Shannon shows second side

SJ Group I girls: Pierman powers Woodstown past Penns Grove and into semifinals; Pennsville falls to top-seeded Woodbury in Trapp’s final game as coach; includes Tri-County Diamond, Classic all-stars

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
GIRLS QUARTERFINALS
Woodbury 68, Pennsville 34
Woodstown 43, Penns Grove 32
Audubon 43, Maple Shade 35
Wildwood 51, Glassboro 40
THURSDAY’S SEMIFINALS
No. 4 Woodstown at No. 1 Woodbury, 4:30 p.m.
No. 6 Audubon at No. 2 Wildwood

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News 

WOODSTOWN — Coaches and teammates describe Shannon Pierman’s demeanor in her every day comings and goings as sweet, quiet, stoic, reserved, nice. They’re always the dangerous ones.

Cross her on the basketball court and that all changes.

Like that thing that happens whenever the Hulk gets mad, get under Pierman’s skin and she switches into beast mode and people better get out of the way.

The Woodstown senior’s personality changed dramatically in the fourth quarter Tuesday and by all accounts on both sides of the scorer’s table she was the difference in her team taking down Penns Grove 43-32 in the South Jersey Group I girls quarterfinals.

“She’s quiet, mature, but, man, don’t mess with her,” Wolverines coach Kara Straughn said. “She is our leader. She’s a constant. She’s so mature, so stoic, just quiet, but, man, if you come at her or somebody she cares about, it’s like she’s ready to go, but calmly.

“She’s emotionally mature. She knows when to give and take. She gets overshadowed by the other two (1,000-point scorers Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson), but she is our foundation. She keeps us together.”

The Wolverines (20-6) advance to play at top-seeded Woodbury in the semifinals Thursday. It will be against a Thundering Herd team without their best player, as point guard Maya Braxton-Young was ejected for a flagrant foul in her team’s quarterfinal win over Pennsville and by rule will not play.

Pierman got angry, too, but her ire had its limits. She had all her points and a double-double in the fourth quarter alone, dominating a 16-0 run that gave the Wolverines control of the game. Perhaps most out of character, she bowed up and went nose-to-nose with Zoey Ceasar in the lane after being fouled by the Penns Grove post going after an offensive rebound.

There was nothing calm about the response when the Wolverines’ foundation got rocked to her core. It seemed egregious enough to bring a technical foul, but instead she received only a warning for taunting. What followed it was vintage Pierman.

She made both free throws to extend the Wolverines lead and then wrapped seven more points around a Lauren Hengel basket before the Lady Devils ended their drought on Meely Horace’s runner with 2:42 to play. By then, Woodstown was up 41-27.

The decisive run actually got started with Battavio’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:33 left in the game. It was the Wolverines’ only 3 of the game. The junior guard added a basket on the next possession and then it was basically all Pierman, all starting with the confrontation with Ceasar.

“For a second I let the anger get to me,” Pierman admitted. “I heard her saying some stuff to me. I let it get the best of me for a second, but then I started thinking it’s my last home game I’ve got to get it together.

“I’d like to think I’m nice, I’m reserved. Usually I’m very good at keeping my cool and I try to be a good, kind person. That’s kind of just out of nowhere. I’m trying to go up and I just hear talking in my ear and I get fouled and my emotions got the best of me.”

“Out of all five of (her players on the floor) she was the one I least expected (to erupt),” Straughn said. “Obviously you don’t want them to be unsportsmanlike, but I’m proud of her for standing up for herself and standing up for her team. They’re a family and they’re going to protect each other and protect themselves. But like I said she knows when to put it on and cool off.”

Pierman finished with 10 points and 17 rebounds. It was her 11th double-double of the season and tenth in her last 13 games.

The win gave the Wolverines a third-straight 20-win season and fourth in the last five years, It also extended long winning streaks against Tri-County Conference Diamond Division (32) and Salem County opponents (29).

Penns Grove, the No. 12 seed, came into the game primed to pull off an upset and had things going its way in the first half. The Lady Devils held the Wolverines to only four points through the first 13 minutes of the game and once they established the lead successfully took the air out of the ball further frustrating their hosts.

Woodstown eventually started taking chances against the ploy and drew even at 13 with less than a minute left in the half before RaNiyah Wilson scored the last two buckets of the half to send the Lady Devils into the locker room with a four-point halftime lead.

Wilson led Penns Grove with 10 points. Horace had nine and finished her career with 1,063 points. Caesar was force in the paint early in the game and scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter.

The lead changed hands four more times before Woodstown went on the run the decided the game.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” Penns Grove coach Jennifer Denby said. “I’m glad that they came to play and let them know that they can play with anybody.”

WOODSTOWN 43, PENNS GROVE 32
PENNS GROVE (14-10) – RaNiyah Wilson 3 4-8 10, Meely Horace 4 0-0 9, Brianna Robbins 2 0-0 4, Zoey Caesar 4 1-5 9, Amani Taylor 0 0-0 0, Syanna Robbins 0 0-2 0, Semijah Hines 0 0-0 0, JaNiyah Cummings 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 5-15 32.
WOODSTOWN (20-6) – Talia Battavio 6 5-7 18, Megan Donelson 5 1-2 11, Gianna Maiorini 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Baber 0 0-0 0, Shannon Pierman 2 6-8 10, Lauren Hengel 2 0-0 4, Emma Perry 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-17 43.

