Penns Grove boys look for answers against one of Group IV’s best, girls enhance Fab Five with dynamic freshmen, transfer
THURSDAY SCRIMMAGES
Girls
Penns Grove 67, Paulsboro 15
Salem at Bridgeton
West Deptford at Schalick
Camden Co. Tech at Salem Tech
Boys
Clearview 61, Schalick 30
Egg Harbor Twp. 78, Penns Grove 34
Paulsboro 50, Pennsville 40
Salem Tech at Camden Co. Tech
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – Even if he does have a young team and is still looking for a permanent point guard, Penns Grove coach Damian Ware will never pass up a chance to scrimmage a team like Egg Harbor Twp.
The Red Devils opened their scrimmage schedule against the reigning South Jersey Group IV champions and 2023 state runner-up and lost 78-34 in a game that got away in the fourth quarter, but there’s a reason they play every year in the preseason.
“We were supposed to have one under our belt before today and that was against a Group I school, it just didn’t work out,” Ware said. “We scrimmage Egg Harbor every year. We’ve been doing this for the last six years because they are that level we want to attain.
“It’s like I told the kids just now, that’s the level we want to get to, to the point where everything is moving like clockwork. One thing they didn’t do out there, they didn’t miss their layups. We missed a gag of layups. If we make at least 10 of the ones we missed the score’s not that bad, but we’ve got to make our layups and we’ve got to not turn the ball over.”
The Red Devils faced the juggernaut with three returning players who have any appreciable varsity experience – Mekhi Ballard, Gio Conrad and Willie Slocum – and at times had four freshmen on the floor at the same time. They fell behind in each of the first three quarters, but rallied to get within three in the first and second quarters and five in the third before the Eagles pulled away.
“It totally showed me that the guys I put in the game were fighting back,” Ware said. “They played better than Egg Harbor’s second unit; that’s when we came back into the game. Those guys came off the bench and showed me something.”
The fourth quarter it was all Egg Harbor. The Eagles scored the first 19 points of the fourth quarter behind a barrage of 3-pointers.
Jalen Bell hit four 3-pointers in the game and led all scorers with 21 points. Jake Karp (15), Jayden Dixon (12) and C.J. Ford III (10) also scored in double figures.
But fortunately for the Red Devils they won’t see that on a regular basis when they get back into Group I.
“In Group I, we’ll be right there,” Ware said. “We’ll be one of the top teams in Group I. Just from what I saw today, I know we have the potential to be one of the top teams in Group I.”
The Red Devils could solve their turnover troubles by finding a point guard. Khiry Higgs, a senior playing his first year of basketball, could turn into the guy, or it could be a freshman who’ll need to develop on the fly.
The brightest spot of the entire exercise for Penns Grove was the play of Roman Gipson. Mostly a JV player last year, the sophomore led the Red Devils in scoring Thursday night with 12 points. He was their only scorer in double figures.
“I left him out on the floor a lot because he was one of the guys who showed me he wasn’t scared,” Ware said. “I’m looking for guys who are going to be dogs right now. Guys who aren’t scared, guys who are going to play well and play hard, and he was one of the main guys as a sophomore.”
EGG HARBOR TWP. 78, PENNS GROVE 34
EGG HARBOR TWP. – Bradley Smith 2 1-5 5, Jalen Bell 8 1-2 21, Jake Karp 7 0-0 15, Jaydenn Reyes 2 0-0 5, Justin Moore 2 0-1 4, Jay Salsberry 2 0-0 6, Jayden Dixon 3 4-4 12, Jelson Deocampo 0 0-0 0, Dashawn Laboy 0 0-0 0, Nick Cruse 0 0-0 0, C.J. Ford III 4 1-1 10. Totals 30 7-13 78.
PENNS GROVE – Roman Gipson 4 3-4 12, Camren Thompson 0 0-0 0, Gio Conrad 2 0-0 4, Naizah Spence 0 0-0 0, Dameon Wilson 0 0-0 0, Khiry Higgs 3 1-4 7, Willie Slocum 2 0-3 4, Brandon Robbins 0 0-0 0, Will Roy 1 0-3 2, Karon Ceaser 0 1-2 1, Luis Colon 1 0-0 2, MR Peterson 0 0-0 0, Jaden Sorrell 0 1-2 1, Mekhi Ballard 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 6-18 33.
| Egg Harbor Twp. | 15 | 12 | 18 | 33 – | 78 |
| Penns Grove | 12 | 5 | 9 | 7 – | 33 |
PAULSBORO 50, PENNSVILLE 40: The Eagles moved a step closer to determining a starting five and rotation among their top seven players, but they’ve “still got to get it together” after dropping their second scrimmage of the preseason.
