NJSIAA playoffs: Ocean City girls, Wildwood Catholic boys pull off playoff upsets; OC boys breeze at home; late comeback falls short for Wildwood boys

Posted: February 28th 2026

Two Cape May County teams pulled off road upsets as the NJSIAA basketball playoffs continued Friday.

The following are recaps of the games:

BOYS

South Jersey Non-Public B: (10) Wildwood Catholic 66, (7) Gloucester Catholic 63: After trailing by four points following one quarter, Wildwood Catholic outscored the Rams by 38-21 over the middle two quarters to take a 13-point lead into the fourth. The Crusaders then held off a strong Gloucester Catholic run late in the game to claim the victory. Paris Kinsey and Micah D’Anna each scored 22 points for Wildwood Catholic (7-18) in the win. The Crusaders will travel to No. 2 Holy Cross Prep for a second-round game Monday.

South Jersey Group III: (2) Ocean City 69, (15) Hammonton 50: The defending South Jersey champion Raiders built a 35-20 lead at halftime and cruised to the first-round win at home. Josh Lenko tallied 19 points, Alec Bell scored 16 points and Chris Pontari added 10 points for Ocean City (21-6), who will host No. 11 Winslow Township in the second round Monday. Winslow was an upset winner over No. 6 Timber Creek in its tournament opener.

South Jersey Group I: (4) KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy 46, (13) Wildwood 41: After a low-scoring first half that saw KIPP take a 12-10 lead at intermission, the hosts built a double-digit lead in the second half before a late Wildwood rally fell short. Owen Bannon scored 15 points and Trevor Troiano added 12 points in the loss for the Warriors, who finished the season at 13-13.

GIRLS

South Jersey Group III: (13) Ocean City 42, (4) Shawnee 39: Ocean City used a strong start to take an early lead before holding off a late Shawnee rally to pull off the upset victory on the road. The Raiders held a double-digit lead after three quarters and survived Shawnee’s surge in the fourth. Marley Ostrander scored 13 points and Kaia Chew added nine points for Ocean City (14-10), who will face fifth-seeded Hammonton on the road on Monday. Hammonton was a winner over No. 12 Absegami in its first-round game.