Rising above the noise

Penns Grove distances itself from the distractions, beats Schalick as only Salem County winner of the night

TUESDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Glassboro 68, Pennsville 56
Gloucester Catholic 64, Salem 41
Overbrook 52, Woodstown 35
Penns Grove 53, Schalick 45
Wildwood 84, Salem Tech 38

By Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – There was a lot going on inside the Hyper-Baric Chamber that is Penns Grove’s gym Tuesday night, but the Red Devils rose above the din and put away Schalick 53-45 to remain in the hunt for a first-round home playoff game in the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

The win left the Red Devils (8-12) in ninth place in SJ-I power points standings, 18 points behind eighth with only two games against Diamond Division county rivals fighting for a playoff spot before Saturday’s cutoff left. The top eight teams draw first-round home games.

“I don’t know if we can get up to having a home game, we’ll see what happens,” Red Devils coach Damian Ware said. “We want to try to get at least one home game. I won’t say that’s a goal, but the goal is to get home games in the playoffs. Since we had a slow start, if we can finish strong and get at least one home game then it’ll be great.”

There was a lot to distract the Red Devils from the task at hand. There were activities involving the cheerleaders, at halftime senior girls player Meely Horace was recognized for scoring her 1,000th career point at earlier in the day, and it was Senior Night, meaning a senior-heavy starting lineup that isn’t necessarily their SOP.

The Red Devils were slow out of the gate with the honor lineup and fell behind 10-5, but eventually the senior regulars emerged and they pulled away.

Giomar Conrad and Mehki Ballard led Penns Grove with 23 and 19 points, respectively. Conrad hit three straight 3s in the second quarter and it sparked a 23-8 run that gave the Red Devils the lead.

“That was two seniors who stepped up on Senior Night,” Ware said. “Back in the day they always played big on Senior Night.”

Daniel Lis led Schalick with 16 points. Jake Siedlecki hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12.

PENNS GROVE 53, SCHALICK 45
SCHALICK (7-11) – Daniel Lis 6-4-16, Reggie Allen 0-4-4, Nasir Sutton 3-0-6, Nylan Sutton 2-1-5, Jake Siedlecki 5-0-12, Jordan Johnson 1-0-2. Totals 17-9-45.
PENNS GROVE (8-12) – Brandon Robbins 0-2-2, Roman Gipson 0-1-1, Giomar Conrad 9-2-23, KaRon Ceaser 0-1-1, Willie Slocum 1-0-2, Mehki Ballard 6-4-19, Camren Thompson 0-0-0, Khiry Higgs 0-1-1, Mr Peterson 2-0-4. Totals 18-11-53.

Schalick108189 –45
Penns Grove5231510 –53
3-point goals: Schalick 2 (Siedlecki 2); Penns Grove 6 (Conrad 3, Ballard 3).

OVERBROOK 52, WOODSTOWN 35: The Rams used an 8-0 run to pull away from an early tie and then held Woodstown without a field goal 10 and a half minutes in the second half to secure their sixth straight win and clinch their sixth straight divisional title.

The teams slugged it out early with Woodstown rallying to earn a 14-14 tie midway through the second quarter before the Rams took control with an 8-0 run. The Wolverines got back to within four on Rocco String’s put back with 10 seconds left in the first half, but they didn’t hit another field goal until String’s bucket in the paint with 5:38 left in the game.

The Wolverines were 0-for-7 with five turnovers in the stretch. Their only points came on five free throws.

“At halftime we challenged them defensively to (give) a little bit more effort and energy in winning those 50-50 balls and keeping them off the glass,” Overbrook coach Donny Lang said. “I know we went a pretty long time with maybe letting them only score maybe three points to close to a quarter. It was more of their energy and effort that stepped up in the second half.”

During their current run of division titles, the Rams have won four straight Tri-County Diamond Division titles and two Colonial Conference Patriot Division crowns before that.

“That was one of our goals, to put up another banner,” Lang said. “I like to look up at that banner, make sure our number’s there.”

