The NJSIAA’s move to condense the basketball season is insane. Teams are playing 23-24 regular-season games in just 9 weeks. Meanwhile, college teams are using 17 weeks to play 30-31 games.
No time for rest, no time for fundamental work, virtually no days off.
Alarming …
Sad news that has jolted the SJ basketball community — Board 34 official Marty Derer, a North Wildwood summer resident, has passed away after a bout with COVID-19. As an official, Marty was tough and stern but also fair and approachable. A huge loss to all who knew him. God speed
Before everyone starts talking about where the athletes at Wildwood Catholic and St Joe might go next year, let’s take a moment to understand this is devastating news to the kids and their families. Now is not the time.
With all these weather- and quarantine-related postponements, the NJSIAA should consider extending the basketball season past 3/6. Even if it’s just a few more days, maybe teams can get a couple more games in. These kids, coaches and parents have suffered enough.
Been covering Cape May County high school sports for 25 years. This
@WildwoodPSD
boys basketball run to the SJ title game is the most incredible thing I’ve seen. Sure, there have been some greater one-game upsets, but to win 3 road games and get there as a No. 14 seed? Amazing
Condolences to the Holdens, the first family of Lower Cape May basketball. Mr. George Holden, former head coach whose sons played and coached and grandchildren were top athletes at Lower, passed away yesterday after battling an illness. Good coach, better person.
#CoastSports
Sad to report the news of the passing of Buddy Tarbotton, my broadcast partner for nearly 30 years. No one loved high school sports, especially basketball, more than he did. If there’s a game being played in heaven, rest assured Buddy is watching it. Prayers for his family.
BREAKING: Per source, NJSIAA is allowing two parents/guardians per athlete to attend games, with total attendance not to exceed 150. Effective immediately. Schools, however, have discretion to be more restrictive with their own spectator attendance policies.
#CoastSports
Would like to congratulate my lovely wife, Teresa, for being among the inductees into this year’s class of Al Carino Basketball Club South Jersey Hall of Fame. Great player, outstanding coach and, most importantly, the best wife and mother ever
@greeneyes232323
@WildwoodPSD
BREAKING: Wildwood High School graduate Wes Hills has been moved to the active roster and will be in uniform for the Detroit Lions when they host Tampa Bay tomorrow. Good chance he’ll see his first regular-season NFL action.
#CoastSports
@wildwoodpsd
Nikki Carty, the daughter of Board 196 basketball official Wally Carty, passed away yesterday after a long and amazingly courageous battle against cancer. The South Jersey basketball community mourns with Wally and his family at this most difficult time. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
#CoastSports
Condolences to the
@lowercapemay
school and lacrosse community on the loss of 2018 graduate Luke Lare. Very sad. Lare was an excellent player for the Caper Tigers. Prayers and best wishes to his family and friends.
#CoastSports
Middle Township senior Jada Elston after a sensational 31-point, 6-assist performance in
@MTHSAthletics1
’s 57-48 win over Cinnaminson in the South Jersey Group II title game. Middle wins its first sectional title since 2012.
@jada_elston
More on the condensed HS hoops schedule — now we have teams knocked out of league/county tournaments who are forced to sit around for 10 days to 2 weeks to wait for the state playoffs to begin. This after teams were playing 3 & 4 games a week for 5 straight weeks.
What a mess …
The only two basketball players in
@WildwoodPSD
history to reach 1000 career points as sophomores — 2002 graduate Monica Johnson and current standout guard Macie McCracken.
@WildwoodPSD
@Thesjibt
Wildwood senior Maddie McCracken, who put up 21 points and 13 rebounds in today’s 48-32 win over Gloucester, has announced she will play college basketball at Division III Widener University. She is 24 pts shy of 1800 for her career
#CoastSports
Sending prayers to Middle Township grammar school basketball player and all-around good kid Anthony Trombetta, who was injured in a game this afternoon. His family is asking you to keep Anthony in your prayers.
