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GMC Hoops Summaries--March 19, 2010
Week Thirteen--Tournament Of Champions Semifinals

Camden Catholic Avenges Only Loss To Advance To Final, 47-34

By Greg Machos
March 19, 2010

PISCATAWAY, NJ—It had been billed by some as the Battle for South Jersey while others looked at it as the long awaited rematch between these two Olympic Conference teams. For both Cherokee of Marlton and Camden Catholic of Cherry Hill, it was an opportunity to reach the Championship Game of the 2010 Tournament of Champions. Neither one of these teams have won the T of C since its inception, and the Chiefs never even reached the final. Cherokee was the team that marked Camden Catholic with its only blemish of the season with a 73-65 double overtime victory at home on January 7th. Both of these teams had very tough roads to get to the T of C semifinals at the RAC.

The Chiefs reached this point by defeating Montgomery in the Group IV State Semifinal (49-42), fifth ranked Plainifield in the Group IV State Championship (52-38), and Group II Champion Shabazz in the T of C opening round (53-52). Meanwhile, Camden Catholic defeated St. Joseph's (62-59) in the Non-Public A South Semifinals, won the Non-Public A South Championship over St. Augustine's Prep (62-51), and then the Non-Public A State Title over Non-Public A North Champion, St. Peter's Prep of Jersey City (68-63). The Fighting Irish were awarded the top seed and a first round bye in the Tournament of Champions. Cherokee was led by senior 5'10" guard Willis Nicholson, who scored 20 points and handed out 9 assists the last time these two teams met in early January while Gerry Wixted paces Camden Catholic. Wixted, a 6'7" senior center, scored 38 points in the victory over St. Joseph's.

Cherokee, which lost three years ago to South Brunswick in the Group IV State Semifinals at Atlantic City, started out strong has Nicholson handed out three assists in the first 5:14 while Maurice Jackson was a perfect 3 of 3 in the first quarter. Camden Catholic limited the Chiefs to just 4 of 13 shooting including a 1 of 10 effort outside of Jackson, but couldn't take advantage with four first period turnovers. However, the Irish found their bearing, and outscored Cherokee in each of the final three periods to earn its second ever berth in the T of C final with a 47-34 victory. Wixted led Camden Catholic with a game high 17 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the floor and a near perfect 7 of 8 from the line to go along with 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, and an assist. Teammate and senior guard, Anthony D'Orazio, who is bound for Lehigh University, chipped in with 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting and 2 of 2 from the foul line as well as 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block.

Senior 6'6" forward, Tim Crawford, connected on 6 of 9 shots from the field and made his only free throw attempt to add 13 points along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Nicholson led Cherokee in a losing cause by equaling Wixted for game high honors with 17 points along with 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists. However, the Chiefs senior guard didn't have an assist over the final 26:46 while only making 6 of 17 shots from the floor. Jackson scored only one point after the first quarter, and ended up with 7 for the game along with 4 rebounds, a steal, and a charge. Fellow senior guard, Christian Jordan also had seven points along with two assists and a steal. Wes Tisdale, who collected 10 points and 12 rebounds in the victory over Plainfield in the Group IV State Final, only shot one of six from the floor for three points while picking up only two rebounds.

For the game, Cherokee shot only 13 of 45 from the floor including just 2 of 13 from three point range while Camden Catholic was much more efficient going 15 of 28 overall including 3 of 7 from three. The Irish were also more prolific at the line making 14 of 17 shots while the Chiefs were just six of eight. In other statistical areas, Cherokee won the turnover battle (9-17), but lost the rebounding war (21-13). Cherokee did, however, have more offensive rebounds (8-4), but Camden Catholic blocked more shots (8-1). The Fighting Irish also handed out more assists (11-7) while the Chiefs had more steals (7-5) and charges (1-0). Cherokee got off to a fast start with a 7-2 spurt over the first 3:21 of the contest, but couldn't sustain the momentum. Camden Catholic, which plays in the National Division of the Olympic Conference scored five of the last seven points to draw within two going into the second. The Chiefs got two layups by Jackson off nice assists from Nicholson, and Jordan connected for his only three off a kickout by 6'9" senior center Ryan McKeaney (0 of 4 FG, two rebounds, two assists, and a block).

