What’s in a name: NaeNae means no, no to shooters who dare come into the paint against the Rams; updated with reports and boxscores from Friday’s games
FRIDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Salem 75, Camden Academy 14
Penns Grove at Deptford Twp.
Paulsboro 32, Schalick 21
Pennsville 60, Bridgeton 30
SATURDAY’S GAMES
SJIBT Tournament
Eastern at Woodstown, 11:30 a.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – NaeNae Logan may be the most appropriately named basketball player in Salem County for what she does best on the court.
Tall and long, she has become a machine when it comes to blocking shots.
Think of NBA great Dikembe Mutombo knocking back boxes of Cheerios in the cereal aisle of the grocery store or swatting away paper wads before they make it to the classroom trash can and then wagging a disapproving finger and saying, “NaeNae, nay, not in my house.”
Through the first eight games of the season, NaeNae has returned a whopping 53 shots to sender. That includes a jaw-dropping 15 rejections in her first career triple-double against Oakcrest (10/11/15) in the Boardwalk Classic and five other games of five or more. She had 17 blocks in 11 games last year.
(UPDATE: Logan had six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the Rams’ 75-14 rout of Camden Academy Charter Friday night.)
“I’ve always had a passion for basketball, but, I don’t know, once I see that ball in my face I just go for it,” the 5-11 senior said. “It’s just a reflex for me.”
Rams coach Tiasia Tatem can’t remember a player with so many blocks and the body control not to foul.
The next closest player in the county to Logan’s numbers is Schalick’s Ava Scurry with 38 in seven games. Within the Tri-County Conference Classic and Diamond Divisions, the two divisions that house the Salem County teams, no one else comes close among those keeping that statistic.
“It’s like a gift,” Tatem said. “She’s one of those players you never really have to worry about being in foul trouble because she’s so clean on defense. I tell the girls all the time don’t worry about the shot block, keep your hands straight up, but with her it’s like her natural ability. It’s just amazing to watch. Her timing is there. It’s perfect to watch sometimes.”
It really is all natural. Logan hasn’t been to any camps or worked with any special coaches to perfect the skill and, frankly, if she was a little better on her feet she may even have more. Most of her blocks have come without her feet leaving the floor.
It probably would help her offensively as well. She’s scored only 43 points this season, but only one in the last three games and that was Thursday night against Schalick. But if one projects points to her blocks, she saved the Rams 30 points in those three games.
“Everybody’s been saying how I’m doing so good, but I’m feeling like I could do more,” she said. “When I’m in that (shot blocking) mode, I try to get as many as I can.”
She certainly was in the zone that night in Wildwood against Oakcrest. The Falcons kept trying to attack the basket and she kept turning them away. The more she denied them, the more they tried. When the coaches told her the final tally on her blocks she got “pretty excited.”
“I’ll be amazed at myself sometimes,” she said. “Sometimes in that moment I don’t think I can do it until it happens and afterwards I’ll be like, all right, the numbers are rolling in.”
Admittedly, there have been times when Logan’s confidence has been what she called “rocky,” and really was on the verge of taking off when she left the team last season for reasons unrelated to basketball. She credits Tatem with reigniting the fire and getting her excited about playing again and her support system is now really quite strong.
“It’s more than just basketball with her and I never heard that from my other coach, so when she said that, it made me focus more and gain my confidence back,” Logan said. “Having her as my coach has been really, really good for me.”
It was easy for Tatem to gravitate to Logan. The second-year coach was an “average defender” who could guard the post during her 1,000-point career at Salem, but she wasn’t nearly the shot blocker her best defender has become, but she recognized how special the developing post player could be.
“Nae had it,” Tatem said. “It was always there, it was just waiting for somebody to come pull it out of her.
“When I got here, she was one of the players I grappled to early on and I pushed her. Early on she kind of fought back with me because she didn’t understand why I cared so much or was on her so much and I think this year it finally clicked that my coach actually cares about me, she sees the potential and she wants me to reach it.”
