Schalick girls have goal to win their TCC Tournament bracket, take first step with win over Pitman, get Salem next in semifinal showdown, includes South Jersey Group I girls tournament pairings
GIRLS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Delsea at Gloucester Catholic
Clearview 54, Timber Creek 28
Glassboro 44, Kingsway 30
Wildwood 44, Washington Twp. 38
Consolation game
Woodstown 45, Triton 36
Postseason Bracket
Schalick 43, Pitman 32
Salem 34, Williamstown 27
Clayton 52, GCIT 50
Deptford 61, Penns Grove 25
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — If there’s a bracket to be played there’s a bracket to be won, doesn’t matter if it’s Championship, Postseason or the 3-on-3 tournament down at the local rec.
Knowing there’s a title to claim at the end of the week, Schalick played what coach John Whelan called one of its better overall games of the year, jumped on Pitman early and rolled to a 43-32 win in the quarterfinals of the Tri-County Conference Tournament Postseason Bracket. The bracket’s No. 1 seed now hosts Salam in Thursday’s semifinals.
“We definitely have our goal set on winning,” Whelam said. “We played probably, I would say, the best team ball that we’ve played all year. We moved the basketball really well, we made the extra passes, (got) better quality shots.
“It’s starting to click a little more. You’ve seen it the last handful of games where we’ve been moving the ball better. Our offense has looked so much better, and then we continue to stay tough on the defensive end.”
The Cougars held their visitors to single digits points in every quarter, while opening quarter leads of 17-6, 27-15 and 37-24. leads of 17-6 and 27-15 in the first half.
Nevaeh Robinson “had a rhythm going” early for the Cougars and scored all 17 of her points in the first half. When the Panthers recognized the havoc she was causing and switched to a box-and-one on her, Willow Davis kept the offense clicking. Davis scored eight points in the third quarter and 11 of her 14 in the second half.
“We were moving the ball well enough to where we didn’t feel like we needed to really change our offense regardless of the box-and-one,” Whelan said. “Willow stepped up in the second half and hit a lot of shots.”
Robinson also had 11 rebounds, Cali Fisler and Ava Scurry each had 10, and Liv Vanacker had nine. Vanacker also had five assists and Scurry blocked four shots.
SCHALICK 43, PITMAN 32
PITMAN (4-15): Colette Rollins 1 0-0 3, Jocelyn O’Brien 1 0-0 2, Marlee Adams 2 3-5 7, Kendall Bennett 3 0-0 6, Emery Sharpnack 2 3-3 7, Audrey Duffield 2 0-2 5, Bella Pramov 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 6-10 32.
SCHALICK (16-6): Cali Fisler 3 1-2 7, Ava Scurry 1 2-2 4, Willow Davis 5 1-2 14, Nevaeh Robinson 7 0-0 17, Olivia Vanacker 0 1-2 1, Vicky Basich 0 0-0 0, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-2 0, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-10 43.
| Pitman | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8- | 32 |
| Schalick | 17 | 10 | 10 | 6- | 43 |
SALEM 34, WILLIAMSTOWN 27: The Rams stretched an eight-point halftime lead to double digits, withstood a second-half rally by the Braves that got it to a one-point game and then pulled away to set up a semifinal showdown with Schalick.
“That’s a big win,” Salem coach Kemp Carr said. “It’s a Group 4 school, it’s a big team and it’s a postseason bracket, so we see it as a big deal for us. We’re excited for tonight.”
The Rams (9-9) played bang-up defense in the first half, holding the Braves (5-17) to only one field goal and five points in the first half. They stretched their halftime lead to 10 in the third quarter, but the Braves went on a run that cut it to one, 28-27, with about three minutes left before the Rams changed defenses and retook control.
“We showed some resiliency, something that we’ve really been working on, to not let that bother us, to keep playing through the clock,” Carr said. “We used a timeout to settle the girls down and we came out and got a basket that next possession.”
Dyaira Anderson led the Rams with a game-high 17 points and 18 rebounds. Carlysia Pierce had eight points, six rebounds and nine steals.
Salem and Schalick played once during the regular season with the Cougars taking a 37-33 win on the road.
SALEM (9-9): Madison Dixon 0 1-2 1, Dyaira Anderson 7 3-3 17, Carlysia Pierce 3 2-4 8, Jaryn Weathers 1 1-2 3, Kaliyah Taylor 2 1-3 5. Totals 13 8-14 34.
WILLIAMSTOWN (5-17): Milana Riccardi 0 0-0 0, Rylee Fair 1 0-0 2, Savanna Rolls 2 1-2 5, Peyton Wright 1 2-6 4, Nyah Chatelier 0 1-2 1, Harper Carney 1 0-0 2, Liz Yodess 1 0-0 2, Ava Byorick 1 0-2 2, Jidli Francis 1 2-2 4, Maren Riccardi 0 0-0 0
Celiyah Waters 1 1-2 4, Colette Hicks 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 8-18 27.
| Salem | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8- | 34 |
| Williamstown | 3 | 2 | 13 | 9- | 27 |
DEPTFORD 61, PENNS GROVE 25: The Spartans brought the Red Devils back to earth behind double-doubles from Chaylin Marine and Kendall Evans. Marine had 21 points and 12 rebounds (plus five steals), while Evans had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Red Devils reached the quarterfinals of the Postseason Bracket with a victory over Overbrook in the opening round.
CONSOLATION GAME
WOODSTOWN 45, TRITON 36: Kyia Leyman and Kendall Young both enjoyed double-doubles as the Wolverines bounced back from their Championship Bracket opening-round loss to Kingsway. Leyman scored a career-high 18 points to lead all scorers and grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Young had 10 points and 12 rebounds with three assists and five steals.
WOODSTOWN (11-14): Lauren Hengel 2 1-2 5, Emma Perry 1 0-0 3, Kyia Leyman 9 0-0 18, Kendall Young 3 3-4 10, Kailyn Kennedy 1 0-0 2, Talia Guardascione 2 1-2 5, Kamiya Brunson 2 0-0 4, Jaelyn McDonald 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-8 47.
TRITON (36): Melannie Noel 7 2-4 16, Gianna Endt 1 1-1 4, Kaidan Henry 1 0-2 3, Gianna Loftis 2 5-8 9, Akeera Reid-Streater 1 0-0 2, Chloe O’Connor 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 8-15 36.
| Woodstown | 16 | 6 | 10 | 13- | 45 |
| Triton | 9 | 11 | 13 | 3- | 36 |
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Feb. 25 Games
Paulsboro at Haddon Twp.
Burlington City at Woodbury
New Egypt at Palmyra
Cape May Tech at Glassboro
Salem at Audubon
Woodstown at Pennsville
Schalick at Gateway
Clayton at Wildwood
Feb. 27 Games
(Game at higher seed)
Paulsboro-Haddon Twp. vs. Burlington City-Woodbury
New Egypt-Palmyra vs. Cape May Tech-Glassboro
Salem-Audubon vs. Woodstown-Pennsville
Schalick-Gateway vs. Clayton-Wildwood
Riverview Sports News 