Woodstown wins Warriors Holiday Classic in New Egypt, Bialecki named MVP; also includes wrestling highlights
SATURDAY’S BOYS GAMES
ACIT Holiday Tournament
Consolation: GCIT 59, Salem Tech 13
Championship: ACIT 59, Camden Tech 48
Warrior Holiday Classic
Consolation: Pinelands 56, Steinert 49
Championship: Woodstown 65, New Egypt 48
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
NEW EGYPT – A new coach often means big changes to the program he takes over and one of the biggest benefactors of the changes new Woodstown basketball coach Ramon Roots brought into his program has been Blake Bialecki.
Roots recognized Bialecki’s value to the team early in the transition and green-lighted the junior as the prime shooter in his offense.
Bialecki justified the faith his coach placed in him with another big game Saturday, scoring a game-high 17 points and winning MVP honors as the Wolverines beat host New Egypt 65-49 to win the Warriors Holiday Classic for the second year in a row.
“It’s really just my coaches have a ton of confidence in me and they just want me to shoot the ball,” Bialecki said. “Them having that confidence in me just makes me have more confidence in myself. They trust me to hit shots and now I’m starting to trust myself more to hit shots.”
It was the second game in a row Bialecki led the Wolverines (2-2) in scoring, this one coming on top of the 23-point game he enjoyed in the tournament opener against Pinelands. It reminded him of a similar two-game stretch he had last January when he went for 23 and 29 against Pennsville and Salem Tech. But he went scoreless the next game.
He scored just 11 points in this tournament last year, seven in the title game win over New Egypt.
“Last year I had the ball in my hand more, playing the point guard more, having to set up the plays and make plays, get the ball to other people,” he explained. “Now, Alejandro (Vazquez) and M.J. (Hall) are having the ball more and I’m off the ball more, and they’re drawing up more and more plays for me where last year I didn’t have certain plays drawn up just for me to get a shot off.
“It’s definitely more fun to score the ball. I’m definitely hoping to continue this stretch and just be score the whole year. Last year I was very inconsistent, up and down. I’m hoping that this year I’ll be more consistent scoring wise.”
The Wolverines hope so, too. Before breaking out this weekend, Bialecki had scored just 17 points in the Wolverines’ first two games, losses to Salem and Penns Grove. Roots knew he could give them more with the right amount of encouragement.
“After the 0-2 start I basically told Blake for us to get where we want to go you have to shoot the ball 15-plus times,” Roots said. “I want you taking five-plus 3s a game. There were a lot of times he would have a good catch-and-shoot opportunity and he was hesitant to take it.
“I told him I’m living and dying with you shooting the ball. You’re our best shooter. Overall you’re our best scorer,. We need you to shoot the ball. These last two games he has been really aggressive.
“That was one of the reasons why I took this job. I knew his talent, I knew his skills, I knew what type player he could be, so I’m just trying to take his game to the next level. He has responded well.”
The Wolverines used a big second half to win their second game in a row. They trailed by four at halftime, then switched defenses and it led to them outscoring the Warriors 22-9 in the third quarter and 38-17 in the second half.
M.J. Hall had three straight transition layups in the third quarter out of the 2-3 that keyed the comeback. Hall finished with 15 points, 11 in the second half. Rocco String had 13 points, nine in the second half, and threatened a triple-double (17 rebounds, six blocked shots). He’s averaging 15 rebounds a game and has had 22 blocks over his last three games.
“The first half we had mixed in man and then made some adjustments to just go 2-3 and I think that helped us defensively and offensively,” Roots said. “The 2-3 gave them a lot of problems and it benefitted us. We had a lot of ball movement, a lot of points in transition spotting up shooting, and we just played better basketball.
“A lot of people played well today.”
WARRIOR HOLIDAY CLASSIC
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
WOODSTOWN (2-2) – Eli Caesar 3 1-1 7, Blake Bialecki 6 3-3 17, Alejandro Vazquez 2 2-2 8, M.J. Hall 5 4-5 15, Garrett Leyman 2 0-0 5, Rocco String 6 1-4 13, Braydon Hall 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-15 65.
NEW EGYPT (2-3) – Nolan Arnold 2 10-12 14, Clyde Ferris 5 3-6 15, Evan Goldburg 0 2-2 2, Cameron Cassandra 0 0-0 0, Caleb Kowaleski 0 0-0 0, Dylan Harper 0 0-0 0, Paul Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Ryan Reynolds 4 1-2 12, Tommy Merlucci 2 0-0 4, Lucas Burgos 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 16-22 48.
| Woodstown | 10 | 17 | 22 | 16- | 65 |
| New Egypt | 13 | 18 | 9 | 8- | 48 |
ACIT CONSOLATION GAME
GCIT 59, SALEM TECH 13: Ian Malgapo filled the box score as GCIT snapped a two-game losing streak to get back over .500 for the season. He had 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Milan Suarez (11) and Patrick Monaghan (10) also scored in double figures for GCIT.
| Salem Tech (0-6) | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2- | 13 |
| GCIT (3-2) | 30 | 13 | 10 | 6- | 59 |
SATURDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Audubon Tournament
Consolation: Deptford 47, Cedar Creek 21
Championship: Audubon 43, Penns Grove 39
ACIT Holiday Tournament
Consolation: Atlantic Tech 55, Salem Tech 15
Championship: Camden Tech vs. GCIT
AUDUBON CHAMPIONSHIP
AUDUBON 43, PENNS GROVE 39: The Green Wave jumped out quickly and held off Penns Grove to win their holiday tournament and remain undefeated. Peyton Marrone scored 15 points and the Green Wave went 12-of-21 from the free throw line. Penns Grove’s RaNiyah Wilson led all scorers with 17 points.
