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ABOUT THE COVER

t’s hard to quantify, but there is something about Mainland Regional High School that keeps producing winning teams. In the fall, the Mustangs’ cross country teams are among the best in South Jersey, the girls volleyball team won its first Cape-Atlantic League Tournament championship in 2021, and the girls soccer team made a run to the sectional final. During the winter season, both basketball teams won their respective league tournaments and the girls swimming team made it to the state championship meet. In the spring season, the baseball team is always among the best in the league and all the other sports are very competitive. You almost never see a last-place finish from a Mainland team in any sport. Why? Well, we’ll try to provide some answers in this month’s Vic’s Subs Cover Story on Page 10. Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher

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SOUTH 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/Special Football Writer (@MTrible on Twitter) Larry Henry Jr./Correspondent (@Lhenry019 on Twitter) Ben Hale/Creative Director, Social Media & Web Development VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1/MAY 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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HEADLINES PRESENTED BY BUNTING FAMILY PHARMACY Cal spring tournaments off to resounding start

The Cape-Atlantic League boys and girls basketball tournaments are one of the most anticipated sporting events on the South Jersey high school sports calendar. Eight of the league’s best teams vying for a championship in a span of less than two weeks. It usually makes for some great basketball, including this past winter, when the Mainland Regional boys became the first No. 8 seed ever to win the championship. Looking to expand to different sports, a few years ago the league implemented a scaled-down version of the tournament for boys and girls soccer, and this year the CAL held its inaugural baseball, softball and lacrosse tournaments, each consisting of four teams. By all accounts South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully these tournaments likely will grow to include Egg Harbor Township won the inaugural Cape-Atlantic League softball tournament, more teams, as fans turned out in huge numbers taking down Cedar Creek 6-3 on May 18. for the lacrosse and softball finals. (The baseball tournament will be played later this month). In lacrosse, Ocean City proved its dominance by winning both the boys and girls tournaments against Holy Spirit at Stockton University in front of a sizeable crowd. The softball championship game, held on the home field of top-seeded Egg Harbor Township, also drew quite a crowd, with EHT beating Cedar Creek, 6-3, to claim the title.

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CAPTAIN’S CORNER Christian Rodgers, Mainland Basketball

A lifetime of memories How two weeks in February changed one player’s life By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer n Feb. 7, Mainland Regional High’s boys basketball team lost 50-44 to Cedar Creek. That put the Mustangs’ record at 10-10 — a pedestrian mark that had Mainland squarely on the bubble when it came to earning an at-large bid to the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament. In its next two games, Mainland handily beat Hammonton and ACIT, two other bubble teams, and the Stangs garnered the No. 8 seed in the eight-team league tourney. Which of those three teams got in seemed like it didn’t matter much, as waiting in the first round was top-seeded Egg Harbor Township, one of the best teams in South Jersey and a serious contender in South Jersey Group 4. The Eagles would roll to a first-round blowout, it seemed, thank you very much for coming out, and set their sights on storming their way to the championship. But then Christian Rodgers hit a 3-pointer — and everything changed. The Mustangs seemed overmatched in that opening-round game against EHT, as they trailed 22-13 at halftime and sophomore Cohen Cook was the only player to even score for the boys in green. But Mainland wasn’t interested in any kind of participation trophy — the Mustangs believed in themselves, and believed they could score an upset over the Eagles. They took the lead of their determined, diminutive, quiet leader at point guard — the only senior in a starting lineup full of sophomores — and outscored EHT 14-7 in the third quarter to close to within 2927. Early in the fourth quarter, Mainland took the lead, and extended it little by little. And with just a few minutes to go, Rodgers took a pass off an inbounds play on the right side and drained a 3-pointer — a

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Senior point guard Christian Rodgers and the Mainland boys basketball team went on an incredible run in February, winning the program’s first Cape-Atlantic League Tournament championship. shot that eventually propelled the Mustangs to their first league tournament crown in program history. Mainland beat EHT, 50-38, then shocked St. Joseph Academy by 10 points in the semifinals before outlasting No. 2 seed St. Augustine Prep, 58-56, in overtime in the championship game at Absegami. “We knew we had to take care of business the last two games (before the selections were made). We knew we had to beat Hammonton and ACIT, and we blew them both out by 20-plus points. So, we took care of our business and let the committee do the rest. Luckily, we got in. I was in class and everyone in the group chat was going crazy. They came out with the selections while we were still in school, we saw (that we were in) and we were all freaking out,” Rodgers recalls. “We knew we had a chance because the sec-

ond time we played (EHT) we went into overtime. We were all locked in. We arrived at EHT about an hour early, we all got our shots up and were feeling good. The first half, though, was terrible. Everyone was slow except for Cohen. We knew going into the second half that we had to lock up on defense and our offense would catch up. We were getting good shots, we just couldn’t hit a shot to save our lives. We got some momentum and started to believe, and we used that throughout the rest of the playoffs. We knew we had to believe in ourselves. We were just as good as those other teams, we just had to show it.

