Trapp making a move

Pennsville girls basketball coach tells team she’s leaving in March to become Triton’s vice principal and AD; also includes Friday night’s results, race for 1000

FRIDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Haddon Heights 56, Pennsville 22
Glassboro 47, Penns Grove 42
FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Salem 83, Camden Academy Charter 76

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Sam Trapp knew the post-game meeting she was about to conduct Friday night was going to be different than any other she’s conducted before as a head coach.

It was going to be difficult enough to break down Pennsville’s 56-22 loss to Haddon Heights, but as soon as she announced the player of the game she called the girls together for the news that would change the room.

She tearfully informed her players that she was stepping down at the end of the basketball season to become vice principal and athletics director at Triton Regional High School. 

“As soon as I waked in I gave out the player of the game award and then I said ladies can I get your attention, I need to make an announcement, and I just started crying,” Trapp said. “I felt sick to my stomach and my face was all flushed. 

“They kind of all looked at me weird. They had no idea what was coming and I, obviously, had not mentioned it to anyone, so I just tried to pull it together. It was hard because I’ve been really emotional about it because I really do love the students and the staff and have built good connections with a lot of the parents, so it’s going to be really hard to walk out those doors on March 15 and know I’m leaving that chapter behind.”

Trapp, 33, had always had a role in administration as a goal and received her degree in school leadership in 2021. She wasn’t quite ready to make the move at that time and was going to be “very selective” in the opportunities she would pursue. Triton was simply the opportunity to advance her professional career she couldn’t refuse. The board approved her Thursday night.

She purposely kept it quiet until after the game to avoid becoming a distraction to the task at hand, which was the Eagles trying to snap a two-game losing streak. As it turned out, with one of their top scorer Nora Ausland still out with an ankle sprain, they didn’t have enough firepower to combat the 13 3-pointers the Garnets hit against them.

“Some of the them cried,” Trapp said describing the locker room scene. “One asked if she could get cleared to play real quick because she always wanted to play for me. There were a lot of really sweet gestures. My assistant was crying and gave me a big hug and said she was really excited for me.

“It’s a bittersweet moment because I am excited to challenge myself and take another step in my career goals, but at the same time I’ve got a lot of great relationships with the staff and the students and it’s going to be hard to walk away from such a good family dynamic here at Pennsville.”

Trapp also is the Eagles’ girls soccer coach so Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas will be looking to fill two coaching vacancies when Trapp leaves in mid-March. Because their sport is out of season, Trapp told her soccer players on the team’s social messaging page.

Thomas said Friday night he will be looking for “the best qualified applicant” for the health/PE teaching position at the school, but plans to “highlight” in the posting the Eagles will be in need of basketball and soccer coaching positions.

Trapp has been the head coach of both programs at Pennsville for three years.

The basketball Eagles were 15-11 South Jersey Group I tournament teams each of her first two years and are 6-9 so this year with at least eight more games to play. The soccer team went 29-23-5 with three South Jersey tournament appearances and a trip to the sectional final her first year.

She was the basketball assistant for two years prior to become head coach and the soccer assistant for one.

Trapp hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to coaching at some point in the future, but for now she’s concentrating on the administrative side of her career.

In the meantime, for the time they have left together, she wants her players to “make this last season a really good one.”

“Let’s go out with a bang and just have fun doing it,” she told them.

HADDON HEIGHTS 56, PENNSVILLE 22
PENNSVILLE (6-9) – Taylor Bass 2 0-4 4, Karsen Cooksey 1 0-0 2, Bella Farina 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Izzy Saulin 2 1-4 5, Avery Watson 0 2-2 2, Marley Wood 3 2-3 9. Totals 8 5-13 22.
HADDON HEIGHTS (8-8) – Lex Caraway 3 0-0 8, Kylee Ferranto 3 0-2 9, Brielle Connor 0 0-0 0, Emma Harris 5 3-4 16, Sami Szabo 2 1-2 6, Gab Diario 3 0-0 8, Zoe Fuller 2 0-0 4, Allie Agin 1 0-0 3, Payton Bailey 0 0-0 0, Cece Matthews 0 1-2 1, Katherine Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-10 56.

Pennsville	6	4	5	7 –	22
Haddon Heights	17	13	11	15 –	56

Penns Grove	13	11	8	10 –	42
Glassboro	11	18	9	9 –	47

Boys Game

SALEM 83, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 76: The Rams trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter on the road but Anthony Farmer put the game on his back and delivered once again.

The senior guard scored 16 of his career-high 36 points in the fourth quarter, including 12-of-13 from the free throw line, to fuel the Rams’ comeback. He was a career-high 17-of-25 from the line for the game.

“He put us on his back tonight,” Rams coach Anthony Farmer said. “He refused to lose in a must-win situation. We’ve been looking for one like this. We’ve been close couple times and just haven’t been able to get over the hump. That was huge.”

Over his last three games, Farmer has scored 77 points and gone 29-of-38 from the foul line. He’s averaging 19.6 ppg this season and is a 77-percent shooter from the line. He’s now 35 points shy of 1,000 points of his career, a feat he’s likely to get Tuesday against Salem Tech. His father and coach scored over 1,700 points in his prep career at St. Augustine and 1,000 later at Rutgers.

“He’s a senior, he’s put his time in,” his dad said. “The basketball gods, they reward you for doing the right things. I tell my kids that all the time, play the right way, do the right things, you’ll be rewarded. Ant is just one of those kids who puts the time in, puts the work in and the basketball gods are just shining that light on him to reward the kid.”

The Rams scored 35 points in the fourth quarter. In addition to Farmer’s eruption, Jabez DeJesus had 11 of his 24 in the fourth and Paul Weathers had six of his 13 in it. DeJesus also was 6-for-6 from the line in the quarter.

It was their highest-scoring quarter since putting 36 on Clayton in the first quarter of a wild 111-105 win on Jan. 2, 2020. It was the second time they’ve scored 30 in a quarter this season and the fifth time in the last three years.

SALEM 83, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 76
SALEM (9-6) – Anthony Farmer 9 17-25 36, Ramaji Bundy 1 0-0 2, Jabez DeJesus 8 6-6 24, Paul Weathers 5 3-3 13, Tymear Lecator 1 1-2 3, Xavier McGriff 0 0-0 0, Antwon Rodgers 0 0-0 0, Marshall Stephens 2 0-0 4, Joseph Tunis 0 1-2 1, Davonte Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 28-38 83.
CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER (11-4) – Julius Dominguez 8 7-10 25, Daniel Casasola 5 4-5 14, Joseph Devine 4 3-7 11, Michael Morton 4 3-4 12, Kamar Goodhall 5 2-5 14, Omar Quinones 0 0-0 0, Marcus Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 19-31 76.

Salem	18	13	17	35 –	83
Camden Acad. Charter	20	18	19	19 –	76

Chasing 1,000

PLAYER	TEAM	TOTAL	NEEDS
Anthony Farmer	Salem	965	35
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	926	74
Talia Battavio	Woodstown	923	77
Meely Horace	Penns Grove	928	72