SJ Sports: Old Rivals, New Friends

No one who has ever been a part of a Gloucester High/Gloucester Catholic basketball game will ever forget it. The passion in the city is at a boiling point for days leading up to the game.

Earlier this year, this heated rivalry was settled, as always, in gymnasiums filled with fans who cheered on their teams. Wins and bragging rights went to the Gloucester High boys and Gloucester Catholic girls. But what may be even more interesting this year in the Gloucester High / Gloucester Catholic saga is something that happened over in the neighboring city of Camden. There, fans got to witness what happens when these two rivals join forces.

The Rutgers-Camden University Lady Raptors basketball team was led by an all-star cast of Gloucester High and Gloucester Catholic alumni. The Raptors won the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a conference record of 12-6 and overall record of 22-7. The team advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. It was the first time in school history that an athletic program won the NJAC, and it was also the first time an athletic program from the school qualified for the NCAA tournament.

Coach Jackie Trakimas, a Gloucester High alum herself and presently a mathematics teacher out at Gloucester High where she coached for five seasons before leaving to turn around the Rutgers-Camden program, gives plenty credit to the players from both schools.

“I am elated that the program has reached the level of success that we only dreamed about four years ago,” Trakimas said. “And having the Gloucester connection making vital contribution only enhanced the experience.”

As for the players, four Gloucester High alumni — Allison Cooney, Amy Dick, Lisa Geiger, and Erin James — along with Gloucester Catholic alum Cheryl Kulesa made up the “Gloucester connection.” All standouts for their respective high school teams, they were some of the key components of this most successful season in Rutgers-Camden history. Combined, these five girls averaged a total of 115 minutes per game, accounted for 70% of the team’s total points, and flooded the conference rankings in statistical categories.

Kulesa topped off her career with one of the most impressive seasons in conference history. She led the NJAC in scoring (21.2 avg.), rebounds (12.1 avg.), and steals (5.07 avg.) and finished second in assists (5.61 avg.). In those same categories, she placed in the top 15 nationally. To top off the season that saw her win five Player of the Week Awards, she was named Conference Player of the Year and is a sure-shot for the All-American Team.

The Gloucester High girls also put in their best college seasons yet. James finished the season 18th in the conference in scoring (10.4 avg.) and 8th in assists (3.45 avg.) while knocking down a team high 29 3-point field goals.

Cooney was 19th in the conference in rebounds (5.4 avg.) and added four points each night. Dick was 5th on the team in scoring with a 5.4 average, third in assists (1.1 avg.), and nailed 25 3-point field goals. Geiger put in many quality minutes handling the ball and averaged 1.1 points a night.

So was it strange for these girls, once each other’s greatest rivals, to be now playing alongside each other?

“It was strange that from the very beginning, it all just clicked,” noted Dick. “Being around the city of Gloucester and the two schools, I think that we have all been very influenced by the beliefs of ‘don’t ever let anyone work harder than you’ and ‘don’t back down from anyone,’” Dick said. “Those are two attitudes that our coach and us players really hold ourselves to, and I believe that is something that really binds us all together.”

In the stands, the same fans that chose one side over the other in the past were now coming together, relieved to be cheering on members from both schools.

“I never thought I could equal that experience again — my first time against Gloucester Catholic, our biggest rivals, in front of a sold-out crowd,” James said. “Little did I know that it would all be outdone by playing alongside one of those very same rivals.”

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

For more Local Sports features, visit our Sports page.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: SJ Sports Club-Sean Gorman