Smith comes off the bench to spark 10-0 closing run that lifts No. 2 Salem CC over Thaddeus Stevens for tenth win of season
THURSDAY BASKETBALL
Salem CC 89, Thaddeus Stevens 79
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – As a role player, Qua Smith doesn’t get the kind of minutes in a Salem CC box score the way the starters do, but he knows when he does get time he has to be ready for it. Head coach Mike Green expects it.
The 6-4 freshman from Philadelphia only got nine minutes in the Mighty Oaks’ 89-79 win over Thaddeus Stevens Thursday night, but it’s what he did in the final two that made all the difference in keeping his team undefeated.
His defense and athleticism sparked second-ranked Salem’s 10-0 closing run after the Bulldogs tied the game at 79. He scored only three points, but it was a three-point play with 1:20 left that gave the Mighty Oaks a five-point lead, and after that came up with a rebound, two assists and a big steal to keep the Bulldogs from threatening again.
“I just make sure when I get in to grab rebounds and do whatever my coach tells me to do,” Smith said. “The mindset is just compete. No matter how many minutes you get, give 100 percent, the whole time.
“You’ve just to stay calm and stay confident. It doesn’t matter how many minutes you get, you’ve just got to go there and do what you have to do for the team. It’s a team thing. It’s not about yourself. That’s how we got the win today.”
It was just a couple weeks ago Green gave his reserves some extended minutes in a blowout win and lamented their play demonstrated they didn’t “appreciate” the opportunity. Smith was locked in when he went into a much tighter game this time.
The Mighty Oaks never trailed in the game and led by as many 16 in the second half. But the Bulldogs (4-5) started hitting the shots they were missing in the first half and eventually tied it at 79 on leading scorer Kneco Hill’s 3-pointer with 2:12 to play. The battle-tested Mighty Oaks weren’t worried.
“You just had to stay calm,” Nasseem Wright said. “Calm men always win through adversity like that. It was just staying calm, staying poised and finishing the game up.”
That’s just about when Smith reentered the game. No sooner had he checked in then Jerrell Little blocked a shot, collected the loose ball and fed Smith for a three-point play at the other end to make it a five-point game with 1:20 left.
From there to the end, Smith had a defensive rebound, made a steal that Little converted into a layup and assisted on Little’s final bucket of the game.
“He turned the game,” Green said. “There are times when he’s locked in and we got lucky it was the last two minutes tonight. We’ve just got to do a better job getting him locked in more often.
“If Quade’air’s locked in he’ll play a lot more minutes for us. It’s hard to keep him locked in. You’ve got classes on Monday and Wednesday, you play Tuesday and Thursday, and he just was sick so we haven’t played him since the Essex game (Nov. 22). We’ve got to get him locked him,. Same with Jaiayre (Wright). Once we get them locked in they give us another push and we needed that push tonight. Jayaire did it early and Qua did it late.”
“Qua always changes the game for us with his athleticism and rebounding at the end,” Little said. “Our coach always says there’s no garbage minutes on our team because everybody needs to come to play all the time. We need every single person on our team from first to last on the bench. He came in a changed the game.”
Little led the Mighty Oaks with 27 points .Wright came within one assist of a triple double, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Point guard Saaid Lee had 16 points in 37 minutes.
SALEM CC 89, THADDEUS STEVENS 79
THADDEUS STEVENS (4-5): William Fowlkes 2-9 3-3 7, Levon Brown 3-10 2-2 8, Kneco Hill 9-20 6-6 27, Isaiah Diggs 5-9 0-1 10, Tyree Banks 4-7 0-0 11, Luis Torres 0-2 1-2 1, Willie Hashamy 4-8 0-0 8, Anthony Henson 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Smith 1-4 0-0 3, Travis Turner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-74 12-14 79.
