VIDEO: Lower teams sweep home playoff doubleheader

Posted: February 21st 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ERMA – The Lower Cape May Regional High School basketball programs enjoyed victories in the opening round of the state playoffs Wednesday.

The girls used a solid defensive effort to post a 42-29 win over Collingswood, while the boys posted their second-highest scoring total of the season in an 88-57 decision over Camden Academy Charter.

BALANCED SCORING, DEFENSE LIFT LADY TIGERS

Lower Cape May’s girls team used its defense to earn the program’s first state playoff victory since 2017.

The Lady Tigers, seeded sixth in the South Jersey Group II Tournament, held No. 11 Collingswood to three first-half field goals and zero points in the second quarter en route to a 42-29 victory.

“We were so happy at halftime, having given up only seven points,” Lower coach Scott Douglass said. “That was the biggest difference today.”

Playing against a 3-2 zone defense by Collingswood in the opening half, Lower (19-6) made five three-pointers before halftime and took a 20-7 lead into intermission. Hailey Elwell hit a pair and Kaitlyn McGuigan, Ainsley Reed and Savannah Wareham each made one. 

“We always say we play better when we get a couple early shots to go down,” Douglass said. “We need to hit shots early to be effective. Our outside shooting is so big for us. If we get points down low, it’s usually because we get some outside shots to go and things open up for us.”

Lower Cape May received extremely balanced scoring in the victory. Elwell and McGuigan each scored nine points and Reed, Wareham, Alex Vogt and Brooke Robinson each added six.

“It’s been like that all year for us,” Douglass said. “To get that kind of balance is awesome for us.”

Lower will travel to No. 3 seed Manchester Township for a sectional quarterfinal game on Monday. Manchester topped Overbrook in its opening-round game.

“It was nice to have a couple good practices before this game,” Douglass said. “Now we’ll get four practices before Manchester. It’s nice to keep this going

OFFENSE EXPLODES FOR LCM BOYS

Lower Cape May’s boys team has played at a quicker pace this season than in some recent years. That was certainly on display Wednesday.

The Caper Tigers exploded for 46 first-half points on their way to a rather comfortable 88-57 victory over Camden Academy Charter in the first round of the South Jersey Group II playoffs.

The Tigers knocked down seven first-half three-point shots, with Josh Gretta coming off the bench to make four of them in the opening half. The sophomore transfer finished with 22 points in the victory.

“He did well in our last game against Ocean City and he came up big tonight,” Lower coach Scott Holden said of Gretta. “When we see a team go zone like they did, we try to get Josh in the game as soon as possible. Moving here before the season, he had to learn our system and he’s gotten more playing time as that’s happened.”

Macky Bonner led all scorers with 25 points for Lower despite subbing in and out of the game frequently due to foul trouble. Ty Bonner (16 points) and John Fernandez (12 points) were also in double figures for Lower (21-6), which won its first state playoff game in six seasons.

“This team has done some things that maybe weren’t expected,” Holden said. “One is to win 21 games. Then to win our conference and go 11-1 at home. And we hadn’t won a state game since 2018. These seniors came in that COVID year so they had kind of a weird start. But whenever our season ends, they’re going to leave here with some legit accomplishments.”

Lower Cape May will travel to No. 4 Haddonfield on Monday for a sectional quarterfinal. Haddonfield topped Manchester Township, 44-33, in its playoff opener.

“We’ll be going up against a great program with an excellent coach (Paul Weideman),” Holden said. “He’s a maniac in the way he prepares and he’s a maniac in the way he prepares for the team they’re playing. We’re going to go up there and just try to play our game. It’s a little bit of a matchup nightmare for us, but who knows what’s going to happen? We’ll go up there and give it our best shot.”

JOSH GRETTA

HAILEY ELWELL