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ABOUT THE COVER
It’s not quite 15 in a row, but the Mustangs are more than halfway there. A win this week over Oakcrest was the eighth straight for the Mainland Regional boys basketball team, and coach Dan Williams’ boys have gone from 6-4 to 14-4 and taken over the top spot in the Cape-Atlantic League’s National Conference. If they can hold onto it, they’ll get an automatic bid to the CAL Tournament. The surprising thing about Mainland’s run is the Mustangs don’t really have a star player, but rather six good players who are really playing well together. They’ve also made a commitment to defense, which coach Williams said has been the key to their January success (10-1 during the month). But there’s still plenty of basketball left to go, as the Mustangs are now the hunted, with three other conference teams coming after them. — Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE General contact: 609-788-4294/advertising@acglorydays.com Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher: sully@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDsullysays Giuseppe Ungaro, Managing Editor: gungaro@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDgisepu Amy D’Adamo, Graphic Design: advertising@acglorydays.com Bill Lynskey, Director of Advertising: bill@acglorydays.com Victor McGuinn, Advertising Sales: victor@acglorydays.com STORY IDEAS/ADVERTISING: Have a story you’d like to see told in Glory Days Magazine? Want to get your business noticed with a marketing campaign in our quarterly print or digital platforms? Call us anytime at 609-788-4294. Volume: 6 Issue: 15 Overall Issue Number: 122. Cover Photography: Dave O’Sullivan. 2018 Glory Days Magazine. All rights reserved.
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 5
MAKING HEADLINES Sully takes a closer look at the athletes, coaches and teams who are generating news and highlights in the Cape-Atlantic League and throughout South Jersey.
u Talkin’ baseball: Jan. 31 afforded Sully an opportunity to talk
some baseball with Ed Hayes, who runs the Sand Sharks travel programs, at Turf It Up in Galloway. Hayes was on hand to check out a bullpen session featuring Troy Dixon (EHT 2013), left, and Cody Stashak (Oakcrest 2012) as they prepare for another season of professional baseball. Shashak is a member of the Minnesota Twins organization and finished last season in AA ball, while Dixon has signed with an independent team after being released from the Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners organization). He said he’s hoping to catch the eye of another Major League organization. We’ll have a feature on their minor league baseball journey in our Feb. 8 digital edition. u No stopping her now: Earlier this season, Mainland sophomore Katie McClintock broke a school swimming record that had stood since the mid-1990s. On Thursday, all she did was go out and break a national meters record while winning the 200 IM event at the CapeAtlantic League championships!
glory days digital Want the best high school sports coverage every day of the week? Visit glorydaysonline.com for game coverage, features and more! You can also like us at facebook.com/acglorydays, and follow Sully on Twitter @GDsullysays. Get the best. Every day.
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BASKETBALL
hoops NIRVANA Mainland, Ocean City fans got their money’s worth in one glorious weekend of basketball By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer here are a lot of good rivalries in South Jersey. Holy Spirit vs. Atlantic City, Lower Cape May vs. Middle Township, Cherry Hill East vs. Cherry Hill West, Vineland vs. Millville — the list goes on and on. But there is definitely something special about Ocean City vs. Mainland, particularly in the last couple of years as the school have battled it out in soccer, football, swimming, baseball, lacrosse, etc. They’ve played against each other in big games, championship games, with a lot on the line. In just the past year alone, the boys lacrosse and girls soccer league championships have come down to the Mustangs vs. the Red Raiders, and in football this past fall Mainland kicker Sean Carey cemented his place in Mustangs lore by nailing a long field goal in the rain with just a few ticks left on the clock to give Mainland a victory, and for all intents and purposes wrap up a West Jersey Football League division title. Recently, it was the basketball teams’ turn to go
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Mainland students Kaitlyn Gallagher, left, and Brooke Kelly cheer on their Mustangs during Mainland’s victory over rival Ocean City on Jan. 25 in Linwood. at it, and having the girls teams play their second regular-season matchup at the 97.3 ESPN FM Girls Basketball Shootout on a Sunday night, instead of Friday night, like it normally would have been, made
for a bit of basketball nirvana — if you’re a religious wearer of green or red sweatshirts.
