By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — If you had told the casual South Jersey basketball fan at Christmas dinner that St. Augustine Prep would end up as the 2025 Cape-Atlantic League champion, they probably would have laughed in your face. At that point, the Hermits were 1-3 and had scored just 37 points in a loss to Camden Eastside at the Ocean City PBA Tipoff Weekend.
This wasn’t your daddy’s St. Augustine team, or even your older brother’s. Maybe legendary coach Paul Rodio, he of 1,000-plus wins, was slipping. Maybe he just didn’t have it anymore.
Well, a lot has changed in the last two months.
The Hermits have caught fire in February, going 7-1 this month, the latest victory coming in a nail-biter over Wildwood Catholic Academy on Saturday in the CAL Tournament championship game at Egg Harbor Township High. Prep hung on in the final seconds to secure a 52-47 victory in our Bunting Family Pharmacy Marquee Matchup, winning its first league title since 2017.
“After starting 0-3, I can’t lie, we all had our heads hung low, but we regrouped and we came back to what we’ve always been, the powerhouse that St. Augustine always was,” said senior forward Rory Friel, a Washington Township native who was the game’s MVP with a 19-point performance before fouling out late in the game. “We came out here today, played our game, shut down their scorers and came out on top. I can’t be more grateful for this team, our coaches. This was a big one for us.”
“In the beginning of the year when we were practicing I said I really liked this group because they are concerned about the name on the front (of the jersey) and not on the back,” Rodio said. “We had guys getting hurt but we hung in there. We got beat (four times) in a row, but we came back when we really had to and played really good basketball. I can’t say this is the best (championship) because I’ll get 100 phone calls.”
A big reason Prep (16-12, 4-8 Cape-Atlantic American) scored the victory was the Hermits were able to keep the Crusaders’ best scorers in check, for the most part. Riley Powell finished with a team-high 14 points, Tayshaun Jackson had 11 and Alex Daniel finished with eight. The Hermits got a big boost from freshman point guard Luke Maransky (10 points) and junior forward Kyle Helphenstine (9 points).
“I was scared. It was close, but we pulled through in the end and made it happen,” said Prep senior forward Mide Okebiorun, a Sicklerville resident who was tasked with guarding Powell for much of the game. “Everybody was working hard. Before the game we went over how we had to cheat out to their shooters and really making sure that Powell didn’t have an amazing game. Stopping him, we were able to get the win.”
The Hermits jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter thanks to the hot shooting of Friel, as a pair of jumpers from him and a 3-pointer from Maransky staked Prep to a 16-7 lead.
“They were getting me the ball in places I could score, and I was scoring,” said Friel. “My teammates, obviously, finding me. We have a great group of guys here and now we’re getting ready for the state tournament.”
The Hermits’ lead reached 23-9 early in the second quarter on a three from Joe Peacock, but the Crusaders (18-8, 7-5 CAL American) were able to stay within striking distance, cutting the deficit to 33-22 by halftime. A 13-6 run in the third quarter got Wildwood Catholic to within 39-35 entering the fourth, setting up a dramatic finish in the final minute.
The Crusaders pulled to within 45-43 with 48 seconds remaining on a huge 3-pointer from Jackson, and the teams traded free throws for the next 40 seconds. The Hermits led, 50-47, with less than 10 seconds left, but Wildwood Catholic’s three-point attempt with less than five seconds left fell short and Maransky smothered the rebound. He hit two free throws on the other end for the final margin.
“I would say there were some nerves, definitely, especially after I fouled out,” Friel said. “But we come right off the bench, we get rebounds and we make our free throws at the end. We shoot 100 (free throws) a day at practice. I’m just so proud of our team.”
Friel said he couldn’t be more proud to win a league championship under the guidance of Rodio, who has mentored thousands of young men throughout his incredible career.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I had always heard about his history and how he wins but I had never had that success with him. Yes, we’ve won a lot of games in my years here, but this year we went out and we actually won the title for the Cape-Atlantic League, and I couldn’t be more proud of him and thankful for him,” Friel said.
Both Friel and Okebiorun were injured in late January, which led to a four-game losing streak that had the Hermits sitting at 8-10. They finished a distant fifth-place in the CAL American Conference this season, posting just a 4-8 divisional record. But they never stopped believing in their talent, if they could just find a way to get things together in time for the postseason.
“We just came into practice and upped our practice scale, we were working harder. (Coach Rodio) had us doing a lot more drills, a lot more fundamental stuff and it benefitted us in the end,” Friel explained. “If you look from the beginning of the year to now, our offense is totally different. We move the ball better and we play a lot more as a team.”
“(Rory and Mide) are the guys who kept us together,” Rodio added. “You don’t win if (the players) don’t stay on the same page, and ever kid — to the man — stayed on the same page and made it work, so give them all the credit.”
“It’s crazy. My freshman year we tried and couldn’t win it, my sophomore year we tried, but we got it this time. Everybody played together. It was tough, but we made it happen,” Okebiorun said. “Since (late December) we really started trusting our coaches and trusting each other. It took a while for us to build our chemistry, but now that we have it, they can’t stop us.
“For me, coming all the way from playing freshman year, it’s amazing. I love all my guys. We really work in practice and they worked hard here, and I love to see it.”
WHAT’S NEXT: St. Augustine Prep travels to St. Thomas Aquinas in the opening round of the state playoffs on March 1 at 3 p.m. Wildwood Catholic Academy hosts Princeton Day in the opening round of the state playoffs on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.
