Glory Days Magazine March 2024

ABOUT THE COVER SOUTH

Scoring 1,000 points is a dream come true for a high school basketball player, and this winter that accomplishment seemed to be happening on a near nightly basis in South Jersey. All kinds of players were hitting the 1,000-point milestone and as such will see their names immortalized on banners in their respective high school gymnasiums in the years to come. Players from all different counties, all different school sizes were hitting the mark, so we asked several players and coaches what it takes to become a 1,000-point scorer. Check out Page 10 of this digital edition to see what players such as Madelynn Bernhardt of Our Lady of Mercy Academy said about fulfilling a lifelong dream on the court.

JERSEY

GLORY DAYS

General contact information:

Phone: 856-336-2600

Publisher Dave O’Sullivan:

Email: sullyglorydays@gmail.com

On Twitter @GDsullysays

@glorydaysmag on Instagram

Contributors:

Mark Trible, Senior Football Writer

(@MTrible on Twitter)

Larry Henry Jr., Correspondent (@Lhenry019 on Twitter)

Ben Hale, Social Media

& Web Development

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3/ MARCH 2024

(ISSUE NO. 169)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

HEADLINES

PRESENTED BY BUNTING FAMILY PHARMACY

SOGGY START

As is the case with the start of April in most calendar years, some wet weather has ushered in the spring sports season. But there is plenty to look forward to in the next 10-to-12 weeks, as South Jersey is loaded with talent across all sports. In baseball, Gloucester Catholic opens as the No. 2 team in the state and Bishop Eustace (No. 3), Mainland Regional (No. 10) and St. Augustine Prep (No. 16) also find themselves in the nj.com preseason Top 20. Prep will see all three of those other teams before the first week of May is done, as the Hermits take on Eustace on April 15 then square off against Gloucester Catholic on April 28 in Mainland’s Coaches vs. Cancer showcase game. The Hermits then have a home-and-home series May 6-7 with Mainland in a key Cape-Atlantic League American Conference matchup.

BURNING QUESTIONS

Looking ahead to other spring sports, there are some other big questions out there. Can Egg Harbor Township softball win another state championship? The Eagles were denied even a sectional title last year after being upset by Cherokee in the

semifinals, and that came a year after EHT lost in a heartbreaker in extra innings in the Group 4 state championship game. But the Eagles return a solid lineup and pitcher Madison Dollard, one of the best in the state inside the circle. In girls lacrosse, can Moorestown get back to winning sectional titles? The Quakers long set the stan-

dard in South Jersey Group 3 before Shawnee took control last year. These two will face off on April 23 at Shawnee. There are a ton of other unanswered questions, but they’ll all be answered soon as the spring season is a sprint to Memorial Day and the state playoffs!

Call of duty

Becoming a teacher, and Mainland’s P.A. announcer, seemed like destiny for Brian Hatz

By MIKE O’BRIEN Special Contributor

Fans of Mainland Regional High sports are familiar with the voice of Brian Hatz. For the last 10 years, the math teacher at the school has been lending his voice as the public address announcer for football, basketball and volleyball games at the Linwood school.

“The volleyball program was just starting out and I was asked to run the clock for the matches,” Hatz said about his first foray into public address announcing. “The first few years, I would just announce the starting lineups and then just keep the score the rest of the way.”

But one Friday afternoon during an important volleyball match, Hatz kept the microphone in his hand and announced that day’s action with regular commentary as if it was a basketball game.

“Afterwards we received some e-mails and phone calls from parents who were happy about the atmosphere I helped create that day.”

Hatz had found his unique voice.

AN UNPREDICTABLE JOURNEY

Lending his voice to live high school sports, however, hadn’t necessarily been one of Hatz professional goals.

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Math teacher Brian Hatz has been the public address announcer for the Mainland Regional basketball programs for the past 10 years.

In fact, teaching wasn’t even on his radar to begin with until being asked to serve as a long-term substitute at the middle school in Collingswood — the district where Hatz grew up.

After just one day in front of a classroom of students, Hatz said he knew he had found his home.

“When it came down to picking a career, I was so focused on what I WANTED to be that I didn’t realize what I WAS,” added Hatz, who was the valedictorian of his class and a three-sport athlete in high school. “I had always been a teacher, a coach and a leader. It just took me to get in front

of a classroom of kids to realize that.”

The road to that moment wound Hatz through four years of business classes that made him realize that the business

See HATZ, Page 7

HATZ, From Page 6

world was not for him.

“I wasn’t like any of the other people in those classes,” he added.

Prior to Mainland, Hatz cut his teeth teaching and coaching at Pennsauken High, beginning in 2006 when two of his friends — Reggie Lawrence and Clinton Tabb — helped him get an interview to replace someone in the school’s math department.

He started teaching there the next day.

“I had six amazing years at Pennsauken,” said Hatz, who coached football, basketball and baseball for the Indians.