See Nirvana, page 9
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 9 Nirvana, from page 6 The boys played on Friday, Jan. 25, to a capacity crowd of nearly 800. There was a lot on the line. Each team came in having won at least six straight games, and sole possession of first place in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference (not to mention a feather in the cap for CAL Tournament consideration/seeding) was in play. About five minutes before tipoff, the gym was closed off to any newcomers and many fans were turned away. There just weren’t any more seats left. The teams went at it in the first half, with Mainland rallying to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room. Coming out of the break, the host Mustangs ripped off an 11-0 run and never looked back, eventually cruising to a 71-53 victory over the rival Red Raiders. The student sections — both the “Corral Crazies” of Mainland and Ocean City’s “Raider Nation” — brought their best intensity. The gym was as loud as it has ever been as students cheered and stomped on the bleachers with every big play by their respective team. “The first time they gave us a run for our money, so we knew how big this game was coming into it. It was
crazy in here tonight, I think the floor was shaking, it was incredible. I just want to thank everyone for their support, they really helped our team out,” senior guard Joe Massari said. “I went into the locker room and I was talking to my guys, telling each one of them how valuable they are and to keep their heads in it so we could win this game.” “I came into the game very nervous, but came out for warm-ups and started feeling better. But at the end of the first quarter I was pretty nervous because they were up on us and were making runs on us. In the second quarter we locked it down on defense, and came out in the second half and played our game and were able to run them out of the gym. We always talk about defense, it starts with defense and getting rebounds. Everyone was feeding off each other, we play as a team and we win as a team,” fellow senior Angelo Barron said. “I was feeling it tonight. I took as much as I could and when I started getting double-teamed, I found my teammates. In the beginning of the year the coaches were getting on me, because last year I wasn’t as aggressive as I should be, so this year I knew I had to come out and ball. This is the best way to spend a Friday night, we feed
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
The Mainland and Ocean City girls played to a crowd of nearly 1,000 recently at the 97.3 ESPN FM Girls Basketball Shootout.
off the crowd and they feed of us.” The girls game, played at Ocean City two nights later, had an even bigger crowd of nearly 1,000, and again latearriving fans had to be turned away because Dixie Howell Gymnasium had reached its capacity. The game was hard-scrabble all the way, with the Red Raiders doing everything they could to match up against Mainland star junior Kylee Watson, but Watson still scored 23 points in Mainland’s 35-29 victory. The Girls Basketball Shootout had been held for years at Holy Spirit, but last year it was moved to Ocean City. Having the boys and girls play on separate nights in the same weekend allowed fans, and the players themselves, to get a chance to enjoy a great experience. Normally, the boys and girls teams play the same team on the same night, but in opposite locations, so the boys rarely get to see the girls play, and vice versa. “It’s crazy. From last year to this year, it helps a lot having the atmosphere the same, it’s so awesome having everyone here supporting,” said Mainland senior Taylor Dalzell. “It’s just as cool as the guys’ game Friday, it’s awesome to
have it in both places. It’s exciting.” “We know whenever we play them, it’s a rivalry game so we know it’s going to be a great game. The atmosphere was pretty intense,” Watson said. “I love to play in games like these, it’s so exciting. It’s something you can get up for. Not a lot of high school kids experience a rivalry as great as this one. It’s really fun to play in front of all of our friends and family. I’m really close with a lot of the girls (on Ocean City) and on Friday night we were at a Sweet 16 party and we were all talking about this game. But, when it’s game time, we’re not friends anymore. It’s competitive, and having that rivalry is part of the fun. It’s really fun to play against them, and after the game we’re all friends again. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a chance to go to a Mainland boys game, and the atmosphere was great,” Watson continued. “I kind of got to see the game from a fan’s perspective, and they played great. It was all about basketball this weekend.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY
Surprise, surprise Mainland boys basketball coach Dan Williams and his staff didn’t know what they had at the start of the year, but they’ve been pleasantly surprised with how things have shaken out so far By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer t’s not often when a 5-foot-8, 160-pound running back is the key to a high school basketball season, but that’s been the case for Mainland Regional this year. The Mustangs got off to a decent start, going 6-4 in their first 10 games, but things just weren’t really clicking on all cylinders and Mainland wasn’t scaring anybody in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference. Joe Massari, a senior, came in after getting beat up for three months on the football field as a running back/ receiver/kick returner, and it took a little while for him to get into basketball shape. Then, just as he was getting his basketball legs underneath him, he went down with an ankle injury. Massari returned to the lineup on Jan. 8 and Mainland lost, 58-48, to rival Ocean City. But a few nights later, the Stangs pulled out a 68-66 win on the road at Holy Spirit, and they haven’t lost since, racking up eight straight wins to catapult themselves into the top spot in the CAL National. “There’s a few things going on. There have been some tough opponents, and in the beginning of the year, in our first seven games, we had Millville, Eastern — that’s a team that this year, with the makeup of their team and their coaching staff, I don’t think we would beat them in 10 tries — Pleasantville, so we played some of our toughest opponents early. I think a huge difference has been Massari. In the very beginning, he was coming
