M.J. Iraldi leads West Deptford past Haddon Heights, 60-54

M.J. Iraldi is from a wrestling family.

He attends a football school.

But he’s a basketball player, through and through.

“He sees the game like a coach,” West Deptford coach John McKeown said of Iraldi.

A junior guard, Iraldi led visiting West Deptford to a 60-54 victory over Haddon Heights Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the South Jersey Group 2 boys’ basketball tournament.

The 6-foot-4 Iraldi generated 16 points with 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals before a capacity crowd in the George Maier Gymasium.

Junior guard Brandon Ratcliffe scored 19 points and senior forward Chris Budd added 12, including four clutch free throws in the final 27 seconds, for fourth-seeded West Deptford (24-3).

The victory earned West Deptford another shot at top-seeded Haddonfield (27-1), the defending state champion.

West Deptford lost twice to Haddonfield during the regular season, including by a 65-61 score on Feb. 12 in a game in which the Eagles built a 23-point lead.

“We’re going to have to do everything right [to beat Haddonfield],” said McKeown, whose team will play Haddonfield in the sectional semifinals on Friday at Cherry Hill East.

Junior swingman Tesean Pressley scored 18 points and junior guard Patrick Campbell added 14 for fifth-seeded Haddon Heights (19-9)

“I was proud of the effort, especially in the last four minutes,” Haddon Heights coach Mike Ricci said. “We could have packed it in and lost by 30. But they kept fighting.”

Down 51-34 with four minutes to play, Haddon Heights roared back behind Pressley and Campbell and cut West Deptford’s lead to 54-51 on senior Jared Bolling’s layup at the 0:31 mark.

Budd made two free throws at 0:27 and two more at 0:15 and Ratcliffe sealed the deal with two more at 0:07 for West Deptford.

“We did just enough,” McKeown said. “Credit to Haddon Heights for that comeback.”

Iraldi controlled most of the game with his ball-handling, rebounding and scoring. He grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup and a 31-20 lead early in the third, pulled up for a short jumper and a 35-20 lead and made it 37-20 with a steal and layup.

“In the first half they were denying me the ball,” Iraldi said of Haddon Heights’ defense. “In the second half, I was able to take my chances.”

Scoring is only part of Iraldi’s game. He directs the Eagles at both ends of the floor and specializes in making the extra pass that leads to an open look.

“He sees the floor so well,” McKeown said. “He’s just so well-rounded. And he wants it so bad. He’s so engaged out there that I can’t even talk to him. He’s too busy talking to everybody else.”

Iraldi’s dad, Mario, was a star wrestler at West Deptford. His cousin Nick is the Eagles’ current wrestling coach and led the Eagles to the South Jersey Group 2 title a few weeks ago.

M.J. Iraldi tried wrestling early in his athlete career but soon gravitated to basketball.

“I’m a disappointment to my family,” he joked.

Iraldi, Ratcliffe and the rest of the Eagles have revitalized the West Deptford basketball program, engaging a student body used to supporting the school’s highly successful football team.

The Eagles’ fans were out in force on Wednesday night, filling a section of the bleachers and exchanging chants with Haddon Heights’ raucous student supporters.

“Basketball used to be irrelevant,” Iraldi said. “We’re a football school. But now we have fans come to our games and they have a lot of fun.”

West Deptford 16 9 18 17 – 60

Haddon Heights 11 8 12 23 – 54

WD: MJ Iraldi 16, Brandon Ratcliffe 19, Chris Budd 12, Elijah Malloy 9, Kieran McKeown 2, Carter Cranmer 2.

HH: Jared Bolling 6, Pstrick Campbell 14, D’Layne Peterson 4, Tesean Pressley 18, Isaiah Turner 10, Isha Waters 2.