All three Salem County teams in South Jersey Group I boys playoffs won opening round games, two to collide in quarterfinals, Penns Grove gets second home game; upsets abound
SJ GROUP I BOYS TOURNAMENT
Friday’s games
Salem 67, Riverside 42
Woodstown 67, Paulsboro 49
Glassboro 64, Burlington City 61 (OT)
KIPP 46, Wildwood 41
New Egypt 42, Haddon Twp. 36
Penns Grove 43, Pitman 33
Audubon 45, Woodbury 41
Palmyra 66, Gateway 53
Monday’s games
No. 8 Woodstown at No. 1 Salem
No. 12 Glassboro at No. 4 KIPP
No. 14 New Egypt at No. 6 Penns Grove
No. 10 Audubon at No. 2 Palmyra
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Alejandro Vazquez was watching the Salem Community College playoff game with his Woodstown teammates Thursday night when the conversation turned to the Wolverines’ road in their own playoffs.
The Woodstown senior said he planned to give more than 100 percent in the Wolverines’ playoff opener against Paulsboro and even more in an anticipated second-round matchup with rival Salem.
Vazquez delivered on his first promise Friday, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 22 points in leading his team to a 67-49 win. The stage is at least set for him to fulfill the second promise as the Wolverines now draw top-seeded Salem Monday night.
The Red Raiders clamped down on Woodstown gunner Blake Bialecki, but the Wolverines found offense elsewhere. In addition to Vazquez’ big game, freshman Frankie Hoerst had a career-high 16 points and Elijah Caesar had 11.
Vazquez was really big in the third quarter when the Wolverines pulled away. He had 11 points in the quarter and Woodstown outscored its visitors 17-6 to carry a 46-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
This story will be updated.
WOODSTOWN 67, PAULSBORO 49
PAULSBORO (11-4): Khalil Streater 5 0-0 10, Malakai McKenzie 7 1-3 18, Jeremiah Carr 6 1-1 14, LaShawn Clay 1 0-0 3, Majal Robinson 2 0-0 4, Jeff Taylor 0 0-0 0, Jakai Bennett 0 0-2 0, Dayvon Kersey 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-6 49.
WOODSTOWN (17-11): Elijah Caesar 4 1-2 11, Jalen Markward 1 1-2 3, Andrew White 2 0-0 5, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 1 2-2 4, Frank Hoerst 6 4-4 16, Alejandro Vazquez 7 5-6 22, Josh King 2 0-2 4. Totals 23 15-20 67.
| Paulsboro | 12 | 11 | 6 | 20- | 49 |
| Woodstown | 15 | 14 | 17 | 21- | 67 |
PENNS GROVE 43, PITMAN 33: The Red Devils followed a road map that will a team a lot of games. They put together a balanced offense and played tight defense.
The Red Devils, enjoying their winningest season since 2019-20 following this plan, didn’t have a player score more than nine points, but they spread the wealth among eight scorers. Haneef Frisby and Roman Gipson headed the effort with nine points apiece.
“We followed the gameplay to a T,” coach Damian Ware said. “We knew they had good shooters and we could not let them get open looks. Guys did their job and only allowed three 3-pointers to a team that can hit 10 to 15 if you’re not locked in.”
With New Egypt’s upset of third-seeded Haddon Twp., the Red Devils (17-11) get another home game and will host 14th-seeded Warriors (12-14) Monday night.
PITMAN (11-16): Lucas Razze 1-0-3, Parker DeChristopher 3-3-9, Joey Zubert 5-1-12, Jay Craig 1-0-2, Jake Bowen-Ashwin 3-0-7. Totals 13-4-33.
PENNS GROVE (17-11): Roman Gipson 4-1-9, Geonni Conrad 3-0-7, Will Roy 2-3-7, Haneef Frisby 3-3-9, Mishawn Brantley 1-0-2, Jameel Horace 2-1-5, Carson Pearsall 1-0-2, Luis Colon 1-0-2. Totals 17-8-43.
| Pitman | 7 | 6 | 11 | 9- | 33 |
| Penns Grove | 13 | 10 | 6 | 14- | 43 |
SALEM 67, RIVERSIDE 42: The top-seeded Rams settled into the tournament with an expected win over a 16-seed, but considering some of the other results in the bracket they likely feel fortunate to have avoided the upset.
Three Rams scored in double figures and three others had 10 rebounds to lead the attack. Neziah Spence led the offense with 16 points, while Fatah Paige had 13 and 1,000-point scorer Tymear Lecator had 11. Deshaan Williams, Cole Sayers and Marshall Stephens grabbed 10 rebounds apiece.
The win earned Salem coach Anthony Farmer his second 20-win season with the Rams (21-8) and his first since the debut campaign.
SALEM 67, RIVERSIDE 42
RIVERSIDE (12-15): Cameron Brown 11 1-2 25, Andrew Weaver 4 3-4 13, Justin Porter 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Boston 2 0-0 4, Brett Grinnan 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Ali-Lewis 0 0-0 0, Gabriel Sanchez 0 0-0 0, Lewi Bin Isreal 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 4-4 42.
SALEM (20-5): Tymear Lecator 5 0-0 11, Neziah Spence 7 0-0 16, Darrelle Johnson 1 0-0 2, BJ Robbins 4 0-0 9, Deshaan Williams 3 0-0 6, Cole Sayers 2 0-0 4, Marshall Stephens 3 0-0 6, Fatah Paige 5 0-0 13. Totals 30 0-0 67.
| Riverside | 7 | 5 | 13 | 17- | 42 |
| Salem | 19 | 8 | 16 | 24- | 67 |
Riverview Sports News 