Bringing the 3

Girls basketball: Woodstown buried under barrage of Wildwood 3s; fourth quarter goes in opposite directions for Salem, Pennsville; Schalick rolls over Salem Tech

THURSDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
Clayton 67, Pennsville 50
Salem 62, Overbrook 44
Schalick 44, Salem Tech 8
Wildwood 84, Woodstown 57

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILDWOOD – The Woodstown girls made the two-hour trip to the shore Thursday for one of their biggest basketball games of the season and when they got there a four-alarm fire broke out.

Now before anyone gets concerned, it wasn’t a physical fire. The venerable old school on Pacific Avenue is still standing. It’s just that the Wildwood team Woodstown played was on fire from behind the 3-point arc the likes of which the Wolverines had never seen before.

The Warriors, the No. 1 team in South Jersey Group I power points, busted 21 3-pointers in the first three quarters and ran past the Wolverines 84-57.

“Cudos to them, but, geez, they even had some of their fans saying we never shoot like that,” Woodstown coach Kara Straughn said. “They were like, yeah, we’re good shooters, but what the heck. I was like, what the heck.”

The Warriors (12-3) hit 13 of the deep balls in the first half – and their first eight buckets of the third quarter were 3s. At one point 16 straight of their baskets were 3s. They came from four players – Macie McCracken, Sophia Wilber, Angela Wilber and Rebecca Benichou.

Angela Wilber and McCracken each had seven and finished with 25 and 31 points, respectively. Benichou had six for all 18 of her points. Sophia Wilber hit the first one of the game and it was on. Woodstown hit two 3s in the game.

The Warriors took 42 3-pointers in the game and were hitting from everywhere. When Benichou banked one in from the top of the key early in the third quarter, if you didn’t know it then, you just felt they couldn’t miss. When they shot one and didn’t make, the crowd was disappointed. 

And it wasn’t like the Wolverines were just letting them shoot. They actually played good defense denying anything inside, the Warriors just worked it around until they got that outside shot.

“We went through five different defenses and nothing seemed to be it,” Straughn said. “If we guarded them up top, they would hit them on the baseline. If we guarded the baseline, they would hit them at the top of the key. They were just on fire.”

And the Wolverines got enough offense that would have won most of their games, they just couldn’t keep pace with the 3s. Talia Battavio led Woodstown with 18 points and made it a doiuble-double with 10 assists. Megan Donelson had 17 points and Shannon Pierman had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

It was the fifth time this year the Warriors had 10 or more 3s in a game. Their previous single-game high this season was 16 against Clayton. They topped that Thursday midway through the third quarter and showed no signs of stopping. They made it 20 when McCracken hit one from the top of the key with 1:12 left in the third.

The loss snapped Woodstown’s six-game winning streak. The Wolverines (11-3) were third in SJ-I power points entering the game. Curiously, by the end of the game, despite the loss, they had moved up to No. 2 in the power points, but after the results of some other games slipped back to No. 3 behind Woodbury. 

“I think they’re pretty accurate right now,” Straughn said. “We’ve beaten some really good teams and they continue to win, so I think that bumped us up. Pennsville and Clayton played tonight; if either one of those teams win we get points because we beat them.

“I would love the No. 1 seed. It would be possible, Wildwood has some tough games and we’ve got some big games coming up. It’s not out of the question, but it’s going to be tough. Either way, I think on February 10 I think it’s going to be Wildwood and us 1 and 2, whichever way it goes. That’s my 99.9 percent promise.”

WILDWOOD 84, WOODSTOWN 57
WOODSTOWN (11-3) – Talia Battavio 7 3-4 18, Megan Donelson 8 0-0 17, Alyssa Baber 2 2-2 6, Shannon Pierman 6 0-0 12, Lauren HEngel 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 5-6 57.
WILDWOOD (12-3) – Sophia Wilber 1 5-6 8, Angela Wilber 9 0-0 25, Macie McCracken 10 4-8 31, Kaliah Sumlin 1 0-0 2, Cydnee Kilian 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Benichou 6 0-0 18, Ashley Nagle 0 0-0 0, Mia Cripps 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 9-14 84.

Woodstown	15	12	15	15 –	57
Wildwood	19	34	26	5 –	84

SALEM 62, OVERBROOK 44: The Rams erupted for an 18-4 fourth quarter to pull away from a game that was tight for three quarters.

They got six points each from Ryann Foote and Ava Rodgers in the quarter to fuel the flurry. Rogers had 14 points in the second half and led all scorers with 23. Foote finished with 19.

“It was an intense game, back and forth, and they took all the fire and put their foot on their necks and never let go,” Salem coach Tiasia Tatem said. “We had a conversation at halftime and let them know it was going to be an intense game and it was going to come down to who wants it more. The third quarter I could see the fire coming.”

It was the second game in a row the Rams used a big fourth quarter to pull away. They outscored Pitman 17-6 in the fourth quarter of their last game – and 31-14 in the second half – to stretch a slim halftime lead.

“The last two games it’s been the team I’ve been waiting for and what we had,” Tatem said. “There’s been a lot of communication, a lot of holding each other accountable, a lot of coaching on the floor. They’re pushing each other. It’s beautiful to see we’re hitting that stride as a team.”

OVERBROOK (3-9) – Jael Presley 4 2-5 10, Sarah Evans 2 0-0 6, Lelani Knight 0 0-0 0, Ahlani White 0 0-0 0, Zahaisha Nevius 6 5-16 20, Gianna Simon 3 0-0 6, Nahia Smith 0 0-0 0, Taija Wiggins 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Burkhardt 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 7-21 44.
SALEM (6-8) – Ryann Foote 6 6-7 19, Ava Rodgers 8 7-10 23, Ameriyona Hunter 0 0-2 0, Carlysia Pierce 5 0-0 10, Dahkirah Grey 0 0-0 0, Kaela Nichols 0 0-0 0, Naveah Hickman 1 0-0 2, Marjziah Bundy 0 0-0 0, Madison Dixon 3 0-2 8. Totals 23 13-21 62.

Overbrook	15	12	13	4 –	44
Salem	12	18	14	18 –	62

SCHALICK 44, SALEM TECH 8: Carly Vicente scored a career-high 14 points and Schalick held the Chargers scoreless in two quarters on the way to their third win in the last four games. Vicente’s previous career high was 13 against LEAP Academy earlier this season.

“She was hitting shots all night,” Cougars coach John Whelan said. “It was really good to see her shoot the ball with confidence. She is growing towards her potential of being the scorer we know she can be and showing she can be a major piece of the team. I’m excited to watch her continue to grow.”

SCHALICK (5-7) – Cianna Gaines 2 0-2 4, Taylor Sparks 2 1-2 5, Carly Vicente 6 0-0 14, Abby Willoughby 2 0-0 6, Cali Fisler 4 1-2 9, Kyleigh Cutler 1 0-0 2, Olivia Lunemann 2 0-0 4, Victoria Basich 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 2-6 44.
SALEM TECH (1-11) – Drummond 1 0-0 2, Hanna DeWitt 1 1-4 3, Kaylin Beardsley 1 0-0 3. Totals 3 1-4 8.

Schalick	8	14	8	14 –	44
Salem Tech	0	2	0	6 –	8

Pennsville	10	21	15	4 –	50
Clayton	15	17	13	20 –	67