Camden Catholic Stuns Cardinal Dougherty

TRENTON, N.J. -- Camen Catholic hung around for much of the contest, and made the key plays in the final minutes in a 54-50 upset victory over Cardinal Dougherty H.S. of Philadelphia on Sunday night at the Prime Time Shootout.

The Irish trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, and were down 40-35 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before using an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Baskets by twin brothers Eric and [UNC football bound] Nick Cangelosi capped the run, which gave Camden Catholic a 43-40 lead with 4:28 to play.

Twice, the Cardinals sliced the lead to a point, but both times, the Irish responded. A three point play by junior forward James Ulrich pushed the lead to four, and the lead ballooned to six (49-43) moments later when junior guard Rich Racobaldo scored ahead of the field.

Cardinal Dougherty had its chances to cut into the lead, but missed a pair of late free throws and committed two huge turnovers, the second by Kyle Lowry, which sealed its fate.

Trailing 53-50, Lowry was just over halfcourt and tried to lob a pass to a teammate, but Ricobaldo jumped up and caught the pass. He was immediately fouled with 7.9 seconds left, hitting one of two free throws to give Camden Catholic a 54-50 lead. That gave the Irish a two possession lead and essentially clinched the game.

Ulrich paced the Camden Catholic attack, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half to spur the comeback bid. Eric Cangelosi tallied 16 points while gritty brother Nick scored nine and earned game MVP honors.

Lowry, who simply tried to do too much and forced a lot of the action in the fourth quarter, finished with 11 points. Forwards Shane Clark (15 points) and DeSean White (12 points) also hit double figures for the Cardinals.