See MEMORIES, Page 7

MAY 2022 MEMORIES, From Page 6 “Once I hit that shot I felt like we had the game,” he continued. “I wasn’t even expecting to get that shot, it was an inbounds play and I just creeped over to the corner. The defender flew out when I pumpfaked, and I just hit the shot. I knew we could win the whole thing after we beat EHT.” Rodgers and his teammates vaulted from mediocrity to stardom in a whirlwind two-week stretch that saw them go from a .500 team to a league champion and a squad that made it to the quarterfinals of the sectional tournament before falling by just six points to a very talented Burlington Township squad. Mainland finished the season 16-11, winning six of its final seven games after that regular season setback to Cedar Creek in early February. Suddenly Rodgers — who is maybe 5-foot-6 in his shoes — was the toast of the town, conducting postgame interviews with reporters and extolling the exploits of kids the general public had never heard of a week before. Guys such as Jamie Tyson, Stephen Ordille and Tim Travagline. “He was great. A lot of people want to talk about Cohen, but the other guys made what he did possible and Christian was maybe the biggest reason for that. He’s a really good ball handler, and when he gets going he can really shoot it. And he’s really good in transition

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because he’s little and quick, and handles the ball well. We saw some glimpses of what he could do in the summer league. Of course nobody is as intense in summer league, but we thought, OK, we want to temper our expectations but if he’s going to play like this — jeez,” said Mainland coach Dan Williams. “We got into the real season and that was his first action starting on varsity, running a team and all that, and it did take a while in a tough conference like ours. But once he figured out he belonged out there and he had some things that weren’t affected by height — such as shooting the ball from three and being quick in transition. He was the first guard off the bench last year in our eight games and had never played a second of varsity prior to that, so it took about half the year (for him to be comfortable). But the second half of the year he did such an outstanding job running the point. “Maybe the biggest thing when you look at the last two-and-a-half weeks of the season, our turnovers — until the Burlington Township game — he did not turn the ball over and that was a huge difference for us,” Williams continued. “He was making sure we got a shot every time down. Take the EHT game (in the CAL Tournament) for example, Christian had two of the biggest plays in that game. He hit a 3-pointer off an out-of-bounds under that

See MEMORIES, Page 9

“We were doubted the whole season. Nobody really showed up to that game against EHT. They didn’t believe in us. Everyone was saying it was going to be a blowout. That’s all I was hearing before that game, but right after the game my phone was blowing up. It was crazy. I’ve been an underdog my whole life, and same for the rest of the guys.”

Christian Rodgers, Mainland senior (on Stangs’ first-round upset in the CAL Tournament)

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MEMORIES, From Page 7 gave us some breathing room; and there was one possession late the fourth quarter, they were playing pretty good defense and we couldn’t get a look, but he dribbled from the wing in front of our bench and ended up getting to the elbow, stepping back to about 17 feet and draining a shot. He was a threat in various ways — he ran our offense, got the ball to guys in good spots, and he was able to do some scoring.” Rodgers said he had a glimpse of the potential this team could have when the Stangs played their annual summer league schedule. “I was hoping we would have had a full season last year, but we only had about eight games (due to covid-19). And we had a really young team, too. Not playing that many games, we didn’t really get to form those bonds. I didn’t really know many of the players coming in this year besides Cohen,” he said. “Coming into this season, I didn’t really know what to expect. We had a good summer league at St. Augustine Prep, but we had to forfeit in the playoffs because we only had four kids. But I knew we were going to be good because all those sophomores — Jamie, Timmy, all those guys — they got bigger and stronger from their freshman years. So, I knew we had a lot of potential, I just didn’t know how much. Cohen was hurt last summer so we didn’t know what to expect from him, but he got so much bigger and stronger from last year. “Midway through the season, we were .500. We were playing alright. We got blown out by St. Joe’s early in January and lost to Holy Spirit. But at the halfway mark we started to click. When we lost at home to Cedar Creek, after that we just started to click and win games. We started to play as a team and that’s the big reason we started winning games, we started playing together more,” Rodgers added. “Everyone bought in and started playing unselfish basketball. Everyone was looking for other people and we were all scoring. It felt like we were all one family that bought into the program.” What was looking like a forgettable senior season in early February turned into something magical, and that’s something Rodgers and his teammates can take with them the rest of their lives. Their names will always be visible on a championship banner in the high school gym. “That’s the best part of it. I know it sounds like coach-talk, but we talk about it all the time about how kids come back after graduation, and the relationships they built and the experiences they had — it makes it much more enjoyable when you are winning,” Williams said. “We’re high school teachers who happen to coach, and if we’re fortunate enough to be able to have a kid say that he had a really good experience playing in our program, if that’s what they walk out

