Sam Carchidi: From A to Z, a look back at the season

Reviewing the 2007-08 scholastic boys' basketball season, ABC-style.

A is for

amazing

long-range accuracy.

Rancocas Valley's Mike Bersch, a 6-foot-6 junior, hit 10 of 11 in three-point shots in a 70-51 Group 4 state semifinal win over Trenton Central. That started an amazing four-game playoff streak in which Bersch was 18 for 25 from three-point land.

That's 72 percent.

It's also pretty remarkable.

By the way, look for Bersch - who is an outstanding student - to be one of the area's most heavily recruited players next season. Yes, a 6-6 2-guard who is a lights-out shooter will attract lots of attention.

Speaking of lights-out shooters, Paul VI's Greg Smith was 7 for 7 from three-point range in a season-opening 64-47 win over Cherokee.

B is for

breakthrough

season.

After 13 straight losing campaigns, Medford Tech went 16-9 and reached the South Jersey Group 2 quarterfinals before being edged by Pleasantville, 57-55.

C is for

Comparative

Score Theory.

Lower Cape May opened the season with a 63-60 win over Atlantic City.

Atlantic City became one of the area's premier teams and won the South Jersey Group 4 title. It also had a win over Holy Spirit, which finished No. 4 in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings.

By comparing scores, that means Lower Cape May became a South Jersey power, too. Right?

Not so fast. Lower Cape May finished 6-19.

So much for our theory.

D is for ending long title

droughts

.

Collingswood won its first Colonial championship since 1976-77 and captured its first sectional crown (Group 2) since 1969-70.

E is for

electric

ballhandlers.

Take a bow, Mustafa El-Amin.

The Rancocas Valley senior guard had the best cross-over dribble of any player in recent South Jersey history. I've never seen so many defenders literally fall to the ground as they were faked out of position by El-Amin's dribbling.

F is for

frantic finishes

.

After Keith Whittington banked home a lane shot with 11 seconds left to give Collingswood a 70-69 lead, gallant Cinnaminson missed two shots in the closing seconds of their riveting South Jersey Group 2 final.

Collingswood, despite squandering a late 15-point lead, had survived.

G is for

gritty

.

That describes the character displayed by Shawnee as it made the best comeback of the NJSIAA tourney.

Down by 17 points with about a minute left in the third quarter, Shawnee rallied and scored a 78-72 overtime win over Camden in a South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinal. Doug Holcombe (33 points) and Eric Kessler (29) each posted a career-high point total for the Renegades. During the fourth quarter and overtime, Kessler scored 20 points and was 4 for 4 from three-point range.

H is for Bill

Hiltner

.

Sterling bid farewell to one of the best coaches in South Jersey history.

A brilliant strategist, Hiltner announced his retirement after coaching on the high school level for 34 years - 29 at Sterling - and compiling a 523-352 record.

The classy Hiltner will be missed.

I is for

improvement

.

It was a year that Bob Vila would have loved. Everywhere you looked, teams were making improvements.

Fourteen South Jersey teams won at least six more games than last season, led by Russ Winsett-coached Glassboro (2-23 to 13-13) and Tony Devlin-coached Paul VI (15-12 to 26-2), each of which won 11 more games than the previous season.

Other teams that made major strides: Salem (18-4 to 28-3); Holy Spirit (17-9 to 27-3); Medford Tech (7-14 to 16-9); Kingsway (9-17 to 18-9); Bordentown (8-15 to 16-11); St. Joseph (11-15 to 19-9); Cape May Tech (3-21 to 10-17); Cinnaminson (18-8 to 25-4); Delsea (7-19 to 14-12); Hammonton (15-12 to 22-8); Timber Creek (15-14 to 21-10); and Pemberton (11-15 to 17-8).

J is for top-notch

juniors

.

My all-junior team: Camden's Aaron Walton; Salem's Derrick Parsley; West Deptford's A.J. Greenwald; Rancocas Valley's Mike Bersch; and Eastern's Bobby Harris.

K is for the

kings

of South Jersey.

South Jersey championships went to Atlantic City (Group 4), which started the season with a 3-6 record, Timber Creek (Group 3), Collingswood (Group 2), Salem (Group 1), Camden Catholic (Non-Public A) and Trenton Catholic (Non-Public B).

Rancocas won the Central Jersey Group 4 and state Group 4 titles.

League champs were as follows: Palmyra (Burlco Freedom); Rancocas Valley and Trenton Catholic (Burlco Liberty); Cinnaminson (Burlco Patriot); Salem (Tri-County Classic); Penns Grove and Gloucester Catholic (Tri-County Diamond); Williamstown (Tri-County Royal); Atlantic City (Cape American I); Hammonton and Mainland (Cape American II); Holy Spirit (Cape National I); and Pleasantville (Cape National II).