It wasn’t until the fall of 2007 when Hatz met his future wife, Jill, who is also teacher at Mainland and a 2002 graduate of the school, that the opportunity to work in Linwood became a possibility.

After marrying Jill in 2009, the two built a home in Egg Harbor Township and Hatz had to commute to Pennsauken for the last half of the 201112 school year.

And when that drive became too much for Hatz, he applied to numerous schools closer to his home and said he was “blessed” to get hired at Mainland.

“Leaving Pennsauken High School was one of the hardest things I have ever done,” he added.

A LIL SOMETHING EXTRA

When Hatz was hired at Mainland, it was under the condition that he work with some of the school’s “tougher” kids… students who he was told needed some “extra love.”

And it has been Hatz’s instinct to provide that extra love that has helped him develop his special style while announcing games. Whether it is providing details into the background of the athletes during football games, updating the crowd on the success of Mainland athletes in college or his very popular practice of using nicknames and different voices for some of the top Mustang basketball players, Hatz’s desire to go the extra mile for teams and athletes at Mainland is very apparent.

“I have so much fun calling games,” Hatz said. “Adding the voices and the nicknames just came naturally for me.”

Some of his most famous nicknames for recent hoopsters include Jake Cook, who was “Cookie Monster”, Kylee Watson, who was “The Unicorn”, current senior Cohen Cook, who is referred to as “The Quiet Storm” and former star Camryn Dirkes, who Hatz referred to as “Killer Cam.”

Mainland head boys basketball coach Dan Williams believes Hatz is the best public address announcer in the area because he does research into the players’ backgrounds that most public address announcers don’t take the time to do.

“The most important characteristic that factors into the awesome job that Hatzy does is that he really cares about the students,” Williams said. “He understands their strengths and digs into what makes them tick and then incorporates that into his announcing.”

Hatz, who recently announced he is stepping away from his basketball duties to help coach his young daughters’ teams, considers himself very lucky to have the chance to learn about the players and promote their lives.

“All of these incredible human beings have helped shape me into the teacher, husband and father that I have become,” Hatz said. “They’ve all made a huge impact in my life.”

MILESTONE MANIA!

South Jersey hoops players reached 1,000 points at a dizzying clip this past season

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer

If you wanted to, you could probably have two complete all-star rosters of 1,000-point scorers in South Jersey — that’s how many athletes reached the coveted milestone this season in high school basketball.

It seemed like every other day there was an announcement on social media about another player getting to 1,000 career points. The flurry of names continued from late December all the way through to the state playoffs. Heck, the Mainland Regional girls team had three of its five starters — Kasey Bretones and twins Ava and Bella Mazur — reach the milestone this season.

So, what does it take to become a 1,000-point scorer? What kind of attributes does an athlete need to have?

If you do basic math you know that if a player plays in 25 games per season for four years, he or she has to average 10 points per game to reach 1,000. If a player is on varsity for just three seasons, they have to average more, and with only two seasons of varsity a kid has to average north of 20 points per game to get there.

But aside from the math and the numbers and what’s needed from a statistical perspective, what else is needed?

If anybody thinks getting to 1,000 points is easy, just ask any of the players who saw their names on banners this season and they’ll tell you about all the late nights at the gym, the early mornings, the work they did when nobody was watching, the thousands

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully

Senior guard Tye Dorset scored his 1,000th career point in a win over Cherokee on Jan. 25 and finished his career with more than 1,200 points and a state championship this season.

of shots that create the muscle memory that a shooter’s touch demands.

One of the interesting things revealed when talking to all these athletes is a common sense of relief when they finally did score their 1,000th point. Everybody knows when someone is closing in on the milestone, and usually there’s a countdown of sorts from teammates, coaches, fans — even during the game in which everyone knows it’s likely to happen, there’s a lot of pressure.

Even opponents sometimes know when somebody is going for 1,000 points, and it’s a badge of honor if your

team can deny that scorer their moment in the sun. Our Lady of Mercy Academy senior Madelynn Bernhardt came into a January game against Egg Harbor Township needing 15 points for 1,000, and by halftime she had scored nine. An EHT player said during the second-half warmups that the Eagles were not going to let her get to 1,000. She eventually did, scoring a basket on a baseline drive to give her 16 for the game and 1,001 for her career. Some players need just a handful of points to get there, which takes some of the pressure off, but by and large players said they felt an overwhelming

sense of relief once they reached the milestone.

Here’s a sampling of what some of South Jersey’s best players and coaches said about reaching 1,000 career points, and what it takes.

TYE DORSET, Lenape, senior: “For me, it’s a team award. We’re all playing and making shots, and (my teammates) get me the ball. It’s a cool feeling.”

