By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
PISCATAWAY — It’s really hard to go undefeated for an entire season at any level of basketball — or in any sport, for that matter. Only one NFL team has ever done it, and in men’s college basketball it’s only been done seven times, and the most recent was nearly 50 years ago when the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0.
The Paul VI High girls basketball team found out just how difficult that feat is on Friday night when the Eagles came up just short in their bid for a perfect season, falling 54-44 in the Non-Public A state championship game at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena to Morris Catholic — a team that capped off a perfect 28-0 season with the victory.
Paul VI, which came into the game ranked No. 2 in the nj.com Top 20 statewide poll, had to settle for perhaps its best season ever, a 27-1 campaign. The Eagles have never won a state title, having finished as runner-up in 1986 and 1989.
“I’m really proud of how we played this year. This game was just a setback and the team next year is going to do better than this. I think they are going to win it all,” said PVI senior Azanah Campbell, who scored a team-high 13 points and added seven rebounds and an assist. “We knew what we had to do, unfortunately we just came up short.”
The Pauldo twins — Mya and Mia — were simply too much for Paul VI to handle, as the senior guards scored 21 and 15 points, respectively, and combined for 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
“Every time we got close, they just pulled away,” Campbell lamented. “There wasn’t much we could do about that.”
Morris Catholic (28-0, 4-0 NJAC Liberty) raced out to a 9-0 lead to start the game on three consecutive 3-pointers, including one by Mia Pauldo and two by her sister. Paul VI (27-1, 6-0 Olympic National) trailed 28-17 by halftime, but stayed in the game by making a nice run early in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to just three points, 30-27, midway through the period on the strength of six points from Rachel Thatcher and four from Campbell.
But just as quickly as that 10-2 run got the Eagles back into the game, Morris Catholic answered and pulled away again. Moments later, after a 3-pointer from Jacqueline Edelman and a bucket in transition by Daniella Matus, the Crusaders led again by 10, 37-27. The Crusaders outscored the Eagles 15-12 in the fourth quarter to seal their third straight state championship, and their first since moving up to the Non-Public A classification.
Despite the loss, Paul VI seniors said they were proud of how far they led this program, which struggled to win loaded sectional tournaments the last couple years that featured state powers such as St. John Vianney and Red Bank Catholic.
“It was fantastic. I love this team so much. I’m sad I’m leaving them, but you have to move on,” said Campbell, a Williamstown native. “The previous three years we couldn’t get past sectionals, so to get to the state final is an amazing feeling.”
“I’m so upset that we lost, but it was so good, this whole season. I think the more we practiced together, we started playing well together. The fact that we practiced over the summer — we practiced all the time, and I think the expectations set the standard for us,” added fellow senior Kiyanna Blacks-Stewart, of Lawnside. “It was so much fun, the atmosphere, the court, I loved it. I’m so proud of (the underclassmen). They have all grown as people and as basketball players so much, and I hate that I can’t play with them anymore.”
