Penns Grove has been shuffling lineups all season in hopes of finding the right combination; freshman’s defense sparks Pennsville’s fourth-quarter comeback, Woodstown wins, Schalick falls
THURSDAY’S BOYS SCORES
LEAP 52. Schalick 44
Penns Grove 69, Salem Tech 56
Pennsville 61, GCIT 52
Woodstown 59, Cumberland 24
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Damian Ware is still trying to get a handle on his young Penns Grove basketball team and that usually means a plethora of starting lineups before hitting on the one that sticks for the rest of the year.
Ware rolled out his fourth different starting lineup in as many games Thursday night and it produced the Red Devils’ second win of the season, 69-56 over Salem Tech.
“We’re just tooling around with stuff early in the season, plus giving guys an opportunity to play who really haven’t played that many minutes yet,” Ware said. “I’m figuring guys out. I’m figuring out who can play well with who. I’m figuring out whether we should play with two bigs or one big.
“It’s all experimental at this point in the season. It’s really an extended preseason of sorts. I just want to see what all my guys got. I got 14 guys on the team, so I want to see what all of them got in extended minutes, so that’s what we were all about today.”
Up to now, Ware has been starting any combination of four guards with one big. One game he started all guards. The lineup against Thursday featured two bigs for the first time and it gave the Red Devils a defensive bent against their hosts. They held the Chargers to 16 points in the first half while building a 34-16 halftime lead.
The same group started the second half.
The new starter in this mix was Jaden Sorrell, a 6-4 senior who “did a decent job” playing the 5 alongside 6-3 senior Willie Slocum. Sorrell scored four points — all in the second half — grabbed a couple rebounds and blocked a couple shots before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Slocum scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
“It was good because I had more opportunities because I was the 4,” Slocum said. “Other games I was the 5, so it was nice.
“We’ve just got to find the five toughest guys. To me, if I’m not playing that way, the next man up. If somebody else is not playing that way, next man up. We’ve got to five tough guys.”
As that search continues, Ware said it was “very possible” the Red Devils will start even another combination when they host Cherokee Saturday afternoon.
Salem Tech coach Bryan Riley expected to see Roman Gipson among their starters as he was when Riley saw them in the all-guard lineup in person last Saturday, but he didn’t sweat it. He still had to send his guys out there against whomever was on the floor.
The Chargers fell behind 55-30 after three quarters, but they brought it back in the fourth against the Red Devils’ young reserves. Haneef Frisby led the charge with 13 of his game-high 21 points.
“He and Antoine Robinson go back and forth,” Riley said. “We just played Gloucester Catholic, Antoine was the guy that game (16 points). The game before we played GCIT, Haneef was the guy (14). We played Schalick for opening day, Antoine was the guy (19). So, those two just go back and forth.
“I need them both on the same level and once we get that it’s going to be special.”
PENNS GROVE 69, SALEM TECH 56
PENNS GROVE (2-2) – Willie Slocum 4 3-6 11, Mehki Ballard 2 1-4 5, Khiry Higgs 0 0-0 0, Jaden Sorrell 2 0-0 4, Giomar Conrad 8 2-3 19, Mr Peterson 1 0-0 2, Roman Gipson 4 2-3 10, KaRon Ceaser 2 0-2 4, Will Roy 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 1 0-0 3, Cameron Thompson 3 0-0 6, Brandon Robbins 2 0-0 5, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 8-18 69.
SALEM TECH (0-4) – Chase Wills 2 0-4 4, Haneef Frisby 7 7-9 21, Joseph Hayes 2 1-2 6, Daviontae Russell 2 1-2 5, Josh Muntz 2 3-6 7, Tyler Zampino 1 1-1 3, Antoine Robinson 3 0-0 7, Gio Holmes 1 1-2 3, Chase Ayars 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 14-26 56.
| Penns Grove | 16 | 18 | 21 | 14 – | 69 |
| Salem Tech | 9 | 7 | 14 | 26 – | 56 |
PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52: If you’re occupying a seat on the Pennsville varsbench you’re expected to contribute when your name is called.
Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky called upon Mason O’Brien for a very specific task in the fourth quarter and the freshman delivered in a veteran way.
It was O’Brien’s job to put a wrench in GCIT scoring machine Mark Hallman as the “one” in the rare box-and-one the Eagles threw out there when nothing else seemed to work. O’Brien held Hallman scoreless the entire quarter and it helped the Eagles rally from five points down to snap a two-game losing streak.
“We put freshman Mason O’Brien on him and we said, ‘Son, you’ve got one job – lock him down,’” Mecholsky said. “He held the kid scoreless in the fourth quarter, let us get our feet and then we came down and executed on offense.
“I went with him because he’s fast afoot, he knows the game of basketball. He’s a freshman by grade … but he’s a little bit older than a freshman (in game sense), but we made it very simple for him. We said stay between (Hallman) and the ball and he was awesome.”
