Wildwood Catholic boys battle but fall to Ranney in overtime

Wildwood Catholic was younger.

It was a far less heralded team.

Ranney was nationally ranked with not one but two McDonald’s All-Americans, including Bryan Antoine, who recently turned down offers from the likes of Kentucky and Duke to sign with Villanova.

On the court Wednesday night, though, none of it showed and none of it mattered — particularly not to the Crusaders.

They just battled.

And they nearly pulled off an upset that would have shocked the state.

“For us to come out and be confident, unintimidated and actually take it to them is a testament to our kids,” said Wildwood Catholic coach Dave DeWeese after his Crusaders fell, 50-54, in overtime Wednesday night in the Non-Public South Group B final at Jackson Liberty.

Wildwood Catholic actually held Antoine (15 points) and Florida recruit Scottie Lewis (17 points) in check for most of the game. Fourteen of their combined 32 points came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The two connected on an alley-oop early in the first quarter, but the flashy play wasn’t a sign of things to come.

Instead, the teams traded blows most of the game. They were rarely separated by more than a basket, and the score was tied at the end of the second, third and fourth quarters.

Junior guard Jacob Hopping was electric at times for Wildwood Catholic. He led the team with 14 points. His three-point play off a putback — despite being the smallest player on the court — was a statement with 33 seconds left in the third quarter. It gave his team a 36-34 lead before Lewis hit two free throws to tie the score to end the quarter.

Hopping stayed hot to start the fourth quarter. He hit two threes to give Wildwood Catholic (27-2) a 42-38 lead with 5:59 to play.

“We gave it our all,” Hopping said. “We wanted to be here all year, we wanted to play them. We wanted to win.”

The Crusaders would have done just that if not for a couple of late mistakes, including a turnover that led to an Antoine slam with 1:10 left to cut Wildwood Catholic’s lead to 47-46. Hopping hit 1 of 2 free throws on the other end, but Lewis hit two with 22 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Despite Lewis fouling out with the score tied and 3:18 left in the extra period, the Wildwood Catholic offense went stagnant just long enough for Ranney (28-3) to steal the win, thanks largely to a few key baskets by reserve guard Elijah Perkins.

“They slept on us, but we knew the atmosphere was going to be crazy and this was going to be a fight,” said junior small forward Taj Thweatt, who generated 11 points and was instrumental in keeping Ranney’s two stars from penetrating for most of the game.

“We played our hardest,” said Thweatt, who pointed out that most of his team is returning next year while most of Ranney’s, including Antoine and Lewis, are graduating. “We’re losing some seniors, but we expect to be back here next year. We just have to play hard.”

Wildwood Catholic 13 11 12 12 2 - 50

Ranney 9 15 12 12 6 - 54

WC: Jake McGonigle 2, Taj Thweatt 11, Jahlil White 10, Jacob Hopping 14, DaSean Lopez 11, David Zartatti 2.

R: Bryan Antoine 15, Alex Klatsky 3, Phillip Wheeler 6, Ahmadu Sarnor 10, Scottie Lewis 17, Elijah Perkins 3.