Top-ranked Mighty Oaks use a big second half to get past Ocean, will play for North Atlantic District title Saturday at Northampton
REGION XIX TOURNAMENT
North Atlantic District A
Salem CC 80, Ocean 60
Montgomery 85, Camden 65
North Atlantic District B
Brookdale 73, Union 62
Northampton 72, Bergen 64
Saturday’s district finals
At Northampton
Salem CC vs. Montgomery, 3 p.m.
Northampton vs. Brookdale, 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — In playoff basketball, a lot like in golf, they don’t ask you how, they just ask how many.
It really doesn’t matter what it looks like wire-to-wire at this time of year as long as you win and advance to the next round.
Salem CC wasn’t at its top-ranked sharpest for a good part of its Region XIX playoff game Thursday night, but the Mighty Oaks were playing like the winningest team in the country when it counted most and got past Ocean 80-60 to earn a spot in the North Atlantic District A title game Saturday and a shot at a guaranteed return trip to the JUCO Division III national tournament.
The Mighty Oaks (30-1) will play Montgomery County (20-4) for one of two district titles up for grabs at Northampton Saturday. A win in that game not only will get them a second straight district crown, but the likely No. 1 seed in the national tournament.
“It’s the way you build a team,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “We’ve got so many players that try to wear you down and bring the next group in.
“The first half I didn’t think our bench played well. The second half they did what they were supposed to, so we looked even better. That’s how we are by design. We want to have a lot of different weapons. First half, they (Ocean) did what they were supposed to. They’re a good team, very talented, so we expected their best shot. I know that team is good, but I also know my guys, too.”
Ocean (16-13), the No. 8 seed, gave Salem a battle for 27 minutes and for a time it seemed if the Mighty Oaks didn’t get it together they’d have be in for some anxious days awaiting the tournament selection committee’s four at-large bids to the nationals. But, just as they have many times this season, they flipped the switch and won the game going away.
They had put 100 on this team twice this season, but trailed 50-49 with 13:03 to go in the second half. Playing in front of the biggest home crowd of the year, they came out of a timeout there and ran out the Vikings 31-10 the rest of the game.
During that stretch, the Mighty Oaks held the visitors to 3-for-21 shooting and turned them over seven times.
Saaid Lee and Nayeem Johnson combined for five steals in the early part of the run, including one where Lee dove and stripped Ocean’s AJ Lemons at midcourt and got it to Jarrell Little for a layup-and-one that gave them a nine-point lead.
“That was a big energy play,” Lee said. “I feel like that changed the momentum of the game.”
“The first half we were kind of slow – we turned the ball over a little too much – but the second half we came out with the right energy and we got the job done. I just saw we needed intensity and my job as point guard is to pick the intensity up and make sure everybody’s at 100 percent, so I just tried to lead by example.”
“All week we were preaching defense,” freshman Idris Rines said. “Ocean’s the second-leading (scoring) team behind us, so we knew we just had to defense. We executed that end of it, we just kept turning the ball over.”
The Mighty Oaks foreshadowed the run late in the first half when they held the Vikings to seven straight empty possessions to fuel a 9-0 run that gave them a 31-23 lead 3:55 before halftime. But the Vikings collected themselves and answered with their own 9-0 run to retake a 32-31 lead with 1:33 left.
When Ocean flowed into the dressing room up 34-33, it marked only the second time since Jan. 1 the Mighty Oaks had trailed at the half. The other time was in their loss to Brookdale.
“Every team we play we’re going to get their best shot,” Rines said. “Everybody wants to beat the No. 1 team in the country, like who wouldn’t. Us losing to Brookdale was a big loss, but I don’t think we would be at this point if we didn’t get punched in our face like that. That was a big wake-up call for us. That’s what’s helping us right now.
“We’re good at facing adversity. Once a team start sgetting up on us we don’t rush and fold and stuff like that. We keep our heads and we have a lot of trust in each other. That’s why we like this team.”
Nasseem Wright led the Mighty Oaks with 18 points and 10 rebounds despite missing a big chunk of the turnaround with foul trouble. Little had a team-high 19 points, plus eight rebounds and six assists. Stefan Phillips, playing his final home game with the program, had 11 points and Lee had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Johnson scored all seven of his points in the second half. Rines finished with eight points and seven boards
SALEM CC 80, OCEAN 60
OCEAN (16-13):.Myles Marabuto 5-10 4-4 16, Jamari Smith 5-22 6-9 16, Kai Barckley 0-3 0-0 0, Aiden Sosinov 4-13 3-6 11, James Gibbons 2-4 1-2 6, AJ Lemons 2-5 0-0 4, Omar Hadid 0-1 0-0 0, Aiden Falduto 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Grospe 0-3 0-0 0, Mattox Watson 1-1 0-0 3, Mason Krey 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 21-67 14-21 60.
SALEM CC (30-1): Jerrell Little 7-14 1-5 19, Saaid Lee 3-8 4-5 10, Zyaire Gibson 2-5 0-0 5, Nasseem Wright 8-10 1-3 18, Stefan Phillips 4-5 2-6 11, Jahseir Sayles 0-2 0-0 0, Qua Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Nayeem Johnson 2-7 3-4 7, Idris Rines 2-4 4-4 8, Mike Goodwin 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 29-56 15-29 80.
| Ocean | 34 | 26- | 60 |
| Salem CC | 33 | 47- | 80 |
Riverview Sports News 