Woodstown senior reaches milestone on 2 FTs with 2.4 seconds left in Wolverines’ win; plus scores and details from Tuesday night’s Salem County sports calendar
BOYS BASKETBALL
Woodstown 45, Cherry Hill West 40
Salem 73, Pitman 35
Glassboro 69, Schalick 23
Overbrook 52, Penns Grove 39
Clayton 80, Salem Tech 60
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 47, Woodstown 33
Penns Grove 60, Overbrook 39
Clayton 42, Salem Tech 26
Salem 67, Pitman 51
Glassboro 52, Schalick 8
BOYS BOWLING
Salem Tech 4, ACIT 0
Lindenwold 3, Salem 1
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CHERRY HILL — Blake Bialecki became the latest member of the Salem County 1,000-Point Club Tuesday and he took the bid all the way down to the wire.
The Woodstown senior needed 14 points to become the 11th boys player to join the list. He got a game-high 15. He reached the milestone on two free throws with 2.4 seconds to play to seal the Wolverines’ 45-40 bounce back win at Cherry Hill West.
“They were actually really important free throws,” he said. “It was, I needed to ice the game and get my 1,000 points at the same time.
“I wasn’t worried about it. I just wanted to get the win. They face-guarded me. They definitely didn’t want me to get it against them. I didn’t get many shots off today, but when I did I made it.”
For the longest time it looked like he might to extend the celebration to another day. The Lions (6-13) face-guarded him in such a manner “they definitely didn’t want me to get it against them” and limited his touches.
He had eight points with 4:30 to play and the game tied at 34. His 3-pointer from the right side with 3:15 left gave the Wolverines (12-7) a 39-34 lead. He hit two free throws with 1:01 left to make it 41-36, then hit the milestone after being fouled on an inbounds play in the backcourt.
“There are a lot of emotions,” he said. “Me and my parents have worked so hard for it and it’s been a goal of mine since middle school. There’s been countless hours in the gym with my dad. I’m just super excited and happy.
“Over COVID I really fell in love with training and getting better at basketball and I really fell in love with the sport. I set a lot of goals and one of them was 1,000 points.”
The fourth-quarter 3 was his third of the game and equally historic. It tied him with 1,600-point girls scorer Talia Battavio for Woodstown’s all-time 3-pointer record (186), a mark he covets as much as the 1,000-point mark.
“It’s definitely important to me because I define myself as a shooter and I work really hard on shooting 3s,” he said. “I train shooting 3s like a ton. Most of my workouts are focused on 3-point shooting. I still work on other stuff, but it’s mostly based around shooting. I want to be known as a shooter.”
He is the 68th player to make the Salem County boys 1,000-point list. He made sure to credit his coaches and teammates to reaching the milestone, calling it “our award, our 1,000 points and not just mine.”
WOODSTOWN 45, CHERRY HILL WEST 40
WOODSTOWN (12-7): Elijah Caesar 3 4-6 11, Jalen Markward 2 2-2 6, Blake Bialecki 3 6-6 15, Alejandro Vazquez 2 0-0 5, Josh Kiing 4 0-0 8, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 12-16 45.
CHERRY HILL WEST (6-13): Jordan Wise-Jones 1 2-2 4, Andre Blalock 3 0-0 7, Korey Morton 3 0-0 8, Hayden Boyle 3 2-2 8, Rasheed Braxton 5 3-4 13. Totals 15 7-8 40.
| Woodstown | 11 | 13 | 6 | 15- | 45 |
| Cherry Hill West | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13- | 40 |
| 1000-POINT WATCH | TODAY | TOTAL |
| Blake Bialecki, Woodstown | 15 vs. Cherry Hill West | 1001 |
| Tymear Lecator, Salem | 26 vs. Pitman | 931 |
SALEM 73, PITMAN 35: The Rams’ Tymear Lecator connected on six 3-pointers and scored 28 points to move closer to becoming the 69th player on the Salem County boys 1,000-point list. The junior was 10-for-18 from the field, 6-of-12 from 3-point range. He also had six rebounds and five assists. He’s gone for at least 25 in four of his last six games. Twelve players scored for the Rams in the game.
