By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
MILLVILLE — After a 60-58 home loss against Atlantic City in early January, the St. Augustine Prep basketball team had a pedestrian 4-4 record. A proud program that has been in the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament championship game a dozen and a half times, the Hermits were scuffling.
Junior Kyle Helphenstine said legendary coach Paul Rodio, he of 1,000-plus wins and a court named after him, chewed his team out — to put it mildly — during those early struggles. The Hermits weren’t playing team basketball, the kind that may one day put Rodio into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
It seems the Hermits have found their groove lately, however, as on Wednesday night at Millville High they won their fifth straight game, dominating rival Holy Spirit in the second half to win, 48-26, in the CAL Tournament semifinals. That sets up Saturday’s championship game at 2 p.m. at Egg Harbor Township High featuring the sixth-seeded Hermits against No. 5 Wildwood Catholic Academy an upset winner over top-seeded Atlantic City in Wednesday’s nightcap.
“We should be in this position, being St. Augustine Prep and being held to a higher standard. We started off the year soft and coach was pretty much calling us you-know-what,” Helphenstine said. “We weren’t diving on the floor for loose balls, we weren’t getting rebounds — we were getting outrebounded every game. But as you’ve seen the last four games or so we’ve had people flying all around the floor and crashing the boards.”
“It’s a great feeling. I was in this game my freshman and sophomore years and we lost both of them, so a lot of the kids on this team are ready. We think we deserve it. We’ve fought through a lot. We lost a lot of games that we shouldn’t have, but now I think we’re ready. Teams didn’t expect us to be here, but now we’re here and I couldn’t be more grateful,” said senior Rory Friel, who scored a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot. “The biggest difference is we’re more together now. I think back in December we might have been playing a little bit of ‘me’ ball, but now we’re sharing the ball all around and we feel we’re a typical St. Augustine team with toughness and togetherness.”
The Bunting Family Pharmacy Marquee Matchup was tight at halftime, with St. Augustine Prep (15-12, 4-8 Cape-Atlantic League American) holding just a 21-17 lead, but the Hermits’ defense really put the clamps down in the second half, limiting Holy Spirit to just nine points, including only two in the third quarter when the Hermits stretched their lead to 34-19 with a 13-2 run. Friel and freshman point guard Luke Maransky both hit threes during the run, and Friel was 3-for-3 from the line.
“I have a great team behind me, I’ve got great players around me — it’s not just me, we’re a team,” Friel said. “We’ve been executing the past couple of nights, it’s not just one player, it’s a team game and that’s what we’re playing as.”
Helphenstine missed most of the second quarter with foul trouble, but came back in the third and boosted St. Augustine’s defensive effort in the paint. Jordan Gonzalez scored 15 points for tenth-seeded Holy Spirit (17-9, 10-2 CAL United), but no other Spartans player scored more than six.
“When I get in foul trouble that’s the only time I get mad in life, I don’t know why. After that, they called on me to handle the ball. I didn’t score a lot, but just doing whatever we needed to win,” said Helphenstine, who finished with four points and five rebounds. “They were getting their shots from threes and low-block layups, so we had to push out on the three-point line.”
A few weeks ago, St. Augustine Prep was held to just five first-half points in a loss to Eastern at the Jeff Coney Classic. The Hermits were playing without Friel and fellow senior Mide Okebiorun, their main defensive enforcer on the inside. With those two back in the lineup the Hermits are a completely different team.
“That night when I went home I was in a lot of pain. When I first got an x-ray they told me I broke my collar bone, but then another doctor said it was my AC joint, so I was relieved to hear I’d be back,” Friel said of his midseason injury. “I’m just thankful for my team fighting through when I was injured. Me and Mide were both injured at the same time, but they fought hard and when we came back we found our identity as a team. We just started playing a lot tougher. Our practices got tougher and I think as a team we got tougher.
Helphenstine said the Hermits have always had trust in coach Rodio, and why not? He knows what he’s doing.
“We started off rough but our coaches kept preaching to be at your best by the end of the year, and I think that’s where we’re at right now,” Helphenstine said. “Because coach has so much experience, we always believed him (when he said that). Whenever he says we’re going to be alright, we all have his back. When he says we’re good, I think we’re going to be good.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 6 St. Augustine Prep vs. No. 5 Wildwood Catholic Academy in the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Egg Harbor Township High. Holy Spirit hosts Moorestown Friends on Feb. 28, time TBD, in the opening round of the state playoffs.