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Mainland senior Angelo Barron reacts after making a big basket during the Mustangs’ win over Ocean City on Jan. 25. The Mustangs have won eight straight after getting off to a 6-4 start. off of football and as good a shape as guys who play football are in, it’s just a whole different animal. He hadn’t touched a basketball since the end of July, and then he got a few games under his belt and got hurt and was out for four games,” Mainland coach Dan Williams said. “He was cleared the morning of the day we played Ocean City (on Jan. 8) and they really had it going on at that point. That was a tough loss, but once we got him two or three games under his belt, he was in basketball shape and in a basketball mind frame. When he first came back off the injury, it was like he tried to get every-
thing back in one night. He was trying to take the ball up against three guys, where as now he doesn’t take that last dribble and finds a guy who is open for a 3-pointer, or he goes in when its him against one guy. He’s getting everyone involved, so he’s really become that lead guard that you want to have.” Mainland, which currently is 14-4 and in first place in the CAL National with a 7-1 record, came into the year with three seniors, but overall not a ton of experience. Massari had to sit out 30 days last year after transferring back home from St. Augustine Prep, Tommy Zanaras was a role player last
year, and Angelo Barron wasn’t the go-to guy he has developed into this season. And players like JaQuan Mace and Luke Mazur didn’t have much varsity experience, and Jake Cook was just a sophomore last season. So Williams knew he had some talent, but wasn’t sure how it was all going to come together. “We’ve really settled into a solid sixman rotation, with Mazur coming off the bench — and he can get hot at any given moment. And Barron, he had
See Surprise, page 11
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 11 Surprise, from page 10 some experience but not as much as we would have liked him to have heading into his senior year, but he’s really figured it out and has been dialed in and putting up numbers. He’s gotten so much tougher, and I know it’s hard to see because he’s still pretty wirey, but he’s probably 10 pounds stronger than he was last year,” Williams said. “And Mace now has a bunch of games under his belt. He started about a third of the games last year and he’s now more seasoned. It’s a combination of a lot of things, really.” Losing to Ocean City on Jan. 8 really stuck in the Mustangs’ craw, and the next game they came out and beat Holy Spirit to start what is now an eight-game winning streak. Before the streak they were averaging less than 60 points per game, a typical Mainland team, but during the streak they’ve bumped that up to 67 points per game, one of the highest-scoring teams Williams has ever had. “Once they got a few of those wins, especially that win at Holy Spirit, their
confidence level is in a different place than it was earlier in the season. In my tenure here, we’ve only beaten them once at their place, and that was when we had Osun Osunniyi, Brandon Savitch and those guys. We just don’t walk away from that place with wins, usually,” Williams said. “So that was huge, and in the locker room after that game it was different, I could see a switch went on. We thought we would be in that third spot in the conference behind Ocean City and Spirit, and maybe we’d beat enough teams in crossover games or play tough enough to be considered for the CAL Tournament, but after that night they were like, ‘why couldn’t we go contend for the conference? Why can’t we go earn a spot instead of having to put it in the committee’s hands?’ They were confident, but with a realistic outlook. I wish I could say it was one thing, but it’s probably three or four factors working in there.” During the streak, Mainland has gone 5-0 against conference teams and also beat Egg Harbor Township. The
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
In their first 10 games, Tommy Zanaras and the Mustangs were averaging 62.8 points per game, but they bumped that up to 67 per See Surprise, page 12 game during their eight-game winning streak.
Page 12 w Glory Days Magazine w Feb. 1, 2019 Surprise, from page 11 Stangs also got big home wins against Lower Cape May and Ocean City, exacting some revenge with a dominating 71-53 win over the Red Raiders on Jan. 25. “Our coaches, after the Ocean City game, were saying, ‘see, we told you all along this is where we could be if we got the best from everybody.’ I didn’t see it, but I guess the head coach always has doubts. I was just hopeful every practice would be competitive, and if that was the case, hopefully we could make every game in the conference competitive and even if we got swept by Ocean City or Spirit they would know they had to play a hard-nosed team,” Williams said. “I didn’t see it going like this, and there’s still a bunch of games to go. We play Lower Cape May away and that’s always a tough game. We can’t just show up and expect a win, our conference isn’t
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Jake Cook and the Mustangs still have some work to do if they hope to win the CAL National, as Ocean City, Lower Cape May and Holy Spirit are all hot on their heels. like that.” For now, the Mustangs will ride this hot streak as far as it can go, and their having a lot of fun putting up Ws. “There’s something fun in ev-
ery season, and we had a ton of fun with that group a couple years ago. You know you’ll never have a guy like Osun (a 6-foot-10 shot blocker) again. You kick back and watch the
highlights of what he did, and they are outrageous, but this group, as a whole, might be more fun than any because it’s really come from the work ethic,” Williams said. “I’ve never had a team average more than in the 50s (in points per game) and these guys are averaging 63, and they’ve bought into the idea that we’re not an offensive juggernaut, it’s starting with the defensive end and if we can get the ball back, we can get out and run because we essentially have five guards. Teams have to defend from 20 feet in on all five of our guys. That part has been fun, when you’re coaching a team that can score that much in a 32-minute game, and it’s even more fun when it stems from the idea that they have bought into playing defense.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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GIRLS BASKETBALL CAL TOURNAMENT UPDATE
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Haleigh Schafer and the Absegami Braves are fighting hard to stay in contention for a bid to the CAL Tournament.
