Sacred Heart tops St. Joe

HAMMONTON—In the season-opener for both schools back in December, Sacred Heart High School’s girls basketball team had raced to a convincing 61-38 victory against St. Joseph.
A little more than five weeks later, the Wildcats hoped to turn the tables on their Cape Atlantic League United Conference foes, but despite a strong first half performance, St. Joe fell apart in the final two periods and lost to Sacred Heart for the second time this season, 56-41.
“We had a chance [to beat them],” St. Joseph coach Dan McGettigan said.
“We just made too many mistakes and we can’t do that against good teams,” he said.
Unlike the first meeting, where Sacred Heart was able to take a large first quarter lead and hold off St. Joe, the Wildcats managed to keep the game close, limiting the Lions’ scoring chance with a variety of defensive looks.
On the offensive end, St. Joe used a balanced attack, as Samantha Wetzel and Dana DiRenzo each had four points as the teams were tied 12-12 after one quarter.
The game remained close in the second quarter, as Christine Ingargiola scored four points, helping the Wildcats keep the game tied 24-24 at halftime.
The third period sealed St. Joe’s fate, however, as several turnovers led to fast break points for Sacred Heart, and the Lions broke the game open with a 20-10 run.
“That’s been a problem for us all season. We got through stretches where we don’t protect the ball and we get sloppy. We did it again tonight, and it really hurt us,” McGettigan said.
The fourth quarter saw more of the same, as St. Joe struggled to mount much of an offensive attack. The Wildcats were hurt somewhat by the absence of point guard Gabby Dudo, as foul trouble kept her on the bench for much of the period.
“I maybe shouldn’t have kept her out as long as I did. Having her in there maybe would have helped us,” McGettigan said.
Defensively, the Wildcats played well, but the failure to put the ball in the basket kept them from getting back into the game.
Wetzel finished with a team-high 13 points, and Colleen Henry added six.
“Sam played a great game tonight. She’s been coming on strong the last few weeks,” McGettigan said.
Following the season-opening loss to Sacred Heart, St. Joe went on a nine-game winning streak. That wasn’t the case this time, as the Wildcats followed the loss to the Lions with another defeat, falling to Millville 34-31 in a game they should have won.
Offensive struggles cost St. Joe, as they coughed up a 25-11 halftime lead. Millville outscored the Wildcats 23-6 in the second half.
DiRenzo’s 14 points led all scorers, and Ingargiola added six for the Wildcats.
St. Joseph bounced back to end the week with a 54-33 win at Cape May Tech.
Senior Shaunna Como led the way, scoring a career-high 28 points, connecting on five 3-pointers in the victory.
The Wildcats led 25-5 after one quarter, and this time kept the offensive pressure up, holding off the Hawks with an 18-11 third quarter run.
Earlier this week, St. Joseph hosted Pleasantville, but that game ended too late for this edition.