Phase One: 9-0

No. 2 Salem CC men stay unbeaten with road win at Camden; women still seeking first win after loss at Delaware Tech

TUESDAY BASKETBALL
Salem CC 69, Camden CC 59
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Delaware Tech 64, Salem CC 53

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BLACKWOOD – At the start of each of the last two seasons Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green and assistant Scooter Wilkerson got together to plot the worst-case scenario for the first month of the season. Green wouldn’t disclose his projection except to say it was better than his assistant’s – and that one was pretty good.

Suffice to say, the team is “way ahead of schedule.”

The second-ranked Mighty Oaks head into Thanksgiving 9-0 after a 69-59 win at Camden County College Tuesday night.

“I thought we’d be pretty good,” Green said after pushing his career coaching record to 44-17 (.721) with the strong start. “I thought we’d struggle at a couple places, but we’re way ahead of Scooter’s (projection) and we’re ahead of mine, let’s put it that way.”

The players expected to have success this year, even though the roster is completely new, but being undefeated might have caught some of them by surprise.

“I didn’t think we were going to be bad, but undefeated was unexpected, I’m not going to lie,” point guard Saaid Lee said. “But for us to be that way I think we’re way ahead of the curve where we’re supposed to be right now.”

“To be honest, I felt like we were going to be right where we’re at right now,” Nasseem Wright said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in my guys. We’re not looking past anybody, we’re just executing the job. It’s cool (to be undefeated), but there’s more to do, for sure.”

The Mighty Oaks took control of the game with a 17-0 run in the middle of the first half. And although the players never felt uncomfortable even when the Cougars made a couple runs at them, it just had that kind of feel about it.

They led by 16 after that initial outburst and maintained the lead throughout. The Cougars rode some intense defense to draw within six with five minutes left. Green called time at that point and the Mighty Oaks returned to the floor with renewed energy and scored the next six points to push their lead back to double digits.

Second-chance buckets by Lee and Stefan Phillips and Zyaire Gibson’s layup after a Wright steal made it 62-50 with 3:22 left. The lead slipped below 10 only once the rest of the way.

“They don’t let you breathe,” Green said. “They’ve got a toughness about them. Our kids again answered the bell.

“We just had to reset the group. Let them know we’re still winning, it ain’t the end of the world. Let’s put something on top of it.”

The Mighty Oaks put five scorers in double figures. Jarrell Little, the newly-minted Region 19 Division III Player of the Week, and Lee led the way with 14 points apiece. Wright, Idris Rines and Stefan Phillips had 10 points apiece.

Lee scored all his points in the second half. He also had five rebounds and five assists, including the alley-oop pass that produced Wright’s thunderous dunk at the end of the game. Wright also had 10 rebounds and five assists, and once again Phillips didn’t miss a shot.

“The more weapons we’ve got, the better it is, and we’ve got a good amount of weapons,” Green said. “Nobody has successfully taken all of them out yet.”

The good thing about having a brand new team is it isn’t burdened by history. The win was the Mighty Oaks’ first in six games at Camden since the revival of the program (0-5). Green was 0-2 and had 13-point leads in both games.

The players were aware of all that, prompting Wright to call Tuesday night’s game “personal.”

“Any time you lose in overtime or you got a lead you surrender, you don’t forget that,” Green said.

One piece of history the new Mighty Oaks won’t want to forget is they have now won 11 in a row going back to last year and 17 of their last 18 (with only loss to national champion and current No. 1 Mohawk Valley in the national tournament). They’re now 7-0 away from home this season, 6-0 in true road games.

So they’re undefeated going into Thanksgiving. Going into Christmas without a loss — a joyous No-L, get it — that would be something. They play seven games in December, two against teams they’ve already beaten and none against the other three nationally ranked teams in the league.

“It’s tough, you’ve got to stay healthy,” Green said of the prospects. “Hopefully our guys stay healthy. If you stay healthy, anything can happen.”

SALEM CC 69, CAMDEN 59
SALEM CC (9-0): Jarrell Little 5-15 0-0 14, Saaid Lee 6-10 2-4 14, Nasseem Wright 4-6 2-2 10, Idris Rines 4-7 0-0 10, Stefan Phillips 5-5 0-0 10, Zyaire Gibson 3-12 0-0 7, Lenar Anderson 1-2 0-2 2, Jaiayre Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Jahseir Sayles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 4-8 69.
CAMDEN (5-2): Cam Rembert 6 0-0 12, Su Allyene 2 6-9 10, Mikey Campbell 3 0-0 6, Kyree Henry 0 0-0 0, Zhamere Crawford 1 1-2 4, Christian Durham 3 0-0 6, Sami Singletary 0 2-2 2, Istavan Norwood 8 0-2 16, Ayden Chopstick 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 9-15 59.

Salem CC (9-0)	31	38-	69
Camden (5-2)	20	39-	59

3-point goals: Salem CC 7-26 (Little 4-11, Lee 0-1, N. Wright 0-2, Rines 2-3, Gibson 1-8, Anderson 0-1)
Camden 2 (Crawford, Copestick). Rebounds: Salem CC 33 (N. Wright 10). Total fouls: Salem 13, Camden 15.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	7-0	7-0	5-0
SALEM CC	6-0	9-0	5-0
Northampton	6-0	9-0
Montgomery	4-0	4-1
Camden	5-2	5-2	3-1
Brookdale	5-2	5-4	2-2
Ocean	4-3	4-3	2-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	3-3	3-3	3-1
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-3	3-4	1-3
Bergen	3-5	4-5	2-3
Thaddeus Stevens	1-2	3-4
Atlantic Cape	2-4	2-4	1-4
Sussex	2-5	2-6	1-4
Harrisburg Area	1-3	1-6
Passaic	2-6	2-6	2-5
Delaware County	1-6	1-6
Luzerne	0-3	2-4
Philadelphia	0-7	2-7

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 69, Camden 59
Northampton 98, Delaware County 51
Union 100, Passaic 50
Harrisburg Area 69, Philadelphia 54
Morris 90, Essex 73
Thaddeus Stevens at RCSJ-Gloucester
RCSJ-Cumberland 79, Atlantic Cape 73
Sussex 92, Bergen 84
Montgomery 78, Lackawanna 52
Middlesex 71, Mercer 70
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Williamson Trades at Harrisburg Area
Morris at Allegany (Md.)
DEC. 2 GAMES
Philadelphia at Luzerne
Brookdale at Delaware County
Sussex at Passaic
Middlesex at Essex
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
CCBC Catonsville at Harcum
Northampton at Camden
Harrisburg Area at RCSJ-Cumberland
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Ocean at Atlantic Cape
RCSJ-Gloucester at Bergen

Women’s game

NEWARK, Del. — A cold night from the floor doomed the Salem CC women to a fifth straight loss to open the season, 64-53 at Delaware Tech.

The Mighty Oaks shot 23-of-82 from the floor and 3-of-17 from 3-point range. Tanijya Shaw led the offense with 16 points. Point guard Justine Cardona returned to the lineup a missing the past three games with an ankle injury and had 11 points and five rebounds. Kasey Oliver trapped a team-high 12 rebounds.

Salem CC (0-5)	8	10	16	19-	53
Delaware Tech (2-7)	15	16	16	17-	64

SALEM CC LEADERS
Scoring: Tanya Shaw 16, Justine Cardona 11, Kasey Oliver 10.
Rebounding: Kasey Oliver 12, Dani Gustin 7.
Steals: RayNescia King 4, Tanijya Shaw 4.

