Willoughby’s FT breaks tie, then Schalick’s defense holds firm in win over Salem; McCracken’s fourth straight double-double leads Wildwood over Penns Grove
THURSDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
Wildwood 64, Penns Grove 53
Schalick 27, Salem 26
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Mother Nature knocked out the lights on the Schalick-Salem girls basketball game Wednesday night and the 24 hours later Schalick’s Abby Willoughby turned the lights out on the Rams.
Willoughby broke a tie with a free throw with about 90 seconds left and the Schalick defense made it stand to produce a 27-26 win Thursday that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Willoughby’s free throw was the only point the Cougars (2-5) scored in the fourth quarter, but it made all the difference in the game.
“We went into halftime with a small lead (17-16),” Schalick coach John Whelan said. “We talked about they’re an aggressive team that wants to create chaos so it’s all about controlling tempo of the game and keeping our composure. If we can do that offensively and rebound defensively, that was our second half goal, and I’d say we did that.
“After the game we talked about how difficult it is to close out a basketball game. As young as we are, that’s something you have to learn how to do. I’m very proud of the fact they were able to do that.”
Willoughby was playing in her second game back from an injury. The game was tied at 26 when she was fouled on the floor and since Salem was over the limit she went to the line for two shots.
The sophomore missed the first shot, but hit the second and Schalick had the lead – for good, as it turned out.
“She as always did a great job,” Whelan said. “She’s tough handling the ball and brings a lot of energy defensively, but if you want to say an ultimate team win, this was it. Everybody did their part. We had five girls score and they were all pretty even. Defensively everybody got hands on passes, were playing aggressive.”
The Rams had the ball with four seconds left for a last shot, but the Cougars got a hand on it to tip it away.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, we couldn’t finish around the basket; shots weren’t falling for us,” Salem coach Tiasia Tatem said. “It was a back-and-forth low-scoring game and the odds fell in their favor.”
Defense was the key to the game. After Salem took a 10-5 lead, Whelan asked the players if they wanted to continue in the defense they were playing, go man-to-man or their 3-2 matchup. The Cougars went with a variation of their 3-2 and went that way the rest of the game.
“There was a timeout with about 52 seconds left and we just talked about at this point it’s a one-point game, 52 seconds (left), it’s who wants it more,” Whelan said. “Both teams battled, but we did what we had to do to make stops on defense and came out where we wanted.”
The game was a matchup between two of the best shot-blockers in Salem County. Schalick’s Ava Scurry had 14 blocks to lead the Cougars’ defense effort. Salem’s NaeNae Logan came into the game with 50 blocks, but was bothered by a nagging hip throughout the game and had only three.
SCHALICK 27, SALEM 26
SALEM (2-6) – Ameriyana Hunter 1 0-0 2, Ryann Foote 2 0-3 4, Kaela Nichols 1 1-2 4, Carlysia Pierce 2 0-0 4, Ava Rodgers 4 1-3 9, NaeNae Logan 0 1-4 1, Marissa Bower 0 0-0 0, Lyric Hayes 1 0-0 2, Nevaeh Hickman 0 0-0 0, Marjziah Bundy 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 3-12 26.
SCHALICK (2-5) – Ava Scurry 1 0-0 2, Cali Fisler 2 1-2 5, Abby Willoughby 2 1-2 5, Carly Vicente 3 1-4 8, Cianna Gaines 1 5-6 7, Katie Little 0 0-2 0. Totals 9 8-14 27.
| Salem | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 – | 26 |
| Schalick | 5 | 12 | 9 | 1 – | 27 |
Wildwood 64, Penns Grove 53
WILDWOOD – Meely Horace moved a step closer to becoming Penns Grove’s next 1,000-point scorer with 24 points, but Wildwood junior Macie McCracken continued her dominance and the Warriors turned back the visiting Red Devils’ threat.
McCracken led the Warriors with a career-high 36 points and 13 rebounds. It was her fourth straight double-double and eighth in 10 games this season. She’s averaging 31.8 points and 12 rebounds in the double-double streak.
The Red Devils got within eight late in the third quarter, but were denied a chance to get closer when they missed a 3-pointer and two free throws in the final three seconds of the quarter.
WILDWOOD 64, PENNS GROVE 53
PENNS GROVE (5-4) – RaNiyah Wilson 2 0-0 4, Meely Horace 9 4-6 24, Brianna Robbins 4 1-2 9, Amani Taylor 2 2-2 6, Arianna Dowe 1 0-0 2, JaNiyah Cummings 3 0-2 6, Syanna Robbins 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 7-12 53.
WILDWOOD (7-3) – Macie McCracken 12 9-11 36, Sophia Wilber 4 3-3 11, Angela Wilber 1 2-2 5, Kaliah Sumlin 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Benichou 4 1-1 12. Totals 21 15-17 64.
| Penns Grove | 24 | 29 – | 53 |
| Wildwood | 37 | 27 – | 64 |
Riverview Sports News 