String joins elite 500-500 Club with 500th career rebound in Woodstown’s win, Penns Grove’s Wilson gets closer to 1,000 points, includes all of Saturday’s Salem County action
| SATURDAY GIRLS GAMES | SATURDAY BOYS GAMES |
| OLMA 35, Penns Grove 34 | Woodstown 74, West Deptford 32 |
| Camden Tech 49, Schalick 38 | Camden Tech 80, Schalick 68 |
| Clearview 76, Pennsville 38 |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Rocco String wasted little time joining an elite club of high school basketball players.
The Woodstown senior post went into Saturday needing just one rebound to join the 500-500 Club. It was going to be quick and if you weren’t in your seat in time you’d have missed it.
He snagged a missed shot by one of his teammate and laid it back in for his 500th rebound and the first points of the game in an eventual 74-32 Wolverines win over West Deptford.
“It’s a big accomplishment; I did it in two and a half years,” String said. “Once I rebounded, I was like I did it and then I kept playing because we didn’t break for a timeout.
“It was a very cool accomplishment, for sure. Not a lot of people get that.”
Not unless they’re willing to work. After all, rebounding is a blue-collar job, but String isn’t afraid to bang around on the inside. He’s only been out of double-digit rebounds once this season, and he had nine in that one.
“A lot of players forget about the third phase of basketball,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “You have offense, defense, and rebounding. With a guy like Rocco, his first priority is to rebound.
“I’m proud of his accomplishment because he works so hard and he has become a great leader. He holds guys accountable and is becoming a man. He’s going to do great things in life because he is always looking to get better. He improves day to day (and) has turned into the best big in Group 1, in my opinion.”
On the offensive end, he had a game-high 15 points, giving him 551 for his career. Truth be told, the stat that really gets him excited is blocked shots. He has more than 160 of those in his career and has been a block or two shy of a triple-double several times this season.
His putback to open the game got the Wolverines off to a great start. They shut out the Eagles in the first quarter 20-0.
WOODSTOWN 74, WEST DEPTFORD 32
WEST DEPTFORD (3-10): Shayne Halter 0 2-2 2, Kyree Eason 0 0-0 0, Thomas Cross 1 0-0 3, Aaron Benson 1 0-0 3, Anthony Martello 1 0-0 2, Curtis Pearson 1 0-2 3, Braeden Warren 0 0-0 0, Carter Watson 5 0-0 12, Michael Joseph 2 3-4 7, Cole Stanish 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 5-8 32.
WOODSTOWN (9-4): Eli Caesar 3 0-0 7, John Hood-McGindley 2 0-0 5, Blake Bialecki 4 0-0 9, Alejandro Vazquez 5 0-0 12, M.J. Hall 3 1-2 7, Josh King 1 0-0 3, Garrett Leyman 1 0-0 2, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 1 2-2 4, Sid Leevy 0 1-2 1, Rocco String 7 1-4 15, Brayden Hall 4 0-0 9, Connor Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 5-10 74.
| West Deptford | 0 | 14 | 7 | 11- | 32 |
| Woodstown | 20 | 16 | 18 | 20- | 74 |
3-point goals: West Deptford 5 (Cross, Benson, Pearson, Watson 2); Woodstown 7 (Caesar, McGindley, Bialecki, Vazquez 2, King, B. Hall). Total fouls: West Deptford 7, Woodstown 11.
CLEARVIEW 76, PENNSVILLE 38
PENNSVILLE (1-13): Jovanni Rios 6 0-0 12, Mason O’Brien 3 1-2 8, Logan Hitt 1 1-2 4, Cole Johnston 2 0-0 6, Danny Knight 1 0-0 3, Arturus Franz 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 2-4 38.
CLEARVIEW (7-9): Luke Andres 4 1-1 12, J.D. Steidle 2 1-3 5, Jake Flotter 2 0-0 4, Jonah Turner 5 0-0 11, George Kritikson 4 0-0 10, T.J. McGovern 1 0-0 3, Luke Zuba 1 0-0 3, Kaprice Stewart 4 1-2 10, Brady Riedel 1 1-2 4, Andrew Long 1 0-0 2, Alex Doe 3 0-0 8, Tykeem Williams 1 2-2 4. Totals 29 6-14 76.
| Pennsville | 11 | 9 | 12 | 6- | 38 |
| Clearview | 21 | 23 | 10 | 22- | 76 |
3-point goals: Pennsville 5 (O’Brien, Hitt, Johnston 2, Knight); Clearview 12 (Andres 3, Turner, Kritikson 2, McGovern, Zuba, Stewart, Miedel, Doe 2).
CAMDEN TECH 80, SCHALICK 68
CAMDEN TECH (5-8): Salvatore Algeri 12 0-0 28, Mekhi Harper 1 0-0 2, Amari Richardson 2 3-3 7, Keysean Spencer 7 0-0 16, Xavier Figueroa 1 1-1 3, Shareef Cox 2 0-0 4, Charles Barbour 3 0-0 7, Elijah Franks 5 1-1 11, Deen Jean-Louis 1 0-0 2, Isaiah Haynes 0 0-0 0, Brandon Rivera 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 5-5 80.
SCHALICK (4-12): Reggie Allen 8 1-1 17, Jase Volovar 2 0-0 5, Nylan Sutton 8 3-6 19, Sherrod Jones 3 1-1 7, Jamari Whitley 4 1-2 11, Justin Iacona 2 1-2 6, Sean Kelly 1 0-0 3. Totals 28 7-12 68.
| Camden Tech | 20 | 25 | 19 | 16- | 80 |
| Schalick | 18 | 18 | 11 | 21- | 68 |
3-point goals: Camden Tech 7 (Algeri 4, Spencer 2, Barbour); Schalick 5 (Volovar, Whitley 2, Iacona, Kelly). Rebounds: Camden Tech 38 (Richardson 7, Barbour 6).
Girls games
OLMA 65, PENNS GROVE 34
PENNS GROVE (7-6): RaNiyah Wilson 10 0-2 19, Brianna Robbins 4 2-4 10, JaNiyah Cummings 1 1-4 3, Syanna Robbins 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Washington 0 0-0 0, Keziah Patterson 0 0-0 0, NyAsia Numan 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 3-10 34.
OLMA (7-9): Khalia Lewis 5 0-2 11, VonAsia Thompson 1 0-0 2, Alessia Lenten 3 0-0 8, Katelyn Coryell 2 0-0 6, Gwen O’Hara 1 0-0 2, Adriana Bristow 5 3-6 15, Muffin Bethea 5 3-4 13, Chynna Fidler 3 0-2 8, Landyn Persicano 0 0-0 0, Lucca Grungo 0 0-0 0Katie Ricchiuti 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 6-14 65.
| Penns Grove | 8 | 6 | 8 | 11- | 34 |
| OLMA | 24 | 15 | 17 | 9- | 65 |
3-point goals: Penns Grove 2 (Wilson); OLMA 9 (Lewis, Lenten 2, Coryell 2, Bristow 2, Fidler 2). Rebounds: OLMA 38 (Lewis 13).
CAMDEN TECH 49, SCHALICK 38
SCHALICK (3-8): Navaeh Robinson 6 2-3 18, Ava Scurry 1 0-0 3, Olivia Vanacker 3 1-6 7, Cali Fisler 0 2-4 2, Willow Davis 1 2-4 4, Olivia Lunemann 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 7-17 38.
CAMDEN TECH (6-9): Kiara Miller 4 3-3 12, Ryan Jones 5 0-0 11, Vinny Fernandez 2 3-7 7, Camille Walker 1 0-2 2, Jaelyn White 2 1-4 5, Ericka Bennett 1 2-3 4, Brenna Stiles 3 2-4 8. Totals 18 11-23 49.
| Schalick | 12 | 5 | 6 | 15- | 38 |
| Camden Tech | 17 | 4 | 16 | 12- | 49 |
3-point goals: Schalick 5 (Robinson 4, Scurry); Camden Tech 2 (Miller, Jones). Rebounds: Camden Tech 17 (Walker 7).
| 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 | 1438 | |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | 1428 | |
| Crystal Bailey, Schalick (1984) | 1406 | |
| Stephanie Owen, Woodstown (1993) | 1381 | |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | ||
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 518) | 980 | |
| RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 706) | 19 vs OLMA | 957 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 907 |
Through games of Jan. 25
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