They did open an early lead for the second straight scrimmage, but were outscored 17-3 in the second quarter and played catch up the rest of the night.
Point guard Luke Wood returned to the floor after missing the first scrimmage and scored seven points in the first quarter, but had only two the rest of the game. Brooklyn-born transfer Jayden Thomas also had nine points. Payton O’Brien had eight.
“I was happy with our defense, which is always farther along than offense at this point,” Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky said. “Guys who had a rough start on Tuesday (against Triton) played much better.”
CLEARVIEW 61, SCHALICK 30: The Cougars haven’t won many games the past couple years, but they’re hoping the success and momentum of an historic football season can carry over to the hardwood.
The majority of players on the basketball roster were part of the football team’s undefeated run to the Central Jersey Group I championship game this fall and 19 wins over the last two seasons.
“You’ve got to have people who are used to winning, you’ve got to have people on the team who understand the culture of winning,” Cougars coach James Turner said. “When you understand your culture of winning it makes it easier to bring in that culture in the one program into the next.
“For the football program and before these last few years that culture wasn’t there, but thankfully we’ve had that culture in the fall sports all around, with all our fall sports, especially football, and we’re just hoping it finally can carry over into the winter programs as well.”
The key, of course, is picking up some wins early in the season to keep their spirits up and the momentum building. The Cougars have that chance as their first three regular-season games are against two teams that won only two games last year and a Woodstown team they claimed as one of their three wins.
But after being doubled up by the Pioneers Thursday Turner confesses they “have a lot of work to do.”
Nylan Sutton led the Cougars with 12 points. Reggie Allen had nine.
CLEARVIEW 61, SCHALICK 30
SCHALICK – Reggie Allen 4 1-2 9, Ryan Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Johnson 2 0-0 4, Nylan Sutton 5 2-2 12, Nasir Sutton 2 0-0 4, Jake Siedlecki 0 0-0 0, Nyzier Wynder 0 0-0 0, Dan Lis 0 1-3 1, Jase Volovar 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-7 30.
CLEARVIEW – Luke Andres 1 2-4 5, Kaprice Stewart 7 2-4 17, Dalton Phalines 3 3-4 9, Michael Guy 3 0-0 6, JD Steidle 1 2-3 5, Jonah Turner 3 1-2 7, Jake Slotter 0 0-0 0, Trevor Durkin 0 0-0 0, Luke Zuba 4 0-0 9, George Kritikson 1 0-0 3, Russ Manel 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-17 61.
| Schalick | 16 | 14 – | 30 |
| Clearview | 30 | 31 – | 61 |
Girls
Not rebuilding, reloading
PENNS GROVE – It already returns a Fab Five that brought the team through the adversity of an ever-shrinking roster to the South Jersey semifinals, but add a dynamic freshman class that tasted victory as eighth-graders and a standout transfer with two years eligibility left and it’s easy to understand the optimism in the Penns Grove girls basketball program.
The Red Devils hit the court for their second scrimmage and crushed Paulsboro 67-15 for their first victory of the preseason.
The foundation of the team lies in the Fab Five starters who kept it together last year when it looked like their season was going to crumble around them. Coach Jennifer Denby brought in four fabulous freshmen who won a title as eighth-graders and welcomed Raniyah Wilson from Kingsway who would have been the Dragons’ top returning scorer and rebounder.
“I like the chemistry,” Denby said. “We have a lot of girls and different types of chemistry that we can put out on the floor.”
Every combination had a hand in the rout. Senior Jameelyonna Horace had 18 points, three 3-pointers and three rebounds. Among the newcomers, Wilson had eight points and seven rebounds, JaNiyah Cummings had 10 points and five boards, and Zoey Caesar had eight points and seven boards.
Overall, there was just a lot to like.
“I like the defense, I like them laughing and playing with each other and just out there having fun, and they’re coachable,” Denby said. “The five freshmen (she includes Wilson in the group because she’s a newcomer) we have are very coachable, which makes the coach’s job much easier.”
PENNS GROVE 67, PAULSBORO 15
| Paulsboro | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 – | 15 |
| Penns Grove | 14 | 20 | 18 | 15 – | 67 |
Riverview Sports News 