OVERBROOK 52, WOODSTOWN 35
OVERBROOK (17-5) – Shaun Mills 5 2-2 13, Chris Grier 0 1-2 1, Nic Johnson 4 0-1 9, Lamar Little 3 0-0 7, Zair Green 4 2-3 11, Amare Kee 1 0-0 3, Maki Ortiz 1 0-0 2, Xavier Wright 0 0-0 0, Kevin Satchell 3 0-0 6, Jaden St. John 0 0-0 0, Tory Scott 0 0-0 0, Angel Bermudez 0 0-0 0, Elvin Santiago 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-8 52.
WOODSTOWN (10-8) – Manny Ortega 0 1-2 1, Blake Bialecki 0 2-2 2, Alejandro Vazquez 1 0-0 2, M.J. Hall 2 2-2 6, Connor Sanderson 0 0-0 0, Garrett Leyman 1 1-2 3, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 2, Max Webb 4 0-3 10, Rocco String 3 2-2 8, Elijah Caesar 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 9-15 35.
Overbrook12121612 –52
Woodstown6123 14 –35
3-point goals: Overbrook 5 (Mills, Johnson, Little, Green, Kee); Woodstown 2 (Webb 2). Total fouls: Overbrook 15, Woodstown 12.

GLASSBORO 68, PENNSVILLE 56
GLASSBORO (10-11) – Xavier Sabb 7 0-3 15, Charles Graves 9 3-3 24, Clinton Suggs 5 1-4 14, Michael Dougherty 2 0-0 5, Josh Buff 1 0-2 3, Tashean Thomas 0 0-0 0, Marley Crout 1 0-0 2, Jayce Grays2 1-1 5.
PENNSVILLE (9-13) – Luke Wood 8-21 0-0 17, Peyton O’Brien 1-6 1-2 3, Daniel Saulin 7-9 4-4 18, Cohen Petrutz 3-6 1-2 9, Mason O’Brien 3-6 2-2 6, Connor Starn 0-2 1-2 1, Cole Johnston 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 9-12 56.
Glassboro16182014 –68
Pennsville1271817 –56
3-point goals: Glassboro 9 (Sabb, Groves 3, Suggs 3, Daugherty, Buff); Pennsville 3-21 (Johnston 0-3, Starn 0-2 M. O’Brien 0-1, Petrutz 2-3, P. O’Brien 0-1, Wood 1-11). Fouled out: M. O’Brien, Saulin. Total fouls: Glassboro 13, Pennsville 16

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 64, SALEM 41
SALEM (13-7) – Anthony Farmer 3 9-10 16, Ramaji Bundy 3 0-0 5, Tymear Lecator 2 0-0 4, Jabez DeJesus 2 0-0 5, Marshall Stephens 4 0-0 8. Totals 14 9-10 41.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (13-8) – Carlos Mendez 3 7-8 13, Jack Mustaro 4 0-0 12, Trey Battle 2 10-12 14, Kyle Guldin 6 3-6 15, Billy Ginipro 1 0-0 3, JonCarlo Coia 1 0-0 2, Nick Calzonetti 1 0-0 2, Ethan Dugue 1 1-2 3, Brody Gates 0 0-0 0, Jack Pund 0 0-0 0, Kybron Ricks 0 0-0 0, Danny Zellner 0 0-0 0, Jordan Mendez 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 21-28 64.
Salem811148 –41
Gloucester Catholic9161920 –64
3-point goals: Salem 4 (Farmer, Bundy 2, DeJesus); Gloucester Catholic 5 (Mustaro 4, Ginipro).

WILDWOOD 84, SALEM TECH 38
SALEM TECH (2-16) – Chase Wills 2 0-0 4, Haneef Frisby 4 1-1 9, Joseph Hayes 1 0-2 2, Daviontae Russell 2 0-0 4, Tyler Zampino 2 2-3 6, Antoine Robinson 3 4-4 11, Gio Holmes 1 0-0 2, Charlie Brown 0 0-0 0, Chase Ayers 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-10 38.
WILDWOOD (12-9) – Junior Hans 6 1-1 13, Ryan Troiano 2 0-0 6, Jordan Dozier 0 2-2 2, Jordan Fusik 3 0-0 9, Brian Cunniff 2 1-2 5, Josh Pintella 1 1-4 3, Haney Buscham 3 0-0 8, Lukas Basile 3 0-0 8, James Wyers 6 1-2 15, Keynan Alston 1 2-2 4, Nolan Mawhinney 1 0-0 2, Trevor Troiano 1 0-0 3, R.J. Blanda 1 0-0 2, Burke Fitzsimmons 0 0-0 0, Lance Lillo 2 0-0 4. Totals 32 8-13 84.
Salem Tech741215 –38
Wildwood25172616 –84
3-point goals: Salem Tech 1 (Robinson); Wildwood 12 (R. Troiano 2, Jordan Fusik 3, Buscham 2, Basile 2, Ayers 2, T. Troiano). Rebounds: Salem Tech 23 (Robinson 8); Wildwood 28 (Wears 4). Total fouls: Salem Tech 9, Wildwood 7.

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