High School Girls Basketball:
St. John Vianney Cruises Past Camden Catholic

Wednesday, March 1, 2000

By Gregory "Graig" White
SJSports Staff Writer

The buzz about St. John Vianney girl's basketball team did not prepare me for what I was about to see. The word was that the Lady Lancers were a smart, deep team that played basketball end to end. While watching this team perform, the one word that kept running through my head was relentless. These young ladies played the game end to end, at a pace that Camden Catholic's girls would have a tough time keeping up with.

The way SJV played the press was masterful, the results of the Fighting Irish's first five possessions were four turnovers and a held ball. In defense of Camden Catholic, they are a young team who in the face of this onslaught showed considerable toughness. The fact that CCHS didn't score a point until the 1:41 mark of the first quarter didn't phase anyone. It stopped a 13-0 run by SJV, and by the time the first quarter ended Camden Catholic trailed by ten, 17-7.

The 2nd quarter was more of the same; the SJV press seemed to put the Irish on their collective heels. It felt like CCHS had more turnovers than shot attempts. SJV's Courtney Carpenter controlled the boards with relative ease. Nina Vecchio ran the offense like she had designed it herself. SJV ran so often that at times I thought I was at a track meet. With all that said, CCHS went into halftime trailing by 10.

The third quarter was all SJV, the pressure continued to force turnovers and rushed shot attempts. The quarter saw the Irish get outscored 25-8, effectively ending any hopes of a comeback. Theresa Dimedio, who led Catholic with 21 points, let everyone in the gym know that the future for the program at CCHS is bright. The Irish played with a moxie that was very encouraging. It's my belief that depending on how the girls spend their summer, the road to future South Jersey girls basketball titles leads right through the gym of the Camden Catholic Fighting Irish.

With the 68-47 win, the Lady Lancers move on to face Bishop Eustace (who defeated Holy Cross 55-41) in the next round of the Parochial A playoffs.

Photos by Forrest Robleto