CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women were shorthanded to begin with and finished the game less than full strength and fell to Mercer CC 94-54 Tuesday night.
The Mighty Oaks (2-11), who postponed their previous two games due to a limited roster, started the game with six players and ended the game with four on the floor. They played the last 5:39 with four.
Salem’s offense was led by Tanijya Shaw (21) and Paula Wilson (career-high 20). Shaw was 10-of-17 from the field. Wilson hit five 3-pointers.
Qui-Mia Wilkins gave 15th-ranked Mercer (13-3) a triple-double (game-high 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals). Mercer forced the Mighty Oaks into 34 turnovers, off which they scored 47 points.
MERCER 94, SALEM CC 54 MERCER (13-3): Evangelina Fransisco 5-15 0-0 13, Mayah Alford 4-11 1-2 9, Zaakirah Edwards 3-6 2-2 8, Gabriella Smith 7-15 2-6 16, Qui-Mia Wilkins 11-20 6-8 29, Alexandra Galan-Garcia 4-15 0-1 8, Patricia Monroe 2-6 2-4 6, Emma Wilke 2-7 1-2 5. Totals 38-95 14-25 94. SALEM CC (2-12): Paula Wilson 7-14 1-4 20, Dani Gustin 1-1 1-2 3, RayNescia King 2-5 1-3 6, Tanijya Shaw 10-17 1-3 21, Kasey Oliver 1-4 2-2 4, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 6-15 54.
Mercer
30
30
19
15-
94
Salem CC
18
11
10
15-
54
3-point goals: Mercer 4-28 (Francisco 3-12, Edwards 0-2, Smith 0-6, Wilkins 1-3, Galan-Garcia 0-4, Monroe 0-1); Salem CC 6-15 (Wilson 5-11, King 1-1, Shaw 0-3). Rebounds: Mercer 48 (Monroe 11, Wilkins 10, Smith 8); Salem CC 23 (Gustin 7). Technical fouls: Gustin, Oliver, Wilson. Fouled out: King, Oliver. Total fouls: Mercer 8, Salem CC 18.
Region XIX Women’s Standings
DIVISION II
R19
ALL
GSAC
Harcum (4)
8-0
16-1
Union (11)
9-1
17-2
7-0
Mercer (15)
7-2
13-3
3-1
Essex
7-3
13-4
5-2
Delaware Tech
4-5
6-12
Raritan Valley
3-6
6-11
3-4
Lackawanna
3-6
4-10
Middlesex
2-7
7-14
1-4
SALEM CC
1-6
2-12
0-3
Morris
0-
0-8
0-4
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES Mercer 94, Salem CC 54 Passaic 79, Sussex 45 Essex 68, Westchester CC 64 Northampton 61, Philadelphia 39 Atlantic Cape 75, Bergen 38 Harcum 85, Middlesex 33 Union 95, Raritan Valley 39 Lackawanna 63, Morris 45 Camden 78, Ocean 46
TUESDAY’S MENS SCORES Passaic 75, Luzerne 67 Montgomery 66, Union 59 Harcum 70, Middlesex 63 Bergen 80, Atlantic Cape 70 Camden 75, Ocean 53 Lancaster Bible JV at Thaddeus Stevens Essex 87, Westchester CC 79 Harrisburg Area 90, Sussex 86 Northampton 77, Philadelphia 43 Lackawanna at Morris
Penns Grove uses energy, defense to win on back-to-back days; Hengel gives courageous effort in Woodstown girls’ win; and more
BOYS BASKETBALL Penns Grove 63, Woodstown 52 Glassboro 56, Pennsville 17 Overbrook 64, Schalick 18 GIRLS BASKETBALL Woodstown 60, Penns Grove 28 Schalick 37, Overbrook 28 Glassboro 54, Pennsville 32 Salem 64, Salem Tech 36
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Some basketball teams, especially young ones that want to play at a fast pace, might be worried about playing on back-to-back days. Penns Grove coach Damian Ware welcomes the challenge.
Says it builds character.
The Red Devils have played on back-to-back days at least three times in each of Ware’s 13 years as head coach. They’ve already done it three times this season, but Tuesday was the first time they had won on consecutive days after turning back rival Woodstown 63-52.
It came a day after they beat Burlington City team in an intense MLK Day matinee decided by defense in the final 15 seconds.
“The difference between today’s game and yesterday’s game (was) yesterday in the fourth quarter we let Burlington City back into the game,” Ware said. “They took the lead on us at one point and we squeezed it out for the win.
“Today we stretched the lead out. It was a different game because we learned how to finish today. That was the difference between yesterday and today. It’s always good to finish a game and not have to worry about, shoot, we’ve got to make the last second shot to win the game, so that was good for us today.”
The Red Devils’ history has been pretty good on the second day of back-to-back games during Ware’s tenure. They were real good there for a while – 16-3 from 2017-2021 – and have a two years of struggle they’re starting to get the hang of it again.
They’re 32-24 in the second game of those sets, 20-12 after winning the first game. Their game Tuesday was their fourth in five days, sixth in nine.
The key to holding up in back-to-back games is having energy and Geonni Conrad said the Red Devils brought it from the start.
