Penns Grove beats Overbrook for third time this season in Tri-County Post-Season Bracket opener; Woodstown, Salem Tech fall
TCC GIRLS TOURNAMENT
Championship Bracket
Clearview 59, Cumberland 36
Kingsway 39, Woodstown 24
Washington Twp. 54, Triton 33
Pennsville at Delsea (Sat.)
Postseason Bracket
Pitman at Highland
Clayton 62, Salem Tech 15
Penns Grove 44, Overbrook 37
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Championship Bracket
Pennsville-Delsea at Gloucester Catholic
Clearview at Timber Creek
Kingsway at Glassboro
Washington Twp. at Wildwood
Postseason Bracket
Pitman-Highland at Schalick
Salem at Williamstown
Clayton at GCIT
Penns Grove at Deptford
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PINE HILL – Deja Cook had to be feeling pretty confident going into the opening round of this year’s Tri-County Conference Post-Season Bracket.
Her Penns Grove girls basketball team hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success during her first season as the head coach, but the success it did have came against the team it was playing in the first round.
The Red Devils made it three in a row over Overbrook Friday night, 44-37, advancing to the semifinals of their bracket. They visit second-seeded Deptford Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“We beat adversity and we showed that our will was stronger than the opposing team,” Cook said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times and we did.”
All three of the wins over the Rams pulled the Red Devils (3-18) out of the doldrums. The first one snapped a six-game losing streak and gave Cook her first win as a head coach. The second snapped a nine-game slide. Friday’s ended a three-game streak. They held the Rams to less than 40 points in every game.
They won this one with a good finish, outscoring the seventh-seeded Rams 14-6 in the fourth quarter to take the lead and win by seven.
Keziah Patterson and Janiyah Cummings led Penns Grove’s offense with 14 points each. Cummings completed the double-double with 18 rebounds and also had six blocked shots. Patterson had seven rebounds and six steals. Mikayla Washington had eight points and 17 rebounds.
“We were down numerous times during the game but the girls remained uplifted, kept fighting and were able to work together to get the win,” Cook said. “I’m proud of how far they came as a team and individuals. Looking forward to our next game.”
Gianna Simon led Overbrook (5-18) with 23 points. She hit six 3-pointers.
| Penns Grove | 12 | 8 | 10 | 14- | 44 |
| Overbrook | 10 | 11 | 10 | 6- | 37 |
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
KINGSWAY 39, WOODSTOWN 24:The Wolverines remembered how the last meeting with Kingsway went and didn’t want to repeat that again. They tightened up the things that got away from them in that 54-17 loss and gave the Lady Dragons a much better battle, but they just couldn’t get shots to fall.
They did score the first basket of the game, then Kingsway held them scoreless the rest of the quarter while opening an 11-2 lead. It was 28-8 in the third quarter, but they fought to stay in it.
“It was working on the things that we talk about working on all the time,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We had an emphasis of doing things in practice this week and to see the girls implement it, that was positive for us.
“Shots didn’t fall. We missed a couple layups in the beginning that could have maybe changed the game, but we were taking those layups, we were being aggressive, so I was proud of that all day today.”
Lauren Hengel was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all of them coming in the second half. She also grabbed eight rebounds, five in the fourth quarter. Kyia Leyman had 12 rebounds, eight in the first half.
WOODSTOWN (10-14): Lauren Hengel 3 3-4 9, Emma Perry 1 2-2 4, Kyia Leyman 2 0-0 4, Kendall Young 3 0-0 7, Talia Guardascione 0 0-0 0, Gina Murray 0 0-0 0, Autumn Paleschic 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-6 24.
KINGSWAY (17-8): Alessia Lentini 4 3-3 13, Annika Dohlen 4 1-1 10, Chloe McNeill 3 2-4 9, Liv Myers 0 0-0 0, Ojonile Gabriel 1 2-3 4, Bella Archer 0 0-0 0, Gia Baus 1 0-0 2, Ellie Farro 0 0-0 0, Lila Storms 0 1-2 1, Jayah Love 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-13 39.
| Woodstown | 2 | 6 | 9 | 7- | 24 |
| Kingsway | 11 | 9 | 16 | 3- | 39 |
Riverview Sports News 