‘Special performances’ by Woolford, Jones spark second-half rally that carries Salem CC to its first ever win in the national tournament, faces second-seeded Mohawk Valley next in Elite 8
JUCO DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
First-round Games
(9) Dallas-Richland 73, (8) Northern Essex 68
(5) Herkimer 81, (12) Dallas-Mountain View 71
(10) Salem CC 72, (7) Riverland 67
(6) Union 76, (11) Genesee 66
Thursday’s Games
Northern Essex vs. Dallas Mountain View, 9 a.m.
Riverland vs. Union, 11 a.m.
Dallas-Richland vs. (1) Dutchess, 1 p.m.
Herkimer vs. (4) Sandhills, 3 p.m.
Salem CC vs. (2) Mohawk Valley, 6 p.m.
Union vs. (3) Minnesota State-Fergus Falls, 8 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
HERKIMER, N.Y. — Everybody wanted to be the player to slide Salem CC’s name on the second line of the national championship bracket, but by the time all the players got over to the big board on the other side of the court they realized only one player truly deserved the honor.
Tivon Woolford has quietly been playing his role as a reserve all season for the Mighty Oaks, but he’s also known as the team’s wildcard. And Wednesday afternoon, in the biggest basketball game in school history, the wildcard played as an ace.
Together with A.J. Jones, the two guards provided the second-half spark that carried the Mighty Oaks to an historic 72-67 win over seventh-seeded Riverland (Minn.) CC for the program’s first-ever national tournament win in their first-ever appearance in the JUCO Division III tournament at Herkimer College.
The Mighty Oaks (24-7) now take on second-seeded and third-ranked Mohawk Valley (26-1), the No. 1 defensive team in the country, in the Elite 8 Thursday at 6 p.m.
“That’s a big win,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “It takes special performances to win in March and Tivon and A.J. gave us that. They played probably one of their better games of the year and it worked out for us.”
Woolford played 18 minutes off the bench and scored eight points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor. Jones played 19 minutes, scored seven points, including two game-sealing free throws with seven-tenths of a second to play, and had several deflections that disrupted by Blue Devils’ efficient offense.
All their points came in the second half. They hit back-to-back 3-pointers with four minutes left to snap a 60-60 tie and give the Mighty Oaks the lead for good.
“I thought I did really good today, that I pulled through for the team,” Woolford said. “The team needed some up energy. We needed some energy, points, defense, everything. I felt like I needed to go out there and improve for the team so we could get the win.”
“The whole season I’ve said he was the wildcard,” freshman guard Xavier Brewington said. “Tivon comes up for us whenever we need him. ““He’s unflappable, unflappable,” Green said. “He has the heart of a lion. He’s so out of it that he plays great in big games. He’s not bothered at all in big games. It’s like another walk in the park for him and he’s shown it time and time again.”
Woolford even saved the day at the big bracket, rushing in from the wings when Josh Ramos got fumbled with the backing on the placard and placed it on the proper line in the second round. The sophomore from Newark, Del., one of the last five remaining players from Green’s first half-season, was the player the team wanted to stick it there all along.
“We definitely feel like Tivon deserved it in this one because he stepped up,” Akeem Taylor said. “That’s the one thing about our team – any day a different player can step up.”
“I’m happy they let me do it because it shows they’ve got the trust in me and that confidence in me to go do my thing and I want to say thank you,” Woolford said. “It felt real good knowing I went out there and got the opportunity to do my thing and show who I really could be. It felt good putting our name up there and showing what we can be.”
It was another strong second-half that got the Mighty Oaks through. They trailed the former No. 1 ranked team in Division III by 10 at halftime after going nearly seven minutes without a field goal, hitting only 1-for-8 from 3-point range, recording only two assists and often getting caught by the shot clock.
In the second half, though, they were 7-for-11 from behind the arc, got better ball movement and held the Blue Devils (29-4) to 30 points while outscoring them by 15. They’ve outscored their three playoff opponents in the second half 126-106 and during their current six-game winning streak they’ve outscored their opponents by nearly 11 points a game in the second half.
“We’re a second-half team for some reason,” Brewington said. “I said in the locker room at halftime we’ve been here before, we’ve been through worse, we’ve got a lot of game left. We’ve got to play together and that’s what happens when we play together.”
“The second half we knew we had to bring it,” Jones said. “It wasn’t even about what works and what doesn’t work. It was about showing heart and grit. That’s what we brought the second half and we showed we were the better team.”
Taylor and Brewington combined for 21 points in the second half and finished with 18 points apiece to lead Salem’s offense. Brewington hit a pair of 3s at the start of the second half to get the Mighty Oaks back in the game. Jyheim Spencer, the top-ranked rebounder in the tournament, had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
Spencer’s layup off a crisp entry pass from Jones gave the Mighty Oaks their first lead since 11-9 with 6:42 to play.
“Every game we play is history,” Taylor said. “Every game we win we’re making history.”
They sure don’t want it to end with the first one.
“We’re not done yet,” Green said. “We didn’t come here to win one game. We came here to win the tournament.”
SALEM CC 72, RIVERLAND CC 67
SALEM CC (24-7): Tamir Powell 0-6 2-2 2, Tyrese Fortune 0-5 2-2 2, Xavier Brewington 6-13 3-4 18, Akeem Taylor 8-18 1-3 18, Jyheim Spencer 6-8 2-3 14, Dontarius Jones 0-0 0-0 0, A.J. Jones 1-3 4-4 7, Tivon Woolford 3-4 0-0 8, Joshua Ramos 1-3 0-0 3, Rodney Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Tajee Jordan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 14-18 72.
RIVERLAND CC (29-4): Christian Campbell 7-15 3-4 19, Damar Jenkins 4-12 1-2 13, Buai Duop 5-9 0-0 12, Joe Poyser 4-7 2-4 10, Nazih Chehade 3-7 1-3 7, Gabe Hein 0-0 0-0 0, Lubab Kambalo 1-3 0-0 3, Rolph Blanc 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Edland 0-0 0-0 0, Jose Yepez 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 25-57 7-13 67.
| Salem CC | 27 | 45- | 72 |
| Riverland CC | 37 | 30- | 67 |
3-point goals: Salem 8-19 (Powell 0-2, Fortune 0-2, Brewington 3-6, Taylor 1-2, A. Jones 1-2, Woolford 2-2, Ramos 1-3); Riverland 10-25 (Campbell 2-7, Jenkins 4-10, Duop 2-4, Kimball 1-2, Blanc 0-1, Yepez 1-1). Rebounds: Salem 41 (Spencer 10, Taylor 6, Powell 5, Brewington 5); Riverland 31 (Chehade 9). Total fouls: Salem 13, Riverland 13. Officials: Jim Salamone, Keegan Ryan, Danny Greenwald.
Riverview Sports News 