By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
WILDWOOD — The last time Wildwood and Woodstown met on the court, the Warriors were hitting 3-pointers from every direction.
That didn’t happen this time, but Wildwood still hit the three that mattered most.
Wildwood freshman Rebecca Benichou hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left and the Warriors survived the frenzied finish to beat Woodstown, 54-53, in the South Jersey Group 1 championship game on Saturday afternoon.
The first time they played, back on Jan. 25, Wildwood hit 21 threes. Woodstown was determined to not let that kind of shooting performance happen again, playing the Warriors man-to-man all game and forcing them to drive instead of setting up long-range bombs.
For the most part, it worked. The Warriors only hit five total threes on Saturday.
None bigger, though, than Benichou’s, who called her three “the shot of my life.”
“I’m her biggest fan now,” Wildwood coach Teresa Cunniff said. “For her to take that shot in that situation is clutch. As soon as she got into this gym, I knew she was going to be a player.”
Junior Macie McCracken was one of the two leading scorers for the Warriors (23-7, 9-1 Tri-County Classic) with 13 points, despite being sick throughout Friday night and into Saturday’s game.
It wasn’t quite the Michael Jordan flu game, but just as effective.
“I was definitely more out of breath and tired than I usually am,” McCracken said. “It didn’t matter, because this was a huge game. I had to suck it up.”
Coach Cunniff didn’t expect anything less from the 1,500-point scorer.
“Macie is just one in a million,” she said. “She does anything she can to win. She practices all the time, she comes into the gym and shoots for hours. She puts in the time, and she’s just a great player.”
Despite the loss, Woodstown finished the season with a 21-7 record, and a perfect 10-0 Tri-County Diamond division mark.
“It was a tough day and a tough loss for our program, and especially our two seniors,” Wolverines first-year coach Kara Straughn said. “I told the girls I truly believe that our program has been and is as good as it is because of the leadership from Shannon (Pierman) and Alyssa (Baber) the last four years. We will miss them tremendously. But now we owe them both to continue to carry on their legacy.
“We return a lot of our scoring (in Megan Donelson and Talia Battavio), and have a lot of hungry, talented girls coming up, especially forwards. They’ve watched Shannon be the outstanding example she is, on and off the court, and they’re excited to follow in her footsteps.”
When asked what to expect from the Wolverines next year, Straughn replied, “tomorrow is Day One of getting better for next season. We will be back for that championship banner next year.”
Pierman led Woodstown with 24 points and 28 rebounds. Battavio, a junior guard, added 18 points.
WHAT’S NEXT: Wildwood vs. Shore Regional at Deptford High on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Group 1 state semifinals. Woodstown’s season is complete.
Brian Tortella is a correspondent for South Jersey Glory Days. Follow him on Twitter @tortreports.
