MILVIL – Semey Bethea caught the pass and ran.
Sophomore Saint Augustine Prep had four seconds to lift the ball to the floor, hopefully attracting defense and finding an open teammate in the corner to win the game in a three-pointer.
It took four dribbles and two clock beats to cross half the court. He managed to make a pass, but it would be a heavy dish.
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Bethea was not worried. He was quite ready to make the last shot himself.
In a game where neither the Hermits nor the Holy Spirit could constantly find the bottom of the net, Bethea did the incredible by burying a buzzer to lift the second-seeded St. Augustine over № 6 Holy Spirit 42-40 to the Cape Atlantic League Semifinals in Millville on Wednesday.
“When it left my hands, I felt it,” he said. “I felt it came in.”
Bethe called it the best shot in her life.
Head coach Paul Radio, who won at No. 990 in his career, called it one of the best endings he has participated in.
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His importance was heightened by the fact that Radio survived the fall when a couple of blood clots in his heart sent him to the hospital and made him fear for his life.
“I’m lying on a hospital bed and I hope you get to that point, hoping you get the game,” Radio said, crying, “and I would tell everyone in the hospital that I just hope I can come back, and now we are in the championship. “
St. Augustine will meet the mainland, who sat in the eighth number, who in the second half played № 4 St. Joseph 45-35.
It did not seem that this would be the case after the training, which led 36-30 with a score of 3:35 before the game, fell behind with a score of 39-36 with a score of 1:17.
Neither team bounced the ball well – St. Augustine was 15 of 55 off the field and the Holy Spirit was 14 of 50 – but the Hermits were the best team from the charity strip.
They got 10 out of 15, including 3 out of 4 in the last 80 seconds, while the Holy Spirit was 6 out of 16.
Radio called it the difference in the game, which is why Bethe could be a hero.
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It was an unfamiliar place for Bethe. He used to buzzer, so he didn’t get nervous for seconds.
“I’ve been in many situations where the game was close and I’ve always transformed it,” said Bethea, who finished with 11 points.
This transformation has led to the entire St. Augustine bench bench piled on top of him, and training could win his first CAL title since 2017. The Hermits have lost in the finals in each of the last two tournaments.
“We’re all sophomores, a sophomore and a few juniors are coming, and I just didn’t know where they were going to go on the team, and for the most part they were getting better and better all year,” Radio said. “They stuck together, they did what we asked them to do and we are now able to go and get (the champion) on Saturday.”
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The mainland makes history
The Mustangs are the number one number one to reach the CAL finals, and this is also the first time they have reached the final game of the tournament.
“In terms of basketball, it’s the best feeling I’ve ever felt, whether it’s playing in high school, college, since I’ve been coaching, it’s special as far as it works,” said head coach Dan Williams.
Recently, the Continent has won, winning four games in a row and six of the last seven.
The Mustangs settled into the defense, and sophomore Cohen Cook flourished. On Wednesday night he had 21 points and 5 boards, and Christian Rogers scored 12 points.
“When Cohen does some things that Cohen does, he relaxes things for others,” Williams said.
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Notes of the game of St. Augustine-Holy Spirit
► The Holy Spirit wiped out St. Augustine’s six-point lead when Jamir Smith kidnapped and killed Jamil Wilkins and Kay Gilliam’s old-fashioned 3-point game with 1:21, giving the Spartans 37-36 leads.
Elijah Brown then made three free throws to tie the score 39-39 before Smith joined one of the two from the strip to give his team a 40-39 advantage over Bethea’s heroism.
► Brown finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Ife Okebiorun had 9 rebounds and 6 blocks in the winner.
► Gilliam led Spirit with 9 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals, Wilkins scored 12 points and Smith – 11.
For more than a decade, Josh Friedman has created award-winning Southern Jersey sports reports for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times. If you have or know an interesting story you can tell, contact Twitter at @ JFriedman57 or email jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism by subscribing.
