The Wildwood Catholic Academy and Paul VI High School girls basketball programs took different routes to successful seasons.
At the beach, the Crusaders pounded defensive structure and creative shots into their playbook under coach Steve DiPatri, who has won more than 550 high school games in his career.
At Paul VI, Haddonfield’s Eagles soared to incredible heights behind an intense press defense that transitioned into fast and furious buckets by McDonald’s All-American Hannah Hidalgo and her equally explosive teammates.
Both came up just shy of winning South Jersey Non-Public championships this year. Both squads left the court proudly setting the bar even higher for future endeavors.
“I’m extremely proud,” DiPatri said after Wildwood Catholic completed a school-best 24-6 season. “We played a very challenging schedule and exceeded our win total from a year ago. We grew as people, we grew as a unit and we battled all year. To set a school record for wins and get back to the South Jersey final is a great year.”
The Crusaders simply ran into a juggernaut in Rutgers Prep in the South Jersey Non-Public B final at Seneca High School on March 1. The Crusaders fell behind early and were defeated 70-40 despite leaving it all out on the court.
“I’ve been with this team for four years, and to see everyone’s growth has been incredible,” said senior Carly Murphy, who scored a team-high 18 points in her final game. “We’ve accomplished so much, more than I could ever have imagined.”
Murphy was the lone senior on the team and will play at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania next year. She’ll carry quite a few great memories and experiences that she gathered while playing for DiPatri.
“When I started in fifth or sixth grade, I did not know a lot about basketball,” Murphy said. “I learned everything from him, and he’s been such a role model for basketball and for life lessons. He’s been a great coach for me.”
Of Wildwood Catholic’s six losses, five came at the hands of teams that reached or won their sectional championship. There were very few soft spots on a grueling schedule.
“We had a blast,” DiPatri said. “We’ve been with these kids for a long time, and they are a great group. We are going to miss Carly. She was a great leader for us. But we have the core of this group back, and hopefully we continue to improve and look at life with a growth mindset and get better every day.”
The same applies to Paul VI. The Eagles went 21-3 and hadn’t suffered a loss against a New Jersey opponent this season until they experienced a heartbreak buzzer-beater 63-61 loss to Holmdel’s Saint John Vianney in the South Jersey Non-Public A championship, which was also held at Seneca High School on March 1.
Paul VI sought out the toughest opponents it could find and traveled to showcases to make themselves better.
“I’m so proud of them, and this hurts,” said Paul VI coach Orlando Hidalgo. “It was hard for me to find words to tell them that the season was just done. We fought hard all season, but the two best teams were out here. We played everybody and anybody that we could. We didn’t back down from anybody. And this is what we were looking for. We wanted to have this opportunity to play for a championship, and it boiled down to one basket.”
His daughter, Hannah Hidalgo, will go down as one of the best players in South Jersey history as the University of Notre Dame commit racked up 2,135 career points, which includes a shortened sophomore season due to the pandemic.
The Eagles will also lose center Mikayla Young to graduation but will also return the bulk of their team. Coach Hidalgo said he will be back, too, despite his daughter leaving for college in the fall.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “We have a lot of talented [players] coming back, and we’re building something special here at Paul VI.”
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