“Every time we come out with energy we do good, we can win back-to-back games,” the junior guard said. “If we don’t start the game with energy or a high tempo we most likely are losing to that team. I feel we like we did bring the energy early. I feel like we pushed it and tempo’d up the floor, played good defense and did what we needed to do.”
The second quality is stamina, and Ware has never worried about that.
“It’s very good for our conditioning,” he said. “We work very hard on practice on it. . We have good conditioning. I always say in the fourth quarter our conditioning should take over because we should be in better shape and we should be able to work harder from the first quarter to the fourth quarter and by the time we get to the fourth quarter we should have that team worn down. And I think that’s what happened today.”
The Red Devils got 17 points apiece from Conrad and Roman Gipson. Conrad opened the second half with two 3-pointers to help them start pulling away. There were four ties and eight lead changes in the first half.
“They were good looks,” Conrad said. “My teammates found me on the open wing and I tried to knock it down for them.”
They also got a double-double from 6-4 sophomore Mishawn Brantley. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds, with seven points and five boards coming in the fourth quarter when the Red Devils pushed the lead to 16.
“I came into this game looking forward to be dominating,” Brantley said. “I came into this game knowing we would win, knowing we were coming here and take home the win.”
“That was a break out game for him,” Ware said. “He’s only a sophomore and he hasn’t really played at a high level of varsity before, but now he’s starting to get to the point where he really understands it and he’s feeling more confident in himself. He’s coming out of his shell.”
The Wolverines were led by Blake Bialecki. The senior scored 16 points to push his career total to 916 and he hit two 3-pointers to break the boys’ school record for career 3s. Bialecki now has 167. The all-time school record is 186 by Talia Battavio.
“It’s cool,” he said of the record. “I work really hard shooting a lot of 3s training. I just want to win games.”
If Bialecki maintains his 14.3 ppg season scoring average he’s projected to hit the 1,000 mark at Overbrook Feb. 5, the end of a five-game road stretch. Failing that, the Wolverines’ three games after that are all against Salem County teams.
PENNS GROVE 63, WOODSTOWN 52 PENNS GROVE (9-6): Will Roy 4 0-0 9, Roman Gipson 7 1-1 17, Geonni Conrad 6 3-4 17, Carson Pearsall 0 3-6 3, Luis Colon 1 1-2 3, Mishawn Brantley 4 2-4 10, Jameel Horace 1 0-0 2, Ahkeem Edwards 1 0-0 2, Zane Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 10-17 63. WOODSTOWN (8-6): Eli Caesar 4 0-0 10, Jalen Markward 3 1-2 7, Blake Bialecki 5 4-5 16, Alejandro Vazquez 2 0-0 5, John Hood-McGinley 1 0-0 3, Josh King 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 3 3-4 9, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 2, Totals 19 8-11 52.
Penns Grove
15
14
14
20-
63
Woodstown
13
13
11
15-
52
3-point goals: Penns Grove 5 (Gipson 2, Roy, Conrad 2); Woodstown 6 (Bialecki 2, Caesar 2, Vazquez, Hood-McGinley). Rebounds: Penns Grove 37 (Brantley 11, Conrad 6, Pearsall 7); Woodstown 24 (Markward 5, Vazquez 6, White 5). Technical fouls: Pearsall. Fouled out: Caesar. Total fouls: Penns Grove 15, Woodstown 19. Officials: Konyak, Thomas.
OVERBROOK 64, SCHALICK 18: The Rams jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter, then held the Cougars scoreless in the second and the third en route to its 23rd straight Diamond Division win.
Bilal Robinson led three Rams in double figures and all scorers with 15 points. Lamar Little had 14 and JR Stanley 12. Robinson also had six rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots.
SCHALICK (5-7): Orion Baldwin 2-0-4, Julian Dickerson 1-0-2, Dylan Sheehan 2-0-4, Cooper Willoughby 0-3-3, Jacob Schalick 1-0-2, Will Sieminski 1-0-3. Totals 7-3-18. OVERBROOK (11-3): Lamar Little 6-1-14, JR Stanley 5-0-12, Jaden St. John 3-0-6, Rashon Jones 2-0-4, Josh Schoeb 1-0-3, Jayden Wilkerson 1-0-3, Bilal Robinson 6-0-15, Gavin Cajuste 0-0-0, Josh Lewis 0-0-0, Jason Boyd 1-2-5, Damere Vennie 1-0-2. Totals 26-3-64.
GLASSBORO 56, PENNSVILLE 17: The Bulldogs raced out to a 27-0 lead in the first quarter and coasted past the Eagles. Xavier Sabb had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Maurice Davis had 14 points and seven boards. Aidan Clark had eight points for the Eagles, who are still missing top scorer Mason O’Brien.
GLASSBORO (3-9): William Goggans 8, Xavier Sabb 16, Mekhi Parker 3, Aiden Harris 9, Maurice Davis 14, Jack O;Connell 3, Derreck Robinson 3. PENNSVILLE (1-12): Jake Layfield 1, Gavin Spears 2, Danny Knight 5, Jacob Farina 1, Aidan Clark 8.
