Woodstown girls regain the lead in Diamond Division after turning back Pennsville, Battavio, Donelson closing in on 1,500 points, Eagles’ Wood nearing 1,000
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Woodstown 59, Pennsville 47
Glassboro 52, Schalick 22
Clayton 66, Salem Tech 12
Penns Grove 64, Overbrook 19
Pitman at Salem
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – The Woodstown girls basketball team hasn’t had a five-year stranglehold on the TCC Diamond Division by folding under the pressure of a challenge.
The Wolverines faced the sternest late-season challenge to their diamond dynasty Tuesday night, but they never flinched and turned back upstart Pennsville 59-47.
The teams entered the game tied for the Diamond Division lead. Had the Wolverines fallen, it not only would have ended their 34-game Salem County winning streak, it may also have ended their run of four straight division titles.
Now, they’ve won 35 straight against in-county opponents and are on the verge of a fifth straight Diamond Division crown having only the two weakest teams left to play on their divisional schedule.
“At the beginning of the season we set a list of goals and obviously one of those goals was to win the division,” said Woodstown coach Matt Smart, the newest gatekeeper of the dynasty. “It’s something we will never take for granted, especially with this group of girls.
“They come out in games like today, they had a different look on their face. You could tell that we had three days off and they kind of got re-energized, refocused. Basketball is a long season and I think those three days off helped us a lot and you could tell the girls were extremely focused. When we play together like that, we’re just phenomenal.”
The Wolverines trailed only once in the game, at 7-5. From there they went on a 13-2 run to the end of the quarter, capped by Ryann Foote’s bucket at the buzzer, to take control. Foote only regained her eligibility in January after transferring from Salem – where she played for current Pennsville coach Steve Merritt as a freshman – and has brought additional quality to an already stacked line-up.
She had her Woodstown best eight points in the game and pulled down seven rebounds. She called getting the win against a former teammate and coach “put the cherry on top” of the day.
“I was excited because we really needed a win,” Foote said. “We obviously knew we really had to show up and do good, but we didn’t really let that get in our heads. We just knew we had to play our game and work as a team and a family to get it done.”
The Wolverines were led by Talia Battavio (18) and Megan Donelson (13). Battavio hit four 3-pointers and moved within three points of 1,500 for her career. Donelson needs 14 to reach that milestone.
Meanwhile, a big part of the Wolverines’ success came from eliminating one of the Eagles’ three main scorers. Taylor Bass had 18 points and Marley Wood had 15 (to move within 20 points of 1,000), to basically play Battavio and Donelson to a scoring stalemate, but the Wolverines held 1,000-point scorer Nora Ausland scoreless for the second time this season and got modest contributions from their supporting cast..
The Eagles won the last time Ausland was shut out, but that wasn’t the case this time.
“Just watching film on them from our previous game we kind of made a few adjustments and I’ll be honest Meg Donelson came up to me on Monday and said I want to try to guard her,” Smart said. “Whenever Meg comes up to me like that and she has a look on her that’s like we’re doing this (it’s happening).
“She is a phenomenal defender. She always has the hardest assignment every game. She has to output us for offense and stop the girl on defense and she’s always up for the challenge.”
Had Pennsville won the game, the Eagles would have been in good position to win a division title for the first time since 1988. They’d have held a one-game lead on Woodstown with division games left with only Penns Grove and Schalick.
It’s unlikely the Wolverines will lose one of their two remaining division games that would have given the Eagles the chance to climb back into a share for the title.
“I told them 18 games ago, when I pointed that out to you it would have been nice (to get), but I didn’t realize how good you could be,” Merritt said. “I discovered. I learned. Today was a big step. We were there. Nobody expected us to be there, but here we are. I’m proud of them. Of course, I’m disappointed, but I’m proud of them. We hung in there.”
WOODSTOWN 59, PENNSVILLE 47
WOODSTOWN (13-5): Talia Battavio 5 4-4 18, Megan Donelson 5 1-2 13, Gianna Maiorini 0 0-0 0, Lauren Hengel 3 0-0 6, Kyia Leyman 3 1-1 7, Emma Perry 0 0-0 0, Ryann Foote 3 1-3 8, Kendall Young 3 0-0 7. Totals 22 7-10 59.
PENNSVILLE (13-6): Taylor Bass 8 0-0 18, Marley Wood 6 1-3 15, Nora Ausland 0 0-0 0, Addie Johnston 2 2-2 8, Izzy Saulin 1 0-0 2, Jaida Burns 1 2-3 4. Totals 18 5-8 47.
| Woodstown | 18 | 8 | 20 | 13- | 59 |
| Pennsville | 9 | 8 | 15 | 15- | 47 |
GLASSBORO 52, SCHALICK 22
GLASSBORO (8-10): Sanaa Thomas 1 0-2 2, Grace Moore 6 0-0 12, Kezia Brackett 9 2-6 22, Kimora Miles 2 1-2 6, Sianna Wedderburn 3 0-0 6, Lily Czubas 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 3-10 52.
SCHALICK (4-12): Abby Willoughby 1 0-0 3, Cali Fisler 3 4-7 10, Navaeh Robinson 2 0-0 5, Olivia Vanacker 1 0-2 2, Willow Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 4-9 22.
| Glassboro | 14 | 13 | 10 | 15- | 52 |
| Schalick | 8 | 0 | 11 | 3- | 22 |
CLAYTON 66, SALEM TECH 12
| Salem Tech (2-16) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5- | 12 |
| Clayton (12-5) | 22 | 18 | 14 | 12- | 66 |
3-point goals: GCIT 7 (Duer 3, Sheehan, Giannone, Clement 2); Salem Tech 2 (Beardsley 2). Rebounds: GCIT 24 (Duer 4); Salem Tech 23 (White 7, Beardsley 9).
| SALEM COUNTY ALL-TIME SCORING LIST (GIRLS) | TODAY | POINTS |
| Katie Kline, Pennsville (2004) | 2110 | |
| Amanda Young, St. James (1995) | 1762 | |
| Sharias Hill, Penns Grove (2009) | 1661 | |
| Brittany Smith, Salem (2007) | 1623 | |
| Tia Furbush, Schalick (2021) | 1574 | |
| Tori Smick, Woodstown (2013) | 1566 | |
| Talia Battavio, Woodstown | 18 vs. Pennsville | 1497 |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | 13 vs. Pennsville | 1486 |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | ||
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 588) | 0 vs. Woodstown | 1050 |
| RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 791) | 19 vs. Overbrook | 1042 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 15 vs. Woodstown | 980 |
Riverview Sports News 