| Lady Warriors hope to keep surprising start going against rival Wildwood Catholic |
WILDWOOD – The Wildwood High School girls basketball looks to keep its surprising unbeaten string
to start the season going when it takes on cross-town rival Wildwood Catholic in the annual Andrew Alameno Memorial
Girls Island Championship Game at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic at the convention center Monday at 12:30 p.m.
the contest will be broadcast live by WCZT-FM 98.7 radio.
The Lady Warriors (5-0) have already won twice at this year’s tournament, beating Winslow Township and Egg
Harbor Township to win the Kaitlin Anzelone Memorial Girls Bracket.
The team is led by the inside-outside tandem of seniors Latifah McNeal and Shakiyrah Bishop. McNeal, a bruising
forward who is already a career 1,000-point scorer, has averaged 13.6 points and approximately 14 rebounds per
outing for Wildwood so far this season, overcoming a slow start that saw her score just single digits in the team’s first
two contests.
Bishop, who enters Monday’s game 14 points shy of 1,000 for her career, is averaging 19.4 points per game.
The Lady Warriors will also look for contributions from senior forward Jamie Bottoms and sophomore guards Loretta
Kelly and Katie McWade.
Meanwhile, Wildwood Catholic is trying to overcome an injury bug that hit the team in the preseason. Three
projected starters – senior Destinee Caffarella, junior Allie Weiser and sophomore Emily Whissell – have each missed
time so far this season due to injuries, but the Crusaders have still managed to post a respectable 3-2 start.
Senior forward Sally O’Donnell, who will play college basketball at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.), has helped
carry the Crusaders during the young season. O’Donnell, a versatile 6-1 forward who can rebound, block shots and
handle the ball as well as score, is coming off a scintillating 30-point performance in the team’s recent win over
Friends Central in an earlier game at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic. One of the top scorers in South Jersey so far
this season, O’Donnell brings a 23.4 points per game scoring average into the contest against Wildwood. O’Donnell
gets scoring help from Whissell, with players such as junior forward Maggie Senatore and sophomore guards Chrissy
Casiello and Angela Mathis also providing key minutes.
In addition to bringing together the players from the two island high schools, the game also pits two of South
Jersey’s winningest and most respected coaches. Wildwood’s Dave Troiano is closing in on 550 career victories,
while Wildwood Catholic’s Fran St. John, who has well over 400 career victories as a high school coach, is the only
coach in Cape-Atlantic League history to win at least 100 games as both a boys and girls coach.
Wildwood won last year’s Alameno game in a defensive struggle, 29-22.
The game is named in memory of Andrew Alameno, a 1982 graduate of Wildwood Catholic High School and a
former member of the Wildwood Crest Bach Patrol who was killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in
New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
Fans can follow the game live online at www.bbclassic.net, which will feature an up-to-date statistical web cast of
the contest.
—BRIAN CUNNIFF
