Here are the results and details of Tuesday night’s high school basketball games involving Salem County teams
| TUESDAY GIRLS GAMES | TUESDAY BOYS GAMES |
| Pennsville 39, Glassboro 34 | Glassboro 87, Pennsville 30 |
| Woodstown 68, Penns Grove 52 | Woodstown at Penns Grove (Wed.) |
| Salem Tech at Salem | Salem 71, Salem Tech 10 |
| Overbrook 34, Schalick 29 | Overbrook 80, Schalick 39 |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE — In the world of high school basketball, you either win big, lose or escape. The Pennsville girls “escaped” Tuesday night.
The Eagles and Glassboro battled through four quarters until Pennsville made the plays that put it over the top 39-34 to get back on the winning track after last week’s Diamond Division showdown loss at Woodstown.
“We escaped tonight,” Pennsville coach Steve Merritt said. “If (Glassboro’s Kezia Brackett) had hit that 3 there at the end we’d have a tied ballgame. We were fortunate that didn’t happen.”
There were a number of factors that led to the game going the way it did. First of all, there was Glassboro’s defense, which may have been the most tenacious Pennsville has seen all season. And the shots that seemingly fell from everywhere at Woodstown didn’t fall at home against the Bulldogs and admittedly took the Eagles out of their rhythm.
But when one aspect of the game isn’t working you have make up for it in other ways.
The Eagles did it by getting on the boards. They collected 28 rebounds in the game, with freshman Jaida Burns getting eight and Marley Wood and Nora Ausland grabbing six apiece.
“I harped pre-game that it was absolutely critical that we get some rebounds,” Pennsville coach Steve Merritt said. “I talked to my two girls in the middle and told them they need to stay in that middle and I spoke to the guards and let them know when you’re not shooting you need to get in there and get after a rebound.”
Ausland was held scoreless for the first time in her Pennsville career as she marches towards 1,000 career points, but she helped the Eagles in other ways, especially down the stretch. She had three rebounds in the fourth quarter, two steals in the final two minutes when it was still a two-point game and delivered a sharp assist to Burns for the win-sealing layup with 8.2 seconds left.
Marley Wood got the Eagles going with 12 points in the first quarter and she finished with a game-high 16. Taylor Bass had 10 points. Freshman Addie Johnston had seven, including a buzzer-beater in the third quarter that gave Pennsville a 31-28 lead.
The Bulldogs were playing without Tamia Smith. The senior was sidelined with a shoulder injury, one point shy of becoming the fifth-leading scorer in Glassboro history.
PENNSVILLE 39, GLASSBORO 34
GLASSBORO (5-7): Sanaa Thomas 2 1-2 7, Kezia Brackett 4 2-4 11, Kimora Miles 2 0-0 4, Sianna Wedderburn 3 1-3 7, Lily Czubas 2 2-2 6, Grace Moore 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-11 34.
PENNSVILLE (8-3): Taylor Bass 3 3-4 10, Marley Wood 6 2-6 16, Izzy Saulin 1 0-0 2, Nora Ausland 0 0-0 0, Jaida Burns 2 1-2 5, Addie Johnston 3 0-0 7. Totals 15 6-12 39.
| Glassboro | 14 | 3 | 11 | 6- | 34 |
| Pennsville | 14 | 9 | 8 | 8- | 39 |
WOODSTOWN 68, PENNS GROVE 52: The Wolverines extended a number of streaks in what coach Matt Smart called a game of “stepping up,” one in which several players stepped up to fill roles that evolved as the game wore on.
It was Woodstown’s seventh straight win. It also was their 38th in a row over TCC Diamond Division opponents and 34th straight against Salem County rivals.
“We went into the game with our third starting lineup of the year due to sickness,” Smart said. “Emma Perry, who has been a stalwart for our team this year, came into the starting lineup and played great defense with a couple steals and then knocked down some big shots for us in the second quarter.
“She’s always so stoic on the basketball court, just doing her job, but today she had a big smile on her face after making some big plays.”
Megan Donelson hit five 3-pointers and led Woodstown with 24 points to become only the third player in program history with 1,400 points. Lauren Hengel had a career-high 17 points – nine in the second quarter – and Talia Battavio had 13 to remain ahead of her high-scoring teammate on the school’s all-time scoring list.
“Talia went down in the first quarter, which caused Donelson to pick up her game,” Smart said. “She was attacking the basket, knocking down big 3s and making incredible passes to teammates. Where she stepped up her game was on the defensive end and her leadership.
“She constantly puts her body on the line and today she took two big charges. She gave girls like Emma, Kendall Young and Bryn Ecret the confidence to enter the game in critical moments and make some big plays.”
Perry and Young each had a pair of buckets in the second quarter when the Wolverines started pulling away.
Penns Grove’s RaNiyah Wilson led all scorers with a career-high 35 points to move over 900 for her career. It was her fifth career 30-point game and second this year. She had six second-half 3-pointers, four in the fourth quarter to try to bring the Red Devils back.
Smart praised her as a “phenomenal player who can score the ball from anywhere over half court.”
PENNS GROVE (6-5): RaNiyah Wilson 13 3-10 35, Brianna Robbins 3 3-4 10, Syanna Robbins 0 0-0 0, JaNiyah Cummings 2 1-2 5, Mikayla Washington 1 0-0 2, Keziah Patterson 0 0-0 0, NyAsia Numan 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-16 52.
