Pennsville senior gets back in the game on Senior Night, Bass has big game, Wood moves closer to 1,000; includes all the scores and highlights from Thursday night’s Salem County high school basketball games
| GIRLS GAMES | BOYS GAMES |
| Pennsville 60, Schalick 21 | Schalick 73, Pennsville 57 |
| Glassboro 33, Penns Grove 31 | Penns Grove 58, Glassboro 54 |
| Clayton 76, Salem 22 | Salem 102, Clayton 66 |
| Woodstown 63, Overbrook 7 | Overbrook 74, Woodstown 55 |
| Wildwood 71, Salem Tech 15 | Wildwood 85, Salem Tech 31 |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It’s days like these that make Senior Nights something special.
When Pennsville’s Anikka Macalino tore the ACL in her left knee in the opening minutes of last year’s holiday tournament game against Buena, she didn’t expect to play basketball ever again. If she ever had a chance of coming back at all, she hoped it would be for Senior Night.
Well, not only did she play on Senior Night Thursday, she started (as is customary) and scored the first points of the game in the Eagles’ 60-21 victory over Schalick.
“It meant a lot because I haven’t played in about a year,” Macalino said. “I played JV earlier and my knee just gave up on me. I went into the room and started to cry, but I refused to give up on basketball so I came out and tried again.
“It’s a good feeling scoring the first points of the game.”
And it wasn’t some gift basket to make a player who’d been out all season feel good, either. The Eagles won the opening tip, got it to Macolino and she attacked the basket for a layup. She hit a deep 3-pointer in the third quarter as well.
“To see them go out there and be successful on their night is really kind of cool,” Eagles coach Steve Merritt said.
The game was quietly billed as the night Marley Wood would go over 1,000 career points, but Taylor Bass stole the show.
Bass stood out in the left corner all night and drained a career-best six 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 29 points. The junior hadn’t hit more than three 3s in any game previously in her career, but she was 6-for-7 from beyond the arc against the Cougars.
“I’ve never shot like that before in my life,” she said. “You have those days where you hit them and other days when you don’t. Today was one of those days they went in. I had all those open shots so I took them.”
Wood needed 20 points coming into the game to become the second Pennsville player to reach the 1,000-point mark this season, but had only 12 – and got most of those late. It’s all set up for her to get it Friday when the Eagles host Millville in a game the Thunderbolts agreed to move to Pennsville just for the occasion.
She’s “really excited” about the prospect of joining her sister and brother in the Eagles’ 1,000-Point Club, but it didn’t really hurt her feelings not to get it Thursday.
She said she’d rather do it Friday when more friends, family and especially her AAU teammates and coaches “who are the reason I’m going to score 1,000” could be on hand to witness it. And she didn’t want to steal any thunder from the four seniors who were being honored on their special day.
That mindset was evident early on when she came down on a 2-on-1 break with a clear path to the basket, but she passed to Bass who converted the layup just the same. She had seven assists in the game.
Wood had only five points through the first three quarters, but heated up with all seven of Pennsville’s points in the fourth to get the target down to a manageable number.
“I was getting a little nervous because I only had like five points in all three quarters,” she said. “I wanted to be able to know that I was going to get it tomorrow so I was trying to get at least double digits today so I could have an easier time of it.”
PENNSVILLE 60, SCHALICK 21
SCHALICK (4-13): Navaeh Robinson 3 0-0 8, Willow Davis 0 0-0 0, Carly Vicente 0 0-0 0, Abby Willoughby 1 0-0 2, Cali Fisler 0 0-0 0, Emily Miller 1 0-0 2, Olivia Vanacker 3 1-2 7, Emma O’Neil 0 0-2 0, Ava Scurry 1 0-0 2, Olivia Lunemann 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 1-4 21.
PENNSVILLE (14-6): Taylor Bass 10 3-5 29, Marley Wood 3 6-7 12, Nora Ausland 2 0-0 5, Sofia Belitsas 1 0-0 2, Anikka Macalino 2 0-2 5, Izzy Saulin 1 0-0 2, Calli Ausland 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Jaida Burns 2 1-4 5. Ashlyn Fredo 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-18 60
| Schalick | 6 | 0 | 7 | 8- | 21 |
| Pennsville | 21 | 16 | 16 | 7- | 60 |
WOODSTOWN 63, OVERBROOK 7: Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson, who’ve been running neck-and-neck in their race up Woodstown’s all-time scoring list, both went over the 1,500-point mark and the Woodstown defense pitched a shutout through the first half.
Battavio scored 13 points to run her career total to 1,510. Donelson scored 15 to reach 1,501. Tori Smith, Woodstown’s all-time leading girls scorer, has 1,566 total points.
The Wolverines opened a 44-0 halftime lead.