L is for Oakcrest coach Dave

Lewis

, who courageously battled cancer and coached his team whenever his treatment schedule would permit it. No one in South Jersey is a more inspiring person.

M is for

milestone

.

Camden Catholic's Jim Crawford became the fifth coach in South Jersey history to win his 600th game - and led the Irish to its 20th straight season with at least 20 victories.

N is for

newcomers

.

Washington Township, with sophomores filling five of its top seven roles, finished an admirable 14-12 . . . and planted the seeds for future success.

O is for

oddity

.

Camden coach Clarence Turner was suspended by his school in late January and may have coached the final game of his legendary career. In 34 seasons at Camden, Turner's teams went 777-144.

The suspension stemmed from an academically ineligible player who had been permitted to play.

Turner was replaced by his assistant, Mike Stargell, who coached the team to a 5-4 record the rest of the way. Stargell said he wants to return as the head coach next season.

P is for

paybacks

.

Middle Township dropped a 70-34 decision to Haddonfield - which shot a blistering 17 for 30 (56.7 percent) from three-point range - in a regular-season game on Feb. 16.

Eleven nights later, Middle scored a shocking 55-50 double overtime win over Haddonfield in the South Jersey Group 2 tourney. That's a 41-point swing.

Middle sent the game into a second overtime on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Derek Schmolk.

Payback, Part II: Top-seeded Salem defeated eighth-seeded Lindenwold, 71-48, in a South Jersey Group 1 quarterfinal. That avenged Salem's quarterfinal loss to Lindenwold in 2007, when the teams were also seeded No. 1 and No. 8.

Q is for Daryus

Quarles

. The springy 6-5 Paulsboro sophomore averaged 17.2 points per game and displayed remarkable versatility, taking over games on the inside and outside. By the time he's a senior, Quarles will be on most big-time recruiting lists.

R is for

resiliency

.

For the second straight year, Camden Catholic rallied behind a fallen teammate.

The Irish won the South Jersey Non-Public A title even though its leading scorer, Tyler DeLecce, suffered a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 31.

A year ago, the Irish reached the sectional final, even though its leading scorer, Anthony "A.J." Jeune, was severely injured in a car crash and unable to play in the tourney.

S is for

stacked

.

As in the South Jersey Non-Public A section, which had four of its teams finish in The Inquirer's South Jersey top 10: No. 2 Camden Catholic, No. 3 Paul VI, No. 4 Holy Spirit and No. 9 St. Augustine.

T is for

Timber

Creek, which put its school, located in Erial, Camden County, on the state-wide basketball map.

Seeded sixth, the Chargers, in just the program's seventh season, reached the Group 3 state final. En route to winning its first South Jersey Group 3 crown, the Chargers defeated third-seeded Pemberton, second-seeded Shawnee and top-seeded Hammonton.

U is for

unusual

.

South Jersey teams failed to bring home any of the six state crowns for the first time since 1990. Rancocas Valley, which won the Group 4 state title, was in the Central Jersey bracket this season.

V is for

vocal voices

.

Take a bow, Rancocas Valley fans.

No other school had more fans in the postseason tourney than Rancocas, which turned the Rutgers Athletic Center into a sea of red for the Group 4 state final. Eight busloads of fans - and hundreds of carloads - made it seem as if Rancocas was playing a home game. The fans greatly outnumbered those of Piscataway, even though its school was located just down the road.

W is for junior Aaron

Walton

.

The 6-2 Camden swingman led South Jersey with a 25.9 points-per-game scoring average. Walton, who should be heavily recruited next season, became the 10th Camden player to win the South Jersey scoring title in the last 30 years.

X is for

Xerox

. As in copy.

For the second straight year, just one of the six top-seeded teams won a South Jersey sectional title.

Salem was the lone top seed to emerge with a title, winning in Group 1.

The other top seeds were Cinnaminson (Group 2), Hammonton (Group 3), Toms River North (Group 4), Holy Spirit (Non-Public A) and Cardinal McCarrick (Non-Public B).

Y is for

youth

.

Camden Catholic, with a starting lineup that included three sophomores and a junior, won the title in the loaded South Jersey Non-Public A field.

Guess which team figures to start next season as the No. 1 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings?

Yep. Camden Catholic. Others to watch: Atlantic City, Rancocas Valley, Paulsboro, Camden, Eastern and Washington Township.

Z is for

zebras

. As in referees.

It's time that the NJSIAA uses three referees, instead of two, for its tournament games. As it now stands, the NJSIAA uses three refs starting with the sectional finals.

The fast-paced games leading up to the finals - especially the semifinals and quarterfinals - need three refs, too.

Just think, just about nine months until the 2008-09 scholastic basketball season begins.