The light bulb moment came early on. During the Rams’ last preseason scrimmage the team wasn’t playing together and Logan stepped up in the huddle and spoke up like a coach to get her teammates going.
And now she carries herself on and off with court with a quiet confidence that has the potential to bring big returns.
“I don’t think she’s reached her peak yet,” Tatem said. “There’s better to come from her.”
The Logan File
| GAME | PTS | RBS | BKS |
| Glassboro (44-29 L) | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Pitman (45-36 L) | 9 | 8 | 4 |
| Millville (42-27 L) | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| Oakcrest (52-25 W) | 10 | 11 | 15 |
| Salem Tech (45-19 W) | 9 | 12 | 8 |
| Gateway (48-34 L) | 0 | 8 | 6 |
| Wildwood (84-33 L) | 0 | 13 | 6 |
| Schalick (27-26 L) | 1 | 14 | 3 |
| Camden Acad. (75-14 W) | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| TOTALS | 49 | 87 | 56 |
Friday’s Games
Salem 75, Camden Acad. Charter 14
SALEM – After being held to 26 points in a loss the night before, the Rams’ focus turned to offense and they enjoyed their highest-scoring game since before 2010-11, the last year records are available.
It was almost six years to the day they last scored 70 in a game – 72 against Camden Academy Charter in January 2018. All three times the Rams have put up 70 in the last 14 years it has come at the expense of the Cougars.
“It was one of those nights where all the girls had to prove that they could be involved and they all scored,” Rams coach Tiasia Tatem said. “This was a big game that we needed just to come back from a game where we only scored 26 points and then you come into a game like tonight where you score 27 in the second quarter.
“It was something we needed, the fire they needed.”
Eight players scored for the Rams, with four in double figures. Kaela Nichols is beginning to find her footing after academics and illness delayed her start and she led the offense with a career-high 17 points, three 3-pointers and eight assists. Ava Rodgers had a career-high 16 points (with 10 rebounds and five blocks), Ryann Foote had 14 and Ameriyona Hunter a career-tying 11.
“She is that kind of scorer,” Tatem said of Nichols. “She has some issues early on … but we’re hitting that point where things are starting to turn around and I feel like we should see a lot more of her.”
It also was their best defensive effort since holding Cherry Hill West to 14 points in December 2014. They held the Cougars (1-8) to one field goal in the second half, while coming up with 31 steals and 11 blocked shots.
SALEM 75, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 14
CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER (1-8) – Angel Waysome 0 0-0 0, Nashalie Lugo 0 0-0 0, Yomeidy DeLaRosa 1 2-5 4, Angelise Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Diomeiry DeLaRosa 2 0-0 5, Skylar Goods 0 0-0 0, Mariana Garriga 0 0-0 0, Malani Taplin 0 0-0 0, Mary Reyes 0 3-4 3, JoNiya Devine 0 0-2 0, Terrenona Hill 0 0-0 0, Leslie Ramirez 0 0-0 0. Totals 4 5-11 14.
SALEM (3-6) – Ryann Foote 5 3-4 14, Lyric Hayes 0 0-0 0, Marissa Bower 0 0-2 0, Kaela Nichols 6 2-3 17, Ava Rodgers 7 2-4 16, Carlysia Pierce 3 0-0 6, Ameriyona Hunter 5 0-2 11, Nevaeh Hickman 0 0-0 0, Zaniyah Fresion 0 0-0 0, Madison Dixon 0 0-0 0, Dankirah Grey 0 1-2 1, NaeNae Logan 3 0-0 6, Marjziah Bundy 2 0-0 4. Totals 31 8-17 75.
| Camden Academy | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 – | 14 |
| Salem | 19 | 27 | 18 | 11 – | 75 |
Pennsville 60, Bridgeton 30
BRIDGETON – Pennsville coach Sam Trapp is convinced when Nora Ausland and Marley Wood get going in the same game they can be as impactful as the best two-man tandem in the county that currently resides in Woodstown.
