Salem coach Farmer calls key time out in second quarter to keep game from getting away, Rams respond with a run that carries them to Wildwood sweep
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WILDWOOD — The Salem basketball team was on the verge of another second quarter dry spell that had been haunting it all season. Actually, it was the continuation of a first-quarter drought that spilled over, but coach Anthony Farmer had seen enough to know he had seen too much.
He was going to nip this problem before it became a real disaster.
Millville had taken an early 14-point Salem lead all the way down to two with 6:48 left in the second quarter and Farmer called a much-needed 30-second timeout to stall the Thunderbolts’ momentum and talk his Rams back on track.
The tactic worked. The Rams went on a quick 8-2 run out of the break and then tacked on eight straight points later that pushed them to an 11-point halftime lead that was never threatened again. They went on to win 64-48 to sweep their two-game stay in the Boardwalk Classic.
The Rams (5-1) typically have been sharp at the start of games this season, but those quick starts have been followed by clunky second and third quarters that made the games interesting.
Farmer had to give them another reminder early in the third quarter after the Bolts (2-6) pulled within nine and the Rams responded again. The message, the players said was simple: Just wake up.
“It’s become a pattern for us you want to address to make the kids aware; you’re trying to get their attention,“ Farmer said. “That’s what that was about, really just making a timely decision, a timely call, to regroup the kids and get them back under control.
“It’s being young, honestly. You don’t have a guy like Ant (his son, Anthony Farmer) to calm everybody down, calm, cool, collected, get everybody involved. We’re young, we get sped up. We’ve got to be able to get under control, run your offense, know when it looks raggedy and settle down, and right now we’re not there.”
Tymear Lecator and Neziah Spence got the Rams off to a hot start again, combining for the team’s first 14 points in a 16-2 opening run. Interestingly, the Bolts staged their rally after coach Michael LaTorre called his own 30-second timeout with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
Lecator had another big game in the Wildwood Convention Center, finishing with 27 points, tying his season high, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
He scored 46 points in the Rams’ two games here, hit three 3s in each game, is now averaging 19.7 through the Rams’ first six games of the season.
Antwan Rogers, whose layup kick-started the second-quarter recovery, had nine points and 10 rebounds. Xavier McGriff had eight points, including a 3-pointer that ignited the third-quarter run, six boards and four steals. Spence had 10 points.
“I like this court a lot,” Lecator said. “I like how it’s spacious, there’s a lot of room for me to work, and I like how my shot feels on the court, good grip, soft rims. I just like playing here. That’s the key to my success. It gives off a college-type environment.”
There was a lot fire for the game from Salem’s perspective. Farmer is from Millville. Several of the Salem players, like Lecator, have connections in the Millville/Vineland/Bridgeton community. Rams’ forward Darrelle Johnson, Lecator’s cousin, played at Millville last year.
Johnson would’ve liked to have had a big game with a couple dunks against his former mates, but didn’t get the chance going scoreless in six-plus minutes of action. You knew it was special to him. He never looked Millville’s way during pre-game warmups or introductions but LaTorre embraced him in the post-game handshake line without drawing much reaction.
It all added to the intensity of the day.
“Any time you kind of get somebody from my hometown you always want to go out there and get the best of them,” Lecator said. “I don’t want them to get the best of me because I go back home and everybody I hang around hears about it, so I just knew I had to come out here and play good so I can go back home and I’ve got something to brag about.”
BOARDWALK CLASSIC
SALEM 64, MILLVILLE 48
SALEM (5-1) – Tymear Lecator 9 6-6 27, Antwan Rogers 4 1-1 9, Deshaan Williams 1 4-4 6, Xavier McGriff 3 0-0 8, Neziah Spence 4 0-0 10, Joe Tunis 2 0-0 4, Darrelle Johnson 0 0-0 0, Harlem Parsons 0 0-0 0, Kyaire Parsons 0 0-0 0, Giovanni Tuvale 0 0-0 0, Donovan Weathers 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-11 64.
MILLVILLE (2-6) – Jaden Days 2 3-5 7, Tahshawn Jones 0 0-0 0, Divonte Smith 2 0-2 5, Caiden Allen 0 0-0 0, Mike Bullock 0 0-0 0, Bryant Nelson 1 6-8 9, Cayden Pierce 3 0-0 8, Alex Doss 1 0-0 2, James Jackson 1 0-0 2, Zhamere Redding 6 0-0 13, Zhymir Tull 0 0-0 0, Noah Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 9-15 48.
| Salem | 16 | 18 | 18 | 12- | 64 |
| Millville | 6 | 17 | 9 | 16- | 48 |
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