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	4-0	9-0	3-0
Harcum	3-0	7-1
Mercer	3-1	6-2	2-0
Essex	2-1	5-1	2-1
Lackawanna	2-1	2-4
Delaware Tech	1-1	2-7
Morris	0-2	0-2	0-1
Middlesex	0-3	4-7	0-2
Raritan Valley	0-3	2-4	0-2
SALEM CC	0-3	0-5	0-1

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech 64, Salem CC 53
Harcum 70, Raritan Valley 60
Bergen 69, Sussex 59
Mercer 101, Middlesex 43
Atlantic Cape 89, RCSJ-Cumberland 37
Essex 125, Morris 20
Union 86, Lackawanna 33
DEC. 2 GAMES
Union at Salem
Middlesex at Essex
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Northampton at Camden
Harcum at Morris
Sussex at Passaic
Ocean at Atlantic Cape
RCSJ-Gloucester at Bergen
Brookdale at Delaware County

Stars align for TCC

Tri-County Conference sweeps Colonial in soccer all-star games, boys score five goals in final 10:30, girls score shutout

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CLAYTON — Darren Huck was about 30 seconds away from walking down the sideline to ask his opposite number how he wanted to play it if their all-star soccer game ended in a tie. Overtime? PKs? Coin toss at 20 paces?

Turns out he didn’t have to have that conversation at all.

After nearly 70 minutes of close calls, the Woodstown coach’s Tri-County Conference boys soccer all-stars erupted for five goals in the final 10 and a half minutes of the match and wrecked the Colonial Conference stars 5-1 Monday at Haupt Field.

“Just got lucky,” Huck said with some serious side-eye when asked if he planned it that way. “How did they say it on TV, the ‘A-Team,’ ‘I love it when a plan comes together.’

“It worked out really, really well. We had some weapons we were able to make us look like we knew what we were doing on the sideline.”

Actually, the game went a lot like Huck envisioned, for the first 70 minutes at least. It was a close game between two evenly matched teams, nothing like last year’s 9-1 TCC rout.

The Colonials took a 1-0 lead when Gateway’s Ethan LaCroix hit a shot from about the PK spot that was just out of Pennsville keeper Coen Rinnier’s reach less than four minutes before the break.

And it stayed that way until shortly after the TCC’s last wave of substitutions.

Just about the time Huck was headed over to make his overtime pitch GCIT’s Mike Stanwood got the equalizer when he finished Schalick senior Anthony Sepers’ sharp pass through the box with 10:26 to play.

The coach stopped, turned around and decided to rethink this overtime thing. Then the goals came fast and furious.

Before it was over, Sepers had another assist and GCIT’s Cole Madgey and Williamstown’s Amadu Jalloh had two goals apiece. All five goals came in a span of 9 minutes and 12 seconds.

“Sometimes it just clicks and when you score one, then you’re feeling good and get more adrenaline and you score another and then another and then another,” said Sepers, one of nine Salem County players and four Cougars in the game. “I thought it was going to be a really close game, which it was for the most part, and it just opened up.”

The Tris might not have gotten the first goal if Sepers weren’t so good at reading the field. He was going to shoot it from the left side, but saw Stanwood making a run from behind and pushed the ball through to where he anticipated the receiver would be. It would be the play that changed the game.

“The energy completely shifted,” Madgey said. “It was like no one was really caring and then we scored, then it became a huge energy shift and we all started having more fun and it became more of a game. We scored one and we couldn’t stop.”

Jalloh scored the go-ahead goal two minutes later. About 90 seconds after that Madgey lit the lamp for the first time. Madgey got his second goal moments later off a Sepers corner kick and Jalloh closed the scoring with 64 seconds to play shortly after banging one off the post.

“The corner kick (assist) was actually funny,” Sepers said. “A lot of us all used to play on a club team together so we were messing around and calling that one play and it actually worked.”

“They were all talking about a play they had and I joined in,” Madgey said. “They all said ‘crash,’ and went to the goalie. I just joined in and it kind of found its way to me.”

When the train comes in, everybody rides.

Tri-County 5, Colonial 1

Tri-County	0	5-	5
Colonial	1	0-	1

GOALS — C: Ethan LaCroix, 36:08; T: Mike Stanwood (Anthony Sepers), 69:34; T: Amadu Jalloh, 71:32; T: Cole Madgey, 73:00; T: Cole Madgey (Anthony Sepers), 74:30; T: Amadu Jalloh, 78:46.

**Schalick teammates Quinn Berger (L) and Cali Fisler talk about scoring the first two goals of the match in the Tri-County all-stars’ 3-0 win over the Colonial Conference stars.**

Girls: ‘It’s a Schalick show’

CLAYTON – No sooner had Quinn Berger’s goal from the corner settled inside the goal, Cali Fisler ran over to her teammate and enthusiastically proclaimed, “It’s a Schalick show.”

Fisler and Berger scored the first two goals of the game, about five minutes apart in the first half, and Woodstown’s Ellie Wygand made a big save in the second half as the TCC girls won 3-0.

Fisler, who’s normally assisting other players’ goals, scored the first goal of the night when she lined straight up on Colonial keeper Egypt Bolan (Lindenwold) and buried a shot from about 15 yards out inside the left post with 15:07 left in the first half.

“That was pretty exciting considering I’m not much of a goal scorer in the season, I usually get a lot of assists,” the Cougars’ all-time assists leader said. “But I saw the ball open and I had a shot on net, so I was like I’m just going to take it and it wound up in the back of the net so I’m pretty happy.”

Berger made it 2-0 about five minutes later, and of course it came on a corner kick. The set piece specialist, who had five corner-kick assists on Emily Miller goals in a two-game stretch late in the season and scored directly on a corner in the South Jersey Group I semifinals, put a ball on goal from the right corner that exploded off the keeper’s forearms into the goal.

“That’s literally Quinn,” Fisler said. “That’s the definition of Quinn. That’s what she does.”

Berger had two other corners in the half that had chances to go in. The first was headed over the crossbar by one of her teammates and the other was saved by the keeper and cleared by the defense.

“I honestly don’t know (why it works so well),” Berger said. “I just try to aim for the goal and I have my spot to where I put it on the corner.

“I was always the one who took free kicks, so I was always used to that, but this year is just on a whole different level of excellence. I know where to put it and I know the mindset of where people will be and just put it in the box so they can get it.”

Gianna Simon of Overbrook deposited the TCC’s third goal with 2:36 left in the match.

Wygand played at the end of the first half and started the second. She kept the shutout alive when she reached out with her arm to knock away a shot by Audubon’s Charlie Owens targeted for the upper right corner 11 minutes into the second half.

“I was really focused in that moment when I saw the girl coming at me and all I had to do was make the save,” Wygand said. “I definitely knew she was going toward the back post because of the way she was angled. I kind of just planted and it went the right way.

“Once I made it, I was good and I knew I had people to back me up on the back line and everywhere else. It was awesome.”

Tri-County 3, Colonial 0

Tri-County	2	1-	3
Colonial	0	0-	0

GOALS — T: Cali Fisler (Elizabeth Anderson), 24:53; T: Quinn Berger, 29:19; T: Gianna Simon, 77:24.

All-Star Soccer

The Tri-County and Colonial Conference soccer stars face off in annual all-star games Monday at Clayton

By Riverview Sports News

CLAYTON – The Tri-County Conference will put its recent series dominance on the line with another strong roster of all-stars when the games are played on the artificial turf at Haupt Field here Monday night.

TCC has won the boys game the last two years with one-sided outcomes – 9-1 and 5-2 – that weren’t anticipated but just happened.

“The whole point of the game is for it to be competitive and fun and for these guys to play with some really good players and just have some fun with it; that’s the main part of it,” said Woodstown coach Darren Huck, who has the TCC boys team. “I don’t want to see a blowout on either side, that’s not good for anybody. I’m expecting a close game.”

Salem County is well represented with five players in the 5 p.m. girls game and nine in the boys 7 p.m. nightcap.

