Penns Grove delivers down the stretch to win wild one at Clayton; Bialecki, Woodstown bounce back at Gloucester Catholic; 3 county girls move closer to 1,000, and more
| THURSDAY GIRLS GAMES | THURSDAY BOYS GAMES |
| Penns Grove 58, Clayton 41 | Penns Grove 83, Clayton 78 |
| Schalick 24, Pitman 19 | Pitman 78, Schalick 52 |
| Pennsville 71, Salem 18 | Salem 80, Pennsville 41 |
| Overbrook 42, Salem Tech 41 | Woodstown 78, Gloucester Catholic 31 |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CLAYTON — They didn’t quite get to the number coach Damian Ware suggested when he reminded his players of the test they were going to face, but it was the track meet he predicted. And Jameel Horace was there for them at the finish line.
Horace converted three layups in the final 40 seconds after a go-ahead 3-pointer by B.J. Robbins and Penns Grove escaped the fast pace at Clayton with an 83-78 victory Thursday for their fourth win in a row.
Ware told his team the night before to be prepared to score 100. They might have done it, too, if they hadn’t gotten complacent with a big lead and turned it over so much in the second half that allowed the Clippers to rally.
The Red Devils led by 20 in the second half and 15 to start the fourth quarter, but behind its all-gas, no-brakes approach Clayton came all the way back and tied the game at 74 with 1:05 to play.
Robbins hit his big 3-pointer with 56 seconds left and that put the Red Devils (6-7) up for good.
“That was a huge shot by him, the biggest shot of the game,” Ware said. “He’s been stepping up lately and he’s really coming around. He’s starting to take the bull by the horns in clutch moments and get the job done.”
The Clippers got a layup to make it 77-76 with 42.6 second left and that’s when Horace became Jameel-on-the-spot. He scored on a run-out layup out of a timeout. Karon Ceaser made a steal on the next play and sent Horace off on another run out. Clayton hit a layup to make it 81-78 and then Horace scored again down low inside 15 seconds to seal it.
Horace finished with 14 points. Ceaser led Penns Grove with 26 points. Roman Gipson had 22 and Robbins had 15. Clayton’s Demetris Williams led all scorers with 27 points.
“This is a game where we grew up a little bit,” Ware said. “It could have easily gone from a tie game to Clayton being up four, but we made the plays at the end of the game to win the game.
“We made the game-winning plays and that’s one of the things we’ve been stressing all season – to make game-winning plays in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter is winning time, so you’ve got to make the plays that are solid and that’s kind of what we did in that last minute or so. We figured out how to win a game in the clutch today.”
PENNS GROVE 83, CLAYTON 78
PENNS GROVE (6-7): B.J. Robbins 6 0-0 15, Roman Gipson 8 4-6 22, Karon Ceaser 12 1-2 26, Antoine Robinson 1 0-0 2, Jameel Horace 7 0-0 14, Will Roy 1 0-0 2, Luis Colon 1 0-0 2. Totals 36 5-8 83.
CLAYTON (6-7): Princeton Sackor 4 4-8 12, Nazir Davis 6 0-0 12, Demetris Williams 13 1-1 27, Josiel Figueroa-Marrero 1 0-0 2, James Fritz 3 1-1 7, Jackson Venuto 4 0-0 10, Nasir Carter 2 0-0 4, Isaiah Aviles 2 0-0 4. Totals 35 6-10 78.
| Penns Grove | 24 | 25 | 20 | 14- | 83 |
| Clayton | 21 | 15 | 18 | 24- | 78 |
SALEM 80, PENNSVILLE 41: Xavier McGriff scored a career-high 21 points and Tymear Lecator scored 19 with six assists and a career-high seven steals to lead the Rams.
McGriff’s night was highlighted by 6-for-9 shooting from the field with three 3-pointers. His previous career high was 14 against West Tech earlier this season. Lecator’s night was highlighted by a career-high five 3-pointers. He made four in a row at one point.
A’Zhone Burden had seven points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Antwuan Rogers grabbed 10 rebounds.
WOODSTOWN 78, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 31: Wolverines junior Blake Bialecki had an eventful day. He scored a career-high 28 points on the strength of 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range and then after a quick change in the gym and drive back to Woodstown was installed as a member of the National Honor Society.
“It was definitely a very fun day,” he said.
Bialecki hit three 3s without missing in the first half as the Wolverines opened a 39-16 lead and three in the fourth quarter. His previous career high was 26 points against Salem Tech. He hit seven 3-pointers in that game.
