‘Locked in’ senior Tunis has career night while leading deliberate Salem to a victory over LEAP; Pennsville crushed by Clayton
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Salem 48, LEAP 28
Clayton 101, Pennsville 45
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Joe Tunis says he’s “locked in” this year and that’s really good news – for Joe Tunis and the Salem basketball team.
Tunis was on the team last season but didn’t see enough action to be productive. He changed his mindset in the offseason and is playing regularly in the rotation. Friday night the senior guard had the best game of his career in leading the Rams to a 48-28 win over LEAP Academy that snapped a two-game losing streak.
He led all scorers with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“I wasn’t really locked in (last year); I’m locked in now,” he said. “I realized it’s my last year, coach told me I had to lock in, so I locked in.
“I want to win. Last year, losing in the playoffs to Pitman, that hurt. I didn’t want to feel like that anymore. We’ve lost two back-to-back tough ones (this week) we should’ve won (Pitman and Glassboro). Wanted it bad. Hate losing, that’s all it is.”
Consistency has always been Tunis’ key. It wasn’t there a lot of the time last year when it came to going to practice and it impacted how much coach Anthony Farmer was going to play him.
While some bits of Allen Iverson remain, he has gotten away from what he called that “childish mindset” and has played in eight of the Rams’ 10 games this year, producing 41 points and 28 rebounds with his most consistent production coming the last two nights.
His best game before going off against the Lions (4-5) was nine points and six rebounds against Woodstown in the second game of the year. He had eight points Thursday night at Glassboro.
“He was tremendous,” Farmer said. “We know what Joe can do, but Joe’s issue has been consistently showing up and being here. We’re better with Joe, when he’s around. We call him ‘The Junkyard Dog,’ he does a little bit of everything. Tonight, it went in for him. That’s great. Hopefully he stays hot for us.”
The Rams (7-3) needed somebody to break out because the game wasn’t played at their typical fast tempo. Farmer deliberately slowed down and it led to just an 18-12 lead at halftime.
Tunis and Donnie Weathers both drew starts because they were the spark in the stretch the Rams were at their best in an otherwise lacking performance against Glassboro. The 48 points were the fewest they’ve scored in a win since beaten Gloucester Catholic with 39 in January 2023.
“I don’t think we’ve been playing pretty good basketball,” Farmer said. “We’ve been able to squeak out seven wins now, but tonight I didn’t let them get up and down. We’ve been in the half-court a lot and we stink in the half-court. We had 18 points at the half, just running half-court offense.
“That was by design. I know in order to win the big game come March we’re going to have to settle down in the half-court and you’re going to have to run something. You can’t just rely on Ty (Lecator) to run around and jack up shots. We’ve got to get better, so that was by design.”
The second half they were a little more efficient, outscoring the Lions 30-16. Lecator (eight) and Xavier McGriff (seven) scored all of their points in the second half. Tunis had 10 in the half – seven in a 9-0 run that opened the third quarter and a 3 in the fourth.
“We thought (Tunis) could be a piece last year, but the consistency hurt him,” Farmer said. “Hopefully this helps him with some confidence and he’s feeling good about his role on the team and how important he is to the team. If he buys in he can be a really big picture for the back stretch.”
DeShaan Williams and Azhone Burden continued their strong play since the start of the new year. Williams had five points, three rebounds and blocked six shots against the Lions. Burden, a 6-4 senior transfer from Bridgeton who just became eligible this week, had seven points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
In the three games he’s played since becoming eligible, Burden has 35 points and 28 rebounds. Williams has 58 points and 30 rebounds in his last four games.
“It’s great to have him back,” Farmer said of Burden. “He can do a multitude of things for us and he’s going to be a big piece to our success down the line. It’s been a tough stretch for him being a senior having to sit and wait, so we’re just happy to have him back and he’s excited.
“I’ve been trying to get (Williams) to come out of his shell. He’s a real quiet kid, a real humble kid, a coach’s dream, but I’ve been urging for more from him and he’s turning it on.”
SALEM 48, LEAP 28
LEAP (4-5) – Jeremiah Rodriguez 3 2-2 10, Angel Mieses 3 0-0 6, Greg Shoultz 0 3-5 3, Lashawn Clay 1 0-0 2, Isaiah Carr 0 0-2 0, Benjamin Noel 2 1-4 5, Others 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 6-13 28.
SALEM (7-3) – Donnie Weathers 1 0-0 2, Xavier McGriff 3 0-0 7, Neziah Spence 1 2-2 5, Tymear Lecator 2 4-6 8, DeShaan Williams 2 1-4 5, Harlem Parsons 0 0-0 0, Joe Tunis 4 5-5 14, Azhone Burden 3 1-2 7, Giovanni Taluve 0 0-0 0, Cole Sayers 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-19 48.
| LEAP | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6- | 28 |
| Salem | 11 | 7 | 15 | 15- | 48 |
CLAYTON 101, PENNSVILLE 45: Princeton Sackor scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Clippers handed Pennsville (1-7) its fifth straight loss. Demetris Williams (14), Nazir Davis (12) and James Fritz (10) also scored in double figures for Clayton (4-4).
It’s the third time the Clippers have scored 100 points in a game this season and the fifth time in their last six one of the teams in the game scored 100.
| Pennsville (1-7) | 15 | 11 | 10 | 9- | 45 |
| Clayton (4-4) | 21 | 18 | 33 | 29- | 101 |
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