Among the girls are Schalick’s set-piece specialist Quinn Berger and all-time assists leader Cali Fisler, Woodstown’s Delaney Walker and Ellie Wygand, and Pennsville’s Taylor Bass.

Schalick has four players on the TCC boys roster – Steve Chomo, Jaxon Weber, Anthony Sepers and Michael Nelson – and they’re joined by Woodstown’s Bryce Ayars and Josh Crawford, Pennsville’s Steve Fatcher and Coen Rinnier, and Salem Tech’s Kameron Brown.

“I think we’re going to have a very good showing,” Huck said. “I think we’re going to be very strong with very quality, quality players. It’s a privilege to coach them.”

Huck hasn’t determined his starters, but he does have a plan for the groups. He’ll play with three forwards, giving each of the two groups 20 minutes per half. The two sets of four midfielders also will get 20 minutes per half and the three sets of four defenders will each get 13-minute shifts. Each keeper will get 20 minutes.

“I expect the Colonial Conference to come out with their strongest lineup in the beginning of the game, so we want to make sure we put our strongest goal keeper out there,” Huck said.

Ten of the TCC girls and 12 of the TCC boys will be playing in the South Jersey Soccer Coaches All-Star Game Tuesday at Rutgers-Camden. The Colonial has seven and four players, respectively, in that game.

Girls rosters, 5 p.m.

NO.	TRI-COUNTY GIRLS	COLONIAL GIRLS
1	x-Taylor Stuart, Washington Twp.	x-Charlie Owens, Audubon
2	x-Carli Scrivana, Williamstown	x-Brielle Connor, Haddon Hts.
3	x-McKenna Eaton, Williamstown	x-Rylee Delaney, W. Deptford
4	Casey Vilary, Clearview	Penny Floyd, Gateway
5	Allison Wiggins, Kingsway	Alexis Nelson, Gloucester
6	Mackenzie Barry, Kingsway	Ayanna Miller, Woodbury
7	Brianna Weiss, Washington Twp.	Montgomery Graham, Sterling
8	Brooke Jones, GCIT	x-Kylie Tocco, Audubon
9	x-Deondria Simon, Clayton	x-Alexis Varela, W. Deptford
10	Alyssa Shinskie, Clayton	Joselyn Hauck, Haddon Twp.
11	LeighAnn Nage, Clayton	Madison Eastlack, W. Deptford
12	Audrey Duffield, Pitman	x-Kayleigh Daley, Gateway
13	Lauren Narolewski, Glou. Cath.	Whitney Okeke, Lindenwold
14	Kaitlyn Capalbo, Glou. Cath.	x-Emily Sewell, Gateway
15	x-Olivia Capecci, Delsea	Madison Sims, Sterling
16	x-Ayress Maitland, Delsea	Mariela Fuentes Ramirez, Lindenwold
17	Emma Serrano, Delsea	Egypt Bolan, Londenwold
18	Gracie Mills, Deptford	Molly Sullivan, Audubon
19	x-Anna Lawyer, Deptford	Sydney O;Loughlin, W. Deptford
20	Ciana Ragonese, Cumberland	Moira Schroeder, Haddon Hts.
21	Elizabeth Anderson, Highland	Jayleen Peebles, Haddon Twp.
22	x-Amina Brown, Glassboro	Lily Henning, Haddon Twp.
23	Quinn Berger, Schalick	Alex Billingsley, Haddon Twp.
24	x-Cali Fisler, Schalick
25	x-Delaney Walker, Woodstown
26	Ellie Wygand, Woodstown
27	Gianna Simon, Overbrook
28	Taylor Bass, Pennsville

x-Playing in SJSCA Game Tuesday at Rutgers-Camden

Boys rosters, 7 p.m.

	TRI-COUNTY BOYS	COLONIAL BOYS
1	William Gallagher, Triton	Connor Wendell, Audubon
2	Mason Henry, Deptford	Phelan Pizzutillo, Collingswood
3	x-Kenny Cockerill, Deptford	Mason McCarthy, Haddon Twp.
4	Brody Rowe, Timber Creek	Ethan LaCroix, Gateway
5	Aidan Worley, Highland	Juan Flores-Sanches, Collingswood
6	Joshua Holt, Cumberland	x-Eammon Sheehan, Haddon Twp.
7	x-Danny Bird, Delsea	x-Riley Yearicks, W. Deptford
8	x-Bryce Ayars, Woodstown	x-Ben Cameron, Audubon
9	Steve Chomo, Schalick	Max Ciavarelli, Haddon Hts.
10	x-Jaxon Weber, Schalick	Allan Medina, Gloucester
11	Anthony Sepers, Schalick	Zach Fayer, Audubon
12	x-Michael Nelson, Schalick	Allen Eastlack, W. Deptford
13	Josh Crawford, Woodstown	Nate Durst, Collingswood
14	x-Joey Zubert, Pitman	Lester Saba, Woodbury
15	Zach Payne, Glou. Cath.	Brendan Rettig, Gloucester
16	Alex Osorio, Wildwood	Shawn Rizzi, Audubon
17	Steve Fatcher, Pennsville	Quinn Dahem, Haddon Hts.
18	Ju’son Stewart, Clayton	Alton Rattle, Gateway
19	Steven Benckert, Clayton	Carter Watson, W. Deptford
20	Coen Rinnier, Pennsville	x-Bayron Guardado, Lindenwold
21	Kameron Brown, Salem Tech	Hendrick Guerrero, Lindenwold
22	x-Connor Brown, Kingsway	Jonathan Rojas, Haddon Hts.
23	x-Ayden Anderson, Washington Twp.	Jack McGarrigel, Haddon Twp.
24	x-Cole Madgey, GCIT	Patrick Farrow, Collingswood
25	Luke Marino, Clearview
26	x-Robbie Finnegan, Washington Twp.
27	x-Amadu Jalloh, Williamstown
28	Cristian Russell, Williamstown
29	Angel Lara, Wildwood
30	x-Sean Tarsatana, Washington Twp.

x-Playing in SJSCA game Tuesday at Rutgers-Camden.

Double OT thriller

Salem CC survives Essex in 2 OTs to remain undefeated, Little goes for 42; women remain winless

SATURDAY BASKETBALL
Salem CC 109, Essex 106 (2 OT)
Essex women 64, Salem CC 35

By Riverview Sports News

NEWARK – Mike Green knew his Salem CC basketball team was going to face its share of tests during the season. The Mighty Oaks faced their biggest test so far Saturday and came through it — in double overtime.

Zyaire Gibson hit a 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds left to give second-ranked Salem the lead, then hit a pair of free throws with 12.2 seconds left to seal a 109-106 road win over Essex to remain undefeated.

“Every time on the road get it and go, whether it’s by 20 or two, get it and go,” Green said. “Road wins are tough … You’ve got to win ugly.”

The Mighty Oaks (8-0), who trailed by as many as 12 in the game, had the ball at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but couldn’t get off a shot either time.

Jarrell Little led the Mighty Oaks with 42 points. He was 16-of-28 from the field, 8-of-14 from 3-point range. It’s the most points by a Salem player in the Green Era and the most since Akeem Taylor scored 33 against Camden in his Mighty Oaks debut last January. Niame Scott had 33 against Sussex in February 2024.

Lamar Woody scored 50 for the Mighty Oaks in a February 2020 game against Atlantic Cape. He was 23-of-30 from the floor in that game.

Saaid Lee had 22 points (and five assists), Nasseem Wright 18 (with 16 rebounds and six assists), and Gibson 14.

The Division II Wolverines (2-5) missed an off-balanced 3-pointer contested by Idris Rines for the tie at the end of the second overtime. The 106 points they scored were the second-most against the Mighty Oaks in the Green Era and only the third time a team has scored 100. Brookdale put 107 on them in Green’s second game as coach in 2024.

