High School Boys Basketball:
Camden Catholic Continues Winning Ways

Tuesday, January 12, 1999

By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer

With much of the success Camden Catholic was having during the 1999 season, the boy's basketball team was going up against a determined Washington Township team. The Irish defeated Camden at home last week and caught a lot of people's attention. They continued their winning ways by holding off Washington Township 64 to 57 in an Olympic Conference game.

Right from the start of this game, the Minutemen tried to set the tempo by attempting to establish their outside game. Their cold shooting at the start of the game allowed Camden Catholic to jump out to a 17-11 first quarter lead. Junior guard Ernie D'Orazio found the range for Camden Catholic and drained two 3-pointers in the first half. But hard work on the boards and their success from the outside allowed Washington Township to close the lead to two points at the half. Camden Catholic went into the locker room with a 23-21 lead.

After the halftime recess, the Minutemen felt they could win this game. They scored the first 4 points of the second half to take their first lead of the game with just 42 seconds into the quarter. The third quarter found both teams in a very close shooting game. Each team having success from the outside, the game was locked up at 32 with 3:33 remaining in the quarter. The Irish applied the full court press to shake things up. This strategy worked as Washington Township turned the ball over several times and the Irish began to pull away.

Now with 6:00 remaining in the game, Camden Catholic was holding onto their largest lead of the game at 49-37. The Minutemen began to apply pressure of their own but senior guard Matt Crawford was able to break through the defense to set up their offense. Washington Township began firing up 3 pointers from their forwards. A late charge by the Minutemen shrunk a 12 point lead to seven at the end of the game. Ernie D'Orazio was tied for a game high 18 points, Jeff Bilinsky added 17 points and Anthony Tassone scored 11 points for Camden Catholic. Ed Hoban also had a game high 18 points, Michael Lozanoff had 14 points and Chris Usilton contributed 12 points for Washington Township.

Photos by Art Redd