VIDEO: CAL Playoffs - Stunning buzzer beater leads to Spirit’s upset of Middle; Wildwood Catholic hangs on to beat Ocean City

Posted: February 15th 2025

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Saturday afternoon featured one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the Cape-Atlantic League boys basketball playoff tournament.

Nicky Rodgers sank a 35-foot three-point shot at the buzzer as 10th-seeded Holy Spirit stunned No. 2 Middle Township, 36-33, in a quarterfinal game on the Panthers’ floor.

With the game tied at 33-33, Middle Township missed a short baseline jump shot with seven seconds to go. Holy Spirit’s Mykai Campbell rebounded the miss and took three dribbles to midcourt before passing to his left to Rodgers, whose shot from near his team’s bench banked in as time expired.

The basket sent the Spartans into a massive celebration in the corner of the gymnasium nearest their bench, as euphoric Holy Spirit fans poured out of the bleachers to join the players in the hoopla.

Cinderella Holy Spirit (17-8), which beat No. 7 Lower Cape May one round earlier, advances to the CAL semifinal round to face No. 6 St. Augustine Prep. Middle Township fell to 18-7 with the loss.

The heroic shot by Rodgers accounted for his only three points of the game.

Jordan Gonzalez led the Spartans with 15 points. Campbell added seven.

But it was the Holy Spirit defense that gave the Spartans a chance to steal the victory late. After trailing by double digits at one point early in the second quarter, Spirit closed to within six points at the half at 28-22 before holding Middle to just one field goal and five points in the second half. Spirit, which used various zone defenses to disrupt its opponent’s rhythm, outscored Middle 10-2 in the fourth quarter.

Jamir McNeil led Middle with nine points. Amir Elston added eight.

CRUSADERS HANG ON FOR ROAD WIN AT OCEAN CITY

Wildwood Catholic pulled off a seed upset Saturday afternoon with a 52-51 win over host Ocean City in another quarterfinal.

The Crusaders, seeded fifth, got a blocked shot from Alex Daniel in the lane just before time expired to hold on for the narrow victory over the fourth-seeded Raiders.

Wildwood Catholic appeared to have sealed the win when Riley Powell made a free throw with 18 seconds remaining to make the score 52-48. But Ocean City’s Leon Brown sank a three-pointer with 4.1 seconds to go and Wildwood Catholic was whistled for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds play, giving Ocean City the ball. The Raiders entered the ball into the lane, but Daniel blocked the final shot to end Ocean City’s chances.

Powell finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds and Ryan McGrath added 13 points to lead Wildwood Catholic (17-7), which advances to play top-seeded Atlantic City in the semifinal round.

Ben McGonigle scored 19 points to lead Ocean City (16-6), with three of them coming on a shot from beyond halfcourt to beat the third-quarter buzzer. Dean Lappin added 10 points for the Raiders.