Glassboro
27
11
12
6-
56
Pennsville
0
5
5
7-
17
1000-Point Watch
PLAYER
TODAY
TOTAL
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown
16 vs. Penns Grove
926
Tymear Lecator, Salem
DNP
788
Girls games
PENNS GROVE — Woodstown’s Lauren Hengel gave one of the most courageous performances in the state Tuesday night.
The senior point guard lost her aunt and uncle in a Mullica Hill car crash over the weekend, but she played Tuesday night and led the Wolverines to a 60-28 victory over Penns Grove. She scored 24 points, hit four 3-pointers and pulled down 15 rebounds – all career highs. She also had four assists and five steals.
“Lauren was great tonight,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “It was an emotional game for a lot of reasons, coming off an emotional loss last week and dealing with everything that she’s dealing with. At the end of the day she just wanted to be with her friends.
“She came out and played and was a leader on the court. Lauren is a fantastic player but at the end of the day she’s an even a better human being and I know the entire Woodstown community, family, our team, especially me, we all care about her.”
Hengel hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Wolverines (7-8) jumped out to a 16-10 lead. She scored 14 points in the second half when they pulled away.
In between, she handled the ball, made several sharp passes that helped her teammates score, drove hard to the basket and held her own defensive guarding a big. She also helped bring players along who were getting some extended minutes.
“We’ve put her in a different role than she has been in the past three years,” Smart said. “There are ups and downs with that. Sometimes she can’t be that scorer that we need, but she distributes the ball. It’s a difficult year for her on the court dealing with that transition but she’s taken it in stride. She never complains about anything. She only asks how to get better.”
Emma Perry added 12 points and held Penns Grove top scorer Kezia Patterson to one field goal and seven points. JaNiyah Cummings led the Red Devils with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Kailyn Kennedy added eight points to the Wolverines’ attack, while Kendall Young and Talia Guardascione had seven points each.
Lauren’s uncle Thomas Hengel coached multiple sports at Clearview High School for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
GLASSBORO 54, PENNSVILLE 32: Kezia Brackett scored a career-high 36 points, grabbed eight rebounds and recorded five steals as the Bulldogs pulled into a tie with the Eagles for first place in the Tri-County Diamond Division.
Glassboro split with Pennsville in the season series and has a win over Woodstown. Pennsville has a one-point win over Woodstown. Woodstown plays Glassboro and Pennsville in the next two Tuesdays that could really jam up the division.
Marley Wood led the Eagles with 14 points. Taylor Bass had 12.
SALEM 64, SALEM TECH 36: Dyaira Anderson enjoyed her fifth double-double of the season and fourth in the last five games to help the Rams snap a three-game losing streak and get back to .500 (5-5).
Anderson had 16 points and 15 rebounds. She has had at least 10 rebounds in each of the last five games and averaged 17.8 points and 14.6 rebounds during the run.
Carlysia Pierce had 17 points, six rebounds and five steals, and Madison Dixon had 11 points.. Shelby Drummond led the Chargers with 10 points. Rylee Doerr had eight points, 15 rebounds and blocked four shots. Amora Delaine had eight points and 12 boards.
Defense plays big role in Penns Grove win, Salem loss
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODBURY – One thing has been true about the Penns Grove basketball team no matter the year. If you’re going to play for Damien Ware, you’d better play defense.
The Red Devils have hung their hats on the way they get after the ball. And that’s what got them a 47-46 win over Burlington City in the MLK Day Showcase at Woodbury.
Will Roy got a deflection and then got it to Gianni Conrad for a layup that put the Red Devils (8-6) up 47-46 with 12 seconds to play. Then Roy made the stop they had to have, forcing the guard bringing the ball up the floor into a turnover with two seconds left, to seal the victory.
“There were 12 seconds left and we needed one stop; I’ll take that bet,” Ware said. “I think we can get one stop any time.
“We played full-court, man-to-man, they’ve got 12 seconds and we had a foul to give. We told them to play aggressive defense and make it hard for them to get the ball up the floor. Everybody plays defense for me. If you can’t play defense, you can’t play for me. Will was the one who came up with two big plays today.”
It didn’t have to be that close, but the Blue Devils (6-7) just wouldn’t go away. Penns Grove would go up by eight, Burlington City would come back. The Red Devils led by nine in the fourth quarter and hit a wall. BC outscored the Red Devils 13-5 in the fourth quarter.
“That’s part of my team because we’re young and kind of inexperienced in games like that so this is a big game for us to come out and win a game like that,” Ware said. “Two weeks ago we probalby would’ve lost that game.
“We’ve got a little more game experience, played more tougher opponents. We’re back to playing Group I teams, not that they’re any easier, but more on a par with where we’re at. We just found a way to win at the end.”
Conrad, a 6-foot junior guard, led all scorers with 16 points on the heels of a career-high 19-point game at Eastern. Roy and Roman Gipson each had eight.
BURLINGTON CITY (6-7) – Jamie Lambing 4-0-11, Rashad Newkirk 5-0-11, Jarrett James 2-0-4, Corey Degree 3-2-9, Theo Ellerbe 5-1-11. Totals 19-3-46. PENNS GROVE (8-6) – Roman Gipson 3-1-8, Carson Pearsall 2-1-6, Will Roy 3-1-8, Mishawn Brantley 2-0-4, Geonni Conrad 5-5-16, Luis Colon 1-1-3, Ahkeen Edwards 1-0-2, Jeremy Costacamps 0-0-0. Totals 17-9-47.
