Lady Warriors tie for division title despite loss

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

WILDWOOD — Almost everything that could go wrong for the Wildwood High School girls basketball team did in the second half of Tuesday’s game against Gloucester Catholic.

Ahead by five points at the half, Gloucester Catholic ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring the Lady Warriors 33-17 after intermission to post a 56-35 victory.

The result creates a tie between the two teams for the Tri-County Classic Division championship. Wildwood had beaten Gloucester Catholic, 43-39, in mid January in Gloucester City.

Wildwood (19-5 overall, 7-1 Tri-Co Classic) was limited to two field goals and seven points over the middle two quarters after the Rams (12-9, 7-1) held a 17-16 lead after the first quarter.

But after committing just one turnover in the first quarter, the Lady Warriors went on to post 23 miscues over the final three periods and Gloucester Catholic took full advantage. The Rams scored all six of their second-quarter points on layups after live-ball Wildwood turnovers. They went on to outscore the Lady Warriors by 18-5 in the third quarter, taking advantage of nine Wildwood turnovers in the frame.

“We have to work on being strong with the ball and eliminate our turnovers,” said senior forward Winter Favre, who led Wildwood with 11 points. “We have to put this game behind us and keep moving forward.”

The division championship is Wildwood’s fifth since joining the Tri-County Conference in the 2002-03 scholastic year. The Lady Warriors also won the Classic Division in 2018.

“Winning the division, I think it shows we’re pretty good team,” Favre said. “But it would’ve been nicer if we could have won it all for ourselves.”

Macayla Carney recorded 22 points and six steals for Gloucester Catholic. Lynzie Eggers added 14 points.