“This one definitely felt better because it was against a better team and it was kind of must-win game for us after taking a tough loss yesterday,” he said. “It was a game we knew we needed.”
The Wolverines (8-4) matched their season-high with 12 3-pointers as a team. The win was a big rebound for them after a tough loss at Penns Grove the day before.
“We definitely bounced back,” Bialecki said. “It was the best response I’ve ever had in this sport personally.”
In addition to their second-highest scoring output of the season, the Wolverines did a masterful job defensively on Jack Mustaro, holding the Rams’ all-time leading scorer to just seven points. It was only the second time in 50 games Mustaro has been held out of double digits and the first time since Rancocas Valley held him to seven in December 2023.
“We had a game plan for Mustaro and we executed it really well,” Bialecki said. “We didn’t have (a dedicated) someone just deny him. We played our normal defense but if he came into a person’s zone, they denied him, if he went to another person’s zone, they denied him, and if he went to another person’s zone, they denied him. It was more of a team effort. It wasn’t just one guy guarding him.”
WOODSTOWN (8-4): Eli Caesar 2 0-0 4, Garrett Leyman 3 0-0 7, Rocco String 5 4-6 14, Brayden Hall 1 2-2 4, Connor Miller 2 0-0 6, Alejandro Vazquez 2 0-0 6, Blake Bialecki 10 2-4 28, M.J. Hall 3 0-0 7, Sid Leevy 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 8-12 78.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (6-9): Jordan Mendez 1 0-0 2, Gary Connelly 1 0-0 2, Ben Cook 1 3-4 5, Danny Zellner 3 2-2 8, Jack Pund 1 2-3 5, Jack Mustaro 2 2-2 7, Carlos Mendez 1 0-0 2, Andrew Ginipro 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 9-13 31.
| Woodstown | 20 | 19 | 17 | 22- | 78 |
| Gloucester Cath. | 12 | 4 | 10 | 5- | 31 |
PITMAN 78, SCHALICK 52: Reggie Allen poured in 27 points to match his season and career high, but the Cougars came up short and dropped their fourth straight. Nylan Sutton also scored in double figures for the Cougars (15).
Michael Fisicaro hit four of Pitman’s 11 3-pointers and led four Panther scorers in double figures with 21 points. Aiden Stranahan, a senior playing his first year of varsity with the Panthers, scored 20 points. Elijah Crispin had 15 points and Hudson Rue had a double-double with 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
SCHALICK (4-11): Nylan Sutton 6 3-4 15, Sherrod Jones 1 0-0 2, Reggie Allen 11 1-2 27, Justin Iacona 2 0-0 4, Zaeshawn Mills 1 2-3 4. Totals 21 6-9 52.
PITMAN (10-2): Hudson Rue 2 0-0 4, Elijah Crispin 5 4-6 15, Greg Petersen 4 0-0 11, Michael Fisicaro 7 3-3 21, Aidan Stranahan 9 0-0 20, Parker DeChristopher 0 0-0 0, Oliver Spier 1 0-0 2, Dane Collum 1 0-0 3, Lucas Razze 0 0-0 0, Joey Zubert 0 2-2 2. Totals 29 9-11 78.
| Schalick | 10 | 11 | 15 | 16- | 52 |
| Pitman | 17 | 28 | 24 | 9- | 78 |
Girls games
PENNSVILLE 71, SALEM 18: Nora Ausland, shut out for the first time in her two years at Pennsville in her last game, got back in the scoring column and put up 24 in her first game against her old team to move within 34 points of 1,000 for her career.
Ausland started her high school career at Salem under current Pennsville coach Steve Merritt before transferring to the Eagles last season. She scored 462 points in two seasons with the Rams and her game Thursday put her over 500 for her time at Pennsville.
On her current pace, she’s projected to reach the milestone at home Jan. 28 against Overbrook.
Marley Wood hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 points and needs 105 to become the third member of her family to reach 1,000. Izzy Saulin added 11 points to the win.
The Eagles (9-3) shutout Salem in the first quarter 22-0. The Rams (1-11) were coming off their first win of the season. Carlysia Pierce, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win, was Salem’s leading scorer Thursday with seven points.
SALEM (1-11): Carlysia Prince 3 0-0 7, Lyric Hayes 0 0-0 0, Dakirah Gray 0 0-0 0, Madison Dixon 0 0-0 0, Marcela Villalpando 1 0-0 2, Neveah Hickman 1 0-0 3, Timmiyah Simmons 2 0-0 6, Wendine Charles 0 0-0 0, A’Lonni Allen 0 0-0 0, Taleah Elliott 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 0-0 18.
