H.S. girls' basketball: Wildwood goes wild after winning sectional title over Woodbury
WILDWOOD – The hardware had arrived to the Wildwood High School gymnasium in each of the last two South Jersey Group 1 title games, ready for the victor.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the sectional championship trophy left the building both times.
On Monday, Wildwood wasn’t letting the prize go anywhere but a celebration on the Bernie McCracken and Dave Troiano Court.
More: South Jersey girls basketball sectional championship previews
Wildwood captured the program’s 10th sectional championship with a 50-38 victory over defending champion Woodbury. The Thundering Herd earned the previous title back in 2020 after the pandemic cancelled the state tournament last winter.
“It feels great to bring this title back to Wildwood,” senior sparkplug Imene Fathi said. “The fourth time was the charm for us. We lost my freshman and sophomore year (in the state tournament) on this floor and again last year (in the Tri-County Conference B tournament) here.
“It was wild in here. The crowd was great. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
The electricity built from Saturday’s improbable comeback in the semifinal round when the Warriors rallied from a 20-point deficit in the final 12 minutes and prevailed in overtime against Woodstown, many felt that Wildwood was a team of destiny to complete the feat.
“We fought so hard to beat Woodstown and when we were able to get that win, we knew we weren’t going to go down in this one,” freshman Macie McCracken said.
Wildwood put on a sharp shooting display from beyond the arc, knocking down six 3-pointers in the first half, including one by Fathi to end the first half as the team took a 33-23 lead into intermission. The Warriors finished the game with eight triples, six more than then recorded in the overtime win over Woodstown.
“We’re either on or off on our 3-point shooting and we were definitely on tonight,” senior Ava Troiano said. “After getting to this point and having those losses, to get this one, in my senior year, it just feels amazing.
What it means
Wildwood (23-4), winners of six straight, will play the Central Jersey champion Shore Regional in Wednesday’s state semifinal round at Deptford. The Warriors are chasing their first state title since 2002.
Woodbury, which had its 16-game winning streak snapped, finished its season at 24-3, matching its win total from 2020.
Key plays
McCracken scored eight of her team-high 16 points in the third quarter, accounting for all of Wildwood’s production in the quarter.
Fathi delivered 10 of her 15 points during the second quarter, including a string of seven straight points that pushed a tie game into a 25-18 lead for Wildwood.
Woodbury has shown the ability to be a strong third-quarter team throughout the season, but could only cut two points into a 10-point halftime deficit. The Thundering Herd hadn’t trailed in a game since playing Wildwood Catholic at the Boardwalk Classic on Dec. 28.
After Woodbury closed within 41-34 early in the fourth quarter, Fathi hit a nifty reverse layup that went a long way in icing the game.
By the numbers
Woodbury averaged 67.5 points over its first 26 games and picked up the production in the playoffs, averaging 76 points in three postseason contests. The 38 points tied a season-low for the Thundering Herd.
Woodbury senior Nile Miller, who averaged 15 points per game, got into early foul trouble and didn’t get into the scoring column until she sank two free throws in the third quarter. She finished with six points.
“They just kept (Miller) out of whack,” Woodbury coach Rahmod Noel said. “She wasn’t feeling good early in the day. … then she was in foul trouble. When she’s on the bench, it’s a bad situation for us.”
Woodbury junior Alexis Davis finished with 21 of her team’s 38 points, but she also battled foul trouble.
Unsung heroes
Wildwood sophomore Sinaia Stroman-Hills came off the bench and delivered two big buckets off offensive rebounds during a key 17-12 run in the second quarter.
Troiano tallied seven of her nine points in the first quarter as Wildwood jumped to an early lead an never trailed.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: H.S. girls' basketball: Wildwood goes wild after winning sectional title over Woodbury