Burlington City
10
12
11
13-
46
Penns Grove
13
16
13
5-
47
3-point goals: Burlington City 5 (Lambing 3, Newkirk, Degree); Penns Grove 4 (Gipson, Pearsall, Roy, Conrad).
ATLANTIC CITY 59, SALEM 53: Anthony Farmer spent the two-hour bus ride back from the boardwalk conflicted. Couldn’t really blame him.
His Group I Salem Rams played defense as well as it had all year, especially in the first half, and had their chances to make a statement against Group 4 Atlantic City, but in the end they just had too many turnovers to win.
Don-Taye Thompson scored seven of his game-high 23 points in overtime, including a thunderous dunk with 55 seconds left, and Salem committed seven of its 25 turnovers in the extra period to snap the Rams’ eight-game winning streak.
“It was a statement opportunity for South Jersey, for the state, for us as a program,” Farmer said. “I thought we matched up pretty well with them and I felt like even on the road this was one we possibly could get.
“I’m proud of what we did on the road. Being able to take the game into overtime with 25 turnovers at the end of night and you lose by five is amazing. How do you turn it over 25 times and lose by five? We competed like hell.”
Most of the turnovers came from moving too fast against the Vikings’ pressure instead of taking a beat and reading the floor. The turnovers never gave them a chance in overtime.
It was a defensive battle early, with the teams combining for 30 points in the first half. The Rams trailed by seven with two minutes left in the half, but Neziah Spence’s 3-pointer with 1:00 to go drew them to within 16-14 at halftime.
The Rams never could get the lead. Spence’s layup with 55 seconds left in regulation made it 47-45 and Deshaan Williams’ bucket with 33 seconds left tied it at 47.
The Vikings had the final possession in regulation. Tymear Lecator fouled Tamir Rex on consecutive inbounds plays and Thompson missed a runner in the lane at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Williams led Salem with his fifth double-double of the season (17 points, 13 rebounds). Lecator had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals before fouling out. Fatah Paige and Marshall Stephens both grabbed 10 rebounds, but they only combined for seven points. Stephens also had five blocked shots.
“We had opportunities,” Farmer said. “I thought we did a really good job with the game plan that we put together. We watched them, we had our eyes on them, we knew what they were and we knew what we knew what we were trying to do. We did that. We’ve just got take care of the ball and make a few shots.”
SALEM (10-2): Tymear Lecator 14, Deshaan Williams 17, Fatah Paige 3, Neziah Spence 7, Xavier McGriff 1, BJ Robbins 5, Marshall Stephens 4, Darrelle Johnson 2. Totals 18 14-23 53. ATLANTIC CITY (8-5): DonTaye Thompson 23, Jacob Lane 5, Tamir Rex 11, Jalil Daniels 5, Exclusive Dublin 15, Hanif Rios 0.
Salem
5
9
15
18
6-
53
Atlantic City
10
6
16
15
12-
59
Rebounds: Salem 49 (Williams 13, Paige 10, Stephens 10); Atlantic City 18 (Dublin 11).
Wrestling
PAULSBORO GIRLS TOURNAMENT 138: Pennsville’s Summer Sassi lost a 20-8 major decision to Madisyn Paden of Clayton/Glassboro in the championship match. Sassi pinned the first two opponents she faced.
145: Pennsville’s Yerlian Charon pinned Grier Williams of North Star Academy in 36 seconds in the third-place match. Charon was pinned in the semifinals by weight class winner Deja Cofield of Gateway.
Here is the Salem County sports calendar for the week of Jan 19-24
MONDAY, JAN. 19 BOYS BASKETBALL Penns Grove vs. Burlington City at Woodbury, 11 a.m. Salem at Atlantic City, 2 p.m. WRESTLING Pennsville, Salem at Paulsboro Girls Tournament, 9 a.m. Schalick girls at Buena, 10 a.m. Pennsville at Deptford, 10 a.m.
TUESDAY, JAN. 20 BOYS BASKETBALL Glassboro at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m. Penns Grove at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m. Schalick at Overbrook, 5:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Woodstown at Penns Grove, 4 p.m. Overbrook at Schalick, 5:30 p.m. Pennsville at Glassboro, 5:30 p.m. Salem at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m. BOWLING Salem Tech vs. Salem at Wood Lanes, 4 p.m. WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Mercer at Salem CC, 5 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21 BOYS BASKETBALL Wildwood at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Overbrook at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m. WRESTLING Woodstown at Overbrook Clayton at Schalick, 5 p.m. Winslow at Salem, 5 p.m. Pennsville at Timber Creek, 6 p.m. INDOOR TRACK Nike Elite Meet, Ott Center, Philadelphia, 7 p.m. BOWLING Salem Tech vs. Collingswood, Westbrook Lanes, 3:45 p.m. Salem vs. Deptford at Brunswick Zone, 4 p.m.