MILESTONE, From Page 10

MATT WOLF, Lenape boys coach: “We talked a little bit before the game (against Cherokee on Jan. 25) about just playing your game and don’t think about it, but it’s impossible not to think about it. (Dorset) is such a good player and once he hit his 1,000th point it was a weight lifted off his shoulders and he could just go out there and play. As he goes, we go. He’s one of the best we’ve ever had. Even when he’s having a bad game he’s going to pump everybody up and lean on his teammates. He’s such a smart, great kid. He’s a coach’s dream.”

BELLA MAZUR, Mainland Regional, senior: “It feels really good. To be one out of three starters on this team feels amazing. We’ve been playing since second grade and it’s one of our biggest accomplishments. I’m just so happy that I could do this in front of this big crowd (in the CAL final). It feels great. It’s so special. Being the third person on this team to score 1,000 points, it just shows that it’s not just one person on this team who can score. It’s just so special to be a part of this group.”

QUINN GIBSON, Cherry Hill West, junior: “I only played the second half of my freshman season, and sophomore year I was more of a shooter. This past summer I really focused on my work every day and trying to get

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully Quinn Gibson is just a junior but already has more than 1,000 points in his Cherry Hill West career.

more of my game centered around dribbling and running the floor. I feel like you just have to put a lot of work in. It’s all mental, too. You can’t get down after you have a bad game. It’s a little weird (to see so many kids get it) but it’s not like we don’t want to see it — it’s a great milestone for everyone at all these schools, and you’ll see yourself on a banner someday. It’s difficult, but achieving it felt amazing. I had a lot of support from my coaches and teammates. When I was in range of it there was a lot of pressure. I was

26 points away coming into a game at home and I scored 24. The team was triple-teaming me so I couldn’t get it, so I got it on the first play of the next game. It means a lot to me.”

FRED BATTEE, Cherry Hill West boys coach: “Quinn was here every day last summer, really putting the work in and really wanting to get better. In the fall he was coming into the gym before school, after school — just constantly trying to get better. I told

him that I live close to the school so whenever he needs me I can come over and open up the gym. It’s just been hard work. It seems to be a lot (this past season) and a lot of kids had to get it in three years (because of covid). Kids are working hard, they are skilled, they have trainers, they’re constantly working on their skills. When Quinn came in I told him he had the potential to be one of the best players in South Jersey if he worked hard and did all the things he needed to do, and he’s well on his way to being that. Some kids come in as freshmen and peak, and other kids trend up along the way. It depends on their work ethic. If they have good habits to go along with talent, the sky is the limit.”

JOHN ARCIDIACONO, Absegami boys coach: “It’s that dog mentality. A guy who is going to come in every night, put in the work, not going to take any game off or any opponent lightly. He’s a guy who’s ready to score 20 points and believes he’s going to score 20 on everybody. So, there’s a certain confidence, a certain swagger that comes along with it. A guy like Isiah (Akpassa), a guy like Gibson from Cherry Hill West — you can tell, when they walk into the gym they are ready to just beat you. Isiah worked his tail off for three years — and he scored 1,000 points in three years, which is pretty

See MILESTONE, Page 13

MILESTONE, From Page 11

impressive. He was going to the gym late at night, lifting, running. He’d be at the courts until midnight on a school night. And he continued to develop for three years, doing everything we asked him to do. He puts in a ton of work off the court, and it shows. He’s been a big part of our success the last three years.”

MADELYNN BERNHARDT, Our Lady of Mercy Academy, senior: “I started playing basketball in second grade and through middle school I always knew that scoring 1,000 points and just being a good basketball player overall is the ultimate goal. Freshman year, I started off a little rocky. But toward the end I was really confident in my role and I felt like this is what I was meant to be doing. I felt really comfortable in the position that I was at. For me, confidence is really important. If you’re open, just take the shot. You regret more of the shots you don’t take rather than missing a certain shot. I always had confidence, and I always knew I wanted to reach that goal. I’m happy I was able to. It’s really important to take those extra shots after practice, and during the offseason that you’re still making it a point to work out. That has really helped me in regard to getting to 1,000 points. It’s really important the things you do outside of basketball practice. It can be a mental grind. In the moment it feels like you’re tired and it feels like it’s dragging, but all the hard work pays off in the end. I definitely felt very relieved, for sure. But it also felt like everything that I had been working for since freshman year finally paid off. It’s all very rewarding. The most stressful part for me was I needed fifteen points, which is obviously doable, but it still was a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I remember the first possession, I turned it over and I was freaking out. But, during halftime, I kind of got it together. EHT is a really good team, so I had to stay confident and not shut down. All my family there supporting me definitely helped me, too.”

