Woodstown snaps out of state tournament slump, the only Salem County boys team to win in the opening round; Penns Grove has heart broken in final second of overtime
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Pitman 58, Wildwood 50
Burlington City 59, Penns Grove 58
Woodbury 57, Glassboro 56
Audubon 40, Paulsboro 39
Haddon Twp. 74, Clayton 68
Palmyra 59, Salem 50
Woodstown 71, New Egypt 52
KIPP Cooper Norcross 62, Maple Shade 15
SATURDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
(9) Burlington City at (1) Pitman
(5) Woodbury at (4) Audubon
(6) Palmyra at (3) Haddon Twp.
(7) Woodstown at (2) KIPP Cooper Norcross
WOODSTOWN 71, NEW EGYPT 52: Rocco String led three Woodstown scorers in double figures with 18 points as the Wolverines beat New Egypt for the second time this season to win its first South Jersey tournament game in five years.
The Wolverines’ last win in the South Jersey Group I tournament came in 2020 when they beat Maple Shade in the opening round.
In addition to String’s exploits, M.J. Hall pumped in 17 points and Elijah Caesar tied his career high with 11.
The Wolverines (16-9) now travel to No. 2 seed KIPP Cooper Norcross in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“I’m just proud of the boys for the commitment and hard work they put in,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “They never shy away from getting better and they battle for me and their teammates each and every day. We didn’t have any offseason. It has just been non-stop work every day.
“Some games we may only have like a seven- or eight-man rotation, but those other guys from the JV and varsity bench are so key. They came to practice and made each other better each day.
“This is the first playoff win since 2020 and we are motivated to keep getting better and better. At the end of the day they trust their work, give 110 percent and live with the results. That’s all you can ask from your team. We have built a family and I’m proud to be their coach.”
NEW EGYPT (12-13): Nolan Arnold 5 11-12 22, Clyde Ferris 7 1-2 16, Evan Goldberg 3 0-0 8, Lucas Burgos 0 2-4 2, Dylan Harper 2 0-2 4. Totals 17 14-20 52.
WOODSTOWN (16-9): Trey Markward 1 0-0 2, Elijah Caesar 3 4-4 11, Garrett Leyman 1 2-4 4, Rocco String 9 0-1 18, Blake Bialecki 4 1-1 9, M.J. Hall 7 2-4 17, Jalen Markward 2 1-1 5, Alejandro Vazques 2 1-1 5. Totals 29 11-16 71..
| New Egypt | 6 | 7 | 18 | 21- | 52 |
| Woodstown | 12 | 17 | 14 | 28- | 71 |
PALMYRA 59, SALEM 50: Palmyra placed five scorers in double figures, jumped out to a 10-point first-quarter lead and ended the Rams’ season with coach Anthony Farmer sitting on 99 career wins.
The Rams had the margin to four and the ball with a minute to play, but suffered a turnover and then gave up a three-point play.
Jesahi Robinson led Palmyra with 14 points. Sam Adams and Jaleel Laitmore each had 12, DaShon Edmonds chipped in 11 and John Latimore added 10. Robinson also grabbed six rebounds and dealt six assists.
| Salem (14-13) | 7 | 17 | 12 | 14- | 50 |
| Palmyra (15-13) | 17 | 14 | 16 | 12- | 59 |
BURLINGTON CITY 59, PENNS GROVE 58 (OT): The Red Devils staged a furious second-half rally to force overtime and had a three-point lead with 90 seconds left in the extra period only to have Chase Downs hit the go-ahead layup with nine-tenths of a second left to break their heart.
Zane Thomas’ put back with 13.3 seconds left gave the Red Devils a 58-57 lead before Downs drove the length of the floor for the game-winner.
Downs also hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 52, but neither team could deposit the winning shot. Penns Grove had two shots under the basket with 20 seconds left that didn’t fall and had the ball out of bounds with 3.2 seconds left and couldn’t get a shot.
Thomas, a sophomore just back from a knee injury, led all scorers with a career-high 19 points. He had scored only seven points all season prior to the game. B.J. Robbins had 17 points and KaRon Ceaser had 10.
“I’m proud of how we fought back,” Penns Grove coach Damian Ware said. “We were down 14 in the third quarter and battled and kept scraping back. For a young team it showed a lot of courage and toughness. And all these guys will be back next yer to make a title run.”
BURLINGTON CITY (10-15): Chase Downs 5-1-12, Jason Brown 7-3-17, Jamie Lambing 2-0-5, Corey Degree 2-0-4, Piper Comiso 2-0-6, Rashard Newark 6-3-15. Totals 24-7-59.
PENNS GROVE (11-14): B.J. Robbins 7-0-17, Roman Gipson 2-2-6, KaRon Ceaser 4-1-10, Jameel Horace 2-0-4, Luis Colon 1-0-2, Zane Thomas 9-1-19. Totals 25-4-58.
| Burlington City (10-15) | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 7- | 59 |
| Penns Grove (11-14) | 13 | 8 | 14 | 17 | 6- | 58 |
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