Salem solidifies its position as a tough out in the playoffs after winning Tri-County B Flight as a No. 8 seed; Farmer: I wouldn’t want to see us
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO – Salem coach Anthony Farmer stood out on the floor, surrounded by his jubilant players, holding the plaque that signified them as tournament champions and knowing it’s only the beginning.
“We got hardware,” he told the players as all they reached in to touch it. “We want more. We want more.”
The Rams won the overachievers B Flight of the Tri-County Conference Showcase Friday night, but they also won something more.
Their us-against-the-world tour continued with a 66-53 victory over Glassboro and the message it sent resounded louder than the music blaring over the gym sound system during game breaks.
It was as if they were telling the world – well, at least the state of New Jersey – seed us as low as you want, we’re going to be tough to handle in the state tournament.
The Rams won the middle bracket of their conference tournament as the No. 8 seed in the flight – effectively the 16th overall seed – and won three straight games on the road by double digits to make it happen. They face a similar road (pun intended) in the South Jersey Group I tournament, where they’ve been installed as the 11th seed in a 16-team field.
“Putting us down there even though we know we’re not supposed to be there, it put a chip on our shoulder,” sophomore guard Tymear Lecator said. “We knew who we are, we knew the type of team we are, we knew these guys can’t really stay with us. It gave us a chip on our shoulder – we’re all we got, we’re all we need – and we came in and did what we had to do.”
The Rams may have been an 11-12 team when the TCC tournament started at the beginning of the week, but they’ve been playing more like the 18-8 team they would have been if the NJSIAA hadn’t stripped them of four wins in January due to an ineligible player.
They’ve played with a chip on their shoulder ever since and that makes even more dangerous when the game is on the line. They’ve gone 11-5 since the ruling and now have won five in a row.
“It was really about showing everybody what we can do really do,” senior forward Azhone Burden said. “We went through a lot this season. Everybody’s been thinking we were just done. We’re coming to show them we’re really good.”
“We want to prove we can win it all, that we’re the best,” sophomore Deshaan Williams added.
That mindset was on full display in the fourth quarter, when they turned their game up a notch and pulled away from a 44-44 tie to win. With Tymear Lecator handling the ball and getting to the line, and Williams and Burden delivering big baskets and rebounds, the Rams outscored their hosts 22-9 in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a rout.
“It’s really a testament to everything we’ve been through,” Farmer said. “Things that have happened to us all year, it’s just been blow after blow after blow. That’s fine. We preach basketball is really a game of life. We fought through adversity and I’m really proud of my guys.
“Tonight we grew up a little bit – we’ve been growing up – and were able to get on the other side of it by making the plays we needed to make down the stretch. We made some errors, but overall we made more plays down the stretch that got us over the hump.”
Lecator returned to the floor after serving a two-game suspension for his ejection in the Penns Grove game and led the Rams with 26 points and seven assists. He was 11-of-13 from the line, 8-for-10 in the fourth quarter. Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Burden scored all six of his points in the 13-3 run that opened the fourth quarter.
“I definitely wanted to get back there, I’ve been wanting to be back,” Lecator said. “We’ve been playing a great brand of basketball recently so I definitely wanted to get back and play with my guys and keep that going into the playoffs.
“It was fun. I missed being back out there. I knew what it was going to be, I knew what type of game this was going to be, and I was excited to play in it.”
Kenny Smith led Glassboro, the sixth seed in the flight, with 25 points. He scored the Bulldogs’ first seven points of the game. Xavier Sabb had 12, including a dunk that beat the second quarter buzzer and gave the Bulldogs a 30-29 halftime lead.
It was a play that had the potential to be a huge momentum grabber. Devon Barr stole the ball in front of the scorer’s table and blindly flipped it backwards onto the court of play. Sabb collected it near midcourt and drove hard to the basket, finishing it off with a thunderous dunk right before the horn sounded.
Fortunately for the Rams, the halftime break helped keep a lid on the emotion of the play, so they weren’t worried about it becoming a firestarter. Neither team led by more than four in the second half until the Rams pulled away in the fourth quarter.
The ruling that took away those early wins also slowed Farmer’s run to 100 career wins. Friday he officially picked up No. 99. He can reach the milestone with an opening-round win in the SJ Group I tournament Wednesday at sixth-seeded Palmyra.
To reach the Final Four, the Rams potentially would have to go through the 1, 2 and 3 seeds – all on the road. The Rams have as many or more “on the floor” wins this season than all three of those teams.
“I think you should really be nervous,” Farmer warned the Rams’ potential playoff opponents. “I wouldn’t want to see us.
“(No. 100) will be a great milestone when it comes. I’m all about survive and advance. I want to win for the guys. I want to win for the city. That’s (milestone) great along the way, but my overall goal is to bring some hardware back to Salem.”
And he didn’t mean the plaque the Rams were holding Friday night.
SALEM 66, GLASSBORO 53
SALEM (14-12) – Donovan Weathers 0 0-0 0, Xavier McGriff 2 1-2 7, Neziah Spence 4 2-2 13, Tymear Lecator 6 11-13 26, Deshaan Williams 5 1-4 11, Darrelle Johnson 0 0-0 0, Antwuan Rogers 1 1-2 3, Joe Tunis 0 0-0 0, Azhone Burden 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 16-23 66.
GLASSBORO (10-15) – Xavier Sabb 4 3-6 12, Tre Thomas 1 2-4 4, Kenny Smith 7 9-12 25, Davon Barr 2 0-0 4, Will Boggans 0 0-0 0, Marley Crowl 2 1-2 6, Aiden Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 15-24 53.
| Salem | 9 | 20 | 15 | 22- | 66 |
| Glassboro | 14 | 16 | 14 | 9- | 53 |
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