Wildwood freshman hits a 3-pointer in the final seconds to break Woodstown’s heart in South Jersey Group I girls title game
NJSIAA GROUP I GIRLS ELITE 8
South: Wildwood 54, Woodstown 53
Central: Shore 44, Middlesex 36
North I: Park Ridge 43, Mountain Lakes 28
North II: University 86, Glen Ridge 52
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WILDWOOD — The last time these two teams played here, the home team was throwing in 3-pointers from everywhere in the gym. Wildwood didn’t hit nearly as many 3s this time, but it made the one that counted most.
Freshman Rebecca Benichou buried a 3 from the left corner right before the buzzer to give the Warriors a 54-53 win Saturday and rip away the South Jersey Group I girls basketball title that five minutes earlier looked all of Woodstown’s to win.
Wildwood hit 21 of 41 3s when it beat the Wolverines here in January and was 15-of-32 against Paulsboro in the first round of the tournament, but was only five of 35 Saturday as the Wolverines defended them man all game to negate the deep threat. Macie McCracken and Angela Wilber, who each hit seven 3s in the first meeting, were a combined 2-for-20 Saturday and McCracken, who was playing ill, was oh-fer for just the fifth time in the last two seasons.
“All week long I’ve been telling the girls (to) get that game out of your head because it’s not going to happen again,” Wildwood coach Teresa Cunniff said. “The last few days we haven’t been shooting well and today I told them (if) your shot’s not falling you’ve got to do other things.
“It will come. If you have your legs under you and you take the shot it’s gonna fall – eventually. And they believed it. Rebecca taking that shot in that crunch time, that’s amazing. I’m her biggest fan right now.”
None of the 3s were bigger than Benichou’s, who called it “the shot of my life.” She had six in the first meeting with Woodstown, but the dagger at the end Saturday was her only one of the game and one of just two baskets she made. She scored eight points.
“I was so happy,” she said. “It was a dream moment.”
Replays show Benichou actually launched the shot from her go-to spot over a leaping Gianni Maiorini with 4.6 seconds left and it went through the hoop at 3.1. When the shot went through, the Wildwood players and their fans storming the floor in celebration while Woodstown coach Kara Straughn was frantically waving from her bench to clear the court because there was time remaining.
There were no injuries to either players or spectators as a result of the storming, which many in the Woodstown camp considered “unacceptable” at best and something found in a South Jersey farmer’s field at worse. There were no technical fouls or warnings issued.
“We tell our kids every single game you’ve gotta stay, you’ve gotta stay, you’ve gotta stay until we tell you to go,” Straughn said. “I guess that’s not a thing. The bench came on the floor, too, and that in my opinion is a T, but …”
The officials conferred and once the floor was cleared and order restored, they put 2.1 seconds on the clock. The Wolverines did get a timeout and put in a plan to get a potential winning shot in the hands of one of their 1,000-point scorers, Megan Donelson or Talia Battavio.
They got it in Donelson, who raced up the floor, got some separation from Benichou on the right side and put up a rushed 3 with some contact. Donelson hit the floor gesturing for a foul. The shot missed, there was no whistle and the Warriors (23-7) could finally enjoy their victory.
“I was just focused on getting down the court and trying to score,” Donelson said. “There was a lot (of contact). There should’ve been a foul.”
“I told the girls you can only control what you can control,” Straughn said. “We controlled everything we possibly could. It sucks (to lose), but we did everything we could. They played their butts off and they wanted it so bad and I’m proud of them. It just didn’t fall the way we wanted it to fall.”
Battavio’s scoring and Donelson’s headstrong approach coming out of the break helped Woodstown (21-7) take command in the second half. The Wolverines built an eight-point lead after three quarters. They led by 10 early in the fourth, by nine when top Wildwood defender Kaliah Sumlin fouled out with 7:20 to play and 50-41 with 5:26 left before the Warriors mounted their comeback.
Battavio had 10 points in the third quarter and finished with 18. Donelson had 11.
Shannon Pierman was dominant in her final high school game. The senior post had another double-double in the first quarter and despite early foul trouble finished with 24 points and 28 rebounds.
In spite of the big game, the senior post lamented missing a few short ones in the paint in traffic late in the game that could have made a difference.
“It’s a little upsetting, we had a good lead, but in the end, God’s will be done,” Pierman said. “We were right there. We almost had it, but it is what it is.”
WILDWOOD 54, WOODSTOWN 53
WOODSTOWN (21-7) — Talia Battavio 7 2-2 18, Megan Donelson 4 2-4 11, Gianna Maiorini 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Baber 0 0-2 0, Shannon Pierman 10 4-6 24, Lauren Hengel 0 0-0 0, Emma Perry 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-14 53.
WILDWOOD (23-7) — Sophia Wilber 3-8 0-0 7, Angela Wilber 4-15 3-4 13, Macie McCracken 6-22 1-2 13, Kaliah Sumlin 4-8 2-2 11, Rebecca Benichou 2-18 3-4 8, Cydnee Kilian 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-73 9-12 54.
| Woodstown | 13 | 12 | 20 | 8 — | 53 |
| Wildwood | 11 | 16 | 10 | 17 — | 54 |
Riverview Sports News 