Penns Grove feels better about its progress after playing better in the second half of loss to Cherokee
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – This wasn’t the way Damian Ware wanted to go into Christmas, but he felt a lot better about it the way his Penns Grove basketball team played in the second half Saturday.
The Red Devils played the last game in the county before the holidays and lost to Group IV Cherokee 45-38. It would have been a completely blue Christmas until picked up their game and won the second half.
“We never have moral victories – we always want to get the win,” Ware said. “However, we’re still growing and learning as a team, so we can take this and look at the positives that are going to come out of it like guys coming out of a slump and understanding how hard we have to actually play. We played hard in the second half.
“We’re getting there. If we can bottle up those good positions and play them for 32 minutes, we’re going to be so tough to deal with.”
The snapping out of a slump part belong to Mehki Ballard. He broke out with three 3s, two in the fourth quarter when he scored eight of his team-high 11 points. Ballard hit 59 3s last season, but hadn’t made any in the Red Devils’ first four games this season.
“I just got more comfortable,” he said. “In the first half I had to get comfortable because I was coming off the bench, so when I got in I knew I had to make shots for our team so we could come back and try to win the game.
“We came in here (at halftime) and knew we had to play harder if we wanted to get back into the game or win the game. When we came in (Ware) told us we had to turn it up the second half.”
Ballard’s stroke got a boost after he went through a form shooting drill Friday in which he couldn’t move to a new spot until he had made 10 shots all net.
The game marked the first this season the Red Devils opened the game with the same starters as the game before – because it produced a win. The group gave them an early lead (5-4), but as the half wore on it was evident they needed more scoring. They went with a different five to open the second half and it gave them a spark.
The Red Devils managed only 14 points in the first half and trailed by nine at halftime but it felt like a lot more. The margin was 14 early in the fourth quarter, but they got it back to nine with two minutes to play.
“We’re finding guys who we know are going to play tough, hard, physical and execute,” Ware said. “We found a little something in the second quarter today and we kind of stuck with it. Sometimes we may need a defensive lineup, sometimes we may need an offensive lineup; it’s fluid.”
The Chiefs got most of their points and all of their 3-pointers from Louis Galasso (18) and Judd Holt (16). They combined for 19 points in the first half.
CHEROKEE 45, PENNS GROVE 38
CHEROKEE (3-2) – Will Carr 2 1-2 5, Dan Leonard 0 0-0 0, Jared Bell 0 4-6 4, Tom Pajic 0 1-2 1, Mike Atlee 0 1-2 1, Sam Levin 0 0-0 0, Brian Magee 0 0-0 0, Jordan Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Corey Mazur 0 0-0 0, Rocco Natali 0 0-0 0, Darwin Walker 0 0-0 0, Judd Holt 7 0-0 16, Louis Galasso 7 1-2 18. Totals 16 8-14 45.
PENNS GROVE (2-3) – Brandon Robbins 1 0-0 3, Roman Gipson 2 1-2 5, Giomar Conrad 4 0-0 10, KaRon Ceaser 2 2-4 6, Willie Slocum 0 3-4 3, Mekhi Bullard 3 2-3 11, Camron Thompson 0 0-0 0, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0, Khiry Higgs 0 0-0 0, Mr Peterson 0 0-0 0, Jaden Sorrell 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 0 0-0 0, Will Roy 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-13 38.
| Cherokee | 10 | 13 | 8 | 13 – | 45 |
| Penns Grove | 8 | 6 | 7 | 17 – | 38 |
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