@J_Trom11
🏀🏀🏀🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
The moment Macie McCracken scores her 1000th career point for
@whsgirlsbb1
vs Paulsboro in a 1st round state playoff game. McCracken just the 3rd player in Cape May County history to accomplish the feat as a sophomore. Wildwood leads 27-0 after 1Q.
@WildwoodPSD
@Thesjibt
I'm not saying he has to win it, but those who get involved in such things better at least consider Scott McCracken of
@WildwoodPSD
for South Jersey Coach of the Year. I've never seen a high school basketball team improve so much in just 4 weeks.
#CoastSports
Still perplexes me as to why the
@Phillies
are retiring Roy Halladay’s number and Larry Bowa’s still isn’t. Halliday had exactly 2 good seasons for Phils. Bowa was a 5-time all-star, played on 5 playoff teams and won a World Series.
The change in schedule for the
@NJSIAA
playoffs has created an unfortunate situation — boys and girls basketball teams from the same school competing for SJ titles on the same day in two different gyms. It’s a travesty to make a school’s community choose which game to attend.
Let’s recap some playoff high school hoops:
@WCHSCrusaders
boys and girls in third round
@WildwoodPSD
boys and girls in SJ title games
@OCRedRaiders
girls in SJ title game
@MTHSAthletics1
girls in SJ title game
The kids in Cape May County can play some basketball my friends
Seven of
@WildwoodPSD
’s 11 female 1000-point scorers — Mackenzie McCracken, Maddie McCracken, Lana Harshaw, Lisa Schultz, Monica Johnson, Teresa Polini, Imene Fathi — on hand for the school’s first Wall of Fame induction ceremony.
What a great night for basketball in the Wildwoods
@whsgirlsbb1
wins SJ title
@wcladycrusaders
reach SJ title game
Like I said before, the kids at the shore can play some ball …
🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀
@Thesjibt
Just throwing this out there — Pat Holden of
@lowercapemay
isn’t the best player in South Jersey. But I’ll argue with anyone who doesn’t think he’s the South Jersey MVP. LCM might not have 5 wins w/o him. Now they’re 21-8 and in the SJ final.
@Buddy_Tarbotton
@MattOCNJ
In the event that the NJSIAA decides to hold state title games without fans, let’s hope they allow media outlets with a proven track record to broadcast the games for free rather than these pay sites that have consistently failed to deliver the product this postseason.
@MattOCNJ
Congratulations to
@WildwoodPSD
boys basketball Scott McCracken, named the Al Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey’s Coach of the Year. He led Wildwood to a 14-1 record and the championship in the inaugural Tri-County Conference Tournament.
#CoastSports
BREAKING: A number of Catholic schools across South Jersey are set to close for good at the conclusion of this scholastic year, according to sources. Wildwood Catholic among them
#CoastSports
As the fall sports season comes to a close this week, athletes should remember to thank their coaches, athletic trainers and school administrators for everything they did to make this extraordinary season happen.
#CoastSports
Congrats to Junior Hans of
@WildwoodPSD
on scoring his 1000th career point in last night’s loss to Salem — an incredible achievement for a junior, especially since he missed out on at least 10 games as a freshman (COVID year). He has led Warriors to a 17-3 start.
Always great to see this — Donovan Varrone of Margaret Mace in North Wildwood with the underhanded three-pointer in a game vs. Crest Memorial.
Proving once again that great moments in sports aren’t always produced by superstars …
Wildwood High and Wildwood Catholic Academy have released a joint statement to announce that the schools will renew playing each other in all sports beginning in the fall. This rivalry never should have been suspended in the first place, but at least order has been restored.
LCM football team enters field on Military Appreciation Night carrying 13 American flags in honor of the 13 U.S. military members recently killed in Afghanistan.
#CoastSports
@lcmrfootball
@lowercapemay
Ocean City’s Owen Ritti and Wildwood’s Macie McCracken were the respective boys and girls winners at the Cape May County Cross Country Championships at county park. OCHS won both team titles.
#CoastSports
@OCRedRaiders
@WildwoodPSD
What a night for high school girls basketball on this tiny island of The Wildwoods.
Two great teams filled with wonderful, easy-to-root-for kids.
It’s been a tremendous ride, and it’s not over yet.