THURSDAY, JAN. 22 BOYS BASKETBALL Clayton at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m. Gloucester Catholic at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m. Pitman at Schalick, 5:30 p.m. Salem at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Schalick at Pitman, 4 p.m. Penns Grove at Clayton, 4 p.m. Pennsville at Salem, 5:30 p.m. SWIMMING Woodstown vs. Pitman at GCIT, 5:45 p.m. Schalick vs. Salem at GCIT, 7:15 p.m. BOWLING Salem Tech in NJTAC, Lucky Strike North Brunswick, 1 p.m. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Atlantic Cape at Salem CC, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 23 BOYS BASKETBALL Collingswood at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m. Gateway at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m. Wildwood at Salem, 5:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Salem at Buena, 5:30 p.m. Pennsville at Haddon Heights, 5:30 p.m. Schalick at Paulsboro, 5:30 p.m. WRESTLING Schalick at Pitman, 5 p.m. Pennsville at Woodstown, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 24 GIRLS BASKETBALL Kingsway at Woodstown, 11:30 a.m. WRESTLING Haddon Heights, Middle Twp., Timber Creek at Salem, 9 a.m. Woodstown, Haddonfield, Millville at Penns Grove, 9 a.m. Holy Spirit, Toms River North, Vineland at Schalick, 10 a.m. INDOOR TRACK Pennsville, Schalick, Woodstown at Bennett Complex, 9 a.m. SWIMMING SJISA Championships A, GCIT, 10 a.m. BOWLING Salem vs. Manchester Twp., 30 Strikes, 9:30 a.m. WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Salem CC at Lackawanna, 1 p.m.
Goodwin may not play major minutes, but his role is not downplayed by Mighty Oaks’ coaches, players
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Mike Goodwin hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes for the Salem CC basketball team this season and the minutes he does get usually come in the closing minutes of a game whose outcome has long been decided.
But the first-year forward is just as important to the Mighty Oaks’ process as any of the other 10 players ahead of him in the box score. And, some say, without his often unseen contributions some of what they are enjoying this year as the No. 1 team in the country might not be possible.
Goodwin is the epitome of a deep reserve. He walked on this year with Penns Grove roots, by way of Kingsway and Lake Nona, Fla., keeps his head down, his nose clean and competes with his teammates every day in practice. His work ethic has been rewarded with late-game minutes in the post.
He’s Mike Green’s kind of player.
“Love him, love him,” the coach said after the Mighty Oaks’ latest win, a 124-70 rout of Passaic Saturday. “He comes to practice, he works, he celebrates his teammates the whole game. And he’s getting better. He’s improved big time. When we got him the glass was empty, now we’re about three-quarters full. It doesn’t show on the court because we’re kind of 5-6 guys at his one position, but he comes to practice every day and competes.
“He works hard. When I recruit I’m not just recruiting everybody I think can score the ball or do something. You need to recruit guys who give you extra numbers in practice, go hard in practice, that’s good on the scout team, guys who want to get better get in the gym, guys when you’re down they can pull you up out of it. Everybody here loves Mike. They respect him. He’s a great asset to our team.”
The 6-foot-4 forward has played in 12 of the Mighty Oaks’ first 21 games for a total of 53 minutes. He has eight points, 14 rebounds and blocked five shots.
He got five minutes in Saturday’s game and although he didn’t score and felt he could’ve done more than he showed he did well enough on the floor to keep the pieces moving for the Mighty Oaks to set the program’s revival-era single-game scoring record.
“I tried to go out there and work on what I worked on with my coaches,” Goodwin said. “I had the chance to be aggressive and give it my all because I know my teammates are going to give it their all every time.
“I wasn’t looking at the clock. I was more worried about the scoring record and going out there and getting my teammates open so we could get that scoring record.”
Of course, he’d like to play more, but it’s the work that drives him.
There’s something to be said for being on the No. 1 team in the country that has real thoughts of winning it all.
“I’ve got that passion to get better every day,” Goodwin said. “Having that passion and pushing hard every day in practice, it pushes everybody else to be better. Nobody wants to be left behind, so me pushing myself I’m also pushing my peers. I’m just blessed to be on this team and be able to experience this with these guys.
“Obviously, from a selfish perspective, I wonder if I’m gonna get in. Sometimes I want to get in, but I’m in the role I am right now. I don’t feel ashamed, because all these other guys are great. It’s competitive. Being competitive obviously I want to play sometimes, but I’m in the role right now it drives me to get better and me getting better my teammates can get better.”
The players appreciate his effort. They pull hard for him because he works so hard for them.
“One thing about Mike, he’s the first person in the gym every day,” said freshman guard Nasseem Wright, the Mighty Oaks’ second-leading scorer and leading rebounder and shot blocker. “Any of the guys know he’s there for us. He’s a workaholic. He brings the energy. Every game we meet at half-court Mike has the most energy; he’s yelling and screaming. On the bench he’s yelling defense first. Mike is kind of like the energy guy for us and gives us that push and motivation in games like this so we can get him out there.
“On this team we all look at each as equal. None of us look lower at Mike because of his play time. From the guys who play the most minutes to Mike, to us everybody’s equal. It’s important to have guys like that because he knows his role, he knows what he has to do to benefit the team. Without Mike some of this might not be possible.”