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully After going 10-10 in their first 20 games, Rodgers and the Mustangs won six of their last seven to finish the year with a 16-11 record. feeling enough that they want to come back after they graduate and see how the program is doing, that’s very rewarding. That was the awesome thing this year, Christian said multiple times that he had a blast playing basketball for us and what a great experience (winning the CAL title) was. I hope these young guys listen to him when he says how fast it went for him. He’ll see that championship banner years from now and know he played a huge part in that.” “I loved it. We were doubted the whole season. Nobody really showed up to that game against EHT. They didn’t believe in us. Everyone was saying it was going to be a blowout. That’s all I was hearing before that game, but right after the game my phone

was blowing up. It was crazy. I’ve been an underdog my whole life, and same for the rest of the guys. It’s crazy that we accomplished something so big for our school,” Rodgers said. “The memories we created the last month of this season, I won’t forget. My little brother is the point guard for the JV team and hopefully next year he’ll be able to take over. I feel like my whole life I’ve been able to handle the pressure, so just winning those games and finally getting recognized for all my hard work and the whole team’s hard work, it was just amazing.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY

Building Blocks of Success

Great athletes, dedicated coaches, supportive parents. There are reasons why Mainland Regional has one of the most successful athletic programs in South Jersey. By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he towns that make up the sending district of Mainland Regional High School are small. Somers Point is the largest, with a population of just more than 10,000 people. Northfield has 8,200 and Linwood has a little more than 6,900. But, for some reason — or, perhaps more accurately, many reasons — Mainland continues to be one of the best athletic schools in South Jersey, and the numbers prove that. This year school year, through May 10, all of Mainland’s sports teams had a com-

bined winning percentage of .694. This means the Mustangs, as a collective unit, win about three out of every four games they compete in. An astounding number for even a private school, much less a public school that draws from three small towns along the shore. And, only four Mainland teams the entire school year posted a record below .500. What’s even more impressive is that each season it seems as though at least one, and most times multiple, Mainland teams are in the mix for championship titles. Consider this: The Cape-Atlantic League

hosts league championship tournaments in boys soccer, girls soccer, girls volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. Mainland was in the final in girls soccer and won the title in girls volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. It starts at the top, with Athletic Director Mike Gatley, who has been at Mainland since 2011 after spending a good portion of his career at Hammonton. He’s was

See SUCCESS, Page 11

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Mainland’s girls basketball team has been a South Jersey power the past five years, and this season the Mustangs won another South Jersey Group 3 championship.

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SUCCESS, From Page 10 named Athletic Director of the Year by the Director of Athletics Association of New Jersey in 2020. One of his main priorities is finding qualified coaches, and making sure coaching staffs remain as stable as possible for as long as possible. “With Mike as our boss, he’s a good blend of demanding but also supportive and encouraging. He’s not just an administrator, he’s a former player and he’s big into making sure we’re doing everything right as coaches. He tries to make sure every coaching position — from the head coach to the third or fourth assistant — every one of them is committed to making sure that every last piece of the program is run right and effectively and passionately. He wants people in positions where they are passionate about their program, not just providing good experiences and teaching fundamentals,” said boys basketball coach Dan Williams. “There are a lot of programs at Mainland that have really good staffs in place. My staff is fantastic, in baseball Billy Kern, man, what a job he does. They have a great staff and they do great things in the offseason with the camps they run. That team will be good as long as he is there, I have no doubt. And Scott (Betson) does a great job with girls basketball. Brian Booth has been off the charts with boys swimming.” “There are a lot of staff members who attended Mainland, which I think

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Jamie Tyson and the Mainland boys basketball team were the lowest seed in the CAL Tournament, but scored three straight upsets to win the title for the first time in program history. is a huge part of it because they genuinely want to see everyone succeed and reach some of the accomplishments they reached when they were in high school,” said Camryn Dirkes, a senior and three-sport star at Mainland. “I think that helps in us having so much school pride. It’s one thing to go teach at another school and eventually learn that school’s pride, but when you have it from high school and then come back to coach there’s that extra motivation. It’s a deep-rooted thing that takes time to develop, and I don’t think many schools have that where the coaches actually wore that same uniform when they were in high school.”