@wcladycrusaders
@WCAcademy_NJ
@WildwoodPSD
@whsgirlsbb1
Have seen this a few times already this season and it's disturbing because high school coaches should know better -- if you're down 20 or more with a minute left and the other team has subs/JV players in the game, you shouldn't be employing a full-court press ...
Wednesday concluded a stretch of 13 high school hoops broadcasts in 13 days on
@987TheCoast
for
@Buddy_Tarbotton
and I. It was nice to be home last night — and not see Buddy for a change 😂😂😂 — but i already miss it. Thanks to everyone who supported our efforts
#CoastSports
🏀
Congratulations to Ashley Jackson of
@lowercapemay
on scoring her 1000th career point in her team’s 53-47 win over Holy Spirit. Jackson finished with 19 pts in the game
#CoastSports
Major congratulations to
@MTHSAthletics1
standout Jada Elston, who has accepted a late scholarship offer to play Division I basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Elston led Middle to the SJ Group II title last winter. Best of luck!
@jada_elston
#CapeAtlanticLive
The South Jersey basketball world and, especially,
@MenStockton
and
@stocktonospreys
, have lost an icon. Rest in peace, Bob Hutchings. A true gentleman in life and in basketball.
The
@MiddleHs
baseball team may have lost its regular-season finale to Delsea today but the Panther players created a heartwarming scene after the defeat — players brought their dads onto the field for a catch following the game. Well done.
#CoastSports
@MTHSAthletics1
Middle Twp grad Lauren Legler was denied 1000 career pts in high school only because of injuries. Great to see her get it at the college level at Neumann. Congrats on a fine career!
@laurrrenlegler
@MTHSAthletics1
#CoastSports
Wildwood Catholic’s boys hoops team to face Patrick School Sat 2/8/20 at 5:30 pm at RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River in battle of two of state’s top teams. Both feature multiple future Division I college players. Game to air on ESPNU
#CoastSports
@WCHSCrusaders
History at the
@BB_Classic
: Congrats to Amanda Feldman, Carolyn Jackson & Kelli Johnson, the first all-female crew to officiate a game at the Boardwalk Classic. They’re working Cape Tech vs Atlantic Christian
#CoastSports
@Jeffzco44
Wildwood High grad Wes Hills (center) with Calvin Ridley (left) of Atlanta Falcons and Richard Sherman (right) of San Francisco 49ers today in southern California. Hills is set to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl tomorrow at the Rose Bowl.
#CoastSports
The
@MTHSAthletics1
girls basketball program presented Mainland star Kylee Watson with flowers before tonight's game in recognition of recently being named a McDonald's All-American. Pictured from Middle are Aubrey Hunter, Maddie Baber & Kira Sides.
@kyleewatsonn
#CoastSports
The
@BB_Classic
committee dealt with 44 schedule changes over the past week to 10 days and somehow still managed to produce a top-notch event. Excellent job by Scott McCracken, Dave Troiano and Dave DeWeese and others.
The 5-day tournament concludes today with four games.
Wildwood junior Diante Miles pictured with Wildwood grad and Detroit Lions RB Wes Hills after Miles scored a career-high 39 points in tonight’s win over Clayton
#CoastSports
@WildwoodPSD
@WHills_4
Boys hoops: Justin Harper shot 14 for 23 from the floor and poured in a career-high 37 points to go with 11 rebounds as
@WCAcademy_NJ
rallies from 18-6 deficit to start the game to beat
@StJoe_BBall
77-73. Harper has been special for the Crusaders.
Couldn’t have said this any better. I shake my head every time I hear a player (or his parents) tell people they think they’re better than D3, when I know they’d struggle to get on the floor in the NJAC.
Congrats to
@MTHSAthletics1
1000-pt scorer and SJ champion Jada Elston on her college selection — she’s set to play at Division III Kean University next year.
@jada_elston
Sad state affairs on the high school sports landscape — 20 years ago, tonight’s Wildwood vs Burlington City SJ semifinal might’ve had 4-5 media outlets covering the game.
Tonight? Zero.
Absolute total shame for the kids.