SALEM CC (10-0): Jarrell Little 11-22 2-3 27, Saaid Lee 6-9 1-2 16, Zyaire Gibson 1-8 1-2 3, Nasseem Wright 9-13 3-8 21, Stefan Phillips 3-4 0-0 7, Jahseir Sayles 2-4 0-0 5, Jaiayre Wright 1-3 2-2 4, Quadeair Smith 1-1 1-3 3, Idris Rines 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 35-69 11-22 89.
| Thaddeus Stevens | 32 | 47- | 79 |
| Salem CC | 41 | 48- | 89 |
3-point goals: Thaddeus Stevens 7-19 (Fowlkes 0-2, Hill 3-8, Banks 3-5, Henson 0-1, Smith 1-3); Salem CC 8-28 (Little 3-9, Lee 3-4, Gibson 0-7, N. Wright 0-1, Phillips 1-1, Sayles 1-2, Rines 0-4). Rebounds: Thaddeus Stevens 38 (Brown 8, Diggs 7); Salem CC 41 (N. Wright 11, J. Wright 6). Technical fouls: Thaddeus Stevens bench, Salem CC coach Green. Total fouls: Thaddeus Stevens 17, Salem CC 15.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Union (4) | 7-0 | 7-0 | 5-0 |
| SALEM CC (2) | 6-0 | 10-0 | 5-0 |
| Northampton (5) | 6-0 | 10-0 | |
| Montgomery (11) | 3-0 | 4-1 | |
| Brookdale | 7-2 | 7-4 | 3-2 |
| Camden | 6-2 | 6-2 | 4-1 |
| Ocean | 5-3 | 5-3 | 3-2 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 4-3 | 4-3 | 3-1 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 2-2 | 4-5 | |
| Bergen | 4-6 | 5-6 | 2-4 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 3-5 | 3-6 | 1-3 |
| Sussex | 2-5 | 2-6 | 1-4 |
| Harrisburg Area | 1-3 | 1-8 | |
| Atlantic Cape | 2-6 | 2-6 | 1-6 |
| Passaic | 2-6 | 2-6 | 2-5 |
| Philadelphia | 1-7 | 3-7 | |
| Delaware County | 1-8 | 1-8 | |
| Luzerne | 0-4 | 2-5 |
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 89, Thaddeus Stevens 79
Union 66, Essex 64
Camden 61, Atlantic Cape 55
Philadelphia 64, Delaware County 59
RCSJ-Cumberland 82, Luzerne 77
Raritan Valley 74, Morris 72
Northampton 83, Harrisburg Area 74
Brookdale 79, Bergen 71
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Baltimore City at Harcum
Eastern JV at RCSJ-Gloucester
Mercer vs. Manor
Philadelphia at Lancaster Bible JV
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Bergen
RCSJ-Gloucester vs. Mercer/Manor
Mercer vs. RCSJ-Gloucester/Eastern JV
Union at Sussex
Luzerne at Montgomery
Ocean at Harrisburg Area
Bucks at Thaddeus Stevens
Williamson Trades at Delaware County
Brookdale at Camden
RCSJ-Cumberland at Passaic
Monroe at Morris
Middlesex at Lackawanna
Region XIX Standings
| WOMENS DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Union (4) | 5-0 | 11-0 | 4-0 |
| Harcum (8) | 4-0 | 8-1 | |
| Mercer (RV) | 4-1 | 7-2 | 2-0 |
| Essex | 3-1 | 6-2 | 3-1 |
| Lackawanna | 2-2 | 2-5 | |
| Delaware Tech | 1-2 | 2-8 | |
| Morris | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-1 |
| Raritan Valley | 0-3 | 2-5 | 0-2 |
| Middlesex | 0-4 | 4-8 | 0-3 |
| SALEM CC | 0-4 | 0-6 | 0-2 |
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Bucks, cancelled
Harcum 86, Lackawanna 29
Union 76, Monroe 66
Montgomery 83, Ocean 40
Atlantic Cape 63, Camden 36
Brookdale 66, Bergen 50
Northampton 64, Sussex 22
Johnson County 99, Raritan Valley 48
CCBC Catonsville 61, Essex 59
FRIDAY’S GAME
Baltimore City at Harcum
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Cumberland at Passaic
Mercer at RCSJ-Gloucester
Union at Morris
Brookdale at Camden
Middlesex at Lackawanna
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