To show how good Gatley is at evaluating who can be a good coach all you have to do is look at the girls volleyball program. Torie Rich, a longtime assistant with the softball team, had no volleyball experience prior to taking over the program before the 2020 season. But Gatley had faith that she knew how to coach and motivate. All Rich did was pour herself into volleyball research, and two season later she led the Mustangs to their first CAL Tournament championship in program history as the Stangs took down perennial powerhouse Absegami in the championship match last fall. “We’re not really a crazy big school,

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but I feel like everybody buys in and gives 110 percent into what they do,” said senior soccer and basketball player Christian Rodgers. “We have great coaches who love the players and who truly want to be there. It’s amazing having all those coaches helping me out. Especially coach (Alex) Wideman, he’s my soccer coach but this year he also helped out with the basketball team. He always helped me out before games to help calm my nerves.” As good as the coaching is at Mainland, it still takes great athletes to consistently win, and Mainland has them in abundance. Just think about the kinds of athletes who have walked those hallways just in the last five years. Alyssa Aldridge was one of the best cross country runners New Jersey ever produced, and went on to run at Georgetown. Katie McClintock was named the state swimmer of the year. Kevin Antczak was one of the best distance runners the school has ever seen. Chase Petty was a first-round Major League Baseball draft pick last spring by the Minnesota Twins. Destin Lasco was one of the best boys swimmers in state history and now swims at UCLA. And who can forget Kylee Watson? Probably the best girls basketball player the Cape-Atlantic League has ever seen, she scored more than 2,000 points in her career and added more than 1,000 rebounds, went on to play

See SUCCESS, Page 13

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SUCCESS, From Page 11 two seasons at the University of Oregon and recently transferred to Notre Dame. After her freshman year of high school, she earned a berth on the U16 USA national team and competed in Brazil. “We have some really good athletes,” Rodgers said. “In baseball, we had Chase Petty, we had Kylee Watson in basketball, Kevin Antczak in cross country, Jack Sarkos in soccer — we’ve had a bunch of really good athletes. And, also, everyone is consistent. Year in and year out we produce good athletes. It’s hard to put into words (why we’ve been so successful).” “It’s crazy to think about that,” Dirkes said of all those great athletes. “Even now, our sophomore class is one of the most athletic classes that people are saying has ever come through this school. I think that comes from our community atmosphere, and how everyone cares about the community around them. These three towns are small, but people care a lot about their kids and youth sports. People stick around, or come back here, to keep things going, and that’s a big part of it. Our high school coaches continue to get involved in the youth programs, and that helps elevate players.” “Right now, in particular, while I think there are a good amount of male athletes, the female athletes in our school, it’s crazy. Camryn is something all to herself. She’s not only great as an athlete, but there have been very few human beings who have gone through this school who are as amazing as her, and that rubs off on the kids in her grade and the girls in the grades below her who want to be like her. The female athletes we have are fantastic right now. And on the guys side, this sophomore class is maybe as strong as we’ve had in a while. Sometimes you just need two or three kids in one of these classes who younger kids want to emulate and they really get after it. I think that’s a huge thing,” coach Williams said. “There have been some really good athletes come through here, and that’s above everything, when you have talent. It’s a fortunate time for Mainland athletics right now. It’s

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Bella Canesi and the Mustangs’ girls volleyball team went 21-2 last fall and won the league championship for the first time in school history. been exciting around the building. I wish every school could have that this year, because every school went through what we all went through last year. Having a daughter who is in high school right now, it’s a bummer for them that these groups of kids have had to go through high school (dealing with covid). If there is a silver lining, at least for the athletes for Mainland, is what it has looked like for us this year. A lot of people are excited about (Mainland sports), even the students who don’t play to get the chance to come out as fans. The kids were excited to get to those CAL championship games (at Absegami) and we had a few busloads of people go up to the girls state title game (in Toms River). There has been and still is a very good vibe around that building.” Just as important as having talent and support is bringing a winning mentality to the field, court or pool. That’s one thing that separates Mainland from a lot of other schools — its athletes expect to win, every time they put on that green uniform. “I think that comes from the mentality that our coaches try to instill in us

— that every opponent is no different than another, and every game is no different than another,” Dirkes explained. “One of our coaches, Billy Kern, always says that we just have to be better than our opponent for 32 minutes. You just have to treat every game like every other game, and not harp on if it’s a playoff game. One thing we always said, in soccer and basketball, was that we wanted to keep going as long as we could so that we could keep hanging out with each other after school. Just focusing on that team atmosphere and wanting to be around each other rather than ‘we have to win this championship’ makes everyone have more trust in each other and play more as a team.” And as these athletes navigate their way through these seasons of winning and playing for championships, it leaves an impression on them. That’s something they’ll carry with them long after their days as a Mustangs athlete are over. “I feel like we’re a family,” Rodgers said. “That’s the quote on the sign in front of the school — One community, one school, one family. Everyone supports each other. It’s a really nice community, and it’s amazing the amount

of fans we get at so many events. I’m grateful for all those people who come out and watch us.” “I couldn’t have asked for a better four years. Coming out of freshman year (and winning a state basketball championship), I couldn’t imagine how it could have gotten any better. The older players make you feel like you are a part of the team right away and I think that’s very important. Everyone is very inclusive and everyone cares about the team, and that’s big. Everyone focuses on the team rather than themselves, and winning together,” Dirkes said. “We have morning announcement and they announce all student accomplishments, everything from the marching band to varsity sports. If I hear the marching band won a tournament and I have a friend in band, I’ll go say ‘congratulations.’ People make it known all across the board about success in all kinds of clubs and events. We all support one another. We’re very prideful of our school and we want to see everyone succeed.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

