Penns Grove uses 20 seconds of chaos from Giomar Conrad at the end of the first half to take the momentum from Woodstown, Salem uses a big second half to beat Salem Tech, Pennsville’s balanced attack takes down Schalick
THURSDAY BOYS SCORES
Penns Grove 64, Woodstown 54
Pennsville 57, Schalick 37
Salem 84, Salem Tech 52
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Think of all the things you can do in 20 seconds. Maybe sprint from the easy chair to the mailbox and back on a cold winter’s day. How about a quick run to the fridge during a TV timeout of the big game.
Some teams take longer than that to attack the basket, a situation that could be remedied with the introduction of a shot clock, but that’s a discussion for another time.
Penns Grove boys basketball coach Damian Ware isn’t sure he can do anything in 20 seconds, but he’s glad his team can.
That’s all the time Giomar Conrad and the Red Devils needed to flip the script on Woodstown Thursday night and turn a double-digit deficit into a halftime lead and an eventual 64-54 win to spoil the previously unbeaten Wolverines’ long awaited home opener.
Woodstown (4-1) led by double digits most of the first half, but Conrad scored eight straight points over the final 20 seconds to give his team a 32-30 halftime lead they never lost.
“That was crazy,” Conrad said, “but at the same time it felt good. I’d never done anything like that before.”
It started with a 3-pointer from the right side to cut the deficit to 30-27. Then in rapid-fire succession, Mekhi Ballard got a steal and fed him for a layup to make it 30-29, he put back a missed shot after another steal to put the Red Devils ahead, and then Willie Slocum picked off another rushed pass in the backcourt and fed Conrad for one final strike.
With time running out, Conrad drove wildly and appeared to lose his footing. His throw at the basket didn’t go in, but he was fouled right before the horn sounded. With no one else on the floor, he made the first of his two free throws and Penns Grove led by two at the break. If you want to extend the run even farther back, he hit two free throws inside 40 seconds that made it 30-24.
“I’m thinking, ‘finally,’” Ware said. “That’s what we did, honestly, in our heyday. Back when we won the South Jersey championship in 2020, that’s what we did all game long. We were known for that type of play, just tempo, tempo, turning teams up. And we didn’t have to come back, we just blew teams out.
“We’re trying to get this team to that same level to where they understand how they have to play, how hard we have to play and the energy we have to play with. We’re starting to get there. I’ve seen it in spurts for the last three games. Today I think was the culmination of everything and we kind of made a great run.”
The Red Devils (3-5) carried the momentum of those 20 seconds of chaos into the second half. Slocum scored the first three buckets of the third quarter to fuel a 14-3 run that gave them a 13-point lead with just over three minutes to go in the quarter.
The Wolverines tried to come back, but never got closer than six the rest of the game. They were 8-of-27 from the field with nine turnovers in the second half.
Understandably, Woodstown coach Phil Campbell was in no mood to talk about it and declined a post-game interview request.
Conrad finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points. Slocum had 11 and Ballard added 10. Rocco String led Woodstown with 17 points.
PENNS GROVE (3-5, 1-1) – Brandon Robbins 0 0-0 0, Roman Gipson 1 2-2 4, Giomar Conrad 8 1-2 21, Karon Ceaser 3 1-2 8, Willie Slocum 4 3-4 11, Mehki Ballard 4 1-3 10, Camron Thompson 1 0-0 2, Khiry Higgs 0 0-0 0, Mr Peterson 3 0-1 6, Jaden Sorrell 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 8-13 64.
WOODSTOWN (4-1, 1-1) – Manny Ortega 2 1-2 7, Blake Bialecki 2 2-3 7, Alejandro Vazquez 0 0-0 0, M.J. Hall 4 2-2 11, Garrett Leyman 2 2-2 6, Anthony Bokolas 1 0-0 3, Max Webb 1 0-0 3, Rocco String 8 1-4 17. Totals 20 8-13 54.
| Penns Grove | 9 | 23 | 17 | 15 – | 64 |
| Woodstown | 15 | 15 | 9 | 15 – | 54 |
Pennsville 57, Schalick 37
PITTSGROVE – Luke Wood led three Pennsville scorers in double figures with 16 points as the Eagles started the new year with a win for the second year in a row. Cohen Petrutz and Jayden Thomas both hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points apiece.
