Salem wins a frenzied game with Pennsville, Bialecki has a big game for Woodstown
WEDNESDAY’S BOYS SCORES
Salem 77, Pennsville 66
Woodstown 74, Salem Tech 40
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Jabez DeJesus has thrown down many loud dunks during his Salem basketball career, but there haven’t been many as satisfying as the one he slammed in the final minute of Wednesday night’s 77-66 win over Pennsville.
It was one of those dunks that screamed enough-is-enough in a bizzare game that had devolved into ugliness.
It was a game that certainly kept the officials busy. They whistled 55 fouls, four technicals and issued several bench warnings. Four players fouled out (two on each side) and every call in the second half seemed to draw a reaction from the coaches and the crowd.
Maybe you should’ve seen it coming. The game started with a technical foul when the Rams were caught dunking in warm-ups.
DeJesus brought an end to the foolishness when he drove the length of the floor with a deep rebound and dunked with 41 seconds left that was more an exclamation point on the Rams’ fourth straight win and 10th straight against county competition than an incitement for more chaos.
“I was really thinking about it moments before,” the 6-foot-1 senior said. “I was like, ‘Man, what can I do to solidify myself into this game,’ and I was surprised I was that open. This is my opportunity, I’ve got to take it, make a statement, so I ran down the court and hit it with authority.
“(Taking the game off the edge) was definitely part of the reason, but I just wanted to get myself into the game, help my team out and I saw the opportunity to help us extend the lead. I really wanted to add an exclamation point to the last seconds of the game, (so) I put it all out there for my team and made my statement.”
Pennsville looked dead midway through the third quarter when Luke Wood caught his fourth foul on the floor and then got T’d walking away for his disqualifying fifth foul, followed immediately by a T on Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky. DeJesus made all four free throws and the Rams led by 18. It was a 20-point game moments later.
But the Eagles put on another rally similar to the comeback they staged against Woodstown two nights earlier. They turned up the defense and exploited a mismatch with Daniel Saulin inside and brought it all the way to four, 65-61 with 2:17 to play.
“I think that our defense brought us back into the game,” Mecholsky said. “I think when they got into foul trouble they had to put in some inexperienced players and we were able to turn them over and get what we wanted to do.
“It was a battle of wills tonight. They imposed their will for three quarters, we imposed ours in the fourth, but that’s still not enough time to overcome the hole we were in.
“I just told them in the locker room when our best player went out we didn’t shrink, we got tougher. We had grapes, we didn’t have raisins. We stayed tough, we stayed to it, we came back. Tonight Salem was just a better team than us.”
The Rams pushed their lead back to seven and then it got ugly again. Malik Rehmer dropped a hard foul against guard Anthony Farmer that sent Salem coach Anthony Farmer into a rage and several steps out on the floor.
After a officials’ huddled (and Farmer made the first free throw), Rehmer’s foul was ruled intentional and Farmer Sr. was hit with tech.
Farmer the younger collected himself to make his two free throws. Rehmer offset them by making the two technical foul shots on the other end and it was a 70-63 game with 1:21 to play. Pennsville called time and Rehmer launched a deep 3 coming out of it that missed the mark.
The teams traded free throws on the next three possessions to make it an eight-point game and the atmosphere was still frenzied. Jayden Thomas fired up a deep 3 hoping to get the Eagles closer. DeJesus grabbed the rebound, drove the length of the floor and slammed it home for a 10-point lead to end any residual discussion.
“I liked it,” Farmer the guard said. “I was definitely a fan. I loved that he went up for that dunk and I was happy he got the opportunity and threw it down. An exclamation point. He closed the door.”
“It was one of those players a senior makes,” Farmer the coach said. “Bez being a senior had an opportunity to change the momentum and shift things and really seal the game. That was a senior type play.
“Honestly, in any other situation I probably would have told him to pull it out and run clock, but because of how ugly it was and the flow of the way the game was going we encouraged him to go make that play. And obviously it sealed the deal.”
DeJesus scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half. Farmer, who Mecholsky called “the difference in the game tonight,” had 22 points, 18 in the first half. Farmer took on a lot with Ramaji Bundy out with a sore knee, but he made a lot of shots and distributed the ball when he wasn’t.
Saulin led Pennsville with 20 points, 12 in the second half, and 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. Peyton O’Brien had 13 points and six rebounds. Wood was held to eight points and now needs 41 to become the Eagles’ 17th 1,000-point scorer.
SALEM 77, PENNSVILLE 66
PENNSVILLE (4-5) – Luke Wood 2-6 3-5 8, Peyton O’Brien 3-8 6-6 13, Daniel Saulin 8-13 4-6 20, Jayden Thomas 3-11 1-7 8, Malik Rehmer 1-6 2-2 4, Cohen Petrutz 2-7 1-4 5, Mason O’Brien 2-7 4-4 8, Carlo Merindino 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 21-34 66.
SALEM (5-3) – Anthony Farmer 5 9-11 22, Jabez DeJesus 4 10-14 20, Paul Weathers 0 1-2 1, Xavier McGriff 3 0-2 8, Tymear Lecator 4 7-10 16, Donavon Weathers 1 0-0 2, Antwone Rodgers 2 0-0 4, Joseph Tunis 1 0-0 2, Davonte Jackson 0 0-0 0, Cole Sayers 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 27-39 77.
| Pennsville | 16 | 13 | 12 | 25 – | 66 |
| Salem | 17 | 22 | 17 | 21 — | 77 |
Woodstown 74, Salem Tech 40
WOODSTOWN – There’s something about playing Salem Tech that does something for Blake Bialecki.
The Woodstown sophomore hit a career-high 3-pointers and scored 29 points as the Wolverines won their second game of the week.
Bialecki, coming off a 23-point against Pennsville last time out, hit three 3s in the first quarter against the Chargers and four in the first half as the Wolverines opened a 32-20 halftime lead. He had hit 10 3s this season coming into the game. His previous high for 3s in a game was five last January against Salem Tech.
“The second we gave him an inch he was making his shots,” Chargers coach Bryan Riley said.
WOODSTOWN 74, SALEM TECH 40
WOODSTOWN (6-2) – Manny Ortega 0 0-2 0, Blake Bialecki 10 1-2 29, Alejandro Vazquez 2 3-4 7, M.J. Hall 2 0-0 4, Garrett Leyman 3 2-3 8, Lucas Fulmer 1 2-2 4, Max Webb 4 2-2 10, Rocco String 2 0-0 4,
Elijah Caesar 4 0-4 8. Totals 28 10-19 74.
SALEM TECH (0-9) – Chase Wills 4 1-1 10, Haneef Frisby 3 0-0 6, Josh Muntz 4 0-0 8, Tyler Zampino 1 0-0 3, Antoine Robinson 5 0-4 11, Joseph Hayes 1 0-2 2, Gio Holmes 0 0-0 0, Chase Ayers 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 1-7 40.
| Woodstown | 18 | 14 | 23 | 19 – | 74 |
| Salem Tech | 11 | 9 | 6 | 14 – | 40 |
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