Ausland and Wood had one of the nights Friday, going for 21 and 25, respectively, as the Eagles (5-6) doubled up the Bulldogs to snap a three-game losing streak. They do the bulk of the Eagles’ scoring as it is, but when they do it together, much like Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson do for Woodstown, they make Pennsville even harder to handle.
“They just played really well, they just fed off each well tonight, just really looked for one another and were doing a great job just moving the ball around,” Trapp said. “Honestly, today was one of the better nights that they played really well off of each other.”
Wood got going right out of the gate, scoring seven points in the Eagles’ eight points in the first quarter. Ausland got going in the second quarter with seven as the Eagles pulled away. They were both on fire in the third quarter, evenly dividing Pennsville’s 18 points in the quarter.
Ausland also had eight rebounds and six assists. Wood had five rebounds.
It was the second time this year they both went for 20 in the same game and the Eagles won both games. They won another game when Wood went for 20 and Ausland 18. In fact, they’re 3-1 this year when Wood goes for 20 and 2-1 when Ausland does it.
In Ausland’s two years at Salem before joining the Eagles, the Rams were 3-0 when she went for 20, 6-1 when she scored at least 18.
“If they consistently play together, feeding off one another, working off one another’s strengths and weaknesses, those two could be just as powerful as a dynamic duo as Talia and Megan,” Trapp said. “I need them to consistently play off one another, continuously encourage one another and continuously support one another when one’s having a good game or vice versa.
“I felt like tonight was very unselfish in the shooting department and moving the ball well and that’s another thing I really need consistently coming out of the girls – an unselfish scoring effort and really just playing hard as a team as a whole.”
The Eagles are slowly getting back to full strength. Post Bella Farina returned from concussion protocol and played the entire game. Taylor Bass is the next one they’ll get back. She has her cast removed next Friday.
PENNSVILLE 60, BRIDGETON 30
PENNSVILLE (5-6) – Calli Ausland 3 1-2 7, Nora Ausland 8 4-5 21, Karsen Cooksey 0 0-0 0, Lilly Edwards 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Malani McGee 1 0-0 2, Izzy Saulin 2 0-0 4, Avery Watson 0 0-2 0, Marley Wood 10 4-7 25, Bella Farina 0 0-2 0. Total 24 10-18 60.
BRIDGETON (1-10) – Adelina Wilks 3 2-3 9, Aiyanna Ridgeway 1 0-0 2, Diara McGriff 0 2-2 2, Sharena Parker 1 2-4 5, Jayla Bowman 0 1-4 1, Imara James 4 1-2 9, Kahmya Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ciani Money 0 0-0 0, Karina Perez 0 0-0 0, Kimora Notice 0 0-0 0, TaMiyah Russell 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 8-15 30.
| Pennsville | 8 | 16 | 18 | 18 – | 60 |
| Bridgeton | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 – | 30 |
Paulsboro 32, Schalick 21
PAULSBORO – The Cougars scored one point in the fourth quarter for the second game in a row, but this time it wasn’t helpful at all. Paulsboro outscored them 21-5 in the second half to pull out the victory.
The Cougars scored one point in the fourth quarter Thursday against Salem and it was the difference in their 27-26 win.
Brookelyn Graham led Paulsboro with 18 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and had five of the Red Raiders’ 20 steals. Dasoni Scott (10) and Ianna Veney (13) both had double figures in rebounds.
PAULSBORO 32, SCHALICK 21
SCHALICK (2-6) – Ava Scurry 3 0-2 6, Cali Fisler 2 0-0 4, Abby Willoughby 1 1-2 3, Carly Vicente 4 0-0 8, Cianna Gaines 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 1-6 21.
PAULSBORO (4-5) – Londyn Graham 2 0-2 4, Brookelyn Graham 8 0-0 18, Dasoni Scott 2 0-0 4, Ianna Veney 3 0-0 6, Kriasya Johns 0 0-2 0, Deamya Bagby 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 0-4 32.
| Schalick | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1 – | 21 |
| Paulsboro | 7 | 4 | 12 | 9 – | 32 |
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