Taylor-made win

Bass gives Pennsville big boost in second half against Penns Grove, win sets up showdown with Woodstown for first place Friday

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville 58, Penns Grove 51
Pitman 38, Salem Tech 33
Gloucester Catholic 86, Salem 26
Woodstown 57, Schalick 20

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE — Taylor Bass had a big knot rising over her right eye from hitting her head on the floor late in the second quarter. It shook her up briefly and it shook up her game.

Bass came out in the second half ready to score. The Pennsville junior torched Penns Grove for 11 of her season-high 20 points in the third quarter as the Eagles pulled away for a 58-51 victory for their sixth straight win.

“The bump on the head didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would,” Bass said. “I get banged on the floor every single game. It’s just like part of my routine at this point.”

“After that (fall) she shot better,” Eagles coach Steve Merritt said. “i gotta go smack people in the head, maybe that’ll work.”

The game was as close as many in the series between the teams. Penns Grove scored the last eight points of the first quarter to take a 16-9 lead and led by six midway through the second quarter, but Pennsville scored the last seven points to take a one-point halftime lead.

It was during that last flurry that Bass hit her head. It came during a scramble for a loose ball near mid-court. She laid on the floor for a few moments as trainers raced to her side, then walked off under her own power.

She came out for the second half and scored 11 points in the first four and a half minutes. Included in the outburst was a 3-[pointer and a nifty layup in which drove under the basket from right to left and scooped a shot from underneath that dropped through to make it 39-32.

“I just went in (at halftime), regathered my thoughts and came back out and just played the game I know how to play,” Bass said. “Once I got going, the pain went away. We were only up by one, that’s not going to work for me, so I was like we’ve gotta go out there and we’ve got to get more. And that’s what we did.”

“I told my assistant what we need is a big third quarter to stretch it out a bit and that’s what they did.” Merritt said. “They played hard in that second quarter and brought the game to one point for us. In the third quarter we put some points on the board. And at that point all we have to do is protect the ball.”

They at least protected the lead. The Eagles opened the fourth quarter with another 9-0 run and maintained the lead to the finish.

RaNiyah Wilson kept the Red Devils in it. She led all scorers with 30 points to surpass 600 points in her Penns Grove career and move with 146 of 1,000 for her career. She also had 11 rebounds. JaNiyah Cummings had 10 points and 11 boards. They combined Penns Grove’s first 14 points and 25 of their first 29.

The other two players on the floor chasing 1,000, Pennsville’s Marley Wood and Nora Ausland, had 16 and 12, respectively. Ausland is now only 78 points away from the milestone.

The Pennsville win sets up a midseason showdown at Woodstown 7 p.m. Friday for first place in the Tri-County Diamond Division. Both teams are 4-0 in the division.

PENNSVILLE 58, PENNS GROVE 51
PENNSVILLE (7-2) – Taylor Bass 9 0-0 20, Marley Wood 6 1-3 16, Izzy Saulin 1 0-0 2, Nora Ausland 4 3-6 12, Jaida Burns 3 2-2 8, Addie Johnston 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 6-11 58.
PENNS GROVE (6-3) – Syanna Robbins 1 0-0 3, Brianna Robbins 3 0-0 7, RaNiyah Wilson 12 2-3 30, Keziah Patterson 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Washington 0 1-4 1, JaNiyah Cummings 5 0-0 10, Ny’asia Numan 0 0-2 0. Totals 21 3-9 51.

Pennsville	9	17	17	15-	58
Penns Grove	16	9	13	13-	51

WOODSTOWN 57, SCHALICK 20: The Wolverines recognized both ends of their development curve – Senior Night and Youth Night – and put on a big show.

Seniors Megan Donelson and Talia Battavio continued to grow their legacy for the future Wolverines to follow, scoring 19 and 15 points, respectively, and the defense posted another shutout quarter as the Wolverines won their fifth in a row. They extended their winning streak over Tri-County Diamond Division opponents to 36 games and Salem County rivals to 32.

It couldn’t have started better with the underclassmen sharing stories about their favorite moments with the seniors while the youth players listened at floor level. And then the game started and the Wolverines held Schalick scoreless in the first quarter. They blanked Delsea in the fourth quarter Saturday and held Salem scoreless in the third quarter of their season opener.

