Basketball: Rodio, Hurley to set national record

St. Augustine Prep basketball coach Paul Rodio is looking for his team to bounce back from its first loss of the season.

He's not concerned about his role in setting a national record.

But history will be made when St. Augustine visits St. Anthony of Jersey City in a clash of two of the state's premier programs on Tuesday night.

The game will set a national mark for combined wins by two active coaches, according to South Jersey sports historian Chuck Langerman.

Rodio and St. Anthony's Bob Hurley will enter the game with a combined 2,058 wins.

That will top the record of 2,047 combined wins set on Jan. 16, 2016 when Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va., played Mater Dei of Santa Aba, Cal., according to Langerman.

Going into that game, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith had 1,006 victories and Santa Ana coach Gary McKnight had 1,041.

Rodio has a 880-229 record in his 40th season at St. Augustine. The Hermits play Atlantic Tech Monday night.

Hurley has a  1,178-123 mark in his 45th season at St. Anthony.

The game at the Community Education and Recreation Center on 9th Street in Jersey City should serve to prepare both teams for the upcoming state tournament.

St. Augustine has a 19-1 record and is No. 1 in South Jersey in the Inquirer Top 25.

The Hermits' 49-46 overtime loss to Camden at the Paul VI Winter Classic on Saturday marked the team's first setback to a South Jersey opponent in nearly three years, after 56 consecutive wins.

"Now we've got St. Anthony," Rodio said after Saturday's loss. "So we'll see how we respond."

St. Anthony is 16-4 in what, by the Friars' standards, is a bit of a rebuilding year. Last season, St. Anthony went 32-0 with a senior-laden team and won the Non-Public B state title as well as  the Tournament of Champions.

Rodio's Hermits have never beaten Hurley's Friars. Last season, St. Augustine threw a scare into St. Anthony at the Shoot Down Classic in the Hermits' home gym, going on a 14-0 run in the third quarter before falling by a 52-39 score.

According to Langerman, the only South Jersey coaches to have beaten Hurley are Sacred Heart's Jim Mogan and Camden's late Clarence Turner -- both in the 1970s -- as well as  Camden Catholic's Jim Crawford and Haddonfield's Paul Wiedeman.

-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com

-- Follow @PhilAnastasia on Twitter

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