VIDEO: A big night for local high school hoops

Monday was an extremely busy day in local high school basketball, with numerous games that impacted division and conference standings.

The following is a recap of the contests:

BOYS

Wildwood 61, Salem 47: In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Tri-County Classic Division, Wildwood led from start to finish in picking up the victory over the Rams. Junior Hans scored 19 points and Alex Daniel shot 7 for 9 from the floor and added 16 points for Wildwood, which improved to 9-1 on the season. Wildwood opened the game with a 10-2 run before Salem pulled to within two at the half at 28-26. The Warriors then took control of the game for good by outscoring the Rams 15-6 in the third quarter.

Lower Cape May 62, Cape May Tech 32: Lower Cape May continued its strong play to start the season, remaining unblemished through nine games. Freshman Ty Bonner scored a career-high 18 points and Jacob Bey added 17 points for Lower, which has a massive showdown with Mainland on Wednesday. Ben Lynch scored eight points for Cape May Tech.

Middle Township 46, Ocean City 36: In a CAL National contest, Middle Township rallied from a 14-2 deficit to start the game to grab the victory at home. Re’Ale Basquine scored 17 points and Anthony Trombetta added 11 for Middle (5-4). Omero Chevere scored 16 points in the loss.

St. Joseph 84, Wildwood Catholic 54: The Crusaders dropped to 2-9 with the road loss.

GIRLS

Mainland 53, Wildwood Catholic 52: In a big Cape-Atlantic National Conference matchup, Mainland stunned the Crusaders by rallying from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to get the victory and hand Wildwood Catholic (10-1) its first loss. Ava Mazur led Mainland with 16 points.

Ocean City 40, Middle Township 35: In another important CAL National matchup, Ocean City outscored Middle 16-11 in the fourth quarter after the teams were locked in a 24-24 tie. Tori Vliet, who entered the game averaging 7.3 points per game, erupted for 18 points to lead the Raiders (8-2). Jada Elston scored 13 points for Middle (9-3), which hurt its chances with a poor shooting performance from the foul line. 

Wildwood 75, Salem 42: Maya Benichou poured in a career-high 20 points, Macie McCracken sank 18 points and Sinaia Hills chipped in 10 points as Wildwood (5-3) won easily on the road. The Lady Warriors outscored Salem 52-16 over the middle two quarters.

Lower Cape May 55, Cape May Tech 34: Lower evened its record at 4-4 while Cape May Tech fell to 3-2.