VIDEO: After fast start, WCA holds off Wildwood behind Ruiz, Dunner

Posted: February 4th 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

WILDWOOD – Nahseer Ruiz has started in a lot of games for the Wildwood Catholic Academy boys basketball team. On Saturday, the junior forward came off the bench.

That didn’t stop him from having one of his best games of the season.

Ruiz contributed nine points and 13 rebounds as the Crusaders topped Wildwood, 60-55, in the first game between the two island rivals since December 2017.

“‘Nahz’ is capable of that every night,” Wildwood Catholic coach Will Wareham said. “He’s really starting to find out what he’s capable of. Some earlier games, he showed some flashes of being able to do that. This was probably his best all-round game of the year for us.”

Wildwood Catholic led nearly from start to finish but had to withstand several Wildwood charges. The Crusaders jumped out a 22-8 lead early in the second quarter, thanks in part to Pat Bean scoring eight first-quarter points. Wildwood responded with a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter, however, as Wildwood Catholic took a 34-29 lead at the break.

The Crusaders (9-14) got ahead by as many as 10 in the second half. Again, Wildwood surged, closing the gap to just three points on a couple of different occasions. But the Warriors (11-9) never tied the game or took the lead.

“We got a little separation a couple of times but Wildwood is so resilient,” Wareham said. “We knew they weren’t going to stop fighting. Wildwood kept chipping away, chipping away on us. But whenever they got within a possession or two, I felt like our guys did a decent job of making a key layup or grabbing a big rebound. Our guys did a great job of making plays when it counted.”
One of those plays was a critical three-pointer by Charlie Dunner in the fourth quarter. He finished with a team-high 18 points, scoring nine in each half.

An electric atmosphere surrounded the game, which was sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sale at each school. Fans from both teams were taken on a roller-coaster ride of emotions throughout the contest.

“They haven’t done this game in a while, so being able to do it, especially my senior year, was awesome,” Dunner said. “The atmosphere was crazy. The gym was jumping. I played against a lot of their guys all growing up so it was awesome to be able to do it again.”

Bean was also in double figures for WCA with 11 points. 

Jordan Fusik was the top scorer for Wildwood, canning five three-pointers en route to a game-high 19 points. Junior Hans added 14.

Wildwood leads the all-time series between the two schools, 54-42, but Wildwood Catholic has won 18 of the last 21 contests.

JORDAN FUSIK