“Wild, really wild,” Green said of the game. “I’m sure it was good to watch, but it was a tough one.

“They (Essex) were protecting their home. They were up to play against the No. 2 team in the nation and our guys didn’t anticipate that. But they (his team) made winning plays at the end and we got the stop that we were begging for all game long. We finally figured it out.”

The Mighty Oaks entered the game ranked sixth in NJCAA Division III in scoring. It was their fourth game this year scoring more than 100 points and third in a row.

They’ve now won 10 in a row going back to last season. They had two six-game winning streaks last year.

SALEM CC (8-0): Jarrell Little 16-28 2-4 42, Saaid Lee 9-17 3-4 22, Nasseem Wright 6-14 6-8 18, Zyaire Gibson 3-18 5-6 14, Qua Smith 2-5 4-6 8, Stefan Phillips 1-5 1-3 3, Idris Rines 1-7 0-0 2, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0 0. Totals 38-95 21-31 109.

Salem CC	48	39	5	17-	109
Essex	46	41	5	14-	106

3-point goals: Salem CC 12-37 (Little 8-14, Lee 1-1, Gibson 3-15, Phillips 0-2, Rines 0-4, Sayles 0-1). Rebounds: Salem CC (Wright 16, Lee 7, Rines 8). Total fouls: Salem CC 17.

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES IN GREEN ERA

PTS	OPPONENT, DATE
119	at RCSJ-Cumberland (53), Jan. 14, 2025
114	RCSJ-Cumberland (56), Dec. 19, 2024
113	Ocean (90), Nov. 18, 2025
112	Luzerne (67), Feb. 1, 2025
111	at Passaic (73), Nov. 20, 2025
110	Harrisburg Area (66), Feb. 10, 2024
109	at Essex (106), Nov. 22, 2025
106	Lancaster Bible JV (71), Nov. 21, 2024
106	RCSJ-Gloucester (70), Jan. 13, 2024
102	Bergen (69), Nov. 13, 2025

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	6-0	6-0	4-0
SALEM CC	5-0	8-0	4-0
Northampton	5-0	8-0
Montgomery	3-0	3-1
Camden	4-1	5-1	3-0
Brookdale	5-2	5-4	2-2
Ocean	4-2	4-3	2-2
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-3	3-4	1-3
Bergen	3-4	3-4	1-2
Atlantic Cape	2-3	2-3	1-3
RCSJ-Cumberland	2-3	2-3	2-1
Thaddeus Stevens	1-2	3-3
Passaic	2-5	2-5	2-4
Delaware County	1-5	1-5
Sussex	1-5	1-6	0-3
Luzerne	0-3	2-4
Harrisburg Area	0-3	0-6
Philadelphia	0-6	2-6

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 109, Essex 106 (2 OT)
Ocean 96. Philadelphia 86
RCSJ-Gloucester 77, Harrisburg Area 72
Northampton 87, Luzerne 53
Camden 69, Passaic 50
RCSJ-Cumberland 87, Sussex 74
Bergen at Thaddeus Stevens
Union 76, Delaware County 56
Morris 100, Montgomery (Md.) 88
Lackawanna 68, Delaware Tech 61

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Camden
Delaware County at Northampton
Union at Passaic
Philadelphia at Harrisburg Area
Essex at Morris
Thaddeus Stevens at RCSJ-Gloucester
RCSJ-Cumberland at Atlantic Cape
Bergen at Sussex
Montgomery at Lackawanna
Mercer at Middlesex

Women’s game

NEWARK – The Salem CC women were in a tight battle early, then Essex went on an 21-2 run on the way to an 18-point halftime lead and rolled to a 64-35 victory to keep the Mighty Oaks winless.

The Mighty Oaks (0-4) are shorthanded as it is, but their options were even more limited after their two posts fouled out. Injured point guard Justine Cardona remains out, but the team is hoping to have her back for Tuesday’s game against Delaware Tech.

“Our play is very inconsistent right now,” coach Brian Marsh said. “We will keep working hard and get this straightened out.”

Salem CC	14	5	9	7-	35
Essex	14	23	13	14-	64

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	3-0	8-0	3-0
Mercer	2-0	5-1	1-0
Lackawanna	2-0	2-3
Harcum	1-0	5-1
Essex	1-1	4-1	1-1
Delaware Tech	0-1	1-7
Morris	0-1	0-1	0-0
Middlesex	0-2	4-6	0-1
SALEM CC	0-2	0-4	0-1
Raritan Valley	0-2	1-3	0-2

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Essex 64, Salem CC 35
Mercer at Harcum
Union 92, Middlesex 35
Philadelphia 82, Ocean 46
Passaic67, Camden 56
Montgomery 79, RCSJ-Cumberland 29
Lackawanna 68, Delaware Tech 64

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Delaware Tech
Harcum at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Sussex
Mercer at Middlesex
RCSJ-Cumberland at Atlantic Cape
Essex at Morris
Union at Lackawanna

Coaching again

Accorsi hits the recruiting trail in first day as Salem CC’s interim head football coach, would like to be the permanent leader when inaugural game comes next fall

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Jay Accorsi really thought he was done with coaching. When he told the Rowan football team he coached for 30 years – the last 22 as the head coach — on the last day of spring practice 2024 he was retiring he thought that was it. When his time was done, he was done and never looking back.

But like a lot of people of that certain age it didn’t take him long to get tired of being retired. Oh, the break was fun for a while, he got to follow his son’s final year of college soccer, but then he got the itch to do something familiar.

There was this little project he’d been quietly dabbling in for a while, this burning question of why there was no junior college football in New Jersey in general and South Jersey in particular when there were so many high school players either going elsewhere to play on the next level or just giving up the game (and the possibility of going to college) because they had no options.

He had been gathering information in his travels with the Profs, and his retirement days gave him a chance to do an even deeper dive on the subject. The more he worked it, the more he believed this could really work in the right environment.

He took his data to Salem Community College president Mike Gorman and, guess what, he’s back in the game.

On Thursday night, the junior college’s board of trustees approved adding a football program to the school’s lineup of sports and installed Accorsi, who had been the paid consultant in the exploration, as interim head coach (and the betting favorite to become the permanent guy when that move is made.)

Suddenly, the man with the Santa Claus look was given the gift he had always been giving.

As the interim head coach, it’ll be Accorsi’s mission to recruit players and do whatever it takes to “help the athletic director with everything that’s needed to help the program” as it moves towards a Fall 2026 Opening Day. His first task: Hit the recruiting trail Friday, starting with all the football-playing schools in Salem County (and Pennsville on Monday).

“It’s funny, I never thought I was (going to get back in); I walked away and was happy,” Accorsi said. “Everybody said I would get bored. I was OK for a while and then I got bored.

“Then the football bug hit. The concept of this idea really helped me be creative and put some information together and think if this could actually work. For me, the great part is, that was kind of validated tonight by a board to go ahead and proceed with something that I’ve thought about forever and really started to work on last winter.”

Salem athletics director Bob Hughes couldn’t be happier with the direction things are moving. The Mighty Oaks were going to announce the interim head coaching move Friday in conjunction with their classifying the sport with the NJCAA, but Hughes went ahead and pulled the trigger after Thursday’s board meeting.

“I’m excited to continue to grow the relationship with Jay,” he said. “He’s been a fantastic addition to the college and the athletic department and I’m excited with him to help us get this program truly off the ground.”

Gorman remembers that first conversation with Accorsi about the possibility of bringing football to Salem. Although he was familiar with the former coach and it was that association that got him in the door, Gorman thought they were talking about something else until about five minutes into the conversation.

“I honestly thought he was selling something,” Gorman said. “I knew of him as a football coach, but I didn’t know he was bringing in a proposal of that nature. I thought maybe he was representing a company that was doing equipment or whatever, but until we got into that conversation I didn’t know what we were specifically talking about.’