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S EN I O R S P OT LI G H T

GEORGE COLES/HOLY SPIRIT BASKETBALL

Playing the part to perfection Coles knew what he had to do when called upon, and got the job done By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer oaches love to talk about guys like George Coles. No matter how successful your team is or how many stars you can put in your school’s colors, every coach knows the reason for success is the guys who never get their name in the paper, or who rarely do enough statistically to earn a game ball. Guys like George Coles, a senior guard at Holy Spirit during the basketball season and a kid who also plays football and lacrosse while maintaining an outstanding grade-point average, are what coaches refer to as “glue guys.” First-year Spartans basketball coach Kyle Dhyne will tell anyone, anytime, just how valuable Coles was to Spirit’s 16-9 record this year that included a run to the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament and Non-Public B South semifinals. “He transferred over to us his junior year (from ACIT) and he didn’t see much time that year, but he had a great summer. He did stick it out and he played an important role for us this year. Defensively, he was a monster. He hounded every opposing point guard from one end to the other. Something you don’t see is that he hounded Jahmir (Smith) every day in practice to make him better. He was really valuable in that role for us as well,” Dhyne said. “He brings a spark because that’s

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Senior guard George Coles started only a handful of games in his Holy Spirit career, but he played several invaluable roles for coach Kyle Dhyne’s Spartans. what our team was all about this year — defense. We preach that from the beginning, and to have somebody like him be able to come off the bench and defend the point guard like he can provided a spark for us.” “It was sports (that drew me to Holy Spirit), playing football and lacrosse, and also I could continue with my basketball career. I just wanted to fit in and whatever the team needed, that’s what I was going to do,” said Coles, an Absecon resident. “Over the summer I worked a lot on dribbling the ball and shooting the ball. I know I can always play defense. In the summer league,

coach was telling us we were going to get after it this season and I knew that meant we’d be doing a whole bunch of running. I knew I had to come in here and make a spark wherever I can and do all the little things.” Coles was one of just three seniors — along with Sean Kane and Will Marable — on a Spirit roster dominated by an outstanding junior class that features point guard Jahmir Smith, guards Ky Gilliam and Jamil Wilkins, and forward Jordan Llanos. Coles rarely got to start a game, but played some very important roles for the Spartans. Whenever Smith got in foul trouble

or needed a breather, Coles was right there to step in. He could also play the off-the-ball guard position, and sometimes Dhyne would throw him in there with Smith if he really wanted to turn up the defensive pressure on an opponent. “The biggest thing is he never turns his motor off,” Dhyne said. “He’s constantly on the go, constantly going full speed. He’s very valuable in that you can throw him in there with Jahmir and

See COLES, Page 17

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COLES, From Page 14 now you have two points guards who both can defend really well, or if Jahmir got into a little foul trouble we’re able to throw in George, a kid who is just as good defensively, can handle the ball and can run the offense. He was a very valuable piece to have. “I’m glad he’s getting a story done about him because he’s a kid who deserves that,” the coach added. “With the team we have, he’s not really in the spotlight. We have those four juniors who take up a lot of the attention. But there was one game when both Jahmir and Jamil mentioned George (in the story after the game), and that shows a lot of what the kids think of him. They recognize what he brings to the table.” “Every practice we pushed each other — every sprint, every drill, we all just pushed each other to get better. We’d press each other full court, both of us would be out of breath but we’d keep pushing each other. That made us both get better. Guarding one of the top guards (in the CAL), I knew if I could guard him, I could guard anybody,” Coles said. “We had a tough loss against St. Joe and another tough loss against Lenape, but every practice we’d just forget the losses and move on to the next game. We tried to play every game like it was our last. Obviously, our season didn’t end the way we wanted to, but we still fought every game.” Dhyne said Coles knew exactly what is role was, and, more importantly, was willing to perform in that role whenever called upon. That’s not always easy for a senior to realize they won’t get a lot of playing time, but when they do they need to be ready. “I’m from Absecon and George is as well, so I saw him play growing up through third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade. I’ve known him for a while now,” Dhyne said. “George bought into everything we’re doing here. I told him, ‘you’re going to get your opportunities, you’re going to play. Play with confidence, go out there and play defense — we’re not looking for anything special from you, just make all the right plays and do all

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Coles and the Spartans won 16 games this past season and advanced to the semifinals in both the league and state tournaments.

“With the team we have, he’s not really in the spotlight. We have those four juniors who take up a lot of the attention. But there was one game when both Jahmir and Jamil mentioned George (in the story after the game), and that shows a lot of what the kids think of him. They recognize what he brings to the table.”

