Girls roundup: Schalick freshman sets school record for boys or girls with 54 points against LEAP; Woodstown, Pennsville also post runaway wins
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Schalick 80, LEAP 12
Woodstown 53, Salem Tech 18
Pennsville 55, Pitman 22
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CENTERTON – At the beginning of the school year Schalick girls basketball coach John Whalen heard stories from the P.E. teachers about this freshman who looked in gym class like she could be some kind of player.
When he got Nevaeh Robinson in a scrimmage for the first time he saw what they were talking about. And Thursday night, he saw the player he’d been waiting for.
Robinson had one of the best scoring nights in Salem County history. She went for 54 points, breaking the all-time school record for points in a game – boys or girls – during the Cougars’ 80-12 rout of LEAP Academy.
“I think it’s good for me as a freshman, a blessing,” she said. “I didn’t even realize I had a lot of points until halftime. They were telling me we’re going to get you rolling to try to get the record.”
The Schalick school record for girls was 49 points by Tia Furbush in a 60-49 win over Overbrook in February 2021. The all-time school record was 52 points by Paul Gause, the county’s all-time leading scorer with more than 3,000 career points.
“It’s definitely a great feat and the best part about it is the team kind of pushed for it at halftime,” Whalen said. “That made it a little extra special for me as a coach and her as a player.
“We haven’t really seen scoring like that since probably when we won the conference and we’re just hoping that can kind of allow her to take that next step in scoring and leading this team to where we need to go.”
Robinson’s previous career high was 18, which she hit twice (against Overbrook and Camden Tech). She had scored 153 points in her first 20 games.
She had 22 points in the first half against the winless Lions – half the Cougars’ team total – behind six 3-pointers. Her 32 with a running clock were all but four of her team’s points in the second half and came largely on fast-break layups in a conscience effort to get her the record.
“The first half, we just played basketball, honestly, and she hit shots early and it kind of put the idea in our mind,” Whaley said. “Then we got to halftime and as a whole we decided to kind of go for this record.
“Being that (the two records) were so close, if we’re going to go for it, we’re going to go for it. I think the goal was to get the girls record, but the overall record was right there in the back of the mind as well.”
SCHALICK 80, LEAP 12
LEAP (0-16): Harlam Taylor 4, Mahogany Gardner 8. Only players reported.
SCHALICK (5-16): Cali Fisler 0 3-4 3, Ava Scurry 4 0-1 9, Willow Davis 2 0-0 5, Navaeh Robinson 24 0-2 54, Olivia Lunemann 1 0-0 2, Carly Vicente 2 0-0 4, Victoria Basic 1 1-2 3, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Olivia Vanacker 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 4-9 80.
| LEAP | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8- | 12 |
| Schalick | 28 | 16 | 21 | 15- | 80 |
WOODSTOWN 53, SALEM TECH 18: Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson inched closer to becoming the Woodstown girls program’s all-time leading scorers and 10 different Wolverines hit the scoring column.
Battavio and Donelson each scored 11 points; you can find their career totals in the Salem County 1,000-point scorers list elsewhere on the website. Lauren Hengel had eight points, Kyia Leyman six and six other players had at least one basket. Demajae White led the Chargers with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
WOODSTOWN (16-5): Talia Battavio 5 0-0 11, Megan Donelson 4 0-0 11, Lauren Hengel 3 0-0 8, Kyia Leyman 3 0-0 6, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Ryann Foote 1 1-1 3, Kendall Young 2 0-0 4, Jala Thomas 1 0-0 2, Ava White 1 0-0 2, Brynley Egret 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 1-1 53.
SALEM TECH (2-18): Kaylin Beardsley 2 0-0 5, Hannah Dewitt 0 0-0 0, Demajae White 5 0-0 10, Rylee Doerr 0 0-0 0, Tiara Bazemore 1 0-0 3, Amora Elaine 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 0-0 18.
| Woodstown | 17 | 9 | 17 | 10- | 53 |
| Salem Tech | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4- | 18 |
PENNSVILLE 55, PITMAN 22: Taylor Bass has been scoring of late as if she wants to join Pennsville’s list of 1,000-point scorers before this season is over, too.
The junior has watched teammates Nora Ausland and Marley Wood reach the milestone earlier this season and she moved 23 points closer to it tonight. She has now has 820 career points.
It was her third 20-point effort in her last six games. She is averaging 21.3 over that span.
PENNSVILLE (17-7): Taylor Bass 8 6-8 23, Marley Wood 4 1-1 10, Nora Ausland 4 0-0 10, Izzy Saulin 2 4-5 8, Sofia Belitsas 1 0-0 2, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2, Ashlyn Fredo 0 0-0 0, Calli Ausland 0 0-0 0, Kylie Weist 0 0-0 0, Tatianna DePina 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 11-14 55.
PITMAN (5-15): Colette Rollins 1 0-0 2, Kendall Bennett 0 0-0 0, Audrey Duffield 0 0-0 0, Bella Pramov 0 0-0 0, Jessica Bretz 5 0-0 13, Lauren Streck 0 0-0 0, Jane Conroe-Grobman 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn O’Brien 3 1-2 7. Totals 9 1-3 22.
| Pennsville | 10 | 20 | 17 | 8- | 55 |
| Pitman | 3 | 7 | 2 | 10- | 22 |
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