PENNSVILLE (9-3): Taylor Bass 2 0-0 5, Marley Wood 5 3-4 17, Izzy Saulin 5 1-4 11, Nora Ausland 11 0-0 24, Sofia Belitsas 2 0-0 4, Jaida Burns 1 0-0 2, Addie Johnston 0 0-0 0, Ashlyn Fredo 1 0-0 2, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2, Kylie Weist 0 0-0 0, Callie Ausland 2 0-0 4, Tatianna DePina 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 4-7 71.
| Salem | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8- | 18 |
| Pennsville | 22 | 15 | 16 | 18- | 71 |
PENNS GROVE 56, CLAYTON 41: RaNiyah Wilson scored 30 or more points for the second straight game and closed the gap to 1,000 career points to less than 100 points. Wilson scored 30 points against the Clippers and now has 938 for her career.
It was her third 30-point game this season and sixth since coming to Penns Grove last season.
She’s on pace to hit the milestone on Jan. 30 at home against Wildwood.
Brianna Robbins also scored in double figures for Penns Grove with 17 points. She and Wilson combined for all 11 of the Red Devils’ points in the first quarter and all their points in the third as they extended a 23-20 halftime lead.
CLAYTON (8-4): Rainelle Blocker 6 6-11 18, Janice Blair 2 1-2 5, India Bryant 3 2-4 10, Ava Delaney 3 2-2 8, Rosa Pereira 0 0-0 0, India Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-19 41.
PENNS GROVE (7-5): Mikayla Washington 1 1-2 3, Keziah Patterson 0 0-0 0, JaNiyah Cummings 2 0-2 4, Syanna Robbins 0 0-0 0, Brianna Robbins 8 1-2 17, RaNiyah Wilson 13 0-0 30. Totals 24 4-8 56.
| Clayton | 8 | 12 | 8 | 13- | 41 |
| Penns Grove | 11 | 12 | 17 | 16- | 56 |
SCHALICK 24, PITMAN 19: Olivia Vanacker and Cali Fisler combined for 10 of their 15 points in the third quarter and the Cougars held their opponents to four points in the second half to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Cougars (3-7) trailed 15-8 at halftime, then outscored the Panthers 14-3 in the third to take the lead.
“We made a small adjustment offensively at halftime and the girls came out and executed it perfectly,” Schalick coach John Whalen said. “Defensively, we didn’t change anything. We ran our base zone defense and pressed the majority of the game.
“The girls got much more comfortable in the second half and were able to play with more aggression and confidence.”
Vanacker and Fisler led the Cougars with eight and seven points, respectively. In the third quarter, Whalen said, “both did a great job attacking space and getting quality looks.”
PITMAN (4-9): Audrey Duffield 3, Lauren Streck 1, Jessica Bretz 6, Bella Pramov 5, Kendall Bennett 4.
SCHALICK (3-7): Abby Willoughby 2 0-0 5, Naveah Robinson 0 2-4 2, Ava Scurry 1 0-0 2, Olivia Vanacker 4 0-2 8, Cali Fisler 3 1-5 7, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Olivia Lunemann 0 0-0 0, Willow Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 3-11 24.
| Pitman (4-9) | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1- | 19 |
| Schalick (3-7) | 2 | 6 | 14 | 2- | 24 |
OVERBROOK 42, SALEM TECH 41: Demajae White scored a career-high 12 points and Shelby Liber and Shelby Drummond each had 11, but the Chargers just came up short. Liber, a freshman, hit three 3-pointers for Salem Tech.
SALEM TECH (2-10): Hannah DeWitt 1 1-2 3, Shelby Liber 4 0-0 11, Shelby Drummond 4 2-4 11, Demajae White 6 0-0 12, Trata Trata 1 0-0 2, Amora Delaine 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-6 41.
OVERBROOK (4-10): Rosetta Loibman 3 0-0 7, Gianna Simon 3 0-0 8, Jael Pressley 8 6-8 22, Lelani Knight 2 0-0 5, Kayla Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Ahlani White 0 0-0 0, Talia Wiggins 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-8 42.
| Salem Tech | 13 | 6 | 3 | 19- | 41 |
| Overbrook | 9 | 10 | 9 | 14- | 42 |
| 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 | DNP | 1423 |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | DNP | 1411 |
| Crystal Bailey, Schalick (1984) | 1406 | |
| Stephanie Owen, Woodstown (1993) | 1381 | |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | ||
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 504) | 24 vs. Salem | 966 |
| RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 657) | 30 vs. Clayton | 938 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 17 vs. Salem | 895 |
Through games of Jan. 23
Riverview Sports News 