BRIAN COYLE, OLMA girls coach: “I was an assistant when (Bernhardt)

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully

Wildwood Catholic Academy senior Kaci Mikulski scored more than 400 points in each of the last two seasons to finish her career with 1,266 points, including 203 three-pointers.

was a freshman, and I actually knew her from youth basketball because I coached against her, so I knew her a little bit coming in. From Day One as a freshman she was amazing. She’s always been a hard worker and a great listener. She comes from a great family, so I wasn’t surprised. I knew she could score and I knew she had some skill, but I wouldn’t say right away (I knew she could score 1,000). She was a good shooter right away and she played a lot as a freshman. She had a 23-point game as a freshman, so I knew that there was the ability to be a scorer. But I think she really has developed herself from not just being the shooter, but she’s developed her attack game all the way to the rim, and her pull-up game is outstanding. So I saw there was a possibility of her getting 1,000. Nothing was handed to her, though, she’s worked very hard to get to where she is.”

JOHN BRUNO, Ocean City boys coach: “The 3-point shot has a lot to do with it. A lot of these kids are mostly shooters. It certainly helped that Kori (Segich) had 53 threes this season. The ability of these kids to shoot the ball

is getting better and better. Kids who can shoot the ball are going to be able to score a lot. As a sophomore you’re usually a role player putting up nine or 10 points a game. The important thing is you have to improve as you go along, and you need to stay healthy. Kori was injured for 15 or 16 games so he wouldn’t have been able to reach it unless he averaged what he did (24 points per game as a senior). You have to have a strong sophomore season to get started, and you have to do it within the framework of your team. If you try to score 1,000 points, you probably won’t. Anybody who scores, that’s obviously in the back of their mind. But you want to make sure you remain true to your team while trying to get there. That’s a hard balance — you’re trying to do something for yourself but you’re also trying to help the team win, so consistency is the key from your sophomore year on.”

KORI SEGICH, Ocean City, senior:

“It’s really the work behind the scenes when no one is watching, down on the court by yourself for hours and hours. You can’t expect to just walk into the

gym and be the best one out there. You have to grind it out. I wasn’t really focused on it but I always knew there was a chance because I knew I was going to be the No. 1 scoring option (as a senior). I’m just happy my teammates found me and I scored so much. I always wanted to be a 1,000-point scorer when I was a kid. It was a goal of mine. Actually, my goal was to be the school’s all-time leading scorer. I came up a bit short, but I’m fine with that. It’s a great feeling that my name is going to be on that banner forever. Confidence is the main thing. If you don’t have confidence in yourself and keep shooting after you miss, things can get in your head when you mess up. You have to forget and move on, everyone makes mistakes. Just don’t make the same mistake twice. When I reached it, I was relieved. A lot of people didn’t know if I was going to get it because of all my injuries, so when I got it I was pretty relieved.”

Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

SENIOR OF THE MONTH

KORI SEGICH / OCEAN CITY

His game does the talking

Segich doesn’t say much, but the way he plays basketball speaks volumes about what he meant to Ocean City

(Our Senior of the Month highlights a student-athlete who exemplifies excellence both on and off the field. We consider things like athletic ability, academic achievement, leadership qualities and the athlete’s impact on the sports teams they play for and their school as a whole. Ocean City star basketball player Kori Segich is our choice for the month of March.)

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer

Kori Segich doesn’t say much before basketball games. Or during them. Or after them. Or at practice. He’s a quiet kid who lets his game do the talking.

And when you’re as good as Segich was during his career at Ocean City High, words don’t need to the spoken. The game speaks, loud and clear.

Segich was banged up with injuries a bit during his sophomore and junior seasons, and that limited him to 34 games in two years. He averaged a respectable 13 points per game during those two seasons, but as a senior he was unstoppable. He scored an eye-popping 719 points in one season, just 30 games, an average of nearly 24 points per game, one of the best in the state.

He also helped lead Ocean City to one of its best seasons in school history, as the Red Raiders set a school record with 26 wins and had just four losses. Those losses came to just two teams — Middle Township, twice, in the regular season, and arch rival Mainland, once in the Cape-Atlantic League championship and then a 69-67 three-overtimes heartbreaker in the South Jersey Group 3 title game.

“There were some great experiences playing for coach (John) Bruno and playing with my friends. I had a great time, too. I expected (a successful season). I think my teammates did as well because last year we made a run to the sectional finals and that

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully

Kori Segich helped Ocean City post a school-record 26 wins this season as the Red Raiders went 26-4 and made it to the South Jersey Grouop 3 title game.

was our goal again coming into this season,” said Segich, a 6-foot-3 combo forward/guard. “The stats just look like that because of the games I missed, but this year was, by far, my best year. Free-throw shooting was a big difference. I think I went from shooting in the 60s, percentage-wise, to this year in low 80s. And then just shooting with confidence. If I missed, I moveed on to the next one.

“Everyone on the team was pretty good friends and our chemistry was very good. We hung out with each other all the time, team dinners and stuff like that. So whether I was doing the scoring or Dylan (Schlatter) or Charlie (LaBarre) — it didn’t matter, as long as we won.”