Kyle Dhyne Holy Spirit boys basketball coach

the hard work.’ And that’s what he did. He accepted that role and he was happy with it. He just wanted an opportunity to play.” Coles’ high school athletic career isn’t quite over yet. He’s an outstanding lacrosse player, a long-stick middie who has led the Spartans to a 17-3 record the past two seasons, including a 5-1 start this year. “He’s a great kid,” Dhyne said. “He leads by example. He actually lightens the mood at times. He’s a funny kid,

and a great teammate. He’s also a very good student. He just earned ‘Student of the Month.’ He’s a really good kid.” Coles, who said he plans to attend Stockton University this fall to begin studying criminal justice in what he hopes will be a career in law enforcement, is just trying to soak it all in before he graduates next month. “I’ve been really busy this senior year. I’ve been in the weight room, at practice and studying, and just repeating that every day,” he said. “I really

liked this (basketball) season. There was no real best part, I just loved every second of it. We were all business. It was heartbreaking to lose to Prep (in the CAL Tournament). It was tough to see the season come to an end, but I feel like I played every game like it was my last and I didn’t take anything for granted.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullsays

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BOYS LACROSSE

NON-LEAGUE GAMES ESSENTIAL FOR RAIDERS Ocean City may take losses, but ultimate goal is to be ready for state playoffs By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer here are instances when a team is simply too good for its league competition. The Ocean City boys lacrosse team falls into this category. The Red Raiders are far superior to their competition in the Cape-Atlantic League, and haven’t lost to a league opponent since falling 7-6 to Mainland in 2018. This season, Ocean City has outscored CAL opponents 66-10. This means the Red Raiders have to find the most challenging opponents they can in order to be prepared for the South Jersey Group 3 tournament, which they won for the first time last season. It’s an interesting yo-yo of beating league teams easily while suffering tough losses to non-league opponents. In its first five non-league games this season, Ocean City was just 1-4 and had scored just 20 goals while allowing 44. It’s been a tricky balance for head coach Joe LaTorre and his staff, who have to spend half the season telling their players they aren’t as good as they think they are, while the other half telling them they’re not as bad as they think they are. In the first nine games of the 2022 season, Ocean City’s longest winning streak was just two games. But the Red Raiders also hadn’t lost two in a row at any point. In early April, Ocean City beat Mainland and EHT in back-to-back games, but then it went like this: a 5-4 loss to Southern Regional, a 16-0 win over Vineland, a 9-3 loss to Ridge, a 9-8 win over Cherokee then a 13-1 loss to Don Bosco Prep, the No. 2 team in the state, on April 19. “I remember going up there last year, a long trip,

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Kyle Hendricks and the Ocean City boys lacrosse team have played some of the best teams in the state this season, including Ridge, Haddonfield and Don Bosco Prep. three hours. I wouldn’t say we were scared, but there was definitely some fear in terms of how we could play against those guys. They were up 11-0 near the end of the game but then we scored three goals, and that experience kind of pushed us to the South Jersey Group 3 title last year. I know it’s really hard to win games like this, but it’s really the experience we get at the end of the day,” Ocean City senior defenseman Pat Breslin said after the loss to Don Bosco. “You can make mistakes against some of the teams we’ve already played and you can get away with it. You make a mistake against a team like this and they are just going to punish you. We learned that, definitely, by the end of the first quarter.”

LaTorre said there are pros and cons to scheduling some of the best teams in the state in the non-league slate of games. He said his team learns a lot, and it’s important to point out mistakes made, but not harp on them. Rather, try to fix them the next day in practice and keep building that platform of all the little things that will make the Red Raiders successful when they really want to be — in the state playoffs. “We are asking our players to do a lot because

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RAIDERS, From Page 18 we’ve had a lot of injuries lately and we have a lot of younger guys stepping into roles that I don’t think they were expecting to fill in the preseason but now they are. They realize who they are going against and they understand it’s going to be a dogfight every time we play a non-league game,” he said. “They know going into those games we are the underdog. But the nice thing is, from that perspective, there’s not as much pressure. When you’re not expected to win it’s not the same as when you’re expected to win and you’re like, ‘why are we not executing?’ So, I think they play a little bit more relaxed, which is a good thing.” As good as Ocean City has been inside the Cape-Atlantic League, it’s sometimes surprising to hear there’s only been a team at the school for about 15 years. That’s the biggest challenge the Red Raiders face when trying to break into that elite status among the state’s best teams — those teams in North Jersey have been playing lacrosse for 50 years or more, and their kids grow up playing the game from an early age. A lot of players in South Jersey aren’t picking up a lacrosse stick until middle school, or even high school. “It’s a good learning experience to see what those top-tier programs are. What those programs have over us right now is time,” LaTorre explained. “Don Bosco, Delbarton, Rumson, Summit, Mountain Lakes — they’ve all been playing lacrosse since the 1970s. These are kids who their parents played, their grandparents played. We’re now getting the second generation. We’ve only been playing lacrosse here since 2007, so it’s been a short time. But I think we’re making the right steps and headed in the right direction.” Breslin said despite the losses and what might seem like a mediocre 5-4 record through the first nine games this season, the experience the Red Raiders are getting from going up against some of the best teams in the state is invaluable. “It’s way better than playing any teams in the CAL. We win by a lot (against them) but we don’t really get great experience. It’s better to play a