Hallman, who went for 30 against Salem Tech on Monday and was averaging 19.5 coming into the game, had 14 points with four 3-pointers over the first three quarters, but he got nothing in the fourth. Pennsville, meanwhile, outscored GCIT in the quarter 26-12 to beat the Group IV Cheetahs and gain a lot of valuable power points.
“(Mecholsky) told me to do one thing and not allow him to score a point,” O’Brien said. “I tried my best and I exactly did what he asked me to do.
“I just had to stay really close to him, had to follow him around. I tried my best not to let him get the ball. He didn’t do anything against me.”
O’Brien didn’t get a lot of playing time in the first half, but the Eagles were getting players in foul trouble and needed a fresh body. With Chase Burchfield out with a separated shoulder, O’Brien was the next man up.
“It felt great because I’m a freshman and people don’t think I’m that good or anything and I cone through and helped my team get a big win in the early-season going to Christmas break,” he said. “It felt amazing helping my team and my teammates out today.”
O’Brien’s older brother, Peyton, had a three-point play in the rally that extended the Eagles’ lead to five. They were his only points for the game, but he ripped down 14 rebounds. Jayden Thomas led the Eagles with a career-high 17 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter.
Pennsville had been mired in a shooting slump during its two-game losing streak, but broke out in this one. The Eagles were 18-for-42 from the field (2-of-12 from 3-point range) and 23-for-31 from the foul line, a product of their attacking the rim.
PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52
GCIT (2-3) – Trent Phillips 4 3-4 11, Michael Stanwood 8 0-0 17, Mark Hallman 5 0-0 14, Charles Donaldson 1 0-2 2, Patrick Monaghan 1 0-0 2, Carl Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Ian Malgapo 2 0-0 6, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 3-6 52
PENNSVILLE (2-2) – Luke Wood 5-5-15, Cohen Petrutz 1-3-5, Peyton O’Brien 1-1-3, Daniel Saulin 2-3-7, Jayden Thomas 6-13-17, Malik Rehmer 1-7-9, Mason O’Brien 2-1-5. Totals 18 23-31 61.
| GCIT | 9 | 15 | 16 | 12 – | 52 |
| Pennsville | 16 | 10 | 9 | 26 – | 61 |
WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24: Rocco String started fast, scoring eight in the first quarter and 10 in the first half, as the Wolverines built a 15-point halftime lead and added to it.
String, a 6-6 junior, was among three Wolverines to score in double figures and had his second double-double in as many games with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Bialecki had 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals and Max Webb had 10 points, seven boards and five assists.
WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24
WOODSTOWN (2-0) – Manny Ortega 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 6 0-0 14, Alejandro Vasquez 1 0-0 2, M.J. Hall 3 0-0 9, Garrett Leyman 3 0-0 6, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 3, Max Webb 4 0-0 10, Rocco String 5 3-6 13, Zyaire Caesar 0 0-0 0, Elijah Caesar 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-6 59.
CUMBERLAND (0-2) – Kaleb Green 3 2-2 9, D.J. Mosley 3 0-0 6, Stephen Wilchensky 1 2-2 4, Jalen Stewart 0 0-0 0, Marcus Fortune 0 0-0 0, Deshaan Williams 0 2-2 2, Dumajze Cartwright 0 0-0 0, James Guaciaro 0 0-0 0, Khalif Dawkins 1 0-0 3, Kevin Fiorani 0 0-0 0, Kam Fiorani 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 6-6 24.
| Woodstown | 19 | 9 | 13 | 18 – | 59 |
| Cumberland | 6 | 7 | 4 | 7 – | 24 |
LEAP 52, SCHALICK 44: LEAP Academy hasn’t won many games in recent years, so any victory is reason to celebrate.
The Lancers won only two games last season, but they won their second game this season with their come-from-behind victory over the Cougars.
Schalick had an early lead in the game, but LEAP rallied and seized control in the second quarter. Xavion Ayala led LEAP with 22 points. Nylan and Nasir Simmons led Schalick with 12 points apiece.
LEAP 52, SCHALICK 44
LEAP (2-3) – Xavion Ayala 9 4-7 22, Gregory Shoultz 4 0-0 10, Angel Mieses 2 2-4 7, Jalen Thomas 1 0-0 2, Benjamin Noel 1 0-0 2, Terrell Hurst 4 1-1 9. Totals 21 7-12 52.
SCHALICK (1-2) – Reggie Allen 3 0-0 7, Daniel Lis 1 0-0 2, Nylan Sutton 4 4-10 12, Nasir Sutton 5 2-3 12, Ryan Johnson 1 2-4 4, Jordan Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 8-17 44.
| LEAP | 10 | 15 | 11 | 16 – | 52 |
| Schalick | 11 | 9 | 13 | 11 – | 44 |
Cover photo: Salem Tech’s Haneef Frisby (2) guards Jaden Sorrell, the latest new starter in Penns Grove’s evolving starting five.
Riverview Sports News 