Who’s likely in? It’s difficult to imagine Mainland Regional not being the top seed. The Mustangs are the defending champion and have been the best team in the Cape-Atlantic League so far, going 14-2, including 10-2 on the road, and have won six straight games. The United Conference may only get two teams in, which would mean Middle Township (12-4, 7-0) and Wildwood Catholic (14-3, 5-2), and in the American Conference, Atlantic City (9-4, 6-1) and ACIT (12-2, 6-1) should be automatic berths barring any kind of collapse in the first two weeks of February. Ocean City, a finalist last season, most likely will get in, either as the No. 2 team in the CAL National or as an at-large bid.
Who’s on the bubble?
The bubble is fairly crowded at the moment, and teams will have to scramble in early February to get some wins. Egg Harbor Township is 8-8 overall and Vineland is 9-5, and one of those teams could get in, and probably will. In the CAL National, Oakcrest and Absegami are fighting for at-large bids, but the Falcons have the advantage having beaten the Braves recently. Oakcrest still has a shot at bumping Ocean City from the No. 2 spot in the conference, as its just a half-game behind. OLMA is squarely on the bubble at 7-6, and the Villagers likely need a couple of big wins soon for consideration.
This week’s big question: Who will be the No. 2 seed? Assuming Mainland grabs the No. 1 spot, which is a pretty safe assumption, selecting the No. 2 seed could be difficult. Atlantic City has been playing very well, but recently was upended by ACIT. Middle Township has a strong case as well, as the Panthers are 12-4 overall, 7-0 in the CAL United and have won eight straight.
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BOYS BASKETBALL CAL TOURNAMENT UPDATE
Who’s likely in? Though Jan. 30, the teams at the top of the respective conferences have been red hot. St. Augustine Prep, leading the American, had won nine games in a row; Mainland, the front-runner in the CAL National, was winner of eight straight; and Wildwood Catholic the top team in the CAL United, had won 11 in a row and was 16-1 overall. Expect the Crusaders to be the No. 1 team in the tournament, they’ve been the best team all season and have the best player in the league in Taj Thweatt. Millville should be the No. 2 team out of the American, but past those teams everything is still up for grabs.
Who’s on the bubble? The National and United conferences are filled with bubble teams. Assuming Prep and Millville out of the American, Mainland from the National and Wildwood Catholic in the United, that would leave five spots open in the 8-team tournament. There looks to be about seven teams fighting for those spots, but Vineland and Atlantic City will have a tough time making it three from the American. EHT’s bubble likely has burst after a recent five-game losing streak. Assuming either Pleasantville or St. Joseph is the third team from the United to get in, that would leave Lower Cape May, Ocean City and Holy Spirit playing musical chairs, with one of the three not getting in.
This week’s big question:
Who will get left out in the CAL National? There are four teams all within 1.5 games of first place. One of them likely won’t get in.
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Andrew Delaney and St. Augustine Prep have been one of the hottest teams in the league, having won nine straight games
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ttttttttttttttttttttttt GAME REWIND
Girls basketball Mainland 35, Ocean City 29 The rematch, this time in Ocean City at the 97.3 ESPN FM Girls Basketball Shootout, proved to be a defensive struggle. It was just 11-6 after one quarter, and the host Red Raiders took a 17-14 lead into halftime, but in the second half Mainland junior Kylee Watson began to assert herself. She ended up finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. WHAT WE LEARNED Their just isn’t a way for most teams to match up with Watson. She’s 6-foot-4 and can dribble like a guard, which means if you deny the postup, she can simply step out and create from inside the arc. Ocean City couldn’t find a way to stop the best player in the league. Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan KEEP AN EYE ON Junior Kylee Watson scored 23 points and added 11 rebounds, Mainland’s Claudia Mairone. She didn’t score much in this game, but in three blocks and four steals to help lead Mainland to a 35-29 win the next game she beat her own school record by nailing nine threes in over rival Ocean City at the 97.3 ESPN FM Girls Basketball Shootout. a win over Oakcrest.
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When Mairone gets hot from 3, watch out!
