New Egypt stuns top-seeded Salem in overtime for SJ Group I final; 14th-seeded Warriors knocked off 3, 6, 2 and 1 along the way
GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
SOUTH
New Egypt 48. Salem 46 (OT)
CENTRAL
Point Pleasant Beach at Thrive Charter
NORTH I
Waldwick 66, Pequannock 61
NORTH II
Shabazz 95, Arts 72
GROUP I FINAL FOUR
March 11
New Egypt (15-14) vs. Point Pleasant Beach (22-7) or Thrive Charter (21-5) at Monroe H.S., 5 p.m.
Waldwick (21-9) vs. Shabazz (27-1) at Franklin H.S., 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM — The clock struck midnight twice for Cinderella Saturday and she’s still dancing.
New Egypt continued its magic run through the Group 1 basketball playoffs Saturday, knocking off the biggest of the single-digit seeds it’s been beating in the post-season when it took down top-seeded Salem 48-46 in overtime.
The 14th-seeded Warriors (15-14), over .500 for the first time since Jan. 23, extended their Hoosiers story into the Group I semifinals, where they’ll play the Central Jersey champion (either Thrive Charter or Point Pleasant Beach) Wednesday at Monroe High School.
The Rams (22-5) had chances to win or tie it at the end of regulation and overtime, but their shots didn’t fall. They missed two free throws with 0.8 seconds left in overtime.
Warriors coach Mick Hughes shared afterwards that his 2-year-old daughter, Penny, “demanded” he read her a story last night. Her choice: Cinderella.
You can’t make this up.
“She knew we were playing today,” Hughes said realizing the irony, “but it all happened and it happened because these guys believe in themselves. We had a little bit of a disappointing regular season, but we thought we had the talent to make a run.
“Just from jump in the playoffs we liked what we saw right away and once we won that first game against Haddon Twp., who was a great ball club, we kind of just said to ourselves why not us. We just believed. That’s really it.”
The Warriors have mowed down top seeds like the power points didn’t matter. They beat the 3, 6, 2 and 1 seeds (with a combined record of 81-29 at the time of their game) along the way. Thrive and PPB are seeded 1-2, respectively, in the Central Jersey bracket.
Salem (22-6) was playing in the sectional final for the first time since 2022 – coach Anthony Farmer’s first season with the team – and looking to win its first sectional title since 2008.
Farmer described the game as a “heavyweight fight” and neither team gave an inch. There were 11 ties and nine lead changes.
The Warriors had a chance to take all the momentum midway through the third quarter when a six-point lead could’ve gone to nine after an intentional foul, but they turned over the ensuring possession, the Rams stormed back to tie it by quarter’s end and the slugging continued.
Nolan Arnold, New Egypt’s all-time leading scorer headed to Iona for baseball, hit two free throws with 21.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Warriors a 48-46 lead. He also hit the game-tying layup with 38 seconds left in regulation after the Warriors scrambled to save a ball from going out of bounds.
The Rams had a chance to win or tie at the end of both regulation and overtime. Neziah Spence drove a congested lane at the end of regulation and his shot hit the rim. In overtime, Xavier McGriff missed a 3-pointer with time running out and Fatah Paige was fouled grabbing the rebound with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Paige needed to make both free throws to force a second OT. He missed the first shot and the Rams were called for a lane violation anticipating a rebound on the second effectively ending the game.
“There was a lot of pressure, it just felt like there was a lot of pressure, and I let it get to me,” Paige said. “There’s just a lot of emotion right now. It’s going to take me a little while to move past this, but I’ll get past it.”
This story will be updated.
NEW EGYPT 48, SALEM 46
NEW EGYPT (15-14): Nolan Arnold 4 12-13 20, Clyde Ferris 6 2-4 17, Cam Cassandrea 0 0-0 0, Ryan Reynolds 2 0-0 6, Paul Kennedy 1 0-0 2, Dylan Harper 1 0-0 2, Jake Milicia 0 1-4 1. Totals 14 15-21 48.
SALEM (22-6): Donnie Weathers 0 0-0 0, Xavier McGriff 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 5 2-2 16, Tymear Lecator 3 1-2 8, Fatah Paige 2 2-5 6, Deshaan Williams 3 4-8 10. BJ Robbins 0 2-2 2, Darrell Johnson 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 11-19 46.
| New Egypt | 11 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 4- | 48 |
| Salem | 9 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 2- | 46 |
Top photo: New Egypt coach Mick Hughes celebrates with his players after they beat Salem in overtime for the South Jersey Group I basketball title Saturday.
Riverview Sports News 