A look at the hot topics, teams and personalities in high school sports this week:

1. Atlantic City boys basketball: The Vikings (22-1) are so good defensively that they should decline offensive possessions.

2. Sacred Heart girls basketball: The fifth-seeded Lions make the first Cinderella run in Cape-Atlantic League tournament history with consecutive upsets of fourth-seeded Middle Township and top-seeded Ocean City.

3. Middle Township vs. St. Augustine boys basketball: Has any local rivalry in any sport consistently matched the excitement that games between these programs have produced?

4. Holy Spirit girls basketball: The Spartans will seek their first CAL title since 2006 and the second in the program's history Saturday.

5. Southern Regional wrestling: The Rams are the state Group IV runners-up.

6. Pleasantville boys track and field: Twins Jacob and Isaac Clark led the Greyhounds to the state Group I indoor track and field title last weekend.

7. Curtis Fitzpatrick: The Egg Harbor Township senior excels in the 55-meter dash and the shot put. That's a rare combination of speed and power. His prowess helped the Eagles win the state Group IV indoor championship last weekend.

8. Mikila Stefanski: The Cedar Creek senior finished second in a 3-point shooting contest at last weekend's South Jersey Invitational girls basketball tournament.

9. John Phillips: The Mainland Regional sophomore who has cerebral palsy won the first wrestling match of his career against Penns Grove last week.

10. Braheme Days Jr.: The Bridgeton senior is so good in the shot put that his stellar achievements this winter season sometimes go unnoticed because they seem so routine by now.

Michael McGarry

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