Here are results and details from Saturday’s events on the Salem County sports schedule BOYS BASKETBALL Eastern 58, Penns Grove 38: Eastern jumped out to a 23-7 lead in the first quarter and got balanced scoring throughout the lineup to win its fifth in a row. Penns Grove’s Geonni Conrad led all scorers with a career-high 19 points.
PENNS GROVE (7-6): Carson Gipson 0-0-0, Carson Pearsall 2-2-6, Haneef Frisby 0-0-0, Will Roy 0-0-0, Mishawn Brantley 1-4-6, Geonni Conrad 8-0-19, Luis Colon 0-0-0, Jeremy Costacamps 1-0-2, Ahkeen Edwards 2-1-5, Messiah Allah 0-0-0. Totals 14-7-38. EASTERN (13-2): Sean Karbach 6-0-13, Jake Tubman 1-0-2, Alex Grossman 1-1-3, Ashton Fedora 2-2-6, Landon Bethea 2-0-5, Edy Amankwaah 3-2-9, Evan Cardamone 4-0-8, Micah Fox 4-0-9, Lorenzo Locascio 0-0-0, Kyle Tulman 0-0-0, Brandon Gold 1-0-3. Totals 24-5-58.
Haddon Twp. 70, Schalick 23: Axel Mohr had 19 points and eight rebounds and three other Hawks scored in double figures. Sean Crawford had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. Julian Dickerson led Schalick with 10.
SCHALICK (5-6): Julian Dickerson 4-2-10, Dylan Sheehan 2-0-4, Orion Baldwin 1-0-2, Kade Macom 1-0-2, Sherrod Jones 1-0-2, Jacob Schalick 0-1-1, Will Sieminski 1-0-2. Totals 10-3-23. HADDON TWP. (11-2): Axel Mohr 6-6-19, Chase Perrone 6-0-14, Sean Crawford 5-0-12, Nate Keating 5-0-10, Eamonn Sheehan 3-1-7, Peter Black 1-1-3, RJ Miller 1-0-3, Ryan Gallagher 1-0-2. Totals 28-8-70.
Cedar Creek 78, Woodstown 61: Blake Bialecki scored a career-high 31 points to move within 90 of 1,000 for his career, but the Wolverines couldn’t overcome four Pirates in double figures. Bialecki hit five of the Wolverines’ 11 3-pointers.
WOODSTOWN (8-5): Jalen Markward 1 0-0 2, Andrew White 1 0-0 2, Blake Bialecki 11 4-4 31, Alejandro Vazquez 4 1-3 11, Jack Hood-McGinley 1 1-2 4, Josh King 1 0-0 2, Lucas Fulmer 3 0-0 9. Totals 22 6-9 61. CEDAR CREEK (8-3): DyShamir Clegg-Campos 8 1-1 19, Jayden Henry 0 5-8 5, Markus Dillard 0 2-2 2, Sandy Thomas 4 0-0 4, Damien Morales 1 0-0 2, Nazir Thornton 7 0-1 15, Markus Polite 7 2-3 17, Frenchmon Bethea 5 3-4 14. Totals 30 13-19 78.
Woodstown
13
8
10
30-
61
Cedar Creek
10
17
31
20-
78
3-point goals: Woodstown 11 (Bialecki 5, Vazquez 2, Hood-McGinley, Fulmer 3); Cedar Creek 5 (Clegg-Campos 2, Thornton, Polite, Bethea).
GIRLS BASKETBALL Delsea 39, Woodstown 35: Ayres Maitland scored 14 points and Madi Barndt 10 to lead Delsea. Kendall Young and Lauren Hengel led Woodstown with 12 and 10, respectively.
