PGH NJ 2021-22 Team Preview: Gloucester Catholic

Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey has been looking at teams across the state leading up to the start of the 2021-22 high school girls basketball season and we continue this by looking at Gloucester Catholic. If you’re looking at the best of the best in the Tri-County Conference in recent memory, Gloucester Catholic should be one of the first teams that comes to mind without a doubt. The Rams once again were the class of the conference, finishing atop the Classic Division with the best record in the Tri-County and a perfect 11-0 record and 10-0 record in divisional play. When you look at the makeup of this team, you’ll realize just why they’ve been so good and so consistent at the forefront of the conversation of the best in the state and the region over recent years. Looking at this season’s roster, it’s expected to be a veteran-driven one, starting with senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="319336" first="Angelina" last="Barrera"], accounting for nearly one-third of Gloucester Catholic’s scoring in the spring. She averaged a career-high 15.3 PPG last season, continuing on a steady climb of increased production and dominance on the floor. She’s officially cemented herself as the leader of this Rams team and with that will come some uncharted territory for her. The positive is that she has plenty of support on this roster, including her sister, Natalia, who averaged 8.2 PPG last season, finishing third on the team in scoring. Natalia, also a forward, will be manning the middle for this team, providing stability and great defense. This team will be losing a sharp-shooter in Ella Van Dine, who graduated in the spring, but expect junior Cambrie Todd and sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id="321604" first="Macie" last="Nugent"] to step up in that department. Nugent led Gloucester Catholic in three-point shooting last season, hitting 1.5 a game. She averaged 13.1 PPG, finishing second on the team in scoring. Her 1.0+ SPG also led the Rams, so she’s a valuable player on both sides of the ball. Todd is an unknown at this point as she was fourth on the team in scoring and third in three-point shooting. She showed signs of being an impact player in the spring, with her best game coming in the season opener against Schalick. She’s known to shoot the three well, so expect her to get plenty more looks from beyond the arc. Gloucester Catholic’s bench is thin coming into this season. Tegan O’Neill will need to be a big sixth man for them and they’ll be relying more heavily on any transfers and freshman that are newcomers to the roster. This program has proven time and time again that they can rebuild, re-tool and still dominate, so while there are question marks to be answered, Gloucester Catholic will be a mainstay in the Tri-County Conference once again this season.