OLMA puts the clamps on Woodstown’s two big scorers, wins by 20; shorthanded Pennsville, Salem both fall
SATURDAY GIRLS BASKETBALL
Delsea 37, Pennsville 20
Gateway 47, Salem 34
OLMA 51, Woodstown 31
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — The girls basketball world has seen what Woodstown can do when its two dynamic scorers are lighting up the scoreboard. On Saturday, it saw what can happen when they are not.
Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson scored most of their team’s points once again, but this time it wasn’t nearly enough to save the Wolverines from a 51-31 loss to once-beaten Our Lady of Mercy.
The two scorers were averaging 20.1 and 18.8 a game, respectively, coming into the power matinee. But the Villagers (10-1) held Donelson to 14 points and Battavio to nine and 0-for-16 shooting from the field in the second half.
They hadn’t been held down like that since Highland held them to 19 combined points last February. It’s only the fifth time in their last 31 games one or the other had been held to single digits.
What’s that mean in the big picture? Consider, over the last two season when they both score 20 in a game, the Wolverines are 6-0. When one of them goes for 20, they’re 10-1. When they both score at least 18 in the same game, they’re 9-1. When one of them is held to less than 10 points, they’re 3-4.
“We know they’re two great performers for the last two years, but we have very, very good defenders and our communication is phenomenal,” OLMA head coach Brian Coyle said. “We had a good game plan on how to take away what they want to do. It really was about communication and staying in a good stance and when they do attack, just wall off.“
Before Donelson hit back-to-back 3s early in the third quarter there was a real threat both Wolverines scorers would be denied double figures in the same game for only the second time in the last two seasons.
Woodstown coach Kara Straughn thought the double treys might have been the spark to get the Wolverines going, but they were just a brief ray of sunshine.
“We couldn’t score anything today,” Straughn said. “I told them 75 percent of those shots would have fallen any other night. Today, they didn’t. It’s gonna happen. It’s the game of basketball.”
Maddie Bernhardt was tasked with guarding Battavio and VonAsia Thompson drew the assignment against Donelson. In the first half, they held the two stars to three combined field goals and Woodstown to 4-of-24 shooting as a team. To a man, they said communication was the key to getting the job done.
“Maddie’s a phenomenal defensive player,” Coyle said. “She’s going to be a 1000-point scorer and I think people look at her as a shooter and scorer, (but) she’s probably our most intelligent defensive player. She’s great at staying in front of the girl, she knows how to read and has great instinct. She’s also our best communicator on defense.”
“I definitely take pride in defending, so I was trying to lock her down,” Bernhardt said. “I kind of keep my hand up, at eye level and kept it in their face to make it harder for them to shoot it.”
But Bernhardt had her scoring chops on, too. She had 19 points and is now only 36 away from 1,000. Savannah Prescott had 13 points and Khalia Lewis dominated the paint with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Lewis became even more effective when Wolverines post Shannon Pierman went to the bench in foul trouble.
“I told (her team) in the locker room they’re almost an identical team to us,” Straughn said. ‘‘They have two guards who are really good; we have two guards who are really good. They have a center that’s really good; we have a center that’s really good. They have so many different weapons and their weapons were just a little stronger than ours today.”
Battavio contemplated becoming one of the Villager people in the offseason, and Straughn conceded the OLMA factor probably impacted her play. The junior guard finished with two baskets — both 3-pointers in the first half – Woodstown’s first bucket of the game for their only lead and the last bucket of the first half.
“I think part of it was mental,” Straughn said. “I told her sometimes you just overthink. When she misses one or two, instead of just saying let me trust some of the other ones, I think she tries to outwork herself and just keep going, going and going. She’ll even tell you that – she’s the queen of doing too much.”
The Wolverines (5-2) did get something out of the loss and because of OLMA’s strength it’s a gift that will keep on giving – power points.
“I’d rather lose to a team like this than lose to any other type of team,” Straughn said. “Playing teams like OLMA and Eastern, they’re going to make us better. That’s why we put these teams on our schedule. Yeah, it sucks to lose, but it’s even better to get better.”
OLMA 51, WOODSTOWN 31
OUR LADY OF MERCY (10-1) – Maddie Barnhardt 6 4-4 19, Savannah Prescott 3 7-8 13, Khalia Lewis 5 2-4 12, Adrianna Bristow 1 0-0 2, VonAsia Thompson 1 0-0 2, Katelyn Coryell 1 0-0 3, Gwen O’Hara 0 0-0 0, Katie Ricchiuti 0 0-0 0, Erin McGonigle 0 0-0 0, Erin McMahon 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-16 51.
WOODSTOWN (5-2) – Talia Battavio 2 3-6 9, Megan Donelson 4 4-6 14, Gianna Mairoini 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Baber 1 0-0 2, Shannon Pierman 1 2-2 4, Lauren Hengel 1 0-0 2, Emma Perry 0 0-0 0, Brea DeGregorio 0 0-0 0, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Kendall Young 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 9-14 31.
| OLMA | 12 | 13 | 18 | 8 – | 51 |
| Woodstown | 9 | 5 | 8 | 9 – | 31 |
Delsea 37, Pennsville 20
PENNSVILLE – The shorthanded Eagles felt the strain of the recent rash of injuries, putting only three players in the scoring column and scoring just six points in the second half. Marley Wood led Pennsville with 11 points.
“We could not produce anything offensively in the second half,” Eagles coach Sam Trapp said.
DELSEA (2-4) – Maura Madden 2 0-0 6, Ali Green 2 1-3 5, Kayleigh Barndt 2 3-4 7, Elle Metcalf 1 0-0 3, Ayress Maitland 5 4-5 14, Natalie DiRaddo 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 8-17 37.
PENNSVILLE (4-4) – Calli Ausland 1 0-0 2, Nora Ausland 2 3-4 7, Marley Wood 3 5-8 11, Karson Crooksey, Izzy Saulin 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 8-12 20.
| Delsea | 9 | 15 | 4 | 9 – | 37 |
| Pennsville | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 – | 20 |
Gateway 47, Salem 34
WOODBURY HEIGHTS – Angelina Zagone scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Gators snapped Salem’s two-game winning streak. Ryann Foote led the Rams with a career-high 16 points.
SALEM (2-4) – Ameriyona Hunter 1-0-2, Ryann Foote 7-1-16, Marissa Bower 1-0-2, Carlysia Pierce 2-0-4, Ava Rodgers 3-1-7, Nevaeh Hickman 1-1-3. Totals 15-3-34.
GATEWAY (7-1) – Angelina Zagone 9 7-9 27, Gabby Gasis 1 0-0 2, Tabby Bay 0 2-2 2, Bella Fini 5 2-3 13, Sydney Hughes 0 2-2 2, Lexi Kirwin 0 1-2 1, Maggie Eliasen 0 0-0 0, Rachael Summers 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-18 47.
| Salem | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 – | 34 |
| Gateway | 18 | 9 | 9 | 11 – | 47 |
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