BUENA QUAD WOODSTOWN 49, PENNSAUKEN 24 106: Angel Escobar Erazo (P) pinned TJ Conto, 1:58 113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) dec. Jeremy Slim, 10-4 120: Carson Bradway (WO) dec. Zachary Slime, 8-2 126: Walker Battavio (WO) tech fall over Anghel Juarez, 15-0 (2:04) 132: Barry Coverly (WO) won by forfeit 138: Caleb Smith (P) won by forfeit 144: Peter Lam (P) pinned Jacob Tocco, 0:35 150: Nehemiah Carter (WO) dec. Travis Ngeth, 7-3 157: Mathyias Ellis (WO) pinned Nathan Perez, 1:40 165: Ricky Watts (WO) tech fall over Kevin Terreros, 15-0 (3:26) 175: Greyson Hyland (WO) pinned Daymon Rodgers, 1:12 190: Kameron Hoskins (P) pinned Asher Fitzpatrick, 3:08 215: Bradley Snitcher (WO) pinned Jayden Shockley, 1:20 285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Ronell Muns Grullon, 1:17
Woodstown vs. Buena Woodstown vs. Haddon Heights
DEPTFORD QUAD SCHALICK 50, PEMBERTON 28 120: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Kayden Valasquez, 1:07 126: Diego Loeza Castillo (P) tech fall over Terry Both, 16-1 (2:12) 132: Jacob Potts (S) pinned Jariel Diaz, 0:26 138: Colin Bittle (S) won by forfeit 144: Michael Baisch (S) pinned Demitri Donald, 1:11 150: Mason Hollywood (S) won by forfeit 157: Ayden Jenkins (S) tech fall over Eddie Keenan, 18-0 (2:26) 165: Ryan Lambert (P) pinned Ayden Hubbard, 0:50 175: Mayrick Willits (P) pinned Anthony Deaver, 1:14 190: Ricky Watt (S) won by forfeit 215: Gerardo Felipe (S) dec. Josh Dixon, 7-4 285: JaZeer Oliver (P) pinned Ezequiel Garcia-Cruz, 0:32 106: Harley Donald (P) tech fall over Victor Fenske, 17-1 (0:56) 113: Nicholas Latona (S) won by forfeit
SCHALICK 38, HADDON TWP. 33 106: Connor Rowan (H) pinned Victor Fenske, 5:04 113: Patrick Campise (H) pinned Nicholas Latona, 3:44 120: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Jon Rodriguez, 0:36 126: Finn Boucher (H) tech fall over Terry Both, 21-3 (4:20) 132: Jacob Potts (S) pinned Blake Thoder, 3:00 138: Colin Bittle (S) pinned Michael Coyle, 0:30 144: Gabe Slafman (H) maj. dec. Michael Baisch, 21-9 150: Thomas Andrews (H) pinned Mason Hollywood, 1:49 157: Ayden Jenkins (S) dec. Brady Monoid, 6-2 165: Anthony Deaver (S) dec. Jude Martin, 12-5 175: Ricky Watt (S) tech fall over Jaden Curtis, 16-1 (3:41) 190: Gerardo Felipe (S) won by forfeit 215: Ethan Quiles (S) dec. Granger Revier, 11-4 285: Brennan Berger (H) pinned Ezequiel Garcia-Cruz, 1:30
SCHALICK 50, DEPTFORD 24 113: John Gigante (D) pinned Nicholas Latona, 4:22 120: Corey Hoffman (D) tech fall over Terry Both, 15-0 (4:03) 126: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Aiden Speigel, 1:21 132: Eion Curran (D) pinned Jacob Potts, 1:13 138: Amir Barnes (D) maj. dec. Colin Bittle, 14-2 144: Quentin Boyce (D) dec. Michael Baisch, 9-4 150: Mason Hollywood (S) pinned Shawn McFriff Dixon, 0:57 157: Ayden Jenkins (S) tech fall over Odess Myers, 25-10 (5:47) 165: Anthony Deaver (S) pinned Andrew Tracy, 1:40 175: Auden Hubbard (S) won by forfeit 190: Ricky Watt (S) won by forfeit 215: Gerardo Felipe (S) dec. Dayne McDermott, 8-1 285: Jeff Edmonds (S) won by forfeit 106: Victor Fenske (S) pinned Braeden Hutchins, 1:16
SALEM QUAD PENNS GROVE 39, OVERBROOK 33 113: Doel Torres (P) won by forfeit 120: Jackob Sole (O) won by forfeit 126: Adan Gonzales (P) dec. Alan Marcos, 14-13 132: Nyhla West (P) won by forfeit 138: Double forfeit 144: Matt Kamara (O) won by forfeit 150: Karter Reed (O) pinned Angel Ocasio, 3:16 157: AbdulMuta Alie IbyAbdulHailmTart (P) won by forfeit 165: Payton Seamster (P) won by forfeit 175: Xyon Marshall (O) pinned Richard Simmons, 0:34 190: Randall Ringstaff (O) won by forfeit 215: Shyer Scarborough (O) dec. Cameron Vile, 7-3 285: Antonio Cooper (P) pinned Giovanni Carbanaro 106: Jose Santiago (P) won by forfeit
SALEM 51, PENNS GROVE 30 106: Jose Santiago (P) won by forfeit 113: Doel Torres (P) won by forfeit 120: Zachary Tortella (S) won by forfeit 126: Adan Gonzales (P) pinned Hayden Stauble, 1:55 132: Guilherme Quintaniha (S) won by forfeit 138: Brodie Parker (S) dec. Nyhla West, 20-16 144: Joseph Goetaski (S) won by forfeit 150: Angel Ocasio (P) pinned Christian VanTonder, 1:22 157: AbdulMuta Alie IbyAbdulHailmTart (P) pinned Ziyon Moore, 1:22 165: Jordan Brown (S) won by forfeit 175: Jaivion Sydney (S) pinned Richard Simmons, 1:46 190: Kaleb Ewald (S) won by forfeit 215: Abdur Jenkins (S) pinned Zaviyon Veney, 1:46 285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) pinned Antonio Cooper, 2:32
PITMAN 53, PENNS GROVE 21 120: King Iglesia (P) won by forfeit 126: Grady Datz (P) tech fall over Adan Gonzales, 16-1 (1:43) 132: John Wisniewski (P) won by forfeit 138: Donte Iannella (P) pinned Nyla West, 0:29 144: Dominick Green (P) won by forfeit 150: Aidan Upham (P) pinned Angel Ocasio, 1:06 157: AbdulMuta Alie IbyAbdulHailmTart (PG) dec. Chris McIntyre, 7-5 165: Alex Simone (P) won by forfeit 175: Anthony Cappello (P) won by forfeit 190: Aiden Millward (P) won by forfeit 215: Zaviyon Veney (PG) pinned Nicolas Horner, 4:34 285: Antonio Cooper (PG) pinned Christian Southard, 0:38 106: Jose Santiago (PG) won by forfeit 113: Doel Torres (PG) won by forfeit
