Friday boys basketball

Penns Grove turns back several Woodstown rallies, wins a thriller; Salem remains unbeaten, Pennsville, Schalick fall

FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Penns Grove 63, Woodstown 55
Salem 67, Salem Tech 27
Glassboro 65, Pennsville 51
Overbrook 75, Schalick 41

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Without an experienced senior who plays appreciative minutes, several new players to incorporate into its style of play and an otherwise athletic but young roster, the Penns Grove basketball team is “learning on the fly” this early portion of the season.

Last year with a senior-laden team it took a while to find the right combination and coach Damian Ware’s lineups changed virtually every game. What the Red Devils learned Friday night was how to handle business down the stretch in a close game of a high-intensity rivalry.

Penns Grove withstood several charges from Woodstown, including a stretch in which the Wolverines took a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter down to two with a little more than two minutes to play, before finally putting them away 63-55 for its first win of the season.

“That’s just the maturation process of a team that’s learning how to play varsity basketball on the fly,” Ware said. “Only two of my guys have played varsity minutes so we’re learning on the fly. 

“We grew up a little bit tonight. What I learned (about his team) tonight is we can make some clutch plays down the stretch.”

The Red Devils (1-1) built leads in every quarter with fast starts on the restarts, but each time the Wolverines (0-2) came back.

Penns Grove scored the first seven points of the game, but it was tied 13-all at quarter’s end and was only 26-25 at halftime. The Red Devils opened the second half with a 13-2 run, but by the end of the third quarter led only 45-44.

They had a 10-point lead after Robbins’ flying follow with 6:02 to play, but Woodstown chipped away again and got it back to 56-54 with two minutes left when Blake Bialecki hit two technical free throws after Ware was teed up for being out on the floor all because the officials couldn’t/didn’t hear his frantic pleas for a time out. 

The tech got Woodstown with a bucket and it had a shot on the ensuing possession, but it also fired up the Red Devils. They outscored the Wolverines 7-1 the rest of the way. 

“When our coach got the tech, that’s when everything started getting fired up,” Ceaser said. “We started getting our coach’s back because we’re a family, a brotherhood. It put more fire in the team to get the win. As a team we back each other’s play.”

“I’m not going to make that a habit,” Ware said of his T as a tool of motivation.

Brandin Robbins led Penns Grove with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Roman Gipson had 12, including a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left that put the Red Devils up six. KaRon Ceaser had nine points and led the Red Devils’ defensive effort down the stretch.

In every case the Red Devils used the press, a smothering trap and quick hands to create turnovers that they turned into baskets.

“My defense was great,” Ware said. “I don’t know what the numbers were, but I know we didn’t give up many shots. We let (Rocco) String get some putbacks, but he’s 6-7, he’s a big, strong kid, so he’s going to get that. What I told my guys was we wanted to limit that as much as possible.”

String did everything he could to bring the Wolverines back when they fell behind. He finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. He blocked back-to-back shots, grabbed a rebound off a missed Penns Grove free throw and had a putback basket all in the space of about 30 seconds late in the third quarter rally.

Braydon Hall had 16 points and hit four big 3-pointers during the Wolverines’ various rallies.

“We played hard, we just didn’t make enough plays in the end,” said Woodstown coach Ramon Roots, still looking for his first win as a head coach. “If we made just a few more plays we would have won the game today, but we played tough. We played very tough today.”

PENNS GROVE (1-1) – Brandin Robbins 6 0-0 15, Roman Gipson 4 3-4 12, KaRon Ceaser 4 1-2 9, Will Roy 1 0-0 2, Jameel Horace 3 2-6 9, Geonni Conrad 1 0-0 3, Antoine Robinson 1 0-2 2, Haneef Frisbee 5 1-2 11. Totals 25 7-14 63.
WOODSTOWN (0-2) – Garrett Leyman 0 2-2 2, Eli Caesar 4 0-1 8, Rocco String 9 0-0 18, Blake Bialecki 3 2-2 9, Braydon Hall 6 0-0 16, M.J. Hall 0 0-0 0, Alejandro Vazquez 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-12 55.