WOODSTOWN (14-5): Talia Battavio 3 5-6 13, Megan Donelson 5 1-2 15, Gianna Maiorini 1 0-0 2, Lauren Hengel 2 0-0 5, Kyia Leyman 2 1-4 5, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Ryann Foote 4 1-2 12, Kendall Young 2 0-0 5, Jala Thomas 1 0-0 2, Talia Guardascione 1 0-0 2, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Kailyn Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Ava White 0 0-0 0, Mia Waterman 0 0-0 0, Brynley Egret 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 8-14 63.
OVERBROOK (5-16): Gianna Simon 1 0-0 3, Jael Pressley 0 1-6 1, Rosetta Loibman 0 0-0 0, Lelani Knight 0 1-2 1, Kayla Reynolds 1 0-0 2, Leslies Rosario 0 0-0 0, Ahiani White 0 0-0 0, Kiya Townsend 0 0-0 0, Isabella Sepulveda 0 0-0 0, Lily LaFountain 0 0-0 0, Talia Wiggins 0 0-0 0, Taija Wiggins 0 0-0 0. Totals 2 2-8 7.
| Woodstown | 18 | 26 | 14 | 5- | 63 |
| Overbrook | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2- | 7 |
GLASSBORO 33, PENNS GROVE 31: Kimora Miles gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with 3:30 to play on a length of the floor layup after fighting through traffic on the other end of the floor. Kezia Brackett extended the lead with three free throws, the last with 14.6 seconds left to make it 33-29.
Penns Grove’s RaNiyah Wilson, the game’s leading scorer, went to the line for three shots with 1.8 seconds left. She made the first two to make it a two-point game, then missed the third on purpose with hopes of a quick put-back, but Glassboro was there to secure the rebound as time expired.
GLASSBORO (9-10): Sanaa Thomas 5 0-0 13, Grace Moore 0 0-0 0, Kezia Brackett 5 6-14 16, Kimora Miles 0 0-0 0, Sianna Wedderburn 2 0-0 4, Lily Czubas 0 0-2 0. Totals 12 6-16 33.
PENNS GROVE (9-9): RaNiyah Wilson 6 3-8 19, Brianna Robbins 1 1-2 3, JaNiyah Cummings 1 3-6 5, Syanna Robbins 1 0-0 3, Mikayla Washington 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 8-18 31.
| Glassboro | 4 | 9 | 12 | 8- | 33 |
| Penns Grove | 11 | 7 | 9 | 4- | 31 |
WILDWOOD 71, SALEM TECH 15: Macie McCracken had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Warriors. She also had four assists and three steals. Rebecca Benichou had 11 points and five assists. Rylee Doerr had 11 rebounds for the Chargers.
WILDWOOD (14-4): Macie McCracken 9 2-2 23, Angela Wilber 1 0-0 3, Rebecca Benichou 4 1-1 11, Cydnee Kilian 0 0-0 0, Kiana D’Antuono 1 2-2 5, Addison Troiano 2 0-0 4, Laila Fathi 3 0-0 6, Lily Atkinson 2 0-2 5, Sarah Djellal 1 0-0 2, Ellasyn Morey 0 2-4 2, Julia Ennis 4 0-0 8, Emma Contreras 1 0-0 2, Antoinette Cooper 0 0-0 0, Janet Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Mollie Farrell 0 0-2 0. Totals 28 7-13 71.
SALEM TECH (2-17): Kaylin Beardsley 1 1-2 3, Lavae Scott 1 0-0 2, Demajae White 1 0-0 2, Amora Detaine 1 0-0 2, Evening Amedee 1 0-0 2, Rylee Doerr 2 0-0 4, Payton Fitzpatrick 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 1-2 15.
| Wildwood | 13 | 21 | 20 | 17- | 71 |
| Salem Tech | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5- | 15 |
CLAYTON 76, SALEM 22: Rainelle Blocker had 26 points and Ava Delaney 17 to lead the Clippers (13-5).
Boys games
SALEM 102, CLAYTON 66: You know when you schedule a game against Clayton you can figure on a lot of points behind scored.
Xavier McGriff scored a career-high 23 points, Salem placed four scorers in double figures, and broke 100 for the first time since the 2020 South Jersey Group I tournament. The Rams beat Clayton 100-75 that day.
Antwuan Rogers had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Deshaan Williams had 14 points and six boards.
CLAYTON (9-11): Princeton Sackor 3 2-5 8, Nazir Davis 4 0-0 8, Demetris Williams 6 1-4 13, James Fritz 7 0-1 18, Jackson Venuto 3 2-2 10, Nasir Carter 4 0-0 9. Totals 27 5-12 66.
SALEM (9-10): Xavier McGriff 9 0-0 23, Deshaan Williams 7 2-2 17, Neziah Spence 5 2-2 14, Kyaire Parsons 3 2-2 8, Antwan Rogers 7 0-0 14, Harlen Parsons 2 0-0 6, Joe Tunis 2 1-2 5, Azhone Burden 3 0-0 6, Giovani Talavera 0 0-0 0, Donovan Weathers 2 0-0 4, KaiSiere Muhammad 2 0-0 4, Tamir Lusby 2 0-0 5. Totals 44 7-8 102.
| Clayton | 15 | 4 | 28 | 21- | 66 |
| Salem | 22 | 33 | 24 | 22- | 102 |
PENNS GROVE 58, GLASSBORO 54: B.J. Robbins hit the last of his three 3-pointers from the top of the key with 2:00 left to give Penns Grove a 56-52 lead and the Red Devils held on. Robbins finished with 14 points. Glassboro’s Xavier Sabb led all scorers with 20.
GLASSBORO (7-12): Xavier Sabb 9-2-20, Davon Barr 3-0-6, Aiden Harris 3-0-6, Kenny Smith 5-3-14, Marley Crowl 3-2-8. Totals 23-7-54.
PENNS GROVE (10-9): B.J. Robbins 5-1-14, Roman Gipson 4-5-13, Antoine Robinson 1-2-4, Jameel Horace 7-1-15, Will Roy 0-0-0, Luis Colon 1-0-2, Jeremy Costacamps 1-0-2, Karon Caesar 4-0-8. Totals 23-9-58.
| Glassboro | 17 | 11 | 14 | 12- | 54 |
| Penns Grove | 14 | 15 | 16 | 11- | 58 |
SCHALICK 73, PENNSVILLE 57: Reggie Allen torched Pennsville for the second time this season, going for 26 points. The senior set his career high with 27 against the Eagles in mid-January. Nylan Sutton (14) and Zaeshawn Mills (11) also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Jovanni Rios led Pennsville with 25 points. Mason O’Brien had 18.
PENNSVILLE (2-18): Cole Johnston 1 3-3 6, Logan Hill 0 1-2 1, Mason O’Brien 7 1-2 18, Jovanni Rios 9 7-7 25, C.J. McDevitt 1 0-0 2, Danny Knight 2 0-0 5. Totals 20 12-14 57,
SCHALICK (6-15): Reggie Allen 11 1-1 26, Nylan Sutton 7 0-0 14, Zaeshawn Mills 5 1-3 11, Jamari Whitley 2 0-0 4, Sherrod Jones 3 1-2 7, Jase Volovar 2 2-2 7, Kenneth Bartee 2 0-0 4. Totals 32 5-8 73.
| Pennsville | 15 | 11 | 13 | 18- | 57 |
| Schalick | 21 | 24 | 11 | 17- | 73 |
WILDWOOD 85, SALEM TECH 31: Brian Cunniff hit 11-of-14 free throws to highlight a 26-point game to help the Warriors snap a four-game losing streak.
SALEM TECH (0-19): Larry Pompper 12, Ayden Myers 7, Chase Pompper 4, Joseph Hayes 4, Aiden Bobo 4.
WILDWOOD (6-12): Brian Cunniff 25, Nolan Mawhinney 14, Jeff Knight 9, Jordan Dozier 8, Vinny Sweeney 5, Daniel Benichou 5, Trevor Troiano 7, Era Jordan 4, R.J. Blanda 3, Justice Santiago 2, Sammy Santiago 3, Jack Fullerton 2.
| Salem Tech | 11 | 3 | 3 | 14- | 31 |
| Wildwood | 18 | 31 | 17 | 19- | 85 |
OVERBROOK 74, WOODSTOWN 55: Lamar Little scored 34 points, Zair Green had 23 and together they helped turn back Woodstown scorers in double figures. Little’s night was powered by seven 3-pointers.
OVERBROOK (18-2): Lamar Little 12 3-3 34, Zair Green 6 9-11 23, Bilal Robinson 1 0-0 3, JR Stanley 2 0-0 4, Elvin Santiago 1 1-2 3, Xavier Wright 2 0-0 4, Jaden St. John 1 0-0 2, Jayden Wilkerson 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 13-16 74.
WOODSTOWN (12-6): Eli Caesar 1 0-0 2, Garrett Leyman 1 1-2 4, Rocco String 4 8-12 16, Blake Bialecki 5 1-3 12, Alejandro Vazquez 5 1-1 14, M.J. Hall 5 0-1 11. Totals 21 3-16 55.
3-point goals: Overbrook (Little 7, Green 2, Robinson, Stanely); Woodstown 6 (Leyman, Bialecki, Vazquez 3, Hall).
| 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 | 13 vs. Overbrook | 1510 |
| Megan Donelson, Woodstown | 15 vs. Overbrook | 1501 |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | ||
| Nora Ausland, Pennsville (Salem 462/Pennsville 593) | 5 vs. Schalick | 1055 |
| RaNiyah Wilson, Penns Grove (Kingsway 251/PG 810) | 19 vs. Glassboro | 1061 |
| Marley Wood, Pennsville | 12 vs. Schalick | 992 |
Riverview Sports News 