Penns Grove did everything it could Friday to give it a chance to get a home playoff game, didn’t get outside help it needed and likely will be on the road; Pennsville thinks it’s in, but position hinges on Saturday’s results’ Woodstown, Same Tech also win
FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Penns Grove 59, Schalick 36
Woodstown 77, Buena 22
Paulsboro 63, Pennsville 55
Salem Tech 64, Cape May Tech 53
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Damian Ware left the Schalick gym Friday evening comfortable in the knowledge his Penns Grove basketball team did everything it in its power to put itself in position to get a first-round playoff game. Now it was up to other games around the region to cooperate.
The Red Devils scored their fourth win in a row with their second win over the Cougars in four days, 59-36. It’s a result they figured they needed to move into the top eight of the South Jersey Group I power points standings to secure a first-round home game in the playoffs.
Their job done, all they needed now was a LEAP Academy victory over Palmyra and they could start printing home playoff tickets. But about a half hour after they left the building, the Red Devils learned Palmyra had won, leaving them once again on the outside looking for some mathematical help.
“Our goal was to win four games this week and we accomplished that goal,” Ware said immediately after the game and before the LEAP-Palmyra result was posted. “Right now we did what we had to do, everything else it out of our hands, so you just got to let the chips fall where they may.
“But I’m proud of the way my guys played today. A four-game week is a tough week and we stepped up and played hard. We played great defensively today; held them down. We did what we had to do, we did our part, now hopefully LEAP does their part.”
The win in Burlington County sent Palmyra soaring up the standings, all the way into a tie for sixth with Glassboro, leaving the Red Devils still ninth, eight points behind Woodbury.
The state cutoff is Saturday, then the final cross checks and calculations are made before the standings become official. Woodbury has a game against a 15-win Paul VI team in the opening round of the Camden County Tournament and the chance to pick up more power points before the deadline. Penns Grove is done until next week’s Tri-County Conference Tournament.
Once the results of Friday’s games started to hit, Ware resigned himself to the idea the Red Devils would be going on the road for the playoffs.
“We’ve got to be road warriors,” he said. “I was thinking the whole time we’re going to be on the road. I actually already kind of collected all of our home uniforms from most of the players. The whole time I was thinking we were going to be on the road, but hopeful we could get a home game. I was already kind of pre-planning to be on the road.
“We did all we could do. Now if we’d have won a couple games early in the season it would have been a no-brainer, but we kind of put ourselves in a position to where we had to hope for some other team’s help and if we didn’t get help, then we’d just have to do what we’ve got to do.”
Knowing they had to win to enhacing their position, the Red Devils controlled Friday’s game from the start. They opened with a Giomar Conrad 3, scored the first seven points of the game and led 20-7 early in the second quarter. They scored the last eight points of the second quarter for a 17-point halftime lead and led by 20 most of the second half.
“I think we’re doing great; the team chemistry is getting better,” post Willie Slocum said. “People have been doubting us, so it felt great to come together and be on this winning streak.”
The Red Devils haven’t won four in a row since starting the 2020-21 season 8-0.
Conrad led the Red Devils with 13 points – all in the first half. KaRon Ceaser had 11. Slocum and Camren Thompson also played big roles. Slocum had eight rebounds and Thompson, drawing his third start of the season in place of absent Mr Peterson, had four points in the first half, seven rebounds and several steals.
“I was just waiting my time, honestly,” Thompson said. “My time would come.”
PENNS GROVE (10-12) – Brandon Robbins 2 0-0 5, Roman Gipson 1 2-3 4, Giomar Conrad 6 0-0 13, Karon Ceaser 5 0-2 11, Willie Slocum 1 0-0 2, Mekhi Ballard 2 1-2 6, Camron Thompson 2 0-0 4, Luis Colon 3 0-1 6, Neziah Spence 2 0-0 5, Jameel Horace 1 1-4 3, Gionni Conrad C 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 4-12 59.
SCHALICK (7-13) – Reggie Allen 3 0-0 7, Daniel Lis 5 1-2 11, Nylan Sutton 3 0-4 6, Nasir Sutton 1 0-1 2, Jake Siedlecki 1 0-0 3, Jordan Johnson 0 0-2 0, Ryan Johnson 1 0-0 2, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 3, Dylan Sheehan 1 0-0 2, Nyzie Wonder 0 0-0 0, Sherrod Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 1-9 36.
| Penns Grove | 13 | 15 | 16 | 15 – | 59 |
| Schalick | 5 | 6 | 11 | 14 – | 36 |
PAULSBORO 63, PENNSVILLE 55: Pennsville coach Joe Mecholsky has done some quick calculations and believes his Eagles are in the 16-team South Jersey Group I playoff field, but where they fall won’t be decided until after Saturday’s cutoff.
The Eagles are currently 15th in standings, but likely will be 15 or 16 depending on the outcome of current No. 16 Burlington City’s game with Riverside. In any event, they’ll be on the road against one of the top seeds in the tournament. But at least they’re in.
“We had a chance to handle our business, we didn’t ,so now we let it fall as it may,” Mecholsky said. “We had three home games and one away game. We couldn’t close any of them out (going 0-4), so we deserve our fate.”
The Eagles made it a game despite missing 1,000-point scorer Luke Wood and Jayden Thomas with ankle injuries.
Throughout this recent spate of injuries, the Eagles have been playing through center Danny Saulin and the 6-8 senior delivered another solid game (19 points on 9-of-15 shooting, nine rebounds). Cohen Petrutz has his best game of the season, 18 points with three 3-pointers. They combined for 20 points in a 25-point third quarter that got them back in the game.