“He was exceptional. It’s been a while since I had

such a complete player here. Connor Laverty was that kind of player, Luciano Lubrano. Kori’s offense was as good as anybody I’ve had in a while. The fact that he missed 15 or 16 games and still got 1,000 points was quite an accomplishment, all things considered. Through it all he remained humble about it and I think that’s what made him exceptional — he didn’t come off as selfish or that he had to get his, which is a mentality a lot of players have nowadays. He was extremely coachable and just a prolific scorer,” said

See SEGICH, Page 17

Red Raiders skipper John Bruno. “He had a lot of Gannon Brady in him in terms of letting the game come to him. But when we needed it, he would rise to the occasion. Kori did the same thing where it just seemed like when we needed a big bucket or we needed something to get us going, he was at the root of it all. What made him so successful, too, was the chemistry we had among our starting five. They all accepted Kori’s role as being the scorer.”

Ocean City was a unique team this year in that rarely did the Raiders go to their bench. Pat Grimley, Ben McGonigle, Segich, Schlatter and LaBarre all had at least 100 points, while nobody else had more than 43 the entire season. It was a tight-knit group that had a ton of chemistry because they all had been playing together for years.

That chemistry was tested on several occasions, and usually the Raiders found a way to pull through. Early in the season they rallied from being down by 15 at halftime to beating St. Augustine Prep in overtime. They scored road wins at St. Joseph Academy, at Mainland, at Millville, at Lower Cape May — all difficult places to play. They rallied from a huge deficit in the sectional quarterfinals to scratch out a 46-44 win over Cherry Hill West, and hung on to beat Camden Eastside by three points in the South Jersey Group 3 semis.

Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays SEGICH, From Page 14

“These kids never wanted to come out of games. Every once in a while his jumper would get a little long, but for the most part he overcame that. You can always say, ‘hey coach, I’m a little tired, can I get a break?’ But if he wants to stay out there and if he’s going to be productive, I’m going to leave him out there. That’s what he did for most of the year,” Bruno said of Segich. “He was quiet as could be with his teammates, but the beauty that we had was the camaraderie they all had with each other. Two or three weeks before he even got to 1,000 points they were all calling him ‘1K’ and he was like 100 points away. He just kind of shrugged it off. He would just smirk; he never got a big head about anything. With

today’s athletes, that’s kind of a lost demeanor, to just stay within yourself and let each day come. He was great in practice even though he wasn’t a very verbal leader. He definitely led by example.”

What made Segich so special as a scorer was he could beat you in so many ways. He could hit threes, score in transition, go to the rim and also had a mid-range game that rivaled that of Jimmy Chitwood.

“One of the strengths we had as a team was our ability to hit that midrange jumper. Pat Grimley would do it occasionally and Dylan was good from short or long range, but Kori is the one who set the tone for that. His ability to shoot off the dribble — most kids can catch-and-shoot, a lot of kids are good at that; he was exceptional at that, too, but he had that knack of being able to shoot off the dribble, which is a lost art. Kids either shoot threes or go to the rim. Kori could do all three of those things. That made him difficult to guard. If you came out on him, he’d go to the rim, and if you played off, he’d hit a three. If you got on him in the lane, he’d pull up and hit a jumper. So he was really tough to guard,” Bruno

said. “He shot the ball extremely well. He might be the best shooter in South Jersey. He shot over 50 percent from two- and three-point range, and at the free-throw line at one point he made 39 in a row. What better thing could you want than a kid who gets fouled, hits from the line and can score in all three phases of the game? That’s what made him so effective, there are very few players who can score at all three levels and he did that on a consistent basis.”

Segich wishes he could have made just one more shot in his career, though, in any one of the three overtimes that seemed to stretch on for an eternity against Mainland in the South Jersey final.

“We set a school record for wins in a season, so that’s the coolest thing, and making another push for a sectional title. Even though we didn’t win, it was a great game. I’ll remember that game for the rest of my life. I’m sure, down the line, if I have kids they’ll be watching that game. When you look at it from a fan’s perspective, it seems tiring, but you have so much adrenaline and it doesn’t faze you until after. That’s when the fatigue kicked in,” said

Segich, who had 19 points and seven rebounds in that game. “I couldn’t have wished for anything better in my career, other than obviously winning that game against Mainland. But I wouldn’t give it away for anything. Hopefully we set a good example for the younger kids coming up that they can do the same things.”

Having that kind of perspective isn’t easy for a teenager, but it bodes well for Segich’s future success. Of course, the loss to Mainland sticks in his craw, but eventually he’ll be better for it, knowing he can take a tough loss and move on in life, and be thankful for everything that led up to that opportunity.

“The first day after (the final game), it hit me that it was the last game I’ll ever play for Ocean City,” he said. “It was like 12 years of basketball were just over. I was upset and angry because if I had made just one more shot we could have won that game. But I really couldn’t ask for anything better in my career.”