SALEM 60, OVERBROOK 18 120: Zachary Tortella (S) won by forfeit 126: Hayden Stauble (S) pinned Alan Marcos, 1:15 132: Guilherme Quintaniha (S) won by forfeit 138: Brodie Parker (S) won by forfeit 144: Joseph Goetaski (S) pinned Matt Camara, 1:35 150: Karter Reed (O) pinned Christian VanTonder, 1:59 157: Ziyon Moore (S) won by forfeit 165: Jordan Brown (S) won by forfeit 175: Xyon Marshall (O) pinned Jaivion Sydnor, 0:50 190: Kaleb Ewald (S) won by forfeit 215: Abdur Jenkins (S) pinned Syhir Scarborough, 0:57 285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) pinned Giovanni Carbarnaro, 0:58 106: Double forfeit 113: Jackob Sole (O) won by forfeit
PITMAN 35, SALEM 34 113: Double forfeit 120: Grady Datz (P) maj. dec. Zachary Tortella, 15-4 126: King Iglesia (P) pinned Hayden Stauble, 2:30 132: Guylherme Quintanilha (S) pinned Nick Wenzke, 0:07 138: John Wiśniewski (P) pinned Brodie Parker, 1:19 144: Joseph Goetaski (S) pinned Dominick Green, 1:02 150: Aidan Upham (P) pinned Christian VanTonder, 1:11 157: Chris McIntyre (P) pinned Ziyon Moore, 2:57 165: Jordan Brown (S) pinned Alex Simone, 0:58 175: Jaivion Sydnor (S) maj. dec. Anthony Cappello, 16-2 190: Aiden Milward (P) pinned Kaleb Ewald, 0:50 215: Abdur Jenkins (S) pinned Nicolas Horner, 0:31 285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) pinned Ashton Maggioncalda, 1:18 106: Double forfeit x-Pitman wins on criteria
No. 1 Salem CC puts up 124 points, most in the Mike Green Era, 77 in second half, en route to rout of Passaic
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Nasseem Wright had one eye on the scoreboard and one eye on history.
In a season where this year’s Salem CC basketball team has been checking off all kinds of boxes in an effort to gain an identity of its own, Saturday was the historical high point.
As if they were ever in it to begin with, this Mighty Oaks team may have finally stepped out of the shadow of last year’s historic group, scoring the most points since they revived the program – and likely all-time – in a 124-70 pounding of undermanned Passaic.
It’s the 14th time they have hit 100 in Mike Green’s 73 games as head coach and the eighth time this year — twice as many as last season in 34 games. Their 94.8 ppg scoring average ranks fourth in Division III. They had 100 Saturday with 7:41 to play.
Their previous single-game high in the Green Era was 119 against RCSJ-Cumberland on Jan. 14, 2025.
“It’s a new group of guys,” Wright said. “The majority of us are freshmen. We’ve already been making history all year so we just want to keep checking those boxes off the list.
“Last year’s team scored 119 points. Once we got into the second half and saw we had like 79 points and there was like nine or 10 minutes left, I’m telling the guys we’ve got a chance to do this, so let’s come out and keep the same energy, respect our opponent and keep playing hard.
“I pay a lot of attention to last year’s team. They set the bar high by winning the regionals and going to the nationals, but I don’t think they won the conference. Coming into the season I wanted to key in on all of those things that they didn’t accomplish and where they went wrong at and then work from there. That’s kind of been the motivation for me personally for this team this year.”
Green understood where his flashy freshman from Philly was coming from.“Nasseem wanted to obliterate everything that last year’s team did, so he had that fire in him,” Green said. “He respects that last year’s team, but he’s just got that fire to him. I don’t want to say that’s what he’s chasing, but he’s kind of chasing it. That’s type of kid he is. He respects those guys, but he wants his team to be on top.”
The Mighty Oaks (21-0) have been on top of the JUCO Division III world since the Week 6 poll Dec. 15 and it doesn’t look like they’re slowing down any time soon. They may have started Saturday’s noon start slow coming off the late night that was Thursday’s win at No. 5 Northampton, but once they kicked it into gear the only thing you could say was wow.
They led 47-37 at halftime, then erupted for 77 points in the second half. In case you glanced past that detail, it’s more points in one half than the Panthers scored the entire game.
The Mighty Oaks shot 68 percent from the field in the second half (32-of-47) and hit 7 of 8 from 3-point range. They collected 20 of their record 33 assists in the half. Over the last 27 minutes of the game they were 46-of-66 from the floor.
“We put together 11 guys playing like we need them to play,” Green said. “Usually we go up and we have fall off because guys think it’s garbage time (with a big lead). This time we didn’t have no fall off. Zero fall off.”
The finish was a huge contrast to the way they started, but, then, this has always been a second half team. There were seven lead changes and three ties in the first 13 minