A day after the fabulous Friars dropped their long-awaited showdown with St. Patrick's of Elizabeth for the boys' Parochial B North title, the Friar females defeated Immaculate Conception of Lodi to capture the Parochial B North crown, giving St. Anthony its first state sectional title since 1984.
For head coach Cathy O'Callahan, it's her first championship of any kind as a head coach and it's one that she'll relish, considering that she once played high school basketball for St. Anthony, back in a day when there wasn't exactly a lot of hoopla about girls' high school athletics.
O'Callahan knew that her team had a good chance of competing this season, considering that the Friars went all the way to the sectional semifinals last year and that squad returned almost entirely intact this season.
"We knew that we would be in good shape," said O'Callahan, who played for the Montclair State team that went to the NCAA Final Four in 1978. "Last year, we were young and inexperienced and that team set the groundwork for this year. I knew that we could get back to where we were, because we had three seniors who were willing to do the work necessary to get it done."
Before the season began, the female players pointed out the banners hanging on the walls in the Friars' home gym.
"They saw all the banners for the boys' team on the walls," O'Callahan said. "One of the players said, 'We want to get one of those.' It had been a long time for the girls' team at St. Anthony to get a new banner - more than 20 years. So we used that as a motivation. I was playing every card in the book."
Because she had a veteran team returning, O'Callahan said that the Friars' schedule was loaded with powerful teams, strictly with the state tournament in mind.
"We don't have a county tournament to play for (like the boys' team, the Friars play strictly an independent schedule), so we play the tougher teams in order to get ready for the state playoffs."
For example, the Friars headed to the Trenton Catholic Christmas tournament in a case of unscheduled foreshadowing.
All season, the Friars were led by their trio of talented seniors, namely Sheila Raiford, Tiffany Hill and Angelica Bermudez. None of the three took on the star mentality. They acted as a unit, a collective one.
"They were very good together," O'Callahan said. "Because of their attitude, I knew it was going to be a good year."
All three are college basketball material. Hill has already given a commitment to the University of Bridgeport. Bermudez, a 6-1 forward with good leaping ability, was leaning toward Kean University, but she's drawn late interest from some NCAA Division I programs like Hofstra and Fairleigh Dickinson. The 5-10 Raiford, perhaps the most talented of the bunch, albeit a close call, will also get an offer or two to play on the next level.
In years past, O'Callahan never had a team that had so much talent. Sure, the Friars had two-time Hudson Reporter All-Area guard Naeemah Ricketts, currently at Iona, for a few seasons, but she was a one-woman wrecking crew. Having three talented senior performers to rely upon certainly made things easier for O'Callahan.
Jessica Ford, another 6-1 center, did a lot of the rebounding work that Bermudez left over. Ondah Regura, certainly no slouch height-wise at 5-10, was also an aggressive rebounder and defender. The Friars were certainly not lacking for size.
The Friars kept getting better as the season wound down and won all three state playoff games to earn the state sectional crown.
Unfortunately, the Friars ran into an old foe in the overall Parochial B state title game Saturday at the Ritacco Center in Toms River. Awaiting the Friars was Trenton Catholic, the same team that they faced over the holidays. This time, the result was far worse than could be imagined, as the Friars fell hard, 77-39.
Raiford was battling the flu. Regura was so sick the night before the game with a 105-degree fever that she was taken to the hospital. Needless to say, the Friars were a little outmanned for the rematch.
"We had to play freshmen and sophomores who don't normally play a lot," O'Callahan said. "I think the kids were overwhelmed with how big it was. They go to this big arena that's like Madison Square Garden. They come in and right away, they get escorted off and have their pictures taken. Not making excuses, but I think all that attention got to them."
The loss will not take away from what was as great year for the Friars, who finished 20-8.
"It was a great year," O'Callahan said. "I wanted the three seniors to have the chance to play for something like a state sectional and they did. I'm going to miss those kids, but we're already looking forward to the next one, looking for the next group of kids to give us another one. It's a very good feeling. Regardless of what happened Saturday, they have nothing to be ashamed of. It was rewarding for the seniors to leave with something."
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