The 2023-24 high school sports year was once again filled with team triumphs, individual astonishments and coaching milestones. The Catholic Star Herald highlights the accomplishments of its high school student athletes with a Top 10 look at the best sports moments of the school year.
10. Banner year for OLMA girls hoops
Our Lady of Mercy Academy enjoyed its best basketball season in school history as the Villagers excelled to a 23-6 record, breaking the school record for wins in a season. But it didn’t stop there. The Newfield school added two names to the exclusive 1,000-point club as seniors Madelynn Bernhardt and Savannah Prescott hit the grand achievement to become just the third and fourth players in school history to record 1,000 career points. Bernhardt, who knocked down 480 points this season, ended her high school career with a school record 1,254 points, breaking a 35-year-old mark held by 1989 graduate Jeanine Heil.
9. Hermits make second splash
The Saint Augustine Preparatory School swim team had high expectations coming off an undefeated 2023 season, which included a Non-Public state championship. Nick Fondacaro, a 2015 graduate of the Richland school, took over as head coach, and the Hermits didn’t skip a beat by going undefeated again and capturing their second straight state title.
Saint Augustine Prep capped off an 11-0 season by defeating Bergen Catholic, 95-75, on Feb. 25 at Rutgers University to win its eighth state swimming championship. The Hermits will carry a streak of 21 straight victories into the 2024-25 season.
8. PVI boys basketball
Haddonfield’s Paul VI High School boys basketball team ended a long drought by winning its first sectional championship since 1988. The Eagles went 22-10 on the season and captured the Non-Public A South sectional championship by defeating Union Catholic 53-35. Judah Hidalgo (15 points), Torren Greene (14) and Isaiah Thomas (13) all reached double-digit scoring in the championship game. Paul VI, which was the No. 5 seed in the Non-Public A South bracket, won three straight road playoff games in taking down No. 4 St. Joseph Metuchen, No. 1 Christian Brothers and No. 2 Union Catholic, respectively.
7. On track for gold
It was a big year on the run for Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, Pennsauken, which won the Non-Public B cross country state championship Nov. 4 at Holmdel Park. Ryan Gaulrapp, Ethan Caprarola, Matt Colden, Shane Smith and Alexander Dietz paced the Crusaders to their first state championship in seven years. In the spring, discus thrower Shawn Bradly added to Bishop Eustace’s trophy case by winning the individual Non-Public B state championship in the disc with a throw of 179 feet, one inch at Stockton University on June 8. At the same meet, Paul VI’s Shaelan McNally won the 3,200 meter run to win the Non-Public A state championship with a meet record time of 10:24.00.
6. Spartans surge in springtime
It didn’t end with a state title, but Holy Spirit High School’s spring season was a long and busy one as multiple teams made deep runs into the state playoffs. For the third straight year, the Spartans’ girls lacrosse team made it all the way to the state championship, and they ended up with a 16-4 season. The boys lacrosse team went 12-7 and ventured into the Non-Public B state semifinal before suffering a heartbreaking 12-11 overtime loss to Rutgers Prep. Spartan softball also enjoyed a fantastic season, with the Absecon school making an appearance in the South Jersey Non-Public B championship, where it was defeated by Saint Joseph Hammonton.
5. Worth the wait
A grand slam, a 22-hour rain delay and a state trophy presentation were all part of the fun as the Saint Augustine Preparatory School baseball team returned to the top with its first baseball state championship since 2018. Alex Bersani’s grand slam was the highlight of an enormous 11-run third inning as the Hermits built a 12-4 lead over Delbarton before the game was halted in the fifth inning at Veterans Park in Hamilton. The two teams returned the following day, and the Hermits prevailed with a 12-5 victory in the Non-Public A state championship game to cap off a 20-9 season.
4. 700 wins for Gedaka
Last year, she broke the South Jersey high school girls basketball record for career coaching wins. This year, she put a nice, round number next to her name.
Lisa Gedaka became the first high school girls basketball coach in South Jersey to win 700 career games after guiding Gloucester Catholic High School’s Rams to a 73-21 victory over Pitman on Feb. 1. In doing so, she became just the eighth high school girls basketball coach in the state to reach that milestone. After finishing the season with a 23-7 record, Gedaka will enter the 2024-25 season with 709 career wins.
3. Camden Catholic field hockey repeats
Losing two of the best players to ever play field hockey at Camden Catholic High School provided a daunting task in an effort to repeat as champs, but the Irish were up to the challenge. Olivia Bent-Cole (Northwestern University) and Ava Moore (Wake Forest) left big shoes to fill after leading the Irish to a title in Fall 2022, but Camden Catholic reloaded with the help of freshman Sophia Stazi (team-leading 33 goals) and brought home a second-straight Non-Public state championship with a 3-1 victory over Oak Knoll on Nov. 11. Stazi, Isabella Moore and Erin Houlihan each recorded a goal as the Irish won their third field hockey state championship in the Cherry Hill school’s history.
2. Gloucester Catholic Baseball adds another trophy
The Gloucester Catholic High School baseball team left no doubt of their superiority as the Rams won their state record 21st state championship with a 10-0 victory over Saint Thomas Aquinas on June 7 to wrap up an incredible 27-2 season.
Senior Tate DeRias threw a five-inning no-hitter (13 strikeouts) in the Non-Public B championship game, while Guy Lynam supplied three hits to lead Gloucester Catholic to its second straight state title. In the past four years, Gloucester Catholic has compiled a 94-23 record, which includes four straight trips to the South Jersey Non-Public B championship, two state titles and one Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic championship (2023).
1. Underdog Hermits ice another state title
They say lightning never strikes twice. Saint Augustine Prep ice hockey says otherwise.
The Hermits wrote another underdog story by winning the Non-Public state championship as the No. 3 seed, once again defeating the top two seeds to repeat as state champs.
In the championship game March 4 at the Prudential Center in Newark, Saint Augustine Prep recorded three hat tricks in the highest-scoring high school state championship game in New Jersey history. Cameron DeLeo, Ty Simonet and Robert Romarino each scored three times as the Hermits defeated Don Bosco Prep 10-6. It marked back-to-back state championships, and the third in school history, for the Hermits, who finished the season with a 15-6-3 record.
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