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Kendall Murphy, Holy Spirit Murphy’s value at Spirit undeniable

Four-sport standout brings hustle, determination to the table every day

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer

Heading into the 2022-2023 basketball season, Holy Spirit girls coach Tim Whitworth wasn’t expecting to have the services of junior Kendall Murphy, a valuable forward in the Spartans’ lineup. She had torn an ACL the previous spring and that’s an injury that usually takes upwards of 10 to 12 months to fully heal.

So you can imagine Whitworth’s surprise when Murphy was ready to go on the first day of tryouts in November, about seven months after tearing up her knee.

“We had to tell her to slow down. Two months into her rehab she’s thinking she could play 5-on-5 full court,” remembers Whitworth. “That tells you what type of kid she is, and the kid she’s always been. I remember having a conversation with her mom and saying, ‘Kendall is going way too fast (on the rehab).’ But she just attacked it and was like, ‘I’m ready’ (by the time basketball season arrived). It happened in the spring and she was ready to go on the first day of basketball in November. I think that gives you a perfect example of the kind of kid she is. She attacked everything with enthusiasm and energy.”

“I was really determined to get back as fast as I could because I didn’t enjoy sitting on the sidelines. Sophomore summer is the biggest season for recruiting for lacrosse and I had to miss that, which sucked. I just really didn’t

want to miss any more seasons, so I tried to get back as fast as I could. The knee brace was very annoying at first, but I got used to it and it all worked out. And now this (basketball) season I didn’t need it anymore,” said Murphy, an Egg Harbor Township resident. “I actually wasn’t scared at all, but it was annoying because the brace bothered me and sometimes my knee would ache after games. I had scrapes and bruises from the brace, but it got a lot better over time. Luckily I didn’t have any fears about reinjuring it.”

You might wonder why Whitworth speaks so glowingly of a player who averaged a little more than five points per game during her career. How could a player like that be the cornerstone of the program?

Well, there’s a lot more to basketball than just scoring, and Murphy brought things like leadership, hustle, pride, focus and intensity to the table every day, in spades.

“For us she was super valuable. We talked to her a lot about how valuable she was, just doing all those small little things that are so important. We have some kids who can really guard, but our seniors, they took that personally. Her and Ella Petrosh made the other kids want to compete. (Murphy) was unbelievable, she never got tired. She was in phenomenal shape and has a really high motor. And she can guard (positions) 1-through-5. She was our leading rebounder this year — every loose ball, she was just making plays. She was making plays this year where

she looked like an NFL cornerback, a one-handed interception of a pass. You don’t really see that too often,” Whitworth said. “You never, ever had to question whether she was giving everything she had. Her and Ella — you want to talk about leaving a program better than you found it, those two were unbelievable for four years. I was thrilled to be a part of their journey. Just their leadership; they poured everything into every practice. And the great thing about Kendall was, even if the moment was super intense or super competitive, she always found a way to make it fun, too, which is really important at this level. You want kids to enjoy the competition, and she took advantage of that.”

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully Kendall Murphy scored nearly 400 points during her career and led Holy Spirit to 18 wins as a senior. See

“Senior year I decided to try field hockey for the fall instead of soccer. Just because I really wanted to just try something new,” she explained. “I borrowed my friends stick for the season, and I really did enjoy it. It was fun, kind of like learning something all over again when I was a senior. I love the group of girls and I think we had a

Murphy has been a rare four-sport standout during her high school career. Her first three years she played soccer in the fall before switching to field hockey as a senior, and in the spring she’s a star on the lacrosse team — a sport she plans to continue at Salisbury University in Maryland.

MURPHY, From Page 18

good season. It was pretty challenging and I did get a little frustrated at first. I got a lot of fouls called on me.”

She had more than a few fouls called on her during her basketball career, too, but that’s because she plays the game going 100 miles-per-hour from start to finish. She’s voracious in her appetite for rebounds and often will pass up a shot to get a teammate a better look. That combination of smarts combined with a high motor set the tone for a team that plays at a frenetic pace. The Spartans finished 18-11 this past season and made it to the Cape-Atlantic League semifinals and sectional quarterfinals.

“The way we played it didn’t really matter who was scoring. We just loved to get up and down the court and be scrappy and play defense,” Murphy said. “We’re kind of chaotic, that’s how we like to play. It brings us more energy when we’re running around like crazy. We all support each other, so no one really cares about who’s scoring. This was probably one of my favorite seasons in basketball. I loved playing with everyone and our coaches. It was really fun to just play, I had no pressure.”

Whitworth said he loves the dynamic that multisport athletes like Murphy and Petrosh, a soccer standout, bring to his roster.

“I love multi-sport kids. That’s kind of been our backbone, to be honest. We have a lot of kids who are just good athletes who play multiple sports and I think it brings a different kind of excitement when basketball season rolls around as opposed to somebody who just plays one sport all year,” he said. “She’s going to play lacrosse in college, but if you ask her during basketball season, my guess is she likes basketball at that time. You get a different kind of excitement and energy toward playing basketball because it’s that time of year.”