Actually Accorsi was selling something. He was selling football to a school that had never had it before.

As a former high school and college football player himself and visionary for the college, Gorman could see the merits of bringing the sport to campus. The college had done an analysis five years earlier and thought it was feasible, but with the onset of the COVID pandemic and other factors decided it wasn’t the time to proceed.

Sure, there’s is a financial risk – it’ll run nearly a half-million dollars in startup costs – but the college is said to be fiscally aligned to handle it, but in its mission of “changing lives,” as Gorman puts it, there was really no other capacity that could bring on such increased enrollment in such a rapid period of time.

(The news of the decision is spreading so quickly the athletics department received a half-dozen inquiries from prospective student-athletes before 10 a.m. Friday.)

The timing was absolutely right. As Accorsi had discovered in his research there was a plethora of underserved high school football athletes in the region and only one junior college football program between Central New York and Louisburg, N.C.

It was in that opportunity Accorsi and the college converged.

A national search will get underway to find a permanent leader of the program. It’s a safe bet Accorsi will be the odds on favorite — and he does want the job — but he knows nothing is guaranteed. And frankly he prefers it that way.

“When I was the assistant coach at Rowan and KC (Keeler) left to go to Delaware, I met with the AD several times and it was decided to do the national search and at the time I was very happy about that because I said I just don’t want you to hand me the job,” he said. “I want to earn it against everybody in the country and I feel the same way about this. I want to put myself in a position to earn the title and be able to do it down the road.

“They (Rowan) went to a national search, I had to interview, I had to go through the process. I learned a lot. I was very happy that I became head coach, but I was happy they did it that way and they didn’t hand it to me. I believe you earn things in life; you’re just not given things.”

From there he became the longest-tenured head coach in the program’s history, posting a record of 143-78 with seven conference titles and seven trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Two of his teams reached the national semifinals.

He seems to fit at least one of the criteria the policymakers are looking for in the permanent head coach.

“I want somebody who belongs to this area,” Gorman said. “I want somebody who’s really invested in Salem County and the region as a whole and believes in what we’re saying. This isn’t about the X’s and O’s about the game. This is about changing lives for young people.”

But what if he doesn’t become the guy after putting in all the legwork to get the program off the ground? As he has said nothing’s guaranteed.

“I’d still feel like I accomplished something because my main goal was to provide an opportunity for students and especially those in New Jersey to play football in an opportunity where they hadn’t,” Accorsi said. “So if I helped create that which we’re doing today then I’ve reached my goal and I helped do that.

“I firmly believe that’s why I decided to do this and be involved in this because I wanted to make sure an underserved population was getting what they needed and that’s what I’m really proud of.”

And if he doesn’t land the job he can go back into retirement mode again — until the next big thing comes along to pique his interest.

Hot shots

Scorching No. 2 Salem CC makes it seven in a row; women give No. 17 Palm Beach a battle, but can’t get last shot to fall

SALEM CC BASKETBALL
Salem CC 111, Passaic 73
WOMENS BASKETBALL
Palm Beach State 59, Salem CC 56

By Riverview Sports News

PATERSON – Salem CC enjoyed one of its best shooting nights in coach Mike Green’s head coaching career, placed six scorers in double figures and scored 67 points in the second half to beat Passaic 111-73 for its seventh win in a row.

Nasseem Wright led the second-ranked Mighty Oaks (7-0) with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Zyaire Gibson and Idris Rines had 16 points apiece, Saaid Lee and Jarrell Little each had 15 and Stefan Phillips had 10 without missing a shot. Little had six assists

The Mighty Oaks shot a season-high 58.1 percent from the floor (43-of-74), the second-best night in their 2 1/2 seasons under Green. They shot .596 in a February win at Luzerne in Green’s first season.

Phillips was 4-for-4, Lee 6-for-7 and Rines 6-for-9. Phillips is 14-of-15 from the floor in his last four games.

They scored 100 points for the second game in a row and third time this season.

Salem CC 111, Passaic 73

SALEM CC (7-0): Nasseem Wright 8-13 4-8 20, Zyaire Gibson 6-11 0-0 16, Idris Rines 6-9 2-2 16, Saaid Lee 6-7 3-3 15, Jarrell Little 5-10 3-4 15, Stefan Phillips 4-4 2-2 10, Qua Smith 3-8 2-3 8, Lenar Anderson 2-4 0-0 4, Jaiayre Wright 1-4 1-2 3, Jahseir Sayles 1-3 0-0 2, Michael Goodwin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 43-74 17-24 111.
PASSAIC (2-4):

Salem CC	44	67-	111
Passaic	31	42-	73

3-point goals: Salem CC 8-24 (N. Wright 0-1, Gibson 4-9, Rines 2-4, Lee 0-1, Little 2-3, Smith 0-2, Anderson 0-2, J. Wright 0-1, Sayles 0-1). Rebounds: Salem CC 52 (N. Wright 7, Rines 6, Lee 6, Little 6). Total fouls: Salem CC 20.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	5-0	5-0	4-0
SALEM CC	5-0	7-0	3-0
Northampton	4-0	7-0
Montgomery	3-0	3-1
Camden	4-1	4-1	2-0
Brookdale	4-2	4-4	1-2
Atlantic Cape	2-2	2-2	1-2
RCSJ-Gloucester	2-2	2-4	1-3
Bergen	3-4	3-4	1-2
Ocean	2-3	3-3	2-2
Passaic	2-3	2-3	2-2
Thaddeus Stevens	1-2	3-3
RCSJ-Cumberland	1-3	1-3	1-1
Delaware County	1-4	1-4
Sussex	1-4	1-5	0-2
Luzerne	0-2	2-3
Harrisburg Area	0-2	0-5
Philadelphia	0-5	1-5

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 111, Passaic 73
Luzerne 95, Miseracordia JV 85
Northampton 59, SUNY-Broome 51
Middlesex 77, Bucks 67
Raritan Valley at Mercer
Philadelphia at Georgian Court JV
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
Ocean 80, RCSJ-Gloucester 79
Bergen 80, Sussex 74

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Essex
Philadelphia at Ocean
Harrisburg Area at RCSJ-Gloucester
Luzerne at Northampton
Passaic at Camden
Sussex at RCSJ-Cumberland
Bergen at Thaddeus Stevens
Union at Delaware County
Montgomery at Morris
Delaware Tech at Lackawanna

Women’s game

CARNEYS POINT – The Salem women bounced back from a rough loss in its last game to give the 17th-ranked team in the country a full-game battle Thursday, but just couldn’t get their final shot to fall.

The Mighty Oaks held the halftime lead, then rallied from nine down in the fourth quarter to tie the game in the final minute, but they couldn’t get a game-tying 3-pointer with a second left to go and fell to No. 17 Palm Beach (Fla.) State 59-56.

“We gave them everything we had,” Salem coach Brian Marsh said. “They had a really good third quarter and we battled back to get back into the game.

“I’m really proud of our team. They played really hard coming off a really bad loss (at Mercer) and that’s really all you ask for. They gave me everything they had.”

The Mighty Oaks took a 29-25 halftime lead, shooting 50 percent from the field and holding Palm Beach leading scorer Janiah Suprius to 10 points, but the visitors from Florida used a big third quarter to take a 44-37 lead into the fourth. The Panthers scored the first eight points of the third quarter and 12 of the first 14.

Salem scored the first seven of the fourth quarter to tie the game with 8:01 to play. Palm Beach went up by nine three minutes later, but the Mighty Oaks rallied again and tied it at 56 on Paula Wilson’s 3-pointer with 36 seconds left.