PENNS GROVE (2-2) – RaNiyah Wilson 7 2-3 17, Syanna Robbins 1 0-2 2, JaNiyah Cummings 0 1-2 1, Keziah Patterson 2 0-0 5, Mikayla Washington 1 0-0 2, Brianna Robbins 5 0-2 12. Totals 16 3-9 39.
AUDUBON (5-0) – Ashley Flynn 2 2-6 6, Peyton Marrone 5 5-7 15, Emma Speyerer 3 1-2 8, Giavanna Heller 1 4-6 6, Sophia Homa 3 0-0 6, Kylie Cannaday 1 0-0 2, Molly Sullivan 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-21 43.
| Penns Grove | 7 | 8 | 15 | 9- | 39 |
| Audubon | 15 | 8 | 13 | 7- | 43 |
ACIT CONSOLATION GAME
ATLANTIC TECH 55, SALEM TECH 15: ACIT closed out a dominating defensive performance by shutting out the Chargers in the fourth quarter. Shelby Drummond was Salem Tech’s leading scorer with eight points.
SALEM TECH (1-3) – Shelby Drummond 4 0-0 8, Shelby Liber 2 1-2 5, Lavae Scott 0 0-2 0, Payton Fitzpatrick 1 0-0 2. Totals 7 1-4 15.
ATLANTIC TECH (3-3) – Brianna Casiano 2 0-0 4, Zion Stewart 3 1-2 7, Alani White 5 1-4 11, Trinitee McKellar 3 0-1 6, Jadyn Clinkscale 1 0-0 2, Imani Muhammad 4 0-0 8, Lydia Long 2 0-0 4, Joslyen Gomez 4 0-0 8, Kim Pierre 1 1-1 3, Hannah Schmidt 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 3-8 55.
| Salem Tech | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0- | 15 |
| Atlantic Tech | 17 | 22 | 10 | 6- | 55 |
Active scorers watch
| SALEM COUNTY SCORING LIST | POINTS |
| Talia Battavio, Woodstown | 1296 |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | 1263 |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | |
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 403) | 865 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 770 |
| x-RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/Penns Grove 464) | 715 |
Wrestling
WOODSTOWN QUAD
LONG BRANCH 38, WOODSTOWN 36
106: Hunter Allen (Wo) pinned Sudhish Ransanahi, 1:06
113: Jordan Vieira (LB) pinned Luke Woronicak, 3:14
120: Carson Bradway (Wo) maj. dec. Dominic Lugo, 15-1
126: Walker Battavio (Wo) maj. dec. Alex Ramsanahi, 14-3
132: Travis Balback (Wo) maj. dec. Tristen Hepburn, 14-1
138: Matthew Munson (LB) tech fall Ryan Polk, 18-0 (3:01)
144: Pedro DeSouza (LB) won by forfeit
150: Javier Guzman (LB) pinned Angel Hernandez, 4:18
157: Brett Rowand (Wo) pinned Devon Smith, 1:11
165: Diego Mota (LB) dec. Colin Webb, 11-7
175: Greyson Hyland (Wo) pinned Evan Tracey, 2:00
190: Tornick Kajaia (LB) pinned Paul Banff, 3:13
215: Tyler Taylor (LB) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 3:48
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo) pinned Nickolas Soria, 1:07
WOODSTOWN 49, AUDUBON 30
113: Rocco Monteferrante (A) pinned Luke Woronicak, 0:46
120: Carson Bradway (Wo) pinned Nicholas Sassany, 1:09
126: Travis Balback (Wo) tech fall R.J. Bauman, 18-2 (2:00)
132: Brayden Ervin (A) pinned Barry Coverly, 2:40
138: Ryan Polk (Wo) dec. Jimmy Moran, 8-4
144: James McSweeney (A) won by forfeit
150: Aydean Leahan (A) pinned Angel Hernandez, 3:28
157: Pedro Marte (A) won by forfeit
165: Brett Rowand (Wo) pinned Giovanni Patti, 1:32
175: Greyson Hyland (Wo) tech fall Gabriel McCracken, 20-5 (4:26)
190: Paul Banff (Wo) pinned David Borodziuk, 3:52
215: Bradley Snitcher (Wo) pinned Jonah Jordan, 0:38
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo) won by forfeit
106: Hunter Allen (Wo) pinned Mason Knopka, 0:54
NORTHERN BURLINGTON 45, WOODSTOWN 35
120: Carson Bradway (Wo) pinned Jason Marasco, 5:55
126: Rocco Giangeruso (NB) pinned Walker Battavio, 0:54
132: Travis Balback (Wo) pinned Michael Mayhew, 1:52
138: Gavin Fowler (NB) pinned Ryan Polk, 1:03
144: Justin Marcello (NB) won by forfeit
150: Tret Villavon (NB) dec. Angel Hernandez, 9-6
157: Nathan Hyman (NB) pinned Thomas Lacy, 2:56
165: Hayden Joyce (NB) pinned Brett Rowand, 1:20
175: Greyson Hyland (Wo) pinned Griffin Goldmacher, 4:49
190: Bailey O’Malley (NB) pinned Paul Banff, 0:29
215: Sean Falcey (NB) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 5:23
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo) won by forfeit
106: Hunter Allen (Wo) pinned Aiden Tranchitello, 2:18
113: Luke Woronicak (Wo) pinned Talen Zuzzio, 5:18
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