Wildwood Catholic boys win third straight Cape-Atlantic League championship

The opening minutes felt almost like a fifth quarter, a direct extension of the last time these teams met in January.

Wildwood Catholic couldn’t miss. In less than four minutes, three players hit a three-pointer. Each shot was assisted. Mixed in was a demonstrative ally-oop slam by Taj Thweatt from Martin Anguelov.

Wildwood Catholic was ahead by nine before some in the gym realized the game had started.

And the Crusaders never looked back as they blew past St. Augustine, 70-39, in Saturday’s Cape-Atlantic League championship in a packed arena at Stockton University.

“We had to come out strong in the beginning of the game. We just knew we couldn’t take any possessions off,” said Thweatt, who finished with a game-high 24 points, including four threes, and eight rebounds, despite him and his fellow starters sitting most of final quarter with the team nursing a big lead.

The win marked Wildwood Catholic’s third consecutive CAL title and fourth overall. It is the first program to win four championships in the annual tournament that started in 1992.

“It’s very sweet,” said Crusaders coach Dave DeWeese. “This tournament is such a great atmosphere. We love it.”

It was also an exclamation point on the season series between the CAL’s top teams. Wildwood Catholic beat St. Augustine, 82-43, on Jan 22. It was one of the most lopsided losses in recent memory for the Hermits (21-5).

For the Crusaders (20-7), the win snapped them out of a slight early-season funk. They’ve steadily built momentum since that point, and Saturday was an indication that one of South Jersey’s most talented rosters might be peaking at the right moment.

“It’s been bumpy,” DeWeese said. “We’ve had some ups and downs, and to our kids’ credit they responded. They could have packed it in at some point in time. Instead of that, they just work harder. They feel like they’re out to earn respect. They feel like they’re better than they’ve shown in some of those games, so that’s kind of motivated them. And I’ve definitely seen them on the rise.”

Jackson led St. Augustine with 14 points.

Thweatt, a West Virginia recruit, and fellow senior Jahlil White, a Temple recruit, dominated for the Crusaders.

White finished with 17 points and six rebounds. In one of the few missteps of the game for Wildwood Catholic, White missed a tomahawk dunk all alone on a breakaway in the third quarter.

It threw the team off its rhythm just enough, and the Hermits scored the game’s next eight points — five by Matthew Delaney (10 points) — to close the lead to 15.

White took it upon himself to make up for the mistake. He ended the Hermits’ outburst with dunks on consecutive possessions, shutting the door on the Hermits’ only run of the game.

“We played our hearts out,” White said.

White also had three steals, leading the Crusaders’ matchup zone defense that was in sync all game.

Really, as easy as it was to notice Wildwood Catholic’s athleticism, the team’s chemistry was just as clear on Saturday. The team had 21 assists — eight by Jacob Hopping — in a sign of just how well the Crusaders are clicking right now.

“It’s a great feeling. This is going to be a great memory,” White said. “We want way more than this. We want the state and the [Tournament of Champions]. So we have to keep playing hard.”

St. Augustine 5 5 14 15 — 39

Wildwood Catholic 18 12 20 — 70

SA: Elmarko Jackson 14, Matthew Delaney 10, Nick Leo 4, Brendan Wescott 3, Bradley Collott 3, Ziyan Kendrick 2, Keith Palek 3.

WC: Taj Thweatt 24, Jahlil White 17, Jacob Hopping 10, David Zarfati 6, Tom Belansen 4, Tom Bolle 2, DeSean Lopez 2, Andrew Draghi 2, Martin Anguelov 3.