Penns Grove	13	4	8	7  –	32
Woodstown	4	9	12	18 –	43

Eagles fall in Trapp’s finale

WOODBURY – Sam Trapp knew it was going to be emotional when she made the emotional announcement to her team five weeks ago, but is anyone ever really prepared for when the last game finally comes?

The Pennsville girls basketball coach knew her final game was coming at some point in this South Jersey Group I playoff season and it arrived Tuesday night when the Eagles were eliminated by top-seeded Woodbury in the quarterfinals 68-34.

Next month, Trapp will be leaving the school where she has been head soccer and basketball coach the last three years to become the athletics director at Triton Regional.

“I have so many emotions right now,” she said. “It’s just hard to know this is the last time you’ll be courtside. You start coaching because you’re so passionate about what you do, you’re so excited about the sport, you have a love for the sport and you love to see these kids grow and develop.

“Through that you just want to see so many great accomplishments and milestone. Of course, every coach dreams of being on the big stage and winning the big game and putting the trophy over your head.

“I just thought back to all those moments of what we’ve accomplished and what I was hoping we’d accomplish. We fell short today, but that doesn’t take away from the things that I’ve done and the hard work that I’ve put in and just how proud I am of what we have accomplished. I didn’t want to overly focus on this was the end, but grateful for all that’s happened throughout it.”

The game was manageable for about a quarter and a half. The Eagles trailed by seven after the first quarter, but the Thundering Herd steadily stretched the lead. It did get testy in the second half when Herd standout Maya Braxton-Young was ejected for a flagrant elbow against Pennsville’s Nora Ausland, a foul that likely will have her suspended for Thursday’s semifinal game with Woodstown.

Braxton-Young finished with 17 points to lead three Herd scorers in double figures. Abby Bush (16) and Dasani Talley-Dorrman (13) combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter. 

Ausland led Pennsville with 11 points and will go into next season needing 195 points for 1,000. Tri-County Diamond Division first-teamer Marley Wood had nine points and she’ll need 280 next season for the milestone.

Trapp never had a losing season in her three years with the basketball team. She was 15-11 each of her first two years and was hoping for better this season, but a series of midseason injuries limited this year’s team to 14-14. The Eagles were 8-5 after she told the team her plans on Jan. 26. Her last official function with the team is its awards night March 11.

“It didn’t shake out the way we had hoped and dreamed at the start of the season, but like I told the girls afterward we fought hard to get an 8-seed,” Trapp said. “We made that our goal so we could get a home playoff game; we did that. We got a win more than we did last season as far as the playoff run goes.

“They’re a great bunch of girls who have a lot of potential to be a solid program again next year if they stay healthy and keep working in the offseason. All you can really ask and hope for is that when it’s not going the way we hoped to turn it around and set new goals and keep working hard for those and I think we did just that.”

WOODBURY 68, PENNSVILLE 34
PENNSVILLE (14-14) – Calli Ausland 0 0-0 0, Nora Ausland 5 1-2 11, Taylor Bass 1 0-0 2, Karsen Cooksey 0 0-0 0, Bella Farina 2 0-2 4, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Izzy Saulin 4 0-0 8, Avery Watson 0 0-0 0, Marley Wood 3 3-4 9. Totals 15 4-8 34.
WOODBURY (18-10) – Abby Bash 6 3-4 16, Nyla Ivey 2 1-6 5, Maya Braxton-Young 6 4-5 17, Dasani Talley-Dorrman 4 5-5 13, Emerald Sills 3 1-3 7, Janessa Robinson 2 0-0 4, Melannie Noel 3 0-0 6, Zoe Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 14-23 68.

Pennsville	10	8	8	8  –	34
Woodbury	17	15	17	19 –	68

All-Tri-County Conference

DIAMOND DIVISION
FIRST TEAM	SCHOOL	SECOND TEAM	SCHOOL
Tamia Smith	Glassboro	Meely Horace	Penns Grove
Kezia Brackett	Glassboro	RaNiyah Wilson	Penns Grove
Talia Battavio	Woodstown	Nora Ausland	Pennsville
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	Shannon Pierman	Woodstown
Marley Wood	Pennsville	Zahaisha Nevis	Overbrook

CLASSIC DIVISION
FIRST TEAM	SCHOOL	SECOND TEAM	SCHOOL
Rainelle Blocker	Clayton	Jordyn Jones	Clayton
Jules DiFebbo	Glou. Cath.	Talia Shumate	Glou. Cath.
Jahzara Green	Glou. Cath.	Miya Villari	Pitman
Macie McCracken	Wildwood	Sophia Wilber	Wildwood
Angela Wilber	Wildwood	Rebecca Benichou	Wildwood