The Eagles trailed after the first quarter, then took the lead for good in the second quarter and steadily pulled away.
Wood is now 66 points away from 1,000 for his career. He has scored in double figures in his last 14 straight games.
PENNSVILLE (4-3, 1-1) – Luke Wood 6 4-4 14, Malik Rehmer 1 0-1 2, Cohen Petrutz 4 0-0 11, Peyton O’Brien 2 1-2 5, Daniel Saulin 1 2-3 4, Jayden Thomas 4 0-0 11, Mason O’Brien 3 0-0 6, Logan Hitt 0 2-4 2. Totals 21 9-14 57.
SCHALICK (2-3, 0-2) – Reggie Allen 3 0-2 7, Nylan Sutton 5 0-2 10, Jordan Johnson 3 0-0 8, Dan Lis 3 1-2 9, Jake Siedlecki 0 0-0 0, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 3, Sherrod Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 1-6 37.
| Pennsville | 12 | 13 | 16 | 16 – | 57 |
| Schalick | 13 | 7 | 8 | 9 – | 37 |
Salem 84, Salem Tech 52
WOODSTOWN – The homestanding Chargers gave the Rams all they could handle for a half, but they changed defenses at halftime and Salem erupted for 58 points in the second half to win going away.
“Momentum killed us,” Tech coach Bryan Riley said. “(Antoine) Robinson got his third foul as soon as the third quarter started and we switched from man to zone (defense) at half.”
Jabez DeJesus and Anthony Farmer took advantage of the switch. DeJesus scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half while Farmer had 10 of his 12.
Salem, meanwhile, held Tech’s two main scorers, Robinson and Haneef Frisby, to eight points apiece, but the Chargers got 13 from Tyler Zampino and 12 from Chase Wills.
Zampino had eight in the first quarter. Robinson scored six of his points in the second quarter as the Chargers took a 31-26 halftime lead, but he picking up his third foul early in the second half limited his effectiveness the rest of the game.
SALEM (3-3, 1-1) – Anthony Farmer 4 4-8 12, Ramaji Bundy 3 3-4 9, Jabez DeJesus 11 2-2 26, Paul Weathers 6 0-0 13, Tymear Lecater 4 0-0 9, Xavier McGriff 3 0-0 7, Antwan Rodgers 3 0-0 6, Donaven Weathers 0 0-0 0, Davonte Jackson 1 0-0 2, Joey Tunis 0 0-0 0. Totals 35 9-14 84.
SALEM TECH (0-7, 0-2) – Antoine Robinson 4 0-4 8, Chase Wills 5 2-5 12, Tyler Zampino 6 0-3 13, Josh Muntz 0 0-2 0, Haneef Frisby 3 2-5 8, Joseph Hayes 1 0-0 2, Gio Holmes 2 0-0 4, Charlie Brown 0 0-0 0, Chase Ayers 0 0-0 0, Daviontae Russell 2 1-1 5. Totals 23 5-20 52.
| Salem | 18 | 8 | 28 | 30 – | 84 |
| Salem Tech | 17 | 14 | 9 | 12 – | 52 |
Tri-County Conference
| CLASSIC | OV | DIV | DIAMOND | OV | DIV |
| Pitman | 7-1 | 2-0 | Overbrook | 5-1 | 2-0 |
| Gloucester Cath. | 6-1 | 2-0 | Woodstown | 4-1 | 1-1 |
| Wildwood | 5-3 | 2-1 | Pennsville | 4-3 | 1-1 |
| Salem | 3-3 | 1-1 | Glassboro | 3-3 | 1-1 |
| Clayton | 1-7 | 0-3 | Penns Grove | 3-5 | 1-1 |
| Salem Tech | 0-7 | 0-2 | Schalick | 2-3 | 0-2 |
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