Murphy said initially she wasn’t too keen on attending Holy Spirit High, but after four years in Absecon she loves the decision.

“I’m really glad I came to Holy Spirit. Even though I didn’t want to at first because I didn’t know a single person coming into Holy Spirit. But I couldn’t see myself in any other high school. Everyone respects everyone and on the sports teams everyone was nice to each other. It was like a small little family, and all the teachers and coaches that I’ve had at Holy Spirit, I loved all of them,” Murphy said. “I’ve come out of my shell a lot. I was very shy and didn’t talk to many people, but I did everything I wanted to do and got to try everything I wanted to try (at Holy Spirit).”

Whitworth said Murphy has definitely made a huge impact during her time as a Spartan.

“She’s not really a vocal kid, but definitely a kid who would lead by example. I think everyone looked up to her and how she played. She was a phenom-

In addition to being a solid basketball player during her career, Murphy also has been a member of the Holy Spirit soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams.

“She was our leading rebounder this year — every loose ball, she was just making plays. She was making plays this year where she looked like an NFL cornerback, a one-handed interception of a pass. You don’t really see that too often.”

Tim Whitworth Holy Spirit girls basketball coach

enal leader for us in terms of leading by example. It makes your life as a coach a lot easier when you have that every day of the week. She really took the leadership role and ran with it. Sometimes kids need to hear it from other kids instead of the coach every day. It hits home and they really start to follow that kind of lead. We’re going to miss her a ton,” he said. “She comes from a great family, they are wonderful people. I’m happy to be a small part of these kids’ lives and you hope they enjoy their time with you, because we certainly enjoyed our time with her. My

son and daughter are going to miss her. It seems like she’s been at this school for six years because she played with us from the time she was a freshman. We’re just super thankful to have a kid like her in the program, and I think we have a lot more kids like her coming through the program. It’s a credit to players like Kendall that we’re getting that type of kid.”

Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully

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BUILDING THE PROGRAM

MOORESTOWN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Quakers’ time has arrived

Moorestown set a school record for wins this winter. Now sights are set on championship banners.

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer

When Matt Emerson took over the Moorestown High girls basketball program three years ago, he was brimming with confidence. A former player for the Quakers, Emerson was all set to install his Princeton-style offense and show the Olympic Conference who’s boss.

Two weeks into his stint the Quakers were 0-4 and had failed to score even 35 points in three of those four games.

“My first year was very rocky. We started out 0-4, then we were 1-5. But then we strung together 15-of16 after that. At that moment (after an 0-4 start), I was thinking, well, this isn’t as easy as I thought it would be,” Emerson said. “But I had Bill Mulvihill, who’s our girls soccer coach here. He was my assistant that year and he had a lot of experience and helped me out a ton. The girls were learning an entirely new offense and defense and we had totally new expectations than what they previously had here. I run a version of the Princeton offense, which takes a decent amount of time to install. There are a lot of reads and the girls just weren’t familiar with all that, but I was confident in the offense. It’s what I ran in high school, I know it well, so we really just had to keep at it. Fortunately for us, the girls bought in. The wins started happening, and we’ve been on a roll ever since.”

In the covid-shortened 2020-2021 season, Moorestown was just 4-11 and the year before that the Quakers were 6-21. The last time the Quakers were above .500 before Emerson took over was 2016-2017 when they went 16-10 and lost to Ewing in the sectional quarterfinals.

In Emerson’s three seasons, the Quakers are 64-23 and have increased their win total by three each season. This year, Moorestown won a school-record 25 games, finished 25-6, won the Olympic Conference’s

Patriot Division with a perfect 10-0 record and were eight seconds away from playing for a sectional title before a devastating overtime loss to Absegami in the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals.

Emerson said he knew there was talent at the school, he just had to find a way to mold it into a winning basketball program.

“We had the athletes, so it was really just teaching them how to read a screen, how to space the floor in transition. If you have athletes, you’re in good shape and you just have to work on the fundamentals. We have open gym at 6 a.m. in the summer and every year we’ve gotten more and more girls to come out

to that. We get in the weight room and lift. I’m just trying to build a true program where girls are excited to play,” he said. “It was definitely a challenge to get them to buy in. My first year we lost the first four games but ended up finishing 17-9 and winning the division for the first time in about 20 years. It was just trying to convince them and show them the right way to play basketball. You have to get them to trust you. I tried a lot of team bonding activities because if all

South Jersey Glory Days photos/Sully Sophomore Julia Blong is one of the young players who helped lead Moorestown to the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals this season.

QUAKERS, From Page 22

you care about is winning, the girls aren’t going to have any fun. So we went to the Elizabethtown College camp this past summer and the girls did a body lab where they do things like foam rolling, cryotherapy, all that kind of stuff. They did a yoga class — anything to get them to understand that it’s bigger than basketball. It’s about being a team and trying to teach them as many life lessons as I can. I really want them to get something out of this on a personal level, and if I can help them be a successful person in society, that’s a win.”

