Buzzer-beater wins it for the Irish

As the final buzzer sounded, hundreds of Camden Catholic fans charged out of the bleachers and mobbed their boys' basketball team, forming a massive pileup in the middle of Tom Kenney Gymnasium last night.

Camden Catholic had survived, outlasting Paul VI, 51-49, in a South Jersey Non-Public A opening-round playoff classic.

Camden Catholic held the ball for 2 minutes, 47 seconds before 6-foot-6 junior center Tyler DeLeece canned a turnaround four-foot bank shot with two seconds remaining, snapping a 49-49 tie and sending the sixth-seeded Irish into tomorrow's quarterfinals at third-seeded Monsignor Donovan of Toms River.

"When we beat Camden, I said it defined our season," said DeLeece, referring to a win that gave the Irish a share of the Olympic National title. "I guess this redefines it."

In winning its fifth consecutive game, Camden Catholic (20-7) reached the 20-win mark for the 19th consecutive season.

After Paul VI's Jon Grimes missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:49 left, Camden Catholic went into its four-corners offense and milked the clock. The Irish never called a time-out during the lengthy possession.

In a time-out earlier in the quarter, Camden Catholic coach Jim Crawford had told his team it could use one if in trouble. "But we just kept executing, and with 10 seconds left, Coach called out the play," DeLeece said. It was designed for him.

"Brian Crawford [the coach's nephew] sets a screen down low, and I cut across," DeLeece said.

Point guard Mike McElhatton, a 5-8 junior who had seven assists, made a slick feed at the left baseline to an open DeLeece, whose basket gave the Irish a 51-49 lead.

After a time-out by each team, an inbounds pass by 11th-seeded Paul VI (15-11) was stolen at midcourt by DeLeece, who heaved the ball toward the rafters as fans charged onto the court.

Seconds later, chants of "A.J., A.J., A.J" reverberated around the gym. Anthony "A.J." Jeune, the Camden Catholic standout, has been in Cooper University Hospital in Camden since fracturing his skull in a Feb. 17 car accident.

Jeune had been in critical condition. Yesterday, he was listed as stable, according to a nursing supervisor at Cooper.

Crawford praised his team's ability to control the clock at the end of the game.

"All our practice of holding the ball paid off at the end," he said. "I'm just so proud of the way we executed at the end."

DeLeece led Camden Catholic with 15 points while Sean Gallagher (eight rebounds) added 14, including seven in the critical fourth quarter.

Camden Catholic was a sizzling 10 for 17 on three-point shots.

Mike Stafford (18 points), Will Campbell (15) and Grimes (10) reached double figures for Paul VI (15-11), which overcame an early 13-2 deficit but lost despite shooting 17 for 32 from the floor and 5 for 10 from three-point range. Paul VI committed 10 turnovers - four more than Camden Catholic, which had only three giveaways after the first quarter.

Camden Catholic outscored the Eagles, 15-7, on points that followed turnovers.

"Even in every one of our losses - except the Winslow game - we came back," Crawford said. "It's just something about the Camden Catholic [players]; they're extremely dedicated. And my hat goes off to Paul VI for their hard play. It was a great high school basketball game and it's a shame someone had to lose tonight."

Paul VI 10 13 19 7 - 49

Camden Catholic13 13 14 11 - 51

P: Will Campbell 15, Jon Grimes 10, Greg Smith 2, Mike Stafford 18, Casey Weisenbach 4.

CC: Tyler DeLeece 15, Sean Gallagher 14, Jahseer Bronson 9, Mike McElhatton 2, Brian Crawford 3, Chris Richardson 8.