However, the Irish fought back as Sherard Cadogan (4 of 6 FTs for 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals) made one of two from the line at the 2:46 mark, and then D'Orazio made a nice move on the drive for a scoop shot layup with 36.2 seconds left to close the gap to 9-7 after one period of play. Cherokee, which didn't commit its first turnover of the game until the 7:13 mark of the second quarter, went back up by four as Nicholson swiped a steal, and drove in for a layup, and an 11-7 lead with 6:49 to go in the half. On the ensuing Camden Catholic possession, D'Orazio dished to Wixted, who was fouled, and then made two foul shots for an 11-9 score with 6:33 to go in the first half. The Irish had a chance to get closer, but Jackson drew a charge on D'Orazio at the 5:57 mark. Unfazed, the Camden Catholic senior guard continued to attack the basket by grabbing a rebound on the defensive end, and driving upcourt for a layup and an 11-11 tie with 5:04 to go in the half.

Following a Cherokee timeout at the 4:50 mark, the Chiefs continued to stay in control for the time being when Jordan drove along the baseline, and kicked out to Tisdale for his only three of the game from the left side, and a 14-11 lead at the 4:25 mark. D'Orazio then got a score off a feed from Crawford while Wixted made one of two from the line at the 3:50 mark to knot the game again at 14-14. Both teams then exchanged scores for the third tie of the contest at 16-16 with 2:14 remaining in the second quarter. Nicholson then put the Chiefs in front again at 18-16 with two free throws at the 2:04 mark, but Camden Catholic went in front for the first time in the contest when Crawford kicked out to Wixted for a three pointer from deep on the right wing that made the score 19-18 with 1:15 left in the half. Matt McElhatton then later inbounded to Crawford for a layup with a second left in the second period for a 21-18 lead at halftime. Looking at the halftime stats, Cherokee was 7 of 22 from the floor while Camden Catholic was 8 of 13. The Chiefs were just 2 of 10 from beyond the arc while the Irish were one of three.

At the charity stripe, CHS made both its attempts while CCHS was four of six. Camden Catholic was able to take the lead at the end of the first half despite nine first half turnovers. Cherokee only had four. Moving on to the first half scoring, Jackson had six points for Cherokee while Jordan chipped in with 5, and Nicholson added 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. However, by this point in the game, Nicholson was straying away from the great play he had in the first period. He was trying to do too much on his own instead of continuing to get others in the act offensively. It didn't help any that the Chiefs shot 7 of 28 for the game outside of their star guard. Wixted led Camden Catholic with 8 points on two of three shooting from the floor and three of four from the line while he also had a rebound, assist, and a block. D'Orazio was a perfect 3 of 3 from the floor for 6 points, 2 rebounds, a steal, and a block while Crawford also added six on three of six shooting while pulling down two rebounds and handing out two assists. The trio of Wixted, D'Orazio, and Crawford accounted for 95 percent of Camden Catholic's first half scoring on 67 percent shooting.

The second half started out with promise for Cherokee. The Chiefs scored six unanswered points all on 3 of 3 shooting by Nicholson including a jumper at the 5:30 mark for a 24-21 lead. However, Camden Catholic rallied back with a decisive 12-0 run into the early fourth that put the Chiefs hopes in jeopardy to say the least. Wixted began the critical run with a layup while Cadogan added two free throws at the 2:57 mark for a 25-24 lead. After a field goal by D'Orazio, Wixted stepped to the line, and made a pair of foul shots for a 29-24 lead with 48.9 seconds left in the third. Cadogan then swiped a steal in the waning moments of the period, and that led to a three pointer by senior guard Bart Middleman (3 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists) as time expired for a 32-24 lead heading into the fourth. Cadogan then capped the run with another one of two showing from the foul line for a 33-24 advantage with just 13 seconds gone by in the final stanza. Nicholson tried to keep Cherokee in the game with a drive for a layup at the 7:20 mark, and two free throws after a Camden Catholic score for a 33-28 Irish lead at the 6:36 mark, but the Chiefs couldn't get any closer.

On the next Irish possession, Cadogan handed out an assist on a three by Wixted from the top of the key for a 36-28 lead. Jackson brought the deficit back down to seven with his final point of the contest on a one of two effort from the line at the 5:58 mark. Cherokee got another score to close within five again at 36-31, but Wixted netted two free throws, and then Cadogan passed to Crawford for a layup and a foul for a traditional three point play, and a 41-31 lead with 3:41 to play. From there, the Irish outscored the Chiefs by a 6-3 margin to wrap up the 47-34 victory. With the win, Camden Catholic improved to 29-1 overall on the season while advancing to face Trenton Catholic in the T of C Championship on Tuesday night. Cherokee, which competes in the American Division of the Olympic Conference, finished its season at 24-7 overall. Analysis will be forthcoming in the blog.

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