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Ryan Ireland and Ocean City are hoping their tough non-league schedule will have the same result as last spring, when the Red Raiders won the first South Jersey Group 3 championship in program history. team like this and see how they operate, and that will make us push heavy for the playoffs,” he said. “I think if we play the way we did in that third quarter (against Bosco), defensively, it can show up big time in the playoffs. We’ve had some bad defensive performances in the beginning of the season, and our defense accepted that, but it’s just improvement. We’ve been showing steady improvement, but we’ll watch the film (from the Don Bosco game) because there’s still a lot we can improve on.” Coach LaTorre agrees. Yes, it can be

frustrating when you go from dominating CAL teams to feeling like you can barely score a goal against a top-tier program, but Ocean City tries to keep in perspective that a glossy, undefeated record doesn’t mean much if you get bounced in the first round of the state playoffs. “In our schedule, when we play 18 games, in 10 of those games we’ll upload the film and not even watch it because there is nothing we can learn from those games and we develop bad habits from some of those games,” LaTorre said. “Games like this are great

because I can go home, put my daughter to bed and then watch the game two or three times to find out what we need to fix. We show the guys in film the small things, and the beauty is that since the start of the season we’ve been making a lot of mistakes, but we’ve been fixing those mistakes. (Against Bosco) I was proud of our clearing compared to what we’ve done in previous games, and that’s all you can ask — just get a little bit better each time. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; On Twitter @GDsullysays

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CAPTAIN’S CORNER Kimmy Casiello, Wildwood Catholic Basketball

Natural born leader By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer 2015 Super Bowl commercial may have altered Kimmy Casiello’s life forever. She was just 10 years old when she saw the clip featuring Braylon O’Neill, a child who is able to play sports and do everything things with the help of prosthetic legs. Casiello is 17 years old now, a senior at Wildwood Catholic High School, a three-sport star athlete and somebody who is planning to study biomedical engineering in college. Someday, she may be the one designing new prosthetic devices for people. “When I was younger, I remember watching a Super Bowl commercial. I’m a science-nut type of brain and a hands-on type of person, always playing with Legos and stuff like that, so I figured that might be the thing for me,” said Casiello, a four-year starter on coach Steve DiPatri’s outstanding Crusaders basketball team. She hasn’t yet decided where she’ll attend college, or whether she wants to continue her basketball career at the next level. Right now she’s enjoying her spring track season, her senior year with less of a global pandemic that nearly wiped out her entire junior year of sports, and looking forward to what life has in store for her. She’s also taking some time to reflect on a brilliant high school basketball career that included 77 wins and a berth in this year’s Cape-Atlantic League Tournament championship game. “Kimmy had a great career for us. She topped it off with a sensational senior year where she was clearly our leader, a focal point of our offense as our point guard, and just well-respected by our team,” said DiPatri, one of South Jersey’s winningest coaches. “She’s what programs are all about,

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully Kimmy Casiello, a senior at Wildwood Catholic, was one of the best leaders in the Cape-Atlantic League in multiple sports. you have kids who have been with you for years and understand the expectations and the culture, and they become your coaches on the floor and in the locker room. Kimmy was a perfect example of that, and she helped transition us from one group of kids to the next.” Casiello, it seems, was born to play basketball. Her mother, Roseanne is one of the famed eight Feraco siblings (Middle Township’s basketball court is named after Tom Feraco, one of South Jersey’s best all-time boys basketball coaches) and her older siblings, Chrissy and T-John, both played the sport at Wildwood Catholic. “My whole family went to Wildwood

Catholic — my older siblings, T-John and Chrissy — and my mom is a Feraco with eight siblings, and the whole Feraco clan went to Wildwood Catholic,” Casiello said. “Both my parents were raised Catholic and they believe in a Catholic education, so Wildwood Catholic was the best fit for me.” Casiello made a big impact for the Crusaders right away as a freshman — even if she wasn’t expecting to. “It was unfortunate for our senior at that time, Erin Connelly, she tore her ACL and I was next up, so I just had to take over that role as the next person in line. It was a little scary at the beginning because we had Gabby

Turco, Marianna (Papazoglou), Alyia (Gray-Rivera) and Lauren (McCallion) and they were all upperclassmen and I was a little freshman. But they were all great teammates and they quickly got me acclimated to their style of play. They just got me up to speed really quickly. I got used to it, and after a few games I started gaining confidence being a freshman starting,” she said. “The tempo does increase from eighth grade to high school, and you see teams with a lot of upperclassmen who are

