Pennsville girls win third straight for new coach on Senior Night; Robinson comes to life in second half to lead Schalick
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 44, Millville 38
Schalick 42, Penns Grove 37
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – There are still some things about this head coaching stuff Robin Efelis is still getting used to.
The interim Pennsville girls basketball coach was down on the floor doing a couple post-game interviews Friday after the Eagles put away Millville 44-38 on Senior Night – an exercise she repeated a couple times that she’s never done before – when assistant coach Ryan Wood ducked his head out of the locker room and asked if she wanted to talk to the team.
Something else she hadn’t done before.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for all this,” she said. “I’m just trying to go from one day to the next, you know.
“This week has been really hard, but the girls are settled, they’re trying their hardest, I can’t ask for any more.
There are a lot of things different from her time as an assistant for the Eagles’ last two girls basketball coaches. When you’re the assistant you can always defer to the head coach. When you’re the head coach, the buck stops here.
Efelis was installed as the interim head coach Monday following the abrupt resignation of former coach Steve Merritt on the eve of one of the Eagles’ biggest games of the season. She accepted the assignment with the aim of keeping the girls together and the team on track to secure a share of its first division title since 1987-88.
So far, so good. The Eagles are 3-0 since the change with wins over Woodstown, Schalick and Millville, and have won five in a row overall. They can clinch that elusive division title with a win at Penns Grove Monday and can claim it outright with a win and a Glassboro loss to Clayton Wednesday.
“I think everyone is taking the change well,” senior guard Marley Wood said. “I don’t think anyone’s playing bad. I think everyone’s taking it very well.
“Everyone’s been really pumped up. We made some changes to our offense because of the different coaching styles that Ms. Efelis and Merritt and my dad have. Everyone’s been super pumped. We love basketball, so that’s all we really care about, and being together as a team.”
To give Efelis some help, Eagles athletics director Jamy Thomas reached out late Monday night to longtime Pennsville coach Ryan Wood to be the assistant coach.
The former boys basketball and football coach has coached seven of the players on the team, including all four of the seniors recognized before Friday’s game, which he said makes the transition “a little bit easier.” He was doing the X and O detail during the timeouts in Friday night’s game.
“He’s trying to help me,” Efelis said. “I listen to how he talks. I used to listen to Sam (Trapp) talk, how she talks (to the players), and I get more out of that trying to see how to maneuver the girls to be the best they can be.”
Looking at it as a career coach, Wood said Efelis is doing just fine.
“She is wonderful,” he said. “The girls love her; she’s great with the girls. She does a lot of stuff and I take care of a lot of X and O stuff.
“I don’t think you really learn how to become a head coach until it’s thrust upon you. There’s a big difference between being an assistant and being ‘the guy.’ It’s two different things.”
One of the benefits of being the team’s assistant is it gives him the chance to coach his daughter, Marley, again. It’s been a joy for both of them.
“I had no idea (he was going to be asked),” Marley said. “My dad told me they asked him to coach and I was like, OK. I was excited because I love having my dad as a coach. He coached for a little bit my sophomore and freshman year, which was nice, and then last year and this year he didn’t. Having him back has been nice.”
“Having the opportunity to coach my daughter is always a special thing, for anybody,” Papa Wood said. “I’m just here to support Robin in any way I can.”
Both teams got off to a slow start Friday. The Eagles scored the last five points of the second quarter to take a 16-12 halftime lead. Millville got within one in the third quarter, 22-21, then Taylor Bass made a bucket and Wood hit a 3-pointer and the Eagles never led by less than three the rest of the game.
“We had a slow start, but the second half everyone stepped it up,” Marley Wood said. “It’s really nice to win on your Senior Day.”
To mark the occasion, seniors Wood, Bass, Izzy Saulin and Kylie Harris started with sophomore Addie Johnston. The four senior players and a senior manager, a former player, have combined for 2,835 points and 60 wins in their career.
Wood scored 23 points to move into third place on Pennsville’s all-time girls scoring list, 10 away from No. 2. She also cleared 500 career rebounds and moved closer to 500 career assists.
Getting to No. 1 might be a bit of a stretch. Pennsville’s all-time leading scorer Katie Kline also is Salem County’s all-time leading scorer among the girls with more than 2,100 points.
“I can’t (get that), Katie Kline has 2,000,” Marley said. “I beat my siblings (Ryane and Luke), though. I was trying to get 1,500. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but I’m glad I beat my siblings.”
PENNSVILLE 44, MILLVILLE 38
MILLVILLE (7-12): Kamya Smith 2 1-2 5, Rahnasia Casper 1 0-0 2, Naomi Burkhart 6 2-2 19, Angeliya Cephas 5 1-1 12, Aphrea Robinson 0 0-2 0, Jada hart 0 0-0 0, Brielle Rivera 0 0-0 0, Tatyana Myles 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-7 38.
PENNSVILLE (13-6): Taylor Bass 4 0-1 8, Marley Wood 9 4-4 23, Addie Johnston 0 3-4 3, Izzy Saulin 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Jaida Burns 3 2-2 8. Totals 17 9-11 44.
| Millville | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14- | 38 |
| Pennsville | 2 | 14 | 15 | 13- | 44 |
SCHALICK 42, PENNS GROVE 37: The Cougars used a big third quarter to take the lead, then held on in the fourth.
Penns Grove held Neveah Robinson was held in check in the first half, but the Cougars’ leading scorer came to life after the break and scored 11 of her 13 points in a 21-point third quarter that gave here team a 39-28 lead. Robinson also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Ava Scurry led the Cougars (13-5) with 14 points. She also had a career-high 18 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She know has 592 rebounds and 214 blocks for her career. Liv Vanacker came within one point and one steal of a double-double.
Penns Grove’s Keziah Patterson led all scorers with 15 points. Janiyah Cummings had 13, six in the fourth quarter and the Red Devils cut it close.
PENNS GROVE (2-17): Janiyah Cummings 6 1-3 13, Keziah Patterson 5 3-5 15, Mikayla Washington 3 1-3 7, Domari Torres 0 0-0 0, Armani Blackston 1 0-2 2, Jamila Colon 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-13 37.
SCHALICK (13-5): Cali Fisler 0 0-1 0, Ava Scurry 5 4-8 14, Willow Davis 3 0-0 6, Nevaeh Robinson 5 1-3 13, Olivia Vanacker 4 1-4 9, Vicky Basich 0 0-0 0, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0. 17 6-11 42.
| Penns Grove | 14 | 6 | 8 | 9- | 37 |
| Schalick | 10 | 8 | 21 | 3- | 42 |
Top photo: Interim head coach Robin Efelis (R) and assistant coach Ryan Wood talk with the Pennsville girls basketball team in a timeout during Friday’s win over Millville.
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