Salem CC women give maximum effort in an overtime loss to Mercer that leaves their playoff hopes with little room for error
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The Salem CC women’s basketball team is cutting it close.
The Mighty Oaks played Tuesday night with an energy like their playoffs lives depended on it — and it did — but in the end fell to Mercer County CC 85-75 in overtime.
The Mighty Oaks are 11-11 now and must finish .500 or better to qualify for the Region XIX Division II playoffs. With Tuesday night’s loss, they now must win one of their final two games against two of the better teams in the region to make the cut.
Those two games are Saturday at Lackawanna, the current No. 3 team in Region XIX Division II and at home Feb. 18 against 15th-ranked Region XIX Division III leader Montgomery County CC on what’s sure to be an emotional Sophomore Night.
“It’s not going to get any easier,” Salem coach Brian Marsh said. “That’s why the RCSJ-Gloucester was so huge because that’s a game you had to have to give yourself a chance.
“We still have a chance. I’ve been saying this the whole year: Everything we want is still in front of us. We just have to go get one. This would have been really nice to get. If we continue to play this hard and with this much intensity we’re going to get one of those last two.”
The teams played to a 67-all tie through regulation. The Vikings had the last shot. Jhava Wilson drove the baseline in the closing seconds, but a layup from underneath and clock ran out.
Mercer scored the first 10 points in overtime to take control. Xana Garcia made a layup off the opening tip and Lia Sekhniashvili buried back-to-back 3s at the end of the run to make it 77-67 with 2:14 left. Kathryn Laurence’s 98th career 3-pointer finally got Salem on the board, but then the Vikings closed it out by going 8-for-10 from the free throw line over the final two minutes.
The Mighty Oaks were 3-for-11 from the field in overtime after shooting 52 percent in regulation. Mercer was 3-for-3.
“They were just making shots,” Marsh said. “I don’t think it was anything we didn’t do. I just think it’s something Mercer did. They started making shots they weren’t typically making.”
The Vikings (16-6) used a similar run at the end of the second quarter to take an eight-point halftime lead. The Mighty Oaks were up 27-23 with three minutes left in the quarter, then Mercer’s Zaakirah Edwards went on a personal 12-2 tear with a pair of 3-pointers to give her team the lead.
The Mighty Oaks climbed back in it by outscoring their hosts 16-6 in the third quarter. Maggie St. Clair had eight of her career-high 27 points in the third quarter and 23 in the second half and overtime.
Nyaijah Jackson (12), Laurence (13) and Akira Chambers (11) also scored in double figures for the Mighty Oaks. St. Clair (492) and Laurence (489) are both closing in on 500 career points at Salem.
“I thought the effort and intensity were fantastic,” Marsh said. “I thought our energy was excellent and I thought our big-time players really came to play.
“I think Maggie had a fantastic game. Ny had a great game. Kathryn was hitting her 3s. JaKayla (Jenkins) played really well, Caroline’s sick and she played so much minutes. I just thought it was a really incredible effort. We gave them everything they could handle.”
MERCER COUNTY CC 85, SALEM CC 75 (OT)
SALEM CC (16-6) – RaNescia King 0-1 2-2 2, Ny Jackson 4-7 4-4 12, Caroline Zullo 1-7 1-2 3, Maggie St. Clair 12-18 1-2 27, Dani Gustin 1-1 0-0 2, Kathryn Laurence 5-12 0-0 13, JaKayla Jenkins 2-8 0-0 5, Akira Chambers 4-7 3-3 11, Alexa Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 11-13 75
MERCER (11-11) – Jhava Wilson 5-17 8-12 18, Zaakirah Edwards 6-19 2-4 16, Valerie Rivas 2-6 0-0 5, Carla Cencerrero 4-7 0-0 8, Jayla Jones 2-10 6-6 10, Lia Sekhniashvili 4-11 0-0 11, Xana Garcia 5-12 6-6 17. Totals 28-82 22-28 85.
| Salem CC | 16 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 8- | 75 |
| Mercer County CC | 14 | 25 | 6 | 22 | 18- | 85 |
Region XIX standings
| DIVISION II WOMEN | REG | ALL |
| Union | 15-0 | 24-0 |
| Harcum | 11-3 | 19-5 |
| Lackawanna | 10-4 | 15-6 |
| Raritan Valley | 8-5 | 14-10 |
| Mercer | 8-6 | 16-6 |
| Middlesex | 4-8 | 11-12 |
| Salem CC | 4-10 | 11-11 |
| Essex | 2-12 | 5-13 |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Delaware Tech | 0-14 | 0-20 |
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Mercer 85, Salem 75 (OT)
Northampton 91, Lehigh Carbon 49
Union 101, Raritan Valley 37
Philadelphia at RCSJ-Cumberland, canceled
RCSJ-Gloucester 74, Atlantic Cape 49
Middlesex 73, Bronx CC 34
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Atlantic Cape at Passaic
Delaware Tech at Middlesex
Montgomery at RCSJ-Gloucester
Lehigh Carbon at Bergen
Bucks at Camden
Ocean at Brookdale
Raritan Valley at Essex
Monroe Univ. at Union
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Lackawanna
Ocean at Camden
Passaic at Philadelphia
Union at Harcum
RCSJ-Cumberland at Sussex
Lehigh Carbon at RCSJ-Gloucester
Raritan Valley at Middlesex
Chesapeake at Middlesex
Bryant & Stratton (NY) at Raritan Valley
Riverview Sports News 