Schalick boys, Salem girls fall in post-Christmas events; full schedule for county Friday, listed below
BOYS GAMES
West Deptford Holiday Tournament
Absegami 54, Lindenwold 49
West Deptford 61, Schalick 55
GIRLS GAME
Wildwood Boardwalk Classic
Millville 49, Salem 25
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WEST DEPTFORD — It’s tough being the team that plays the host in a holiday tournament. The home team is wanting to play in the championship to enhance the gate and it isn’t going to schedule the perceived next strongest team in the field in the opening round to increase the chances of that happening.
So you know what that leaves.
Schalick was no easy out for host West Deptford in its Holiday Tournament Thursday. It may have started out that way with the Cougars falling behind 19 in the second quarter and down 17 in the third, but they rallied to draw within one inside of 2:30 left before falling 66-51.
The Cougars (1-3) will play Lindenwold (2-2) in the consolation game at the RiverWinds Community Center Friday at noon. West Deptford (2-1) will play Absegami (3-0) for the championship at 4.
“(It was just) execution,” Schalick coach James Turner said. “The guys, when they execute correctly then they’ll be all right. It’s just the consistency of execution is what we need to work on.
“And they work hard. They put everything they’ve got out there in practice, they’re paying attention and we’ve just got to translate what we go over at practice into games and just make sure we execute for 32 minutes and not just eight minutes.”
The press had given Schalick fits all season and although the one Thursday shouldn’t have caused the Cougars the problems it did, they said, it got away from them too quickly. Turner cited a lack of preparation for it because of the holiday weekend had a little bit to do with it.
The Cougars turned it over in the press and trap 10 of their first 15 possessions and the Eagles raced to a 23-8 lead. It was 32-13 midway through the second quarter and 40-23 early in the third before Cougars began to rally.
They made a small adjustment to the press in the second half and executed better. They had only six turnovers in the second half.
Once they broke the press, they worked on their half-court offense. Jase Volovar hit two 3-pointers and had eight points in an 18-3 run that made it a one-possession game with 1:30 left in the third quarter. He scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
“We worked as a team and just played very hungry, jumping on the floor for the ball … to make them go crazy and get them to turn it over,” leading scorer Nylan Sutton said. “I told the team we’ve got to have the intensity, we’ve got to come out like dogs, we’ve really got to play your hardest the rest of the game.”
Sutton didn’t just talk the talk. He led the Cougars with 16 points and 17 rebounds. He had nine rebounds in the second half and two important baskets in the middle of the fourth quarter to keep them in it when it looked like the Eagles were going to pull away again.
“I knew I had to step up,” he said. “I just really wanted that win. There comes a point in time where you get tired of losing and that’s really my mindset coming into the game, like I’m going to give it my all.”
“Nylan loves basketball,” Turner said. “He was out for the first few weeks of practice where he wasn’t allowed to have contact with the ball (recovering from a football injury). Now that he’s back, he’s a big part of it.
“He brings the emotion to our team. He puts everything out there on the court when he plays, even in practice. The guys respond to him and try to keep up with his passion for the game.”
The Cougars just couldn’t get ahead. They got the margin down to one, 54-53, on Jamari Whitley’s 3-pointer with 2:21 to play. But West Deptford’s Michael Joseph answered it with a layup down low and the Cougars didn’t score again until Whitley beat the buzzer with a layup for the final margin. They missed three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in between.
Carter Watson led West Deptford with 17 points. Nick Senatore and Joseph had 13 points apiece.
WEST DEPTFORD 61, SCHALICK 55
SCHALICK (1-3) – Nylan Sutton 7 2-4 16, Jase Volovar 4 1-4 11, Justin Iacona 1 0-0 2, Sherrod Jones 3 0-0 6, Reggie Allen 3 2-2 10, Jamari Whitley 3 1-2 8, Shawn Kelly 0 0-0 0, Nick Ashwell 0 0-0 0, Kade Camon 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 6-12 55.
WEST DEPTFORD (2-1) – Nick Senatore 4 4-5 13, Kyree Eason 2 1-2 6, T.J. Cross 2 3-4 8, Anthony Martello 0 0-0 0, Curtis Pearson 1 2-2 4, Braeden Warren 0 0-0 0, Carter Watson 6 4-5 17, Michael Joseph 5 3-5 13, Cole Stanish 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 17-23 61.
| Schalick | 11 | 12 | 18 | 14– | 55 |
| West Deptford | 24 | 14 | 10 | 13– | 61 |
3-point goals: Schalick 5 (Volovar 2, Allen 2, Whitley); West Deptford 4 (Senatore, Eason, Cross, Watson). Fouled out: Volovar, Senatore. Total fouls: Schalick 21, West Deptford 15.
GIRLS GAME
MILLVILLE 49, SALEM 25: The Rams fell behind 17-2 in the first quarter at the Wildwood Convention Center and never recovered. Carlysia Pierce led Salem with 12 points. Millville’s Jaylynn Jones led all scorers with 14.
SALEM (0-3) – Marcela Villapando 2 0-0 4, Shyla Parsons 0 0-0 0, Zaniyah Frieson 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Hickman 2 0-0 4, Carlysia Pierce 5 0-0 12, Dakirah Gray 0 0-0 0, Madison 1 3-4 5. Totals 10 3-4 25.
MILLVILLE (1-4) – Brianee Edwards 6 1-2 13, Jaylynn Jones 7 0-3 14, Naomi Burkhart 3 1-3 8, Angeliya Cephas 2 1-2 5, Shaylynn Kelly 0 0-0 0, Aphrea Robinson 1 0-2 2, Rahnasia Casper 2 0-0 4, Kamya Smith 0 1-2 1, Edith Selby 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 4-14 49.
| Schalick | 2 | 7 | 7 | 9– | 25 |
| Millville | 17 | 17 | 9 | 6– | 49 |
3-point goals: Salem 2 (Pierce 2); Millville 1 (Burkhart).
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
GIRLS GAMES
Pennsville at Buena, 10 a.m.
Audubon Tournament
Penns Grove vs. Deptford, 12:30 p.m.
Cedar Creek vs. Audubon, 3:30 p.m.
ACIT Holiday Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, noon
ACIT vs. GCIT, 3 p.m.
Haddon Twp. Tournament
Woodstown vs. Cherry Hill East, 10:30 a.m.
Pennsauken vs. Haddon Twp., 12:30 p.m.
Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Bridgeton, 11:30 a.m.
BOYS GAMES
Penns Grove at Delsea, 9:30 a.m.
Pennsville at Buena, noon
Salem vs. Westampton Tech at Deslea, 5 p.m.
West Deptford Holiday Tournament
At RiverWinds Community Center
Consolation game: Schalick vs. Lindenwold, noon
Championship game: Absegami vs. West Deptford, 4 p.m.
ACIT Holiday Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 9:30 a.m.
ACIT vs. GCIT, 1:30 p.m.
Warrior Holiday Classic
At New Egypt
Woodstown vs. Pinelands, 12:30 p.m.
Steinert vs. New Egypt, 3:30 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 