“When the game started our defensive effort was outstanding, playing good smart defense and attacking the glass,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “(Kyia) Leyman had some big offensive rebounds where she stood strong.

“The second quarter we started to attack the basket more often. Donelson was able to get to the foul line off strong takes to the basket. When we attacked the basket, we were able to open up our outside shot with (senior Ryann) Foote draining a huge 3. It is great to see Foote starting to get in the flow of things because it’s only her third game of the season.”

With her 13 points Battavio moved into second place on Woodstown’s all-time girls scoring list, passing Stephanie Owen with 1,386 career points. Tori Smick is No. 1 with 1,566.

Donelson is fourth on the list. She needs 23 to pass Owen.

“It was a great night,” Smart said. :I am so grateful to be able to coach this senior class.”

WOODSTOWN 57, SCHALICK 20
SCHALICK (2-6): Abby Willoughby 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Robinson 4 0-0 11, Ava Scurry 1 0-0 2, Olivia VanAcker 1 0-0 2, Willow Davis 0 0-0 0, Emily Miller 1 0-0 2, Olivia Lunemann 0 0-0 0, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Carly Vicente 1 0-0 3, Vic Basich 0 0-2 0. Totals 8 0-2 20.
WOODSTOWN (9-2): Talia Battavio 5 4-9 15, Megan Donelson 7 4-4 19, Gianna Maiorini 1 0-0 2, Ryann Foote 2 0-0 5, Kyia Leyman 3 0-0 6, Lauren Hengel 0 2-2 2, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Kendall Young 1 1-2 4, Jala Thomas 1 0-0 2, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Talia Guardascione 0 0-0 0, Kailyn Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Ava White 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-17 57.

Schalick (2-6)	0	5	5	10-	20
Woodstown (9-2)	11	18	17	11-	57

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 86, SALEM 26
SALEM (0-9) – Carlysia Pierce 3 0-2 6, Nevaeh Hickman 2 0-0 5, Zaniyah Frieson 2 0-0 6, Timmiyah Simmons 1 0-0 2, Marcela Villalpando 0 0-0 0, Lyric Hayes 2 0-0 4, Madison Dixon 1 0-0 3. Totals 11 0-2 26.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (8-1) – Talia Shumate 5 1-2 11, Jahzara Green 8 1-1 17, Jalyn Moore 4 2-4 12, Amanda Eggers 4 0-0 9, Monet High 1 2-2 4, Ashlynn Eggers 1 0-0 3, Maya Hutchinson 3 0-0 9, Elizabeth Burgo 2 0-0 5, Ruth Cutuli 4 0-1 8, Addison Toal 3 2-4 8. Totals 35 8-14 86.

Salem	0	9	11	6-	26
Gloucester Catholic	33	14	27	12-	86

PITMAN 38, SALEM TECH 33
PITMAN (4-6) – Jocelyn O’Brien 1 0-0 2, Kendall Bennett 1 0-0 2, Audrey Duffield 6 2-4 15, Bella Pramov 1 0-0 2, Jessica Bretz 6 0-2 12, Lauren Streck 2 1-1 5. Totals 17 3-7 38.
SALEM TECH (2-7) – Shelby Drummond 2 0-0 6, Kaylin Beardsley 2 0-0 4, Hannah Dewitt 0 0-2 0, Lavae Scott 1 0-0 2, Shelby Liber 5 4-5 15, Evening Amedee 1 0-2 2, Amora Elaine 0 2-4 2, Jaylah Bell 0 0-0 0, Payton Fitzpatrick 0 1-2 1, Maci Fiant 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 7-15 33.

Pitman	8	15	3	12-	38
Salem Tech	3	7	8	15-	33

Active scorers watch

SALEM COUNTY SCORING LIST	TODAY	POINTS
Talia Battavio, Woodstown	15	1386
Megan Donelson, Woodstown	19	1359
1000-POINT WATCH
Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 460)	12	922
Marley Wood, Pennsville	16	843
RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 603)	30	854

Through games of Jan. 15