GLASSBORO 69, SCHALICK 23: Xavier Sabb went for 30 points as the Bulldogs beat a Salem County opponent for the second day in a row. The Bulldogs started the year 2-9 but have won four of their last seven.
“We’re just trying to put it all together at the right time,” Bulldogs coach Lynell Payne said after his team dispatched Woodstown Monday. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but I will say we’re understanding what needs to be done. We will be the most dangerous 16 seed in the tournament.”
OVERBROOK 52, PENNS GROVE 39: Lamar Little filled the boxscore with 13 points, two rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals as the Rams clinched the Tri-County Diamond Division title. Bilal Robinson (11) and Gavin Cajuste (10) also scored in double figures. Penns Grove got balanced scoring, but didn’t have a scorer in double figures.
CLAYTON 80, SALEM TECH 60: Aiden Bobo scored a career-high 22 points, but the Chargers couldn’t overcome 12 Clippers hitting the scoring column with half of them going for at least eight points. James Fritz led the winners with 15 points.
Girls games
PENNSVILLE — Robin Efelis didn’t really know what to expect. She was just hoping for the best.
In the 24 hours prior to Tuesday night’s game with Woodstown, Efelis has gone from assistant coach to head coach and had to prepare for her team’s biggest basketball rival.
The new head coach and her Pennsville girls came through it well, taking down the Wolverines for the second time this season, 47-33 to remain on pace to share the Tri-County Diamond Division crown with Glassboro. Both teams are 7-1 in the six-team division and split their series during the season.
Efelis landed in the position after Eagles head coach Steve Merritt abruptly resigned after practice Monday night.
The teams battled it out in the first half with Pennsville going into the break with a 16-13 lead, but the Eagles dominated the second half, outscoring the Wolverines 31-20. They took control with a 12-4 third quarter.
Addie Johnston led the Eagles (11-6) with 20 points, just missing her career high. Taylor Bass had 13 points and Marley Wood had eight. Kendall Young led Woodstown with 11 points.
Among Merritt’s parting words to the team Monday was they had a good chance to win the game if they played like a five-man unit and protected the ball.
“The girls played extremely well tonight,” Efelis said.
PENNSVILLE 47, WOODSTOWN 33
WOODSTOWN (8-12): Lauren Hengel 4 0-2 8, Kyia Leyman 2 0-0 4, Emma Perry 3 0-0 6, Kendall Young 4 2-2 11, Talia Guardascione 1 3-4 6, Totals 14 5-8 33.
PENNSVILLE (11-6): Taylor Bass 5 1-2 13, Marley Wood 2 2-2 8, Addie Johnston 8 2-2 20, Izzy Saulin 2 0-0 4, Jaida Burns 1 0-0 2, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-6 47.
| Woodstown | 7 | 6 | 4 | 16- | 33 |
| Pennsville | 9 | 7 | 12 | 19- | 47 |
SALEM 67, PITMAN 51: The Rams got a combined 56 points from their big three — Carlysia Pierce, Dyaira Anderson and Maddie Dixon — produced a pair of double-doubles and outscored Pitman in the fourth quarter 21-6 to pull away. Pierce had a team-high 19 points, 14 rebounds and six steals. Anderson delivered 18 points and 17 boards, and Dixon scored 16 points (with five rebounds and four steals).
GLASSBORO 52, SCHALICK 8: The Bulldogs did to Schalick wahat the Cougars usually do to their opponents: D them up. The Bulldogs held their visitors to one points in the first quarter and shut them out in the third to snap their seven-game winning streak. Kezia Brackett led their offense with 27 points. Sianna Wedderburn and Lily Czubas both grabbed 11 rebounds and Sanaa Thomas dealt 10 assists.
CLAYTON 42, SALEM TECH 26: India Bryant led Clayton with 14 points. Shelby Drummond led the Chargers with seven.
PENNS GROVE 60, OVERBROOK 39: The Red Devils collected their second win of the season and snapped a nine-game losing streak. Their other win came over the Rams in early January.
Riverview Sports News 