The Eagles led by one in the fourth quarter, then Paulsboro closed it out with an 8-0 run. Aiden Milligin hit a 3-pointer to get it started. Milligan scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
PENNSVILLE (9-15) – Peyton O’Brien 3-10 0-0 6, Daniel Saulin 9-15 1-4 19, Mason O’Brien 1-9 2-2 4, Cohen Petrutz 7-13 1-1 18, Cole Johnston 0-1 0-0 0, Connor Starn 2-3 0-0 6, Logan Hitt 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-54 4-7 55.
PAULSBORO (10-12) – Ty Hodges 2 3-4 7, Ryann Briscoe 4 0-1 9, Aiden Milligan 6 2-2 16, Antonio Pandolfo 7 0-0 17, Yan Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Eric Scott 4 2-2 10, Stephan Lane 0 0-0 0, Aaron Scott 0 0-0 0, Jamar Robinson 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 7-9 63.
| Pennsville | 13 | 6 | 25 | 11 – | 55 |
| Paulsboro | 10 | 22 | 15 | 16 – | 63 |
WOODSTOWN 77, BUENA 22: Connor Sanderson and Elijah Caesar both enjoyed career scoring nights and 11 players hit the scoring column as the Wolverines swamped winless Buena to solidify their spot in the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
Sanderson hit four 3-pointers and led the Wolverines with 14 points. He had scored only two points previously this season. Caesar scored 11 points, his first game in double figures.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 22-5 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 47-8 at halftime. Buena has lost 25 in a row over the last two seasons.
WOODSTOWN 77, BUENA 22
BUENA (0-22) – Carlo Spreng 1 0-0 3, Troy Gregory 2 0-0 6, Michael Letushko 1 0-2 2, Dominic Longona 1 0-0 3, Nathan Nieves-Medina 3 0-0 8. Totals 8 0-2 22.
WOODSTOWN (11-9) – Manny Ortega 4 0-0 8, Blake Bialecki 4 1-1 10, Alejandro Vazquez 1 0-0 3, M.J. Hall 2 0-0 5, Connor Sanderson 5 0-0 14, Garrett Leyman 1 0-0 3, Anthony Bokolas 2 0-0 5, Lucas Fulmer 2 0-0 4, Max Webb 4 0-0 8, Rocco String 3 0-0 6, Elijah Caesar 5 0-0 11. Totals 33 1-1 77.
| Buena | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 – | 22 |
| Woodstown | 22 | 25 | 12 | 18 – | 77 |
SALEM TECH 64, CAPE MAY TECH 53: The Chargers opened a 19-point halftime lead and held on through a barrage of Benjamin Lynch 3-pointers in the second half for their third win, one more than they had all last season.
Tyler Zampino hit five 3-pointers and matched his career-high (set Feb. 1 against Clayton) with 26 points. Antoine Robinson had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Haneef Frisby had nine points and 10 boards.
The Chargers led 36-17 at halftime, but Lynch got hot in the second half and hit six of his seven 3-pointers. he hit four of them in the fourth quarter, but the Chargers had enough of a cushion to close it out. They were 2-23 last year and are guaranteed to have won more and lost fewer this year.
“It’s big for me,” coach Bryan Riley said. “It’s exactly how we envisioned it going.
“Last year we had two guys returning with varsity experience .I knew that getting into the Tri-County (Conference) was going to be difficult (and) playing in the Classic Division, in my eyes, was even harder … It was a big task, but every day my boys come, strap up the boots and get to work.
“This year, the underclassmen are stepping up and the seniors are leading with their energy. Antoine (Robinson), Tyler (Zampino) and Haneef (Frisby) are all returning and putting up big numbers the back end of the season. There were a few close games this year that we were missing starters that I would have liked to have won (but) you live and learn.
“We have three games left. We are hoping to end the season strong.”
SALEM TECH (3-17) – Chase Wills 2 0-0 4, Haneef Frisby 3 3-3 9, Joseph Hayes 1 0-0 3, Josh Muntz 0 2-7 2, Daviontae Russell 0 1-2 1, Tyler Zampino 8 5-10 26, Antoine Robinson 3 8-9 16, Gio Holmes 0 0-0 0, Charlie Brown 1 0-0 3, Chase Ayers 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 19-31 64.
CAPE MAY TECH (2-19) – Tyler Dille 1 1-2 3, Colin Gery 1 4-4 6, Ronnie Neenhold 2 4-4 8, Lucas Woolcock 0 0-0 0, Benjamin Lynch 8 1-1 24, Austin Bigelow 0 0-0 0, Chance Ginyard 2 0-0 5, Trevor Frey 1 0-0 2, Alec Dooley 1 2-2 4, Paul Simmerman 0 1-2 1, Jimmy Richie 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-15 53.
| Salem Tech | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 – | 64 |
| Cape May Tech | 10 | 7 | 15 | 22 – | 53 |
South Jersey Group I
Top 16 Power Points
| (Games through Feb. 9; state cutoff Saturday) | ||
| TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| KIPP Cooper | 19-6 | 493 |
| Pitman | 18-6 | 461 |
| Salem | 14-7 | 393 |
| Wildwood | 13-9 | 388 |
| Audubon | 14-8 | 357 |
| Palmyra | 12-8 | 345 |
| Glassboro | 11-11 | 345 |
| Woodbury | 13-10 | 331 |
| Penns Grove | 10-12 | 323 |
| Paulsboro | 10-12 | 315 |
| Riverside | 10-12 | 288 |
| LEAP Academy | 13-9 | 279 |
| Woodstown | 11-9 | 262 |
| New Egypt | 7-12 | 249 |
| Pennsville | 9-15 | 235 |
| Burlington City | 4-18 | 208 |
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