Deep down, it’s not as shocking as it seems.
On paper, the Camden Catholic High School boys basketball team was viewed as a major underdog in the South Jersey Non-Public A championship game against a Saint Peter’s Preparatory School program that had been labeled as the top team in the state.
The Irish stood toe-to-toe with the Marauders and never blinked, no matter how many times they were tested. Camden Catholic won the game, 70-65, in double overtime at Lenape High School to win their first sectional title since 2019.
PHOTO GALLERY: Camden Catholic Boys Basketball Win Sectional Title
“We’re just five guys on the court,” said junior Seamus Bieg, who scored a game-high 22 points. “We’re not afraid. We know how good we are as a team, and we carried that confidence.”
That confidence had been brewing all season, but came to fruition just four days prior, when the Irish (24-6) upset the top seed Paul VI in double overtime. No. 4 seed Camden Catholic was then tasked with a tall, athletic and supremely skilled Saint Peter’s team that was the No. 2 seed in the bracket based on power points.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Bieg said. “Coming into this game, we knew how tough of an opponent they were. They were number one or number two in the state. As a team, we have so much grit, so much toughness. We came in here, and we shocked the world.”
Camden Catholic’s trio of guards – Bieg, Luke Kennevan and Bryce Clark – did the bulk of the scoring, as Kennevan and Clark each scored 16 points. The Irish’s two tallest players, Azyris Richmond (13 points) and Sean Welde (three), helped with a gritty effort on the defensive side of the ball.
“We had some great rebounding against a bigger team than us,” said Richmond, who is listed at 6-foot-8. “They had some size. Not taller than me, but they had some size. We played great though. Our guards were blocking shots.”
Camden Catholic thought it had the game wrapped up in regulation, and also in the first overtime, before the Marauders battled back to erase seven-point deficits. The Irish kept plugging away.
“We went into double overtime, and they came back every time we were up,” Bieg said. “We just knew as a team that we were going to win that game.”
In the second overtime, they finally put them away. Richmond and Clark hit big free throws down the stretch, and the Irish punched their ticket to the state championship game, which will be played at 7 p.m. on March 14 against Bergen Catholic (26-5) at Rutgers University.
The two teams met in the state championship in 2019 with the Crusaders taking a 17-point win. The Irish will be underdogs again.
“We feel good,” Richmond said. “We carried a lot of energy from last game into this game, and we really picked it up.”
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