By DAVID WEINBERG
For CapeAtlanticLive.com
NORTH WILDWOOD – St. Joseph’s boys basketball team finally got to enjoy the 60-mile bus ride back to Hammonton Friday night.
The Wildcats ended a decade’s worth of disappointment against host Wildwood Catholic with an impressive performance that netted a 63-48 victory in a Cape-Atlantic League American Division showdown.
“I’ve been (head coach at St. Joseph) for 11 years and this is the first time we’ve won in this gym,” Wildcats coach Paul Rodio said. “This is a big win for us.”
Wildwood Catholic may enjoy the biggest homecourt advantage in the CAL.
The court is so small that it features a double line at midcourt. One section of the bleachers is mere inches from the sideline and stretches all the way to the ceiling, enabling fans to loom over the action.
Those fans were rattling the rafters with cheers when the Crusaders grabbed a 39-33 lead midway through the third quarter.
But it wasn’t long before the fans were rendered silent.
St. Joe (16-4) ended the quarter on an 11-1 run behind Edwin Drummond and Will Spross to take a 44-40 edge.
Wildwood Catholic’s Alex Daniel cut the deficit to 44-42, but the Wildcats responded with a 17-6 burst to turn the game into a rout.
Drummond scored a game-high 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Spross added 14 and capped his night with a twisting, spinning drive through the key.
Daniel paced Wildwood Catholic with 18 points. Ryan McGrath added 10.
“They were a more physical and tougher team than us tonight,” Wildwood Catholic coach Will Wareham said. “These are the types of games we can’t afford to let slip by because of the seedings for the CAL and South Jersey tournaments. But in the end, St. Joe just wanted it more than us.”
Neither team has a chance to win the American Conference – Middle Township clinched the title by beating Ocean City Friday – but they could be factors in the upcoming postseason tournaments.
Both are capable of winning the CAL tournament and could be threats in the South Jersey Non-Public B state bracket.
“We just have to maintain a one-game-at-a-time mindset,” Rodio said. “When we lost to Mainland (54-42 on January 23), I was ready to jump in the water. But we put that game behind us and moved on and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing.
“When the season first started, I told the kids I’d be happy if we qualified for the playoffs. But I underestimated this team. Now we want to win.”
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