A pair of free throws by Suprius with six seconds left made it 59-56. The Mighty Oaks called time to get the ball to midcourt. They inbounded to Shaw and got a good look, but her 3-pointer from the right side with a second left hit the back of the rim and they couldn’t get the rebound before the horn sounded.

“Being down three we wanted to get a good look at a 3-pointer and we got a good look from TJ and she just didn’t make it,” Marsh said. “I could definitely live with that shot. I thought we got the shots that we needed down the stretch. We need to make them.”

Shaw led the Mighty Oaks with 16 points. Jayda Hunter grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds. Suprius led all scorers with 31 points.

“The things that we’ve been focusing on they really took to heart tonight and put it towards the game and that’s we had the result that we did,” Marsh said. “Even though we came up short I told them I was extremely proud of the way they played. We got to shots we wanted down the stretch. The next time we’ll make them.”

PALM BEACH (4-1): Kierra Kline 1-4 0-0 3, Janiah Suprius 11-17 7-11 31, Destiny Nguyen 4-6 0-0 8, Macey Kovach 0-5 0-0 0, Adrianna Skraban 4-10 1-4 9, Thatiyana Holiday 0-1 2-2 2, Chayce Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Taaliah Todd 1-5 0-0 2, Katelyn Pire 0-5 0-0 0, Kenyah Moss 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 23-57 10-18 59.
SALEM CC (0-3): RayNescia King 4-8 0-2 8, Tanijya Shaw 4-19 6-14 16, Kasey Oliver 3-8 2-4 8, Dani Gustin 3-4 1-2 7, Jayda Hunter 4-9 1-2 9, Paula Wilson 3-5 0-0 8, Breanna Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 10-24 56.

Palm Beach State	14	11	19	15-	59
Salem CC	12	17	8	19-	56

3-point goals: Palm Beach 3-14 (Kline 1-1, Suprius 2-4, Kovach 0-3, Todd 0-3, Pire 0-3); Salem CC 4-11 (King 0-1, Shaw 2-6, Hunter 0-1, Wilson 2-3). Rebounds: Palm Beach 26 (Suprius 7, Nguyen 6); Salem CC 41 (Hunter 19, Gustin 9). Fouled out: Oliver. Total fouls: Palm Beach 23, Salem CC 20.

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	2-0	7-0	2-0
Mercer	2-0	5-1	1-0
Harcum	1-0	4-1
Lackawanna	1-0	1-3
Delaware Tech	0-0	1-6
Essex	0-1	3-1	0-1
Middlesex	0-1	4-5	0-0
Morris	0-1	0-1	0-0
SALEM CC	0-1	0-3	0-1
Raritan Valley	0-2	1-3	0-2

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Palm Beach (Fla.) State 59, Salem CC 56
RCSJ-Gloucester 101, Ocean 38
Mercer 88, Raritan Valley 54
Northampton 80, SUNY-Broome 35
Sussex 48, Bergen 46
Atlantic Cape 67, Brookdale 62
Philadelphia 93, RCSJ-Cumberland 29
Bronx 72, Middlesex 64
Union 86, Essex 59
Five Towns 96, Lackawanna 38
Allegany (Md.) 55, Camden 51

FRIDAY’S GAME
Palm Beach State at Harcum

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Essex
Mercer at Harcum
Union at Middlesex
Ocean at Philadelphia
Passaic at Camden
Montgomery at RCSJ-Cumberland
Morris at Raritan Valley
Delaware Tech at Lackawanna

Back in the game

Former Salem High lineman Brooks excited about having the chance to play football again; he’s the type student-athlete who fits the Mighty Oaks’ mold

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When the Salem High School football team took the final snap of the 2023 season, Darius Brooks resigned himself to the fact his playing career was over. It was great fun while it lasted, but with no immediate opportunities to play at the next level in front of him it was time to get on with the rest of his life.

There was a year in trade school and then enrolling at Salem Community College to start pursuing his degree. Then, the college began to explore adding a football program to its sports offerings, and when its board of trustees approved the initiative Thursday all of a sudden Brooks had a place back in the game.

“I thought it was over with, I kind of accepted that, but I always wanted to get back to it somehow, someway,” Brooks said. “I’m excited, for sure. Definitely ready to lace them back up at least one more year.”

It’s players like the former Rams lineman that interim head coach Jay Accorsi was thinking about when he pitched the idea of starting football to Salem president Mike Gorman. Accorsi, the former Rowan head coach, knew there were hundreds of players in the region who still had the ability and desire to play the game, but were shut out of places to continue after high school.

There was only one two-year college in New Jersey playing NJCAA-sanctioned football and it was way up in North Jersey. Before the Salem board green-lighted the initiative, there was no JUCO football between Central New York and Louisburg, N.C.

“Believe it or not in this (consultant’s) role I’ve had several conversations with coaches and different people specifically about several of those type of players and several of those type of players have already reached out to me,” Accorsi said. “There’s already that population that even at the beginning of this process of doing this is already reaching out.

“I already have several names on a bulletin board for that. And that just validates why I wanted to get involved in this and why I wanted to do this and why I feel so strongly about it.”

While the talk of the Mighty Oaks adding football circulated, Brooks told the many friends who asked that he’d be interested in playing if it became a reality and started “getting ready.” He hadn’t spoken to anyone in the athletic department about it, but you can bet he’ll be among the first in line when the door opens.

“I was definitely excited,” Brooks said. “Believe it or not somebody asked me if I would be interested in coaching, but I’m not old enough for that yet. If I’m doing anything I’ve got to play. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Top photo: Lineman Darius Brooks (52) is joined by some Salem High School teammates at a preseason media event before the 2023 football season.

Kickoff in Carneys Point

Salem CC board of trustees OK bringing football to campus for first time, inaugural game expected in Fall 2026; Accorsi named interim head coach

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College board of trustee Thursday approved the president’s recommendation to bring junior college football to the campus, an initiative the college president says will “change lives.”

The athletic department isn’t expected to formally launch the program until January, but Thursday’s vote gives the administrative green light to proceed with hiring coaches, recruiting players, buying equipment and building a schedule for the Fall of 2026.

“And the adventure begins,” president Mike Gorman said after the unanimous vote.

On Friday, the Mighty Oaks are expected to classify the sport with the National Junior College Athletic Association (Division III) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi will hit the road recruiting while a national search gets underway for a permanent leader of the program.

Accorsi, the retired Rowan University head coach, has long been intrigued with the idea of having junior college football in New Jersey. He pitched it to Gorman in the spring and has been a paid consultant on the project since August. His favorite saying throughout the process was “to make it hard for them to say no.”

“That’s kind of what I thought my job was all through the process, to help Bob (Hughes, Salem’s athletics director)) present the material with Dr. Gorman and make it really hard for them not to make the decision to do it,” Accorsi said. “That’s really what my goal was and so far we’ve done that. We’ve got a ways to go, but so far we’ve done that.”

Supporters of the initiative said adding football would, among other things, raise the visibility of the college locally and regionally and increase enrollment not just through the 80-100 student-athletes the program would attract but through the ancillary programs that go with it such as cheer, band and support groups.

To maintain Title IX balance the school will be starting women’s volleyball in the fall. The board approved the appointment of Delaware club coach Andrea Bartlett as that program’s first head coach Thursday.

With the addition of the two newest sports, Salem now offers cross country in the fall, men’s and women’s basketball in the winter, and softball and baseball in the spring.

“We’re thrilled to have the board’s support; it’s a big day for Salem athletics,” Hughes said. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring football to Salem County at the collegiate level and we’re looking forward to getting to work. The best times are ahead.”

With the board approval and Accorsi’s interim head coaching tag, the school can now begin to recruit players for spring practice, build a schedule and enter formal discussions for a permanent practice site. Among the sites being considered are the preferred Carneys Point Recreation Complex, which could become home to all the Mighty Oaks’ outdoor sports; the local YMCA fields, the Walnut Street Field in Salem City, and the middle school fields adjacent to the Carneys Point/Penns Grove School District offices.