WOODSTOWN (11-2): Talia Battavio 6 0-0 13, Megan Donelson 8 3-3 24, Lauren Hengel 7 3-3 17, Kyia Leyman 0 2-6 2, Emma Perry 3 0-0 6, Ryann Foote 0 0-0 0, Kendall Young 2 0-0 4, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Jala Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brynley Ecret 0 2-2 2. Totals 26 8-12 68.
| Penns Grove | 10 | 8 | 14 | 20- | 52 |
| Woodstown | 17 | 20 | 23 | 8- | 68 |
3-point goals: Penns Grove 7 (Wilson 6, B. Robbins). Woodstown 6 (Battavio, Donelson 5). Fouled out: Cummings. Total fouls: Penns Grove 13, Woodstown 9. Officials: Cooper, Brown.
OVERBROOK 34, SCHALICK 29: Jael Pressley scored 15 points and Gianna Simon had 13 to lead Overbrook. Pressley attacked the basket and went 7-of-21 from the free throw line.
| Schalick (2-7) | 8 | 7 | 4 | 10- | 29 |
| Overbrook (3-10) | 6 | 12 | 7 | 9- | 34 |
Boys games
SALEM 71, SALEM TECH 10: Xavier McGriff led three players in double figures and 10 scorers with 13 points as the Rams swamped the Chargers. Tymear Lecator and Antwuan Rogers had 10 points apiece.
| Salem Tech (0-13) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2- | 10 |
| Salem (6-8) | 26 | 18 | 19 | 10- | 71 |
GLASSBORO 87, PENNSVILLE 30 Xavier Sabb scored 28 points, Kenny Smith scored 27 and the Bulldogs scored more than enough points in the first quarter to hand the Eagles their ninth straight loss.
Sabb and Smith both hit three 3-pointers in the game. They had four of the six the Bulldogs hit in the first quarter as they opened a 35-3 lead. Sabb scored 12 points in the quarter, while Smith and Aiden Harris each had eight.
Jovanni Rios led Pennsville with eight points. Arturus Franzy had four points, but had seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
PENNSVILLE (1-11): Artutus Franzy 2-6 0-0 4, Jovanni Rios 3-12 2-6 8, C.J. McDevitt 1-11 2-4 4, Logan Hitt 0-1 0-0 0, Cole Johnston 2-8 0-0 4, Perry Meranti 2-4 0-0 4, Danny Knight 1-2 0-0 3, Jacob Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Gavin Spears 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin Hern 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 4-10 30.
GLASSBORO (6-7): Xavier Sabb 12 1-6 28, Kenny Smith 10 4-6 27, Tae Thomas 4 1-1 9, Alex Adeleye 6 0-0 14, Aiden Harris 4 0-0 8, Will Boggans 0 1-2 1, Jude Dempster 0 0-0 0. Totals: 36 7-15 87.
| Pennsville | 3 | 9 | 13 | 5- | 30 |
| Glassboro | 35 | 12 | 23 | 17- | 87 |
3-point goals: Pennsville 2-9 (Rios 0-2, McDevitt 0-1, Hitt 0-1, Johnston 0-3, Knight 1-1, Miller 1-1); Glassboro 8 (Sabb 3, Smith 3, Adeleye 2). Rebounds: Pennsville 28 (Franzy 7, Meranti 6, Rios 5). Total fouls: Pennsville 11, Glassboro 10.
OVERBROOK 80, SCHALICK 39
OVERBROOK (13-2): Lamar Little 12 0-0 29, Xavier Wright 5 3-3 14, Zair Green 7 2-6 17, Elvin Santiago 1 0-1 2, Bilal Robinson 1 0-0 3, Jayden Wilkerson 2 0-0 5, Jaden St. John 3 1-1 7, JR Stanley 1 0-0 3. Totals 32 6-11 80.
SCHALICK (4-10): Reggie Allen 3 2-5 11, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 3, Nylan Sutton 3 2-3 8, Sherrod Jones 3 2-2 10, Jamari Whitley 0 0-0 0, Justin Iacona 1 0-0 3, Zaeshawn Mills 1 0-0 2, Sean Kelly 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 6-10 39.
| Overbrook | 22 | 23 | 25 | 10- | 80 |
| Schalick | 8 | 5 | 16 | 10- | 39 |
3-point goals: Overbrook 10 (Little 5, Wright, Green, Robinson, Wilkerson, Stanley); Schalick 5 (Allen, Volovar, Jones 2, Iacona).
| SALEM COUNTY ALL-TIME GIRLS SCORING LIST | TODAY | POINTS |
| Katie Kline, Pennsville (2004) | 2110 | |
| Amanda Young, St. James (1995) | 1762 | |
| Sharias Hill, Penns Grove (2009) | 1661 | |
| Tia Furbush, Schalick (2021) | 1574 | |
| Tori Smick, Woodstown (2013) | 1566 | |
| Talia Battavio, Woodstown | 13 | 1423 |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | 24 | 1411 |
| Crystal Bailey, Schalick (1984) | 1406 | |
| Stephanie Owen, Woodstown (1993) | 1381 | |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | ||
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 480) | 0 | 942 |
| RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 657) | 35 | 908 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 16 | 878 |
Through games of Jan. 21
Riverview Sports News 