC and Schiff was instrumental in Wildwood’s fourth straight
South Jersey title.
Best New Addition-Part 3: The Ventnor Community Complex is not a high school facility, though its gym is
as good as most. And it is a few years old, not brand new. But the complex successfully hosted the Girls
Basketball Shootout in February and All Star Saturday will be there on April 5. You can be sure this gym
will bring more entertaining sports events into Ventnor.
Another Strange School Board Story: A school board member in Washington Township announced she
was suing the school’s boys basketball coach for cutting her son, a sophomore, from the team. Among
other charges was her claim that it caused her son embarrassment. Are we to assume that “I got cut from
the team so my mom sued the coach” won’t cause him any embarrassment? This is the same school,
you may remember, whose board declined to name its Christmas tournament in memory of former coach
Skip Given, an Ocean City graduate, after Given died in a tragic accident. It was Given who created the
tournament but two board members blocked the memorial because they didn’t like the way he coached
their sons. As we've said frequently, be very careful when you vote in school board elections.
Greatest Force: Snow. It scrambled schedules and completely changed the second half of the season.
Boys Game of the Year: There were so many. Camden Catholic over St. Augustine Prep in the South
Jersey Parochial A final. A pair of tournament wins by Middle Township on buzzer-beaters by Mike Maher.
Pleasantville’s double-overtime effort at St. Augustine. Wildwood Catholic’s one-point win over Middle and
spectacular double-overtime comeback over Oakcrest. They were all great but the winner is St.
Augustine’s overtime win over Christian Brothers Academy in the South Jersey semifinals, a game that
took two days to complete. First of all, the Prep made an incredible comeback in the final two minutes of
regulation to send the game into overtime. After a slippery floor stopped the game, they had to go to
Southern Regional two days later to finish it. It was also significant because of the impact it had on the
Prep’s South Jersey championship potential. St. Augustine had to come back and play Camden Catholic
the night after completing the CBA game while Camden Catholic had two full days to prepare.
Girls Game of the Year: Sacred Heart staged a furious rally to win its first state title. Absegami, after
coasting to the South Jersey Group 4 title, nearly upset Marlboro in the state semifinal. Ocean City went
into overtime with Hammonton in the game that clinched the division title for the Raiders. Holy Spirit held
off Sacred Heart in the game that decided the National Conference title. But the edge here goes to the
CAL championship game, a tight battle between Absegami and Holy Spirit at Richard Stockton College.
It wasn’t decided until Gami junior Basimah Thompson wrote her name into history by taking the ball
coast to coast in four seconds for a buzzer-beating – and championship winning - layup.
Make no mistake about it, we had another great basketball season in 2002-03. And, just think, in less
than 40 weeks we can start all over again.