Home games are expected to be played in the Pennsville and Penns Grove High School stadiums.

The Mighty Oaks now join Sussex CC as the only two-year colleges in New Jersey that offer NJCAA-sanctioned football, a void proponents say will help the program attract players. Additionally, two other JUCOs in the region, Lackawanna (Pa) and Monroe (N.Y.), will be reclassifying to NCAA Division II, further opening the door for players.

The team is expected to play initially as an NJCAA Division III independent with a modified seven- or eight-game first-year schedule drawn from regional NJCAA Division I and III programs, four-year junior varsities and two-year technical colleges in the area. They must play a minimum of six games against NJCAA programs to qualify for the playoffs.

The college examined the feasibility of starting a football program five years ago, but decided not to pursue it at that time. This latest exploration was a “much deeper dive.” It was anticipated the board would vote on the proposal last month, but policymakers wanted more time to digest all the information laid out in a detailed report researched by Accorsi and presented Hughes.

The success of the vote was said to hinge on the amount of risk the board was willing to take to launch a program said to have start-up costs of nearly $500,000. Gorman said the college’s budget is aligned in a manner that leaves him confident they could afford it, adding if they couldn’t afford it he wouldn’t have proposed it in the first place. Athletic department officials have said those costs could be recouped within the first two years of operation.

The result of the vote seemed to indicate the risk was acceptable.

“I think once the board realized the commitment we had made on students, not just the game and the expenses, the finances surrounding it, but the commitment we were making to young people who currently don’t have this option and are not necessarily purusing higher education, once they grasped that I really think it turned the tide on everything and they realized everything else will fall into place,” Gorman said.

“If we’re doing this for the right reasons, and I firmly believe that we are, I really look at it that it’s going to change lives and that’s what we’re in the business of doing, changing lives. The whole idea is let’s make sure we are giving as many people an opportunity to pursue their dreams as they possibly can. This is a way we can do it that can change the lives of 100 people tomorrow we couldn’t do any other way.”

Top photo: Salem CC president Mike Gorman (L) talks football with athletics director Bob Hughes (R) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi after the school’s board of trustees approved starting a program for play in the Fall of 2026.

NJCAA DIVISION III FOOTBALL
Central Lakes-Brainerd (Minn.)
College of DuPage (Ill.)
Erie (N.Y.) CC
Hocking (Ohio) College
Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC
Louisburg (N.C.) College
Minnesota North-Mesabi Range
Minnesota North-Vermilion
Minnesota State C&T
Minnesota West C&T
Nassau (N.Y.) CC
North Dakota College of Science
Rochester (Minn.) C&T
Salem CC

Piling up points

No. 2 Mighty Oaks make it six in a row, back home over Ocean; Salem women play first game in two weeks, fall at Mercer

MENS BASKETBALL
Salem CC 113, Ocean 90
WOMENS BASKETBALL
Mercer 88, Salem CC 39

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – One of the biggest keys to Salem CC’s deep run to the national tournament last year was its ability to get contributions from throughout the roster. The starters were the engine, but when the reserves went in the game the Mighty Oaks could count on getting something from them to keep the train rolling.

The new group of starters still make the Mighty Oaks go this year, but the new group of reserves are still trying to find their niche.

Second-ranked Salem won its sixth straight Tuesday night, returning home from a weekend away to beat Ocean 113-90.

All five starters scored in double figures (82 points) for the second time this season and had the Mighty Oaks (6-0) on pace to break the scoreboard, but when coach Mike Green gave the second group a chance to show their stuff with a comfortable lead, the Vikings kept it from getting further out of hand.

They hadn’t given up that many points in a game since a 102-93 loss at Camden in the eighth game last season.

“We gave those guys who don’t play as much … some game reps so they can help us later on down the road,” Green explained. “A few of them didn’t appreciate those minutes, so we might have to pull them back.

“We were good offensively, we were good defensive with our first five, six guys. Those guys seven, eight, nine, ten, they’ve got to give us something. If they think they’re going to outscore those starters, they got it all wrong. They’ve got to come guard, they’ve got to make that extra pass, they’ve got to come get a rebound because those five who start are going to score the ball – all year long. Last year we were good from one to 11. We’ve got to get that again.”

“Any team shouldn’t be scoring 90 points on us,” freshman guard Jarrell Little said. “Ninety points is way too much for a team like that, especially if we’re blowing them out.”

It’s not that they’re down on the non-starters, the group just didn’t deliver on this particular night.

“They’ve got it, they’ve just got to come show it,” Green said. “If they come in with the wrong mindset they’re going to struggle more and more and more. But we recruited them for a reason. They have to understand their role on the team.”

The Mighty Oaks’ shooting stroke came around. They were 38-of-132 from 3-point range coming into the game, but hit a season-high 14-of-29 against the Vikings (2-3), tying for third-most in Green’s 58-game tenure as coach. Seven players hit at least one; the starters were 11-for-16. The reason they had a 22-point halftime lead is because they had seven more 3s than the Vikings in the half.

“We want to be around double-digit 3s and we got 14 of them today – and a good percentage, too,” Green said. “We were shooting 28 percent from 3, that’s why teams were zoning us.”

“We were just shooting the ball today,” Little said. “It’s our home gym, we’re supposed to be lighting it up.”

Little was 0-for-10 from beyond the arc the last time the Mighty Oaks played at home, but he nailed the first 3 of the game from the right corner and had three on the night en route to a game-high 23 points. In the three games since that cold home debut, he’s averaging just under 22 points a game and is 8-of-21 from behind the arc.

“My coach always gave me the confidence to shoot the ball; either way, I’m just going to keep shooting,” Little said. “That’s all he put in my brain, just keep shooting, and I worked on it the next day at practice. I was just focusing on being consistent, taking better shots and working on my game.”

He wasn’t the one who’s shot came around. Zyaire Gibson was 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the Mighty Oaks’ two wins at Penn Highlands last weekend, but he hit 4-of-5 in the first half and finished with 14 points.

“He can shoot the ball; we’re just trying to get those guys confident in the shot they’re taking,” Green said. “Saving face when you miss is when you make. You can’t go out there feeling sorry for yourself, the basketball gods don’t care. You can go 0-for-10, they don’t care.”

The Mighty Oaks also got big games from starters Nasseem Wright and Saaid Lee. Wright had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Lee, the point guard, bounced back from fouling out Sunday seven minutes into the second half with 15 points and eight assists

“I just wanted to make up for this week; it made me want to be there for my team,” Lee said. “I left them on the water by themselves last game, so I wanted to make sure I was there to do what I’ve got to do and be there for them.”

Salem CC 113, Ocean 90

OCEAN (2-3): A.J. Lemons 6-12 5-6 18, Myles Marabuto 2-4 2-2 7, Jamari Smith 7-10 8-10 22, Aiden Sosinov 4-6 0-0 8, James Gibbons 3-3 0-0 6, Jack Malek 2-3 0-0 4, Kai Barckley 3-5 0-0 6, Omar Hadid 1-2 0-0 2, Aiden Falduto 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Grospe 1-5 0-1 2, Mattox Watson 1-1 1-3 4, Tristan Ulrich 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Krye 2-6 0-0 5, Liam Yefet 2-2 0-6 4, Joseph Witter 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 35-63 16-28 90.
SALEM CC (6-0): Jarrell Little 9-15 2-2 23, Saaid Lee 7-10 0-0 15, Zyaire Gibson 5-7 0-1 14, Nasseem Wright 8-15 3-5 20, Stefan Phillips 4-4 0-0 10, Jahseir Sayles 0-3 0-0 0, Jaiayre Wright 1-3 1-2 3, Qua Smith 1-4 5-8 7, Lenar Anderson 3-7 0-1 7, Idris Rines 4-9 4-4 14, Michael Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 42-78 15-23 113.

