Salem CC men’s basketball schedule complete, women’s schedule close, Marsh adds 2 new assistants
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The mandate to play home-and-home series within the conference and region has kept Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green from being as creative as he’d have liked with his team’s 2025-26 schedule, but it finally came together even if he’s not altogether happy with it.
With only three games to play with, it didn’t take long. The Mighty Oaks filled the open slots with a spot in a pre-Thanksgiving event where the Mighty Oaks might play a team they beat in last year’s Division III national tournament and instate Division II contender Essex.
Green was hoping to get more games with teams they might see in a return trip to the nationals. As it is, their trip to the Penn Highlands tournament in November gives them a chance to play the Sandhills (N.C.) CC team they beat in the fifth-place game at the nationals.
“We didn’t hunt these,” he said. “I wanted to play everybody that we have a possibility to see in March. I wanted to play those type of teams. I’d much rather start my season off with those type of teams, get tested early.
“It’s different, it’s a completely different schedule. You only get three games. You don’t have as much creativity; you can’t do much with the schedule. Last year we played pretty much who we wanted to play, returned some games and all that, but we just don’t have that wiggle room.”
“It is what it is,” athletics director Bob Hughes said. “That’s way the league has decided to do things and the region decide to do things, so you’ve got to go with it. You can talk about it in meetings and maybe change it down the line, but for now this is the way they’ve scheduled it.”
It also could be a little more balanced. The bulk of the Mighty Oaks’ home games are in the second half of the season making a more comfortable push to the postseason at least.
Last year they played 14 regular-season games at home and 14 on the road, but they played their first seven and 10 of their 14 games before Christmas at home. They didn’t play at home after Feb. 6.
This year they play 11 of their 16 games before Christmas on the road, with nine of their 14 games after the calendar turns and the whole month of February (five games) at home.
The season starts Nov. 6 at Atlantic Cape. The banner commemorating the Mighty Oaks’ district championship and trip to the national tournament will be raised during the home opener Nov. 13.
2025-26 SALEM CC MENS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
12: x-Prince George’s CC; 18: x-Jamboree (Salem, PGCC, Bucks, Union), site TBA; 23: x-at Alvernia; 28: x-at Penn State-Brandywine).
NOVEMBER
6: at Atlantic Cape, 8: at Delaware County; 13: Bergen; 15: at Pennsylvania Highlands Tournament (SCC, Penn Highlands, Sandhills, Bryant & Stratton); 16: at Penn Highlands Tournament; 18: Ocean; 20: at Passaic; 22: Essex, site TBA; 25: at Camden.
DECEMBER
4: Thaddeus Stevens; 6: at Bergen; 9: RC-Gloucester; 11: at RC-Cumberland; 13: Brookdale; 18: at Ocean; 20: at Sussex.
JANUARY
6: at Union; 10: at RC-Gloucester; 13: RC-Cumberland; 15: at Northampton; 17: Passaic; 22: Atlantic Cape; 27: Philadelphia; 29: at Brookdale; 31: at Luzerne.
FEBRUARY
3: Montgomery; 5: Harrisburg Area; 10: Union; 12: Camden; 14: Sussex.
(x-scrimmage)
Women: Schedule close, add 2 coaches
The Salem CC women have a little more flexibility in their scheduling and while this year’s slate isn’t quite finished, it does have some of what coach Brian Marsh called “out of the ordinary” elements.
It includes three games with teams from Maryland, including a home-and-home deal with Hagerstown, and a visit from Palm Beach State, a JUCO Division I program from Florida on a three-game Northern swing that includes games at Raritan Valley and Harcum.
“I always try to say I recruit nationally; it’s kind of nice to play some teams that aren’t within driving distance,” Marsh said. “I want to play a lot of different teams. I want to expose my players to a lot of different players. Obviously, when you’re playing the same 18 games you start to see the same type of programs, so it’s just a totally different program that we have no idea about.
“I think it’s interesting playing a lot of different players, a lot of different coaches and see where we stack up with these tier players. We’re building this program and we’re trying to get this team where we want it to go. I don’t want to turn down anybody to play.”
The women open their season against Hagerstown (Nov. 4), then travel to a Delaware County team (Nov. 8) reviving its program after a five-year pause. They hope to add another game or two before the schedule is completed.
Before opening the season, the Mighty Oaks have scrimmages against Penn State-Brandywine and St. Elizabeth (with 2024-25 Mighty Oaks minutes leader Jakayla Jenkins).
Marsh has brought on two new assistants since the end of last season – Jeremy Jeanne and Kayla Chambliss. Jeanne is the former Delaware Military Academy head coach and athletics director. Chambliss, a Delaware grad, previously coached at Lincoln and Wilmington universities.
They join Kiara Eubanks, Garret Sample and Thomas Stanley on the staff.
“I’m just real excited to have a ‘real staff,’ Marsh said. “My first year I had one assistant coach. The second year I had two assistant coaches and now I’m up to (three assistants and two volunteers), which is really nice.
“It’s so much easier in practice the more coaches you have. Like last year you’re trying to teach something and people are moving around. Now you have more coaches who can kind of pull people aside and handle it.
2025-26 SALEM CC WOMENS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
23: x-Penn State-Brandywine; 30: x-St. Elizabeth.
NOVEMBER
4: Hagerstown; 8: at Delaware County; 18: at Mercer; 20: Palm Beach State; 22: at Essex; 25: at Delaware Tech.
DECEMBER
2: Union; 4: at Bucks; 6: at Raritan Valley; 9: Morris; 11: RC-Cumberland; 13; Lackawanna; 20: at Cecil.
JANUARY
10: at RC-Gloucester; 12: at Hagerstown; 15: Harcum; 17: Middlesex; 20: Mercer; 24: at Lackawanna; 27: Delaware Tech; 31: Raritan Valley.
FEBRUARY
3: at Union; 7: at Middlesex; 10: at Morris; 14: Essex; 17: at Harcum.
(x-scrimmage)
Riverview Sports News 