Penns Grove13131918-63
Woodstown13121811-55

3-point goals: Penns Grove 6 (Robbins 3, Gipson, Conrad, Horace); Woodstown 5 (Bialecki, B. Hall 4). Rebounds: Woodstown 55 (String 15). Technical fouls: Horace, B. Hall, PG coach Ware. Fouled out: Frisbee, B. Hall. Total fouls: Penns Grove 18, Woodstown 21.

SALEM 67, SALEM TECH 27: Tymere Lecator and Neziah Spence each scored 15 points and dished seven assists as the Rams won their third straight game. Deshaan Williams added 10 points and Antwuan Rogers grabbed 10 rebounds.

SALEM TECH (0-3) – Daviontae Russell 3 0-0 6, Ayden Myers 1 0-0 2, Joseph Hayes 1 1-3 3, Conner Dougan 2 0-0 5, Larry Pompper 2 1-2 5, Aiden Bobo 1 0-0 2, Logan Pace 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 0-0 4, Reed 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 2-5 27.
SALEM (3-0) – Tymear Lecator 7 0-0 15, Antwuan Rogers 4 2-2 10, Deshaan Williams 5 0-0 10, Xavier McGriff 4 1-2 9, Neziah Spence 6 1-2 15, Donovan Weathers 2 0-2 4, Joe Tunis 0 2-2 2, Kyaire Parsons 0 0-0 0, Cole Sayers 0 0-0 0, Harlem Parsons 1 0-0 2, Giovanni Tuvale 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 6-10 67.

Salem Tech26613-27
Salem18112018-67

3-point goals: Salem Tech (Dougan); Salem 3 (Lecator, Spence 2). Rebounds: Salem 34 (Rogers 10). Total fouls: Salem Tech 10, Salem 12.

GLASSBORO 65, PENNSVILLE 51: Xavier Sabb scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter, highlighted by three spectacular dunks, to stake the Bulldogs to a lead they maintained the rest of the game. Glassboro’s Maurice Davis led all scorers with 20 points. After trailing by 10 at halftime, the Eagles cut their deficit to seven with four minutes to play. Giovanni Rios led Pennsville with 13 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

GLASSBORO (1-2) – Hakim Theresa 1 0-0 2, Xavier Sabb 8 2-4 18, Aiden Harris 4 3-4 11, Maurice Davis 10 0-2 20, Davon Barr 2 4-6 8, Alex Adeleye 2 0-0 4, Marley Crowl 1 2-2 4. Totals 28 11-18 65.
PENNSVILLE (0-2) – Giovanni Rios 6 1-2 13, Perry Meranti 3 1-2 7, Cole Johnston 3 1-3 8, Logan Hitt 1 0-0 3, Mason O’Brien 2 2-3 7, Daniel Knight 2 0-0 5, Shiloh Jefferson 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 5-10 51.

Glassboro17161418-65
Pennsville12111513-51

3-point goals: Pennsville 5 (Johnston 2, Hitt, O’Brien, Knight). Rebounds: Pennsville 24 (Rios 9). Total fouls: Glassboro 11, Pennsville 12

OVERBROOK 75, SCHALICK 41: Lamar Little led three Overbrook scorers in double figures with 15 points as the Rams picked up their first win of the season. Zair Green added 14 and Xavier Wright 12. Sherrod Jones led Schalick with 14 points.
 
SCHALICK (1-2) – Reggie Allen 3 0-0 8, Nylan Sutton 4 4-7 12, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 2, Justin Iacona 1 1-1 3, Sherrod Jones 5 1-1 14, Jamari Whitley 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-9 
OVERBROOK (1-1) – Lamar Little 7 0-0 15, Xavier Wright 4 4-4 12, Zair Green 6 2-2 14, Elvin Santiago 3 0-0 6, Bilal Robinson 3 0-0 8, JR Stanley 1 0-0 3, Angel Bermudez 2 0-0 5, Jayden Wilkerson 1 0-0 2, Jaden St. John 3 0-0 6, Kyle Johns 2 0-0 4. Totals 32 6-6 75.
3-point goals: Schalick 5 (Allen 3, Jones 3); Overbrook 5 (Little, Robinson 2, Stanley, Bermudez).

Leave a comment