Ocean	41	49-	90
Salem	63	50-	113

3-point goals: Ocean 4-18 (Lemons 1-4, Marabuto 1-2, Sosinov 0-1, Barckley 0-2, Grospe 0-4, Watson 1-1, Ulrich 0-1, Krey 1-3); Salem 14-29 (Little 3-6, Lee 1-1, Gibson 4-5, N. Wright 1-2, Phillips 2-2, Sayles 0-3, Smith 0-1, Anderson 1-4, Rines 2-5). Rebounds: Ocean 32 (Yefet 8); Salem 38 (N. Wright 5, Smith 5, Rines 5). Technical fouls: Gibbons. Fouled out: J. Smith. Total fouls: Ocean 20, Salem 19.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	5-0	5-0	4-0
SALEM CC	4-0	6-0	2-0
Camden	4-0	4-0	2-0
Northampton	3-0	5-0
Montgomery	2-0	2-1
Brookdale	3-2	3-4	1-2
Atlantic Cape	2-2	2-2	1-2
RCSJ-Gloucester	2-2	2-3	1-2
Bergen	2-3	2-3	1-1
Ocean	2-3	2-3	1-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	1-2	1-2	1-1
Delaware County	1-3	1-3
Passaic	1-3	1-3	1-2
Sussex	1-3	1-4	0-2
Thaddeus Stevens	0-2	2-3
Luzerne	0-2	1-3
Harrisburg Area	0-2	0-5
Philadelphia	0-4	1-4

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem 113, Ocean 90
Prince George’s 105, Essex 94
Union 84, Atlantic Cape 66
Sussex 68, Luzerne 64
Allegany (Md.) 103, Harrisburg Area 66
Delaware County at Thaddeus Stevens
Brookdale 63, Philadelphia 54
Morris 88, Lackawanna 76
RCSJ-Cumberland at Northampton
Montgomery 67, Camden 65
Passaic 89, Bergen 80

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
CCBC Dundalk at Delaware Tech
Harcum at Cecil

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Passaic
Miseracordia JV at Luzerne
SUNY-Broome at Northampton
Bucks at Middlesex
Raritan Valley at Mercer
Philadelphia at Georgian Court JV
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
Ocean at RCSJ-Gloucester
Sussex at Bergen

Women’s game

WEST WINDSOR – The Salem CC women were playing just their second game of the season and first game in two weeks, and the layoff was evident.

The Mighty Oaks were held to 14 points in the first half and fell on the road to Mercer, 88-39.

“It helped us in a way because our players got healthy,” Salem coach Brian Marsh said of the layoff, “but (it) affected our timing, for sure.”

The Mighty Oaks were shorthanded as it was, but they already were without injured point guard Justine Cardona and Neicy King fouled out in the first half.

“It definitely affected our press break and we had 41 turnovers,” Marsh said. “But they still played hard even very short-handed.”

Mercer’s Alexandra Galan-Garcia led all scorers with 29 points. Evangelina Fransisco had 20. Kasey Oliver and Tanya Shaw led Salem with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

SALEM CC (0-2): Ray’Nescia King 0-1 0-0 0, Tanijya Shaw 4-12 4-5 12, Kasey Oliver 5-11 3-9 13, Dani Gustin 4-9 0-2 8, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0, Jayda Hunter 0-6 3-5 3, Paula Wilson 1-8 1-2 3. Totals 14-47 11-24 49.
MERCER (4-1): Evangelina Fransisco 7-14 1-2 20, Mayah Alford 6-10 0-2 12, Zaakirah Edwards 5-16 0-3 10, Gabriella Smith 3-8, 0-0 6, Qui-Mia Wilkins 2-9 1-4 5, Alexandra Galan-Garcia 13-22 2-4 29, Patricia Moore 2-5 0-0 4, Emma Wilke 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 39-91 4-12 88.

Salem CC	6	8	10	15-	39
Mercer	22	20	18	28-	88

3-point goals: Salem 0-7 (King 0-1, Shaw 0-1, Oliver 0-3, Hunter 0-2); Mercer 6-24 (Fransisco 5-9, Edwards 0-3, Smith 0-4, Wilkins 0-1, Galan-Garcia 1-2, Moore 0-1, Wilke 0-3). Rebounds: Salem 48 (Hunter 12, Oliver 6); Mercer 49 (Wilkins 10, Alford 7). Fouled out: King, Moore. Total fouls: Salem 13, Mercer 22.

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	1-0	6-0	1-0
Harcum	1-0	4-1
Mercer	1-0	4-1	0-0
Lackawanna	1-0	1-3
Essex	0-0	3-0	0-0
Delaware Tech	0-0	1-6
Middlesex	0-1	4-4	0-0
Raritan Valley	0-1	1-2	0-1
Morris	0-1	0-1	0-0
SALEM CC	0-1	0-2	0-1

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Mercer 88, Salem CC 39
Essex 53, Prince George’s 46
Harcum 113, Middlesex 45
Union 84, Raritan Valley 60
Montgomery 44, Camden 43
Passaic 82, Bergen 51
Philadelphia 74, Brookdale 67
Northampton 84, RCSJ-Cumberland 23
Lackawanna 69, Morris 56
Atlantic Cape 73, Sussex 41

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Palm Beach (Fla.) State at Salem CC
Ocean at RCSJ-Gloucester
Raritan Valley at Mercer
SUNY-Broome at Northampton
Sussex at Bergen
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
RCSJ-Cumberland at Philadelphia
Middlesex at Bronx
Union at Essex
Lackawanna at Five Towns
Allegany (Md.) at Camden

All-TCC boys soccer

Here are the first and second team selections for the Tri-County Conference Diamond and Classic All-Star Teams; 27 Salem County players recognized; x-known TCC-v-Colonial All-Star Game picks

Diamond Division

POS	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
F	Luke Price, Schalick	Tyler Vanlier, Schalick
F	x-Bryce Ayars, Woodstown	Trevor Leach, Pitman
F	Steve Chomo, Schalick	Josh Lewis, Overbrook
M	Jaxon Weber, Schalick	Nolan O’Toole, Schalick
M	Anthony Sepers, Schalick	Thomas Mason, Overbrook
M	Jake Lewis, Woodstown	Nate Newcomb, Pitman
M	Jake Bowen-Ashwin, Pitman
D	Michael Nelson, Schalick	JT Fleming, Schalick
D	x-Josh Crawford, Woodstown	Rooby Dorival, Penns Grove
D	Cooper Willoughby, Schalick	Tommy Tucci, Woodstown
D	Grady Datz, Pitman	Lucas Razze, Pitman
G	Joey Zubert, Pitman	Dwayne Guzman, Penns Grove

Classic Division

	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
F	Jonathan Rehm, Clayton	Sam Hassler, Pennsville
F	Zach Payne, Gloucester Cath.	Angel Rosario, Wildwood
F	Danny Bunay Coronel, Pennsville	Kameron Brown, Salem Tech
M	Justin Michaca, Pennsville	Edwin Castaneda-Sanchez, Pennsville
M	Jackson Venuto, Clayton	JP Laughrey, Pennsville
M	Alex Osorio, Wildwood	Jason Grossman, Gloucester Cath.
M	Logan Pace, Salem Tech
D	x-Steve Fatcher, Pennsville	Steven Benckert, Clayton
D	Ju’son Stewart, Clayton	Carrington Proffitt, Salem Tech
D	Angel Lara, Wildwood	Oscar DeJesus, Wildwood
D	Brant Regner, Pennsville	Jackson Mecholsky, Pennsville
G	x-Coen Rinnier, Pennsville	Justin Delaney, Clayton