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he National Basketball Association introduced the three-point line in 1979, with the NCAA following suit in 1986 and high school basketball adopting the new rule in 1987. That half circle arc revolutioned the game and gave rise to three-point specialists who could change a game. Without the three-point line, a player such as Mainland Regional senior Claudia Mairone probably wouldn’t score much, instead being asked to play a defense and ball-handling role. But her ability to hit 3-pointers, and hit a lot of them when she gets hot from long range, has made the Mustangs even more difficult to defend. Trying to stop Mainland is already tough with 6-foot-4 forward Kylee Watson doing a ton of damage on the inside, and when teams crash down on her in the paint, she can kick it out to any numbers of shooters, like Mairone, Taylor Dalzell and Madi Hafetz. But Mairone has been the one player who
Dave O’Sullivan
has shown she can hit a bunch of threes in any given game. In a game earlier this season, she nailed a school-record seven in one game. Then, on Wednesday night against Oakcrest, she set a new mark by nailing nine of them, finishing with 27 points in a 68-43 victory. The Mustangs (15-2) showed how versatile they are the span of the last three games. In a 47-42 win over Lower Cape May, they were extremely consistent, scoring 11 points in three of the four quarters. The following game, they proved they could win a defensive struggle, as they topped rival Ocean City 35-29. Watson had nearly as many points as the Red Raiders, finishing with 23 as Mainland pounded the ball inside. Then, against Oakcrest, they rained down threes and scored 68 points, racking up nearly 20 points in both the first and third quarters. They led 33-14 at halftime thanks to the sharpshooting of Mairone. u Is there a chance?: Most people probably wrote off the Atlantic City boys team after a whirlwind of controversy before the season and then a rough start in December and early January. But the Vikings are 5-1 in their last six games, improving to 7-9 after
See Report, page 17
ROUNDBALL REPORT
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 17 Report, from page 16 a 2-8 start. During that stretch they’ve scored a pair of wins over ACIT, a solid victory over Asbury Park, and a big 48-47 win over Egg Harbor Township on Jan. 30. The Vikings have climbed all the way up to fourth in the Cape-Atlantic League’s American Conference and have more conference wins than thirdplace Vineland, but it may end up being just a little too late for the Vikings to earn a bid to the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament, where they were a finalist a year ago before being hit hard by graduation. St. Augustine Prep and Millville likely will get the two automatic bids from the American, which would leave Atlantic City battling it out with a bunch of teams from the National as well as teams like Pleasantville and St. Joseph from the United for the two atlarge bids. u On a hot streak: The cream is beginning to rise to the top in the CAL, as the top teams in each of the three
conferences have been playing great basketball of late. As of Jan. 30, St. Augustine had won nine straight and Millville five in a row to separate themseles from teams like Vineland, Atlantic City and EHT. In the National, Mainland had won eight straight to grab hold of first place, and in the United, Wildwood Catholic had the longest winning streak in the league at 11 games, and the best overall record at 16-1. The Crusaders’ only loss this season came against Camden, one of the other top teams in South Jersey. u Rescheduled: The Kiss Cancer Goodbye girls basketball showcase event, originally scheduled for Jan. 19, is taking place on Saturday, Feb. 2 at ACIT. There were originally going to be five girls games, but due to scheduling conflict there will now be two, with Bridgeton taking on Cedar Creek at 2 p.m. and host ACIT going up against the Conrad School of Science (Del.) at 3:30. Proceeds benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and ACIT will be a drop-off location for donations between 2-5 p.m.
kiss cancer goodbye
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Senior Kayla Sykes and ACIT will be hosting the Kiss Cancer Goodbye showcase event on Saturday, Feb. 2. Sykes helped organize the event last year in honor of her aunt.
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ICE HOCKEY
ABOUT TO BREAK THROUGH Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Dillon Carmen and the EHT hockey team head into the second round of the league playoffs on Feb. 1, and should be in position to do some big things in the coming years, as Carmen is one of just three seniors on the roster.