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LEADER, From Page 20 bigger and stronger — a lot of people were bigger than me because I’m only 5-foot-3 — so it was a change, but in the summer (after my freshman year) I just had to work on getting stronger, and that helped me keep up with the pace of varsity.” In Casiello’s first varsity season, Wildwood Catholic went 23-6 and made it to the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament and state sectional semifinals. She was part of an outstanding group led by Marianna Papazoglou and Gabby Turco. The next year, when Casiello was a sophomore, the Crusaders went 22-5 and again made it to the league semis. Most of her junior year was wiped out because of Covid-19, however, as in 2020-2021 Catholic played in just 10 games. So, heading into this past season, Casiello had the burden of trying to bridge the gap between an outstanding senior class that graduated in 2021 and the next group of young stars, all having her key junior season cut by more than half. “Everybody talks about the shortened covid year, but for the kids in program it was more the shortened covid summer. Summer is when kids can really work to get better. We say it all the time, ‘players are made from March to November, teams are made from November to March.’ And these kids missed from March of 2020 until January of 2021, not having the ability to be together,” DiPatri said. “That break in your career — Kimmy had a great sophomore year and people forget what kind of year she had that year. To have that pause, to have her junior year when we only played about 10 games, we were expecting to have a great year but it couldn’t be the year we were thinking of. I think for everybody — seniors looked at it a little differently because they didn’t really get to have a full senior year — but even our kids this year, even our sophomores, nobody knew about them. They were freshmen in a year when we had a bunch of seniors and they didn’t get that summer to get better.” “It was very difficult, especially with AAU and trying to get coaches to come

South Jersey Glory Days photo/Sully With Casiello leading the way, Wildwood Catholic won 23 games this season and advanced to the championship game of the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament. and watch you but they couldn’t,” Casiello added. “It really messed up the junior year for me. We only had eight or 10 games and we couldn’t get that many practices in. It was very different, and annoying.” Despite the lost games and practice time, Casiello said she had a good feeling about the 2021-2022 season, even if not many people in South Jersey had ever heard of some of the players who were slated to be in the Crusaders’ starting lineup. “I think right from our summer camp in August we really started clicking well together,” Casiello said. “We looked at each other and saw we could be a great team. I think people underestimated us a little bit because we lost

all those seniors, but after watching us you couldn’t underestimate us anymore because we really jelled together. Each and every game we got better and clicked more. Our starting five is really close, I actually take most of them to school, so I see them every single day. Basically, we saw each other all day until we had to go to bed.” The fact that a team with not much varsity experience could put up 23 wins and make a run to the league tournament title game is a testament to Casiello’s leadership abilities. “That’s one of the best lessons sports can teach you is leadership, and the way a team, program or business goes about its work is what proves its longterm success. Hopefully these are les-

“Part of the art and science of coaching is that kids come in all shapes and sizes, and molding them into being the best they can be. That’s what it’s all about. And to have great leaders like Kimmy makes our jobs as coaches easier.” Steve DiPatri, Wildwood Catholic girls basketball coach

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sons Kimmy will take into college and her professional life,” DiPatri said. “I saw it from her when she was in seventh and eighth grade. You could see she had that personality. She’s the kind of person I call ‘a connector.’ She’s the kind of person who can build bridges between people and help people be the best versions of themselves. I wasn’t surprised with her ability to connect with this group and propel it to success this year. “She’s well spoken, she’s easy going — it doesn’t always have to be about her. She does everything with a smile. But at the same time, she’s business-like, too. I could hear her saying things that I’ve been saying throughout the years, and there is no better thing that a coach, a boss or a teacher wants than to hear the things they are preaching repeated,” he added. “Part of the art and science of coaching is that kids come in all shapes and sizes, and molding them into being the best they can be. That’s what it’s all about. And to have great leaders like Kimmy makes our jobs as coaches easier.” “I learned from the best, from the past seniors like Marianna, Gabby and Alyia. I knew as a senior I’d be one of the few and I’d have to take that role,” Casiello said. “From freshman year I knew I’d have to lead a group eventually, so I just learned and watched everyone before me. It was kind of natural in a way because I’ve learned from my older siblings as well, they taught me and my parents have taught me how to lead. It was natural.” Casiello said she’ll miss everything about Wildwood Catholic when she graduates next month, from the tiny home gym to the bus rides, the summer workouts and everything in between. What she’ll miss most, however, is being able to put on that blue-and-white jersey. “It’s the best team and I would no doubt represent Wildwood Catholic in a heartbeat,” she said. “We’re a great family together. We’re like a sisterhood, basically. It was a great honor to play for coach DiPatri’s team and to play with such great girls. It meant a lot to me to wear that jersey for four years.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

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