In many ways, the Gloucester Catholic and Paul VI High School girls basketball programs are very similar.
Both have a long history of great players and great traditions, and both have been knocking on the door for decades to play in a state championship game.
On March 14, both the Rams and the Eagles finally experienced the thrill of playing on the big stage as Gloucester Catholic High School faced Immaculate Conception High School (Montclair) in the Non-Public B state championship before Paul VI took on Morris Catholic in the Non-Public A state championship at Rutgers University.
Both teams experienced an incredible ride this season, but both fell short of their ultimate goal of winning a state title in their respective games. Both vowed to be back.
“I think we definitely got better as a team this year,” Gloucester Catholic junior Jahzara Green said. “I just wish for the last game, that we could have brought it together and just played tougher. But we had no seniors so everyone is returning. Hopefully, next year will go better.”
Gloucester Catholic fell 41-30 to Montclair Immaculate, which played its last basketball game ever. The school in the Archdiocese of Newark is set to close in June after 100 years of service. The Rams will have another shot next year as they return their entire team, including Green, who has already scored 1,419 career points in just three years, ranking eighth all time in school history. No. 2 on that scoring list is Lisa (Angelotti) Gedaka, who has coached the Gloucester Catholic program for the last 35 years and has the most wins in South Jersey high school girls basketball history. She added 25 wins to her totals this year while guiding the Rams to their first sectional title since 1983, when she was a player on the team.
“It’s disappointing, but like I told the kids, it’s not one game that defines a season,” Gedaka said. “Whether we won or lost this game, it doesn’t distract what we did the entire year. They came to practice every day, ready to go. We had a great year and played a great schedule. I thought we were up to the challenge day in and day out.”
Paul VI also had a memorable journey. The Eagles ran undefeated with 27 straight wins to reach the state championship. They ran into another undefeated program in two-time defending state champ Morris Catholic, which hasn’t lost to a team from New Jersey in 26 months. The Crusaders jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never really looked back in a 54-44 win in the title game.
“Every time we got close, they just pulled away,” Paul VI senior Azanah Campbell said. “There was nothing we could really do about it.”
Paul VI’s achievements included winning the Olympic Conference National Division and repeating as champs of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament. They had gone 375 days without a loss, and their South Jersey Non-Public victory over Red Bank Catholic was taken by a last-second defensive stand, erasing three straight years of frustrating losses in the title game. It was their first sectional championship since 1989 and third overall.
“All three years, we couldn’t get past sectionals,” Campbell said. “To get to states is an amazing feeling … I’m really proud of how we played this year. This game was just a setback. The team next year is going to do better than this. I know they’re going to win it all.”
Paul VI will need to fill a few roles that were played by valuable contributors. Campbell, Anya George and Kiyanna Blacks-Stewart are all set to graduate this spring.
“It was fantastic,” Campbell said of her experience at Paul VI. “I loved this team so much. I’m sad to be leaving them, but you have to move on.”
Gloucester Catholic players will return to the courts next winter with a hard lesson under their belts.
“Honestly I think we just started to play a little nonchalant,” junior Jalyn Moore said. “That’s on us. But it was a good game. We should have come out with the win, but we just didn’t. Everybody played amazing. We played hard. I’m proud of all the girls.”
She’s also proud of being coached by Gedaka. “She really improved me as a player and raised my IQ. She made me see that I’m more than an offensive player. I can play defense and do more than just score. She made me really believe in myself and have more confidence.”
Neither Gloucester Catholic nor Paul VI is lacking in that department. They expect to be back at Rutgers next March.
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