The ACS Varsity Boys’ Basketball team won the 2022 Tri-State Christian Athletic Conference Championship game on Saturday, February 26, beating Pilgrim Academy 51-42 before a standing-room-only crowd at the Gloucester County Christian School gym in Sewell. This is the third consecutive year that our Varsity Boys’ team has brought home the championship trophy. The Lady Cougars , who finished in first place in the regular season, lost a heart-breaker by one point — 40-39 — to Gloucester County Christian School in the girls’ championship game on Saturday.
Four ACS players on the Varsity Boys’ team were named TSCAC All-Stars and presented with medals hanging from a green lanyard — Sr. guard #3 Aaron Glancey (1st team), #2 Sr. Devin Tridente and #11 Jr. Caleb Vogel (2nd team), and #33 Soph. Noah Gibbs (Honorable Mention). All four All-Stars made significant contributions to the team during the championship game. Glancey had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and five steals. Vogel led on offense with 16 points, and Gibbs and Tridente both scored 10 points.
On the Lady Cougars team, four players were named TSCAC All-Stars and received special medals — #3 Jr. Paige Noble (1st team), #24 Jr. Maddie DeNick and #12 Soph. Evangelina Kim (2nd team), and #11 Jr. Reyna Lewis (Honorable Mention), who was sidelined on Saturday after sustaining an injury in the 3rd quarter.
The Varsity Boys’ championship game started off with Glancey, the team’s strongest player on offense and defense, picking up two fouls in the first two minutes and having to take the bench. The team kept the score close until Glancey could re-enter the game in the 2nd quarter. Vogel then started making his mark on offense, scoring 8 of his 16 points during that period. Just before the clock ran out at halftime, Tridente hit a huge three-pointer to push the ACS lead to 9 going into the break.
Throughout the 3rd quarter, ACS turned up the intensity on defense, consistently forcing Pilgrim to scramble and commit multiple turnovers. ACS was able to hold Pilgrim forward Connor Storr, who later earned the TSCAC MVP award, to just 2 points in the quarter and 15 points for the game, after he had averaged over 20 points per game during the regular season. Taking a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter, ACS kept control of the game and made multiple foul shots down the stretch to finish with the 51-42 victory.
We are grateful to Coach Drew Carney and assistant coaches Ben Chapman and Dan Carney for an exciting season and for the many hours of hard work that helped develop a Varsity Boys’ team that steadily improved and persevered. Thank you also to Lady Cougars head coach Kaylee Breunig and assistant coach Dara Kimmerley for building up a winning team that had no seniors and not one returning starter from last year. Congratulations to the coaches and players for a memorable season. Photo credit: Mia Liggins, Arzum Sanchez.