The expectations for the Quakers are different now. They return nearly the entire roster next winter and have their sights set on a sectional championship and beyond. Moorestown is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in South Jersey high school basketball. This season, they beat traditionally strong teams like Cinnaminson, Woodbury, Cherry Hill West, Gloucester Catholic and Cherokee. They made it to the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament championship before falling to Paul VI, and earned a trip to the Burlington County Tournament title game before falling to eventual Group 4 state champion Lenape.

“This year I knew we were going to be very good. I’d be lying if I said we’d break the record for most wins in school history. I knew it was a possibility, but I just know how hard it is to win 25 games with the schedule that we play with Cherry Hill West twice, Shawnee twice, you have Paul VI, Cherokee. And in South Jersey Group 3, there were so many teams that could have made it all the way through. Everyone was very competitive,” Emerson said. “But not making it to the state championship this year or even the sectional final was a huge bummer. That was definitely our goal. I’ve been talking about Mainland since we lost to them in the semifinals last year. I’m very confident that we could have beaten them, but all credit to Absegami. It was just tough. The way that game played out; our best player (sophomore Analyse Intenzo/13.6 ppg) got sick. We still had a chance to win — she’s not the reason we lost — it’s just the

way that it played out. As cliché as it sounds, that’s going to fuel us for the next couple of years.”

Emerson said he’s drawn inspiration from the Moorestown girls lacrosse program, which traditionally hasn’t just one of the best teams in the state, but in the entire country. He’s doing everything he can to connect with youth basketball coaches in the area to try to get girls interested in the game as young as possible to keep building that pipeline.

“I was fortunate enough to grow up here. I graduated from Moorestown in 2008, my whole family went to Morristown — so I’m very familiar with the school and how demanding the academics are and how demanding the athletics are. Specifically lacrosse. We’re a huge lacrosse town, so the majority of the girls play that sport and I’m a huge fan of that. Basketball and lacrosse are so synonymous with pass, cut, replace. The way you play defense, you can play zone. You can play man,” Emerson said. “My goal coming in was not to coach a basketball team, but to coach a basketball program. So I kind of just took the vision of what the Moorestown lacrosse team did of integrating everything they do at the youth level and just really trying to build a program from there, then bring it to the high school. I met with each of the grades in the youth league and showed them some of the stuff that we run so they could start running that. I just try to network as much as I can, talking to coaches who I’ve had in the past and

just being like a sponge. I also am just very fortunate that I came into a group of girls who just out-work everybody, so it’s an easy group to coach.”

Being an assistant football coach at Moorestown helps Emerson drum up interest in the girls basketball team, he said, and that helps pack the stands for home games.

“I network like crazy to our student population. I also am an assistant coach of varsity football here, so all of my football guys, I’m reaching out to them to come and support the girls. Whatever I can do to get that gym packed because these girls deserve it. They play the game the right way. They play so hard,” he said. “If you appreciate the game of basketball and watching girls compete at the highest level, this group of girls is that kind of team. Our fan base has bought in. I have postings on Facebook and on our team Instagram page, just trying to bring awareness to all the good things that are happening with Moorestown girls basketball.”

So, what’s next for the Quakers? Winning championships. Emerson isn’t shy about coming out and saying exactly what his team’s goals are, and he believes he has the talent to win a lot of big games. Intenzo is a just a sophomore and already one of the best players in South Jersey. She scored more than 400 points this year and hit 67 threes, while juniors Rima Takla and Mae Murphy — who each scored more than 200 points — return as well. The Quakers lose just two seniors and return five of their six leading scorers.

Junior guard

Mae Murphy scored more than 200 points this season, had 110+ steals and finished with nearly 100 rebounds for the Quakers.

“We have to play more basketball. That’s the main thing. I need to go to more coaching clinics. I need to do more, become a better coach in closegame situations. I have a pretty good handle on it but I can always get better. I have great assistants who help me out a lot, across the board. The main thing this season was they saw how much fun basketball can be. We felt like we should have played in that South Jersey Group 3 final. In my exit interviews they are all saying how they are devoted to playing more basketball in the summer. The sky is the limit for this team, these girls all have expectations to go win a sectional title, which has never been done in Moorestown,” Emerson said. “Our goal is to win South Jersey Group 3, or whatever sectional they put us in, whether it be central or south, doesn’t matter. That’s our ultimate goal. We have goals before that — to win the division, to get better every game.

“With the talent we have — this group of girls is all so close. They’re all extremely tight knit. They’re all best friends. You don’t get that too often in sports. So I understand that it’s a rare opportunity to be fortunate to coach a group of girls like this. It’s my job to try to get them to do as much basketball stuff as they can and for me to work on my coaching as much as I can, and hopefully we achieve our goals.”

Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

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