Salem senior puts up 36 for second straight game, reaches milestone at home in fourth quarter; Pennsville’s Brooklyn-born bomber has breakout game in Eagles win
MONDAY’S BOYS SCORES
Pennsville 68, Gateway 46
Salem 96, Penns Grove 52
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM — Anthony Farmer wanted to get his 1,000th career point Monday night in the worst of ways — and for a lot of reasons.
The game against Penns Grove was at home in front of all his friends, fans and family. And it was against a respected county rival. If he could pull it off, chances are it would have come in another victory to move his Salem basketball team forward and, after weeks of it dangling out there, the chase would finally be over and they all could starting thinking of bigger things.
But 35 points is a big ask, especially in a rivalry. That’s what he needed coming into the game. Yet he was confident.
The senior guard got his 35 Monday and then some. He maxed out at 36 — for the second game in a row — in the Rams’ 96-52 win.
“I wanted to get it tonight bad,” he said, while his teammates hovered around chanting 1K, 1K as he spoke. “This is a rivalry game. Since my sophomore year these games are big. We always look forward to playing Penns Grove and I really wanted it here at home against them.
“(The milestone) has been on my mind for weeks now, so I’m excited to get it over with and move on with the season. We’ve got a whole lot of season left. I know my dad’s (Rams coach Anthony Farmer) happy to get it out the way. I’m done talking about it. We can move on now.”
Anticipation for the milestone built throughout the second half, especially after Farmer scored 17 in the first half to cut his target in half. It was absolutely tingling after he scored eight straight points for his team across the third and fourth quarters to get the target within single digits.
About the only disappointing part of it all was he got the historic point on a mundane free throw with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter when he was fouled driving to the basket after missing two 3-pointers.
Both teams retreated to mid-court when Farmer went to the line standing at 999, partly out of respect for the player and the moment and partly because there was a technical foul called right after the original foul.
When he drained the first of the free throws — there were four altogether — for points 35 and 1,000, he raised his arms in relief and triumph and the crowd rushed the floor. The mass of humanity eventually carried him into a dogpile in the corner of the gym near the DJ stand. There were T’s for that, too.
“It was just a great moment; one he’ll remember forever,” Coach Farmer said. “And it wasn’t scripted.”
“It happened all so fast,” young Anthony said. “Like snapping your finger, I’m crowded.”
Farmer’s heart still was racing when order was restored and he returned to the line with free throws to take. He’s a good free throw shooter as it is — 78 percent this year — and was working on 11 in a row and 24 of his last 25 at the time of his 1,000th point, but understandably he was short on the second free throw and the first tech.
But he added point 1,001 to complete the sequence and retired for the evening cheering enthusiastically from the bench while the rest of his teammates attempted to break the scoreboard. The Rams had 90 points with three minutes left in the game.
“I’m really happy about it; he deserved it,” said teammate Jabez DeJesus, one of the first to mob him after the milestone point. “I was really excited because I assisted a lot of those points of his. It means a lot. Now his name is going to be on the banner up there so it means a lot to the city, the school. I’m happy for him.”
The milestone might have been on everyone’s mind, but so was the game. The Rams were looking to extend their season winning streak to three games and winning streak against county competition to 12 straight. (Penns Grove was the last county team to beat them, Feb. 16, 2021). Farmer the player admitted he wanted to be “a little more aggressive than usual” because of the circumstances, but everything he did in the high-scoring night was done within the context of the game.
He wasn’t forcing shots. If he were all about getting the points he needed for the milestone he would’ve taken it to the hole both times he made steals at midcourt on the back of that eight-point second-half run. Instead, he fed Xavier McGriff and Tymear Lecator for fast-break layups that extended the Rams’ lead.
“I wasn’t concerned about that,” his father said. “I’ve been telling him if you go out there and you don’t play the right kind of basketball you’re going to sit next to me. The 1,000 will come. We’re trying to string together wins, we’re trying to play the right way of basketball to get ready for next month, to try to make a run in Group I; that’s our goal.
“I didn’t think he’d actually do it tonight, but we realized at halftime he was halfway there, so he went for it.”
Farmer is the 27th player in Salem history to reach the milestone, 17th boy, and first since Gage Ausland in 2020.
And he’s the second player in his house with 1,000. His father and coach, Anthony Farmer, scored more than 1,700 points at St. Augustine as a high schooler and 1,000 at Rutgers.Little Anthony was at the game dad scored his 1000th for Rutgers (against DePaul), so it was only fitting his dad was there when he made it.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” the elder Farmer said. “I don’t know how many duos in South Jersey, father-son, (have done it), let alone I had a chance to coach the kid to his 1,000; it’s really special. It’s a great honor. He gets to go down with some of the greats in the state. I’m proud of the kid.”
SALEM 96, PENNS GROVE 52
PENNS GROVE (5-11) – Brandon Robbins 2 0-0 5, Roman Gipson 1 1-4 3, Giomar Conrad 2 2-6 6, KaRon Ceaser 2 3-6 7, Willie Slocum 2 4-6 8, Mekhi Ballard 4 1-2 12, Camron Thompson 0 0-2 0, Luis Colon 1 0-0 2, Mr Peterson 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 1 2-4 5, Will Roe 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 13-30 52.
SALEM (10-6) – Anthony Farmer 11 12-14 36, Ramaji Bundy 1 0-0 2, Jabez DeJesus 5 1-2 14, Paul Weathers 3 0-2 6, Tymear Lecator 7 3-3 20, Xavier McGriff 2 0-0 4, Donovan Weathers 1 0-0 2, Antwone Rogers 0 0-0 0, Marshall Stephens 0 0-0 0, Cole Sayers 2 2-2 6, Davonte Jackson 2 0-0 6. Totals 34 18-23 96.
| Penns Grove | 14 | 10 | 12 | 16 – | 52 |
| Salem | 22 | 24 | 25 | 25 – | 96 |
PENNSVILLE 68, GATEWAY 46: The Eagles have been waiting for Jayden Thomas, their Brooklyn-born bomber, to have a game like this. The senior put 25 points on the hapless Gators (1-16) to help his team snap a four-game road losing streak.
Thomas had put together three straight double-figure games last week, but his big night Monday beat his previous Pennsville best by eight points. It was a painful night in some respects, however, as he rolled an ankle late in the game and left on crutches.
Pennsville junior Luke Wood, the first Salem County player to reach the 1,000-point mark this season, added to his total with 18 points.
PENNSVILLE 68, GATEWAY 46
PENNSVILLE (7-10) – Luke Wood 7 2-3 18, Jayden Thomas 9 5-7 25, Peyton O’Brien 2 3-7 7, Mason O’Brien 4 1-3 9, Cohen Petrutz 3 0-0 6, Connor Starn 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 11-20 68.
GATEWAY (1-16) – A’Key Talley 2 1-4 5, Peter Frombach 2 1-4 5, Benji Bontarino 2 0-0 4, Steven Moriachetta 4 0-0 8, Sean Simmons 8 3-5 22, Sean Cawley 1 0-1 2. Totals 19 5-14 46.
| Pennsville | 10 | 13 | 25 | 20 – | 68 |
| Gateway | 12 | 11 | 10 | 20 – | 46 |
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