With a roster filled with underclassmen, EHT is confident big things lie in the near future By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he Egg Harbor Township ice hockey team was 6-11-1 heading into a South Jersey High School Hockey League playoff elimination game against Williamstown on Feb. 1, which might not seem like an impressive season by anyone’s standards. But a closer look reveals that the Eagles have plenty to be confident about going forward. The SJHSHL is divided into tiers and divisions. The Tier 1-A division features very strong teams such as Cherokee, Eastern, Moorestown and Washington Township, while EHT is in the Tier 1-B division along with Williamstown, Shawnee and Kingsway. Tier 2 features teams that are more like club teams or draw from several different schools to make up a team, such as St. Joe’s, Mainland, Clearview, Holy
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Lenape Valley, Cherry Hill and Riverfront. EHT didn’t play any of those teams, and did pretty well inside its own division, posting a 6-2-1 record while outscoring Williamstown, Shawnee and Kingsway 37-29 in regular-season games. The Eagles finished with an identical overall record as Shawnee, but were two games better inside the division. “We’re a young team, and over the past couple of years it’s been a building progression,” said head coach Fred Feliciano. “Most of our team is freshmen and sophomores. We’re a growing program, our JV team is undefeated, so obviously we’re growing and heading in the right direction.” Feliciano is assisted by Steve Bergeron, Bill DeClement and Nick Faulhaber, and three of them have sons on the team. Josh DeClement is a senior, Zachary and Jacob Feliciano are juniors, and Dylan Faul-
haber is a freshman. A good sign for the Eagles is that only Feliciano and Dillon Carmen are seniors, everyone else returns next year. “A lot of our players graduated last year and we have a lot of freshman, so it’s a whole different team. We have some good players, so the team is definitely evolving. A lot of these guys play travel hockey, and a couple kids out there are first-year varsity players as freshman. When I came up as a freshman, a lot of the kids just played JV, but nowadays you’re seeing a lot more travel players come up, which makes all the teams better,” Josh DeClement said. “A lot of these kids, we’ve grown up with them so we have a little bit of chemistry with them. It’s a different position for
See EHT, page 19
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 19 me, being a senior leader and captain, but we work with them and they’re all playing hard and we’re looking for big things (in the future).” One of the difficult things, however, with having a lot of travel players is scheduling practices, as often times players have conflicts with travel games. And ice time is at a premium, so practices can’t simply be rescheduled as easily as in a sport such as basketball. “The biggest challenge is that a lot of the high school hockey runs into travel programs, so the kids at the younger levels sometimes have conflicts at certain times, and that makes it a little bit difficult for the team to gel,” coach Feliciano said. “About 75 percent of our team now plays both.” The team features only three seniors — DeClement, a center, defenseman
EHT, from page 18 Dillon Carmen, and Nick Pullano, who is currently injured. Goalie Cameron Carmen, a junior, returns next year, as do some other key players, such as Faulhaber, the Feliciano brothers, forwards Ryan Robertson, Blaze Tommi and Jayson Humphrey, and defensmen Scott Hiltner and Riley Rudolph, among others. “We’ve pretty much been in the championship the last two years, we lost in the championship game last year, they won it a couple years ago on varsity, and two years ago on the JV level. So, we’re in it every year. Being a small program, it’s tough and it’s a lot of work, but these kids try their best and never give up,” coach
See EHT, page 20
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Blaze Tommi is one of the leading scorers for EHT this season, with four goals and five assists, and is still just a sophomore.
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Page 20 w Glory Days Magazine w Feb. 1, 2019 EHT, from page 19 Feliciano said. “Most of the team is made up of freshmen and sophomores, so we should be pretty strong next year. Losing only a few players is big, a lot of these other teams have gone through a big change or have a lot of older kids, so it’s going to be tough for them. They’ll kind of be in the same position we’re in right now, next year they’ll be very young. We’re all working hard and there are a bunch of good personalities out here. We were also the least penalized team. It’s just a good group of kids.” Coach Feliciano likely will be with the team through the end of next year, as his sons graduate in 2020, and possibly beyond. And why not? He’s enjoying himself. “The most fun thing for me is most of the kids we have now are kids who
“We’re a young team, and over the past couple of years it’s been a building progression. Most of our team is freshmen and sophomores. We’re a growing program, our JV team is undefeated, so obviously we’re growing and heading in the right direction.”
Fred Feliciano EHT hockey coach
I came into the program with about six years ago at the middle school level. So, I’ve been around these kids for six years,” he said. “That’s the fun part for me, I get to see them grow up through our system.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Jacob Feliciano and the Eales went 6-10-1 this year in regular-season games, but won their division with a 6-2-1 mark.
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SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: JOSH DECLEMENT, EHT ICE HOCKEY
Hockey a way of life for DeClement EHT captain has been in a pair of skates since he was 2 years old By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ill DeClement started lacing up skates on his son, Josh, when Josh was just 2 years old — in the hopes that the boy would turn into a hockey fan and player. The strategy has worked to perfection, as Josh is now a senior captain on the Egg Harbor Township ice hockey team and spends time watching the game on TV with his dad — well, when he’s not playing video games, Bill said. “He’s a pretty well-mannered kid for the most part, and he has a karate background, so discipline has always been a part of his life. The discipline part isn’t too bad, now, if I could get him off video games, we’d really be living,” joked Bill. “Every once in a while we’ll sit down and watch a game, or shoot up to a Flyers game, and that’s always fun.” The hockey days are drawing short, however, as the Eagles faced playoff elimination against Williamstown on Feb. 1. Josh said he’s hoping to play in college, however, even if it’s just with a club team. He doesn’t harbor any big-time hockey fantasies, though. He knows how good the players at the next level are, so he’ll keep most of his focus on his studies. “I might try out for some club teams in college, depending upon where I go. I’m not sure yet, but I’d love to keep playing hockey. I’m looking to study business, but I definitely want to still be on the ice. I might be going to Rowan and they have
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Senior Josh DeClement is one of the co-captains for the EHT ice hockey team, and helped lead the Eagles to a division championship this year in the South Jersey High School Hockey League. a Division III team, and I’ve applied to a few other schools,” Josh said. “When you look at yourself and then look at players who are in the NHL or close to making it to the NHL, you realize how good those players are. It’s insane. It’s a big step and takes so much to be a player like that.” But Josh has been a big part of the EHT hockey program, which has had some pretty good seasons
during his career and may be poised for some big things with a roster bursting with freshmen and sophomores. There are only three seniors, Josh and his co-captain, Dillon Carmen, and Nick Pullano. Which means those guys have had to take on a leadership role, something Josh said he was ea-
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Page 22 w Glory Days Magazine w Feb. 1, 2019 Hockey from page 21 ger for. He’s been where those young players are, and said he wants to show them what it takes to be a consistent varsity player while also having fun on the ice. “When I was a freshman, I definitely wasn’t expecting the physicality of (high school hockey), coming out of middle school and street hockey, but I eventually adapted to it and became a better player. I started playing ice hockey in sixth grade, but I actually started skating when I was 2 years old. My dad played hockey his whole life. He got me on skates as soon as I could walk,” he said. “I certainly wanted to be captain one day, that was definitely a goal, and just be an overall role model. My career has definitely met my expectations. I feel like I’ve grown to be the person I wanted to be, especially on this team. We’re tough on the younger guys, but they’ve been playing well. Coming in senior year as a captain definitely changed my perspective. You put yourself in that leadership role, so it
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
DeClement (22) helped lead Egg Harbor Township to a 6-2-1 record inside its division this season. was a big move for me. But I think I’ve come to be able to be that leader, especially with my other co-captain, Dillon Carmen, we’ve picked up that role and done our job.” “He’s a gritty player. He’s not a finesse player at all. He’s improved ev-
ery year, and whether he plays in college or not, we’ll see how it goes. But it’s been fun to see his progression, to go from where he was to where he is now, he’s come a long way and that’s the best part of it,” Bill said. “I enjoy this. I have two younger ones, but
they don’t play hockey, so I’ll sorely miss this. I hope he plays after this. I played growing up, so I was psyched he got into it. He had the skating skills, and everything else came along with hard work. He’s had to work at it, he’s not one of those kids who was born with tons of natural hockey talent, but he’s worked hard and become a good player.” Josh said he hopes to inspire his younger siblings to take up the game, and he wants other kids to follow his lead as well. He said he wants kids to be able to experience as much fun as he’s had playing hockey for the last six or seven years. “I have siblings who might someday be playing ice hockey, and I want to be that inspiration. I want to inspire kids to get onto the ice and just play and have fun,” Josh said. “I just like to have fun, honestly. It’s been a great experience and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 23
ttttttt GAME REWIND
Ice Hockey (Playoffs) Kingsway 2, EHT 1 Egg Harbor Township came into the first round of the double-elimination playoffs having beaten the Dragons three times in the regular season, but Kingsway got on the board early with a goal midway through the first period. The Eagles regrouped, however, and dominated the second period, tying the game just before the period ended on a goal by Blaze Tommi. But the Dragons responded, scoring the eventual gamewinner early in the third period, and held off several EHT rallies in the final few minutes. WHAT WE LEARNED High school hockey is a fun sport to watch. The periods are only 15 minutes and there isn’t much break between them, no long intermission. It’s pretty much nonstop action! Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan KEEP AN EYE ON Riley Rudolph and the EHT ice hockey team dropped a tough 2-1 The Eagles, as they graduate just three seniors, and most of the roster is decision to Kingsway in the opening round of the playoffs, and now made up of freshmen and sophomores. must beat Williamstown to keep their season alive.
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SPONSOR CONTENT
Warming hearts, stimulating minds O.C. Library teams up with Operation Warm to provide coats, books By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer large group of kids who gathered at the Ocean City Free Public Library on Jan. 28 were treated to a very entertaining puppet show put on by library staff, and the show generated plenty of laughter and smiles. But nothing compared to the smiles the children had when they found out they were receiving brand new winter jackets from a non-profit organization called Operation Warm (operationwarm.org). Operation Warm is a non-profit organization that solicits donors to help fund their mission of providing winter coats to children in need, and its mission is to provide not only warmth, but hope and confidence among underserved youth. The organization has been around for 20 years and partners with well known companies such as Hollister, FedEx, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Twitter and many more, and when Heather Connolly of the Philadelphia branch received a grant to use in Cape May County, she called her sister, Carrie Merritt, who is a first-grade teacher at the Ocean City Primary School. Connolly enlisted her sister’s help in identifying families in the Ocean City area who were in need of a winter coat for their grade-school aged children, and the plan came together to team with Ocean City Library. Karen Mahar, Director at the Ocean City Free Public Library, and her staff helped make it an event where kids were treated to a puppet show and also were given two free books to take home. The families also were signed up for library cards, were given a tour
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Heather Connolly, Vice President of Development and Community Programs in the Greater Philadelphia Area for Operation Warm, helps a young student try on a new winter coat at a recent event at the Ocean City Free Public Library. of the facility and informed about all the programs the library has available. “Operation Warm is in its 20th year of giving coats to kids in need across the country. We’ll give away 400,000 coats this year, and this is just one of our programs. The idea of this program is that we reach out to funders who will help support us getting kids into libraries. A lot of the families who are here (at this event) wouldn’t typically come to the library, so it’s Karen’s chance to show the families the wide array of services Ocean City Library has, that it’s not just books. We use the new winter coats as a hook to get families in the door,” said Connolly, who is Vice President of Development and Community Programs in the Greater Philadelphia
Area for Operation Warm. “A lot of times, in communities like this, you don’t think about the kids who are underserved. When we got the grant for Cape May County, I thought I would call my sister. It was a great connection all the way around, to be able to do something like this for these families.” “When we got connected through Carrie, Heather’s sister who works at the (Ocean City) Primary School, we jumped on the opportunity to get part of the population who can’t get here or who doesn’t notice us, or doesn’t understand everything that we do, in here. Now that we got them in here, we thought we’d do a puppet show because that’s something we do on a regular basis. And we’ll sign them up for
library cards, the family and the child, and show them everything we have to offer here at the library. They get two free books, which are also funded by this grant, and we thought it was an awesome program,” Mahar said. “We have stuff that they might not even realize we have going on. We have a great young librarian and she has programs almost every day of the week after school. They can come here, it’s a safe place, and they are being educated and entertained. There are all kinds of resources here that people don’t know about. And the younger kids, for these mothers and parents to come in and see we offer early literacy, book clubs,
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Feb. 1, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 25 Warm from page 24 Lego clubs — things that are opportunities that are free.” There were many volunteers needed to pull the event off, and that brought in several people from the Christ Child Society of Cape May County. “We couldn’t do it without all these awesome volunteers, we have all kinds of volunteers, families, library volunteers, people from Christ Child Society. It’s been a great event,” Connolly said. Connolly said that getting a brand new winter coat changes a child’s whole demeanor, and means a lot to families who might to be able to afford one. A new coat gives young children confidence when going to school, and Connolly said the families are so appreciative of receiving the coats, which are free of charge thanks to generous nationwide donors, and particularly the Turrell Fund, which helped provide the grand for this particular Operation Warm event. “One thing that is special about what Operation Warm does is we do brand new winter coats. We want these kids to have the same experience any kid might have when going to the store to pick out what color they want — there’s something about having something new to wear that gives you a different feeling than maybe your cousin’s hand-me-down. Not that it doesn’t serve the same purpose, but the feeling the child gets is a little bit different, and that’s something important about what we do. It’s one less thing that
Kids and their parents were all smiles during a puppet show put on by the Ocean City Library during the event. Glory Days Magazine photo/ Dave O’Sullivan
these parents, on a day-to-day basis, have to decide about when making decisions about spending their paycheck. Is it food? Is it heat? Is it a coat? The basic needs. So this is one burden lifted that is taking some stress off the family,” Connolly said. “The coat doesn’t close the circle of poverty, but reading and education is what closes the gap. Coming to the library and taking books home, those are the things that are going to end up making a difference in a
child’s life. The coat gets them to school — we know there are kids who stay home from school because they don’t have warm clothing. I’ve been in the nonprofit world for a while, and when I came to work at Operation Warm, I was like, ‘are kids going to be that excited about a new winter coat?’ And you’d be surprised, they really do see it as a gift.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
snapshots
Holy Spirit’s Melody Pugliese looks for an open teammate during the Spartans’ matchup against Wildwood Catholic at the recent 97.3 ESPN FM Girls Baskeball Shootout.
ACIT’s Jakyra Williams boxes out Atlantic City’s Savanna Robertson during the Vikings’ recent win at ACIT.
Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Mainland Regional sophomore Katie McClintock won the 200 IM event at the CapeAtlantic League Championships on Jan. 31, setting a national meters record in the process.
Pleasantville senior guard Jalen Freeman gets past Wildwood Catholic’s Jahlil White during the Greyhounds’ recent loss to the Crusaders.
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