Salem loses a 16-point early third-quarter lead, falls to Group 4 Williamstown in TCC Championship Bracket quarterfinals; no county teams left in main draw of either boys bracket; includes the South Jersey Group I boys tournament pairings
BOYS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Kingsway 66, Timber Creek 57
Overbrook 66, Deptford 55
Cumberland 52, Delsea 47
Williamstown 50, Salem 40
Consolation game
Penns Grove 67, Woodstown 55
Postseason Bracket
GCIT 85, Clayton 76
Pitman 56, Wildwood 52
Washington Twp. 63, Highland 44
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Anthony Farmer has seen this movie before. He didn’t want to see it – or have to see it – again on this particular night.
There have been times when Farmer’s Salem basketball team have been sharp start to finish. There also have been times they’ve built a seemingly safe lead against a strong opponent early in the game only to have it ripped out from under it at the final horn.
It happened again Tuesday when the Rams lost a 16-point third-quarter lead and wound up losing to Group 4 Williamstown 50-40 in the quarterfinals of the Tri-County Conference Championship Bracket.
The Rams (19-5), the No. 2 seed, led 30-14 a minute into the third quarter and 32-21 with 3:50 left in the quarter when it all went south. They didn’t make another field goal the rest of the game, going 0-for-9 from the floor and committing 10 turnovers.
“They played 16 minutes of basketball, you know you’ve got to play a full 32,” Farmer said. “We played a half of basketball and now that’s the result.
“We played a really good 16 the first half and scored 11 points I think in the second half with 10 turnovers, so you almost had as many turnovers as you had points in the second half. Obviously, that’s an issue.
“We just have to have a feel for the game. Slow down, move the basketball, get reversals, make plays and play a good brand of basketball, which we just didn’t do. It was just a horrible second half.”
While all the misses hurt, especially with the Braves connecting on the other end, the most gut-wrenching may have been Marshall Stephens’ in-and-out after a nice spin move in the lane that Jameer Gordon turned into a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Braves (16-9) the lead for good.
While the Rams were having their troubles, the Braves were picking up the tempo and coming back. From the time they were down 16 in the third quarter to the end of the game the Braves were 8-of-19 from the field and 16-of-19 from the free throw line. They had only seven field goals in the first 17 minutes.
Gordon, a transfer from St. Joe (Hammonton), hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter and the Braves finally got Clinton Suggs into the flow. The Rams held Suggs scoreless in the first half, but the Paul VI transfer scored 14 points in the second 10 in the third quarter. The Braves are 14-2 since Gordon and Suggs became eligible.
Suggs scored five straight points as the Braves trimmed the 16-point deficit to nine with 4:04 left in the third quarter. It was 10 with 3:15 left and the Rams scored only six more free throws the rest of the way. The Braves, meanwhile, scored nine free throws in the last 2:10 of the game alone to slam the door.
“These kids, since I’ve taken over, two years, have just shown fight and grit and fight and grit, so for us there was no panic on our end — at all,” Williamstown coach Adam Dandrea said as his players celebrated loudly in the locker room behind him. “I knew the kids would respond. That was all them right there. That was all them.”
The Braves now travel to Cumberland for Thursday’s semifinals. The Rams can play Delsea in a consolation game if they’re so inclined.
WILLIAMSTOWN 50, SALEM 40
WILLIAMSTOWN (16-9): Jameer Gordon 3 6-8 13, Clinton Suggs 4 5-6 14, Tyson Forman 4 3-3 13, Kaysen Matthews 1 4-4 6, Dametri Walker 1 2-2 4, Brayden Covington 0 0-0 0, Elijah Batts 0 0-0 0, Amir Washington 0 0-0 0, Ian Basillo 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 20-23 50.
SALEM (19-5): Donnie Weathers 0 0-0 0, Xavier McGriff 1 0-0 3, Neziah Spence 2 2-2 7, Tymear Lecator 4 7-10 16, Fatah Paige 1 0-0 2, Deshaan Williams 3 2-2 8, BJ Robbins 0 0-0 0, Cole Sayers 0 0-0 0, Harlem Parson 0 0-0 0, Marshall Stephens 0 0-0 0, Derrelle Johnson 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 11-14 40
| Williamstown | 6 | 8 | 20 | 16- | 50 |
| Salem | 13 | 13 | 10 | 4- | 40 |
PENNS GROVE 67, WOODSTOWN 55: The Red Devils ran out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and held onto it to win the rubber game between rivals created by a TCC Championship Bracket consolation game.
Roman Gipson and Geonni Conrad led Penns Grove with 18 points apiece. Four other players scored at least six.
“Just a total team effort like always,” Red Devils coach Damian Ware said of the start. “Guys made shots and the defense was stellar.”
The Wolverines put four scorers in double figures, with Elijah Caesar, Blake Bialecki and Alejandro Vazquez scored 12 points apiece. Andrew White added 10. Bialecki hit three 3-pointers, giving him 202 for his career.
They took advantage of Penns Grove’s second-quarter foul trouble to climb back into it, but the Red Devils stemmed the tide.
WOODSTOWN (15-11): Elijah Caesar 5-2-12, Blake Bialecki 4-1-12, Alejandro Vazquez 5-0-12, Josh King 2-3-7, Andrew White 4-2-10, Frank Hoerst 0-2-2. Totals 20-10-55.
PENNS GROVE (16-10): Roman Gipson 6-5-18, Geonni Conrad 8-0-18, Haneef Frisby 3-1-7, Will Roy 2-0-6, Mishawn Brantley 0-0-0, Luis Colon 2-3-7, Carson Pearsall 3-0-7, Jameel Horace 2-0-4, Ahkeen Edwards 0-0-0. Totals 26-9-67.
| Woodstown | 11 | 17 | 14 | 13- | 55 |
| Penns Grove | 22 | 10 | 17 | 18- | 67 |
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Feb. 25 Games
Riverside at Salem
Paulsboro at Woodstown
Glassboro at Burlington City
Wildwood at KIPP
New Egypt at Haddon Twp.
Pitman at Penns Grove
Audubon at Woodbury
Gateway at Palmyra
Feb. 27 Games
(Games at higher seed)
Riverside-Salem vs. Paulsboro-Woodstown
Glassboro-Burlington City vs. Wildwood-KIPP
New Egypt-Haddon Twp. vs. Pitman-Penns Grove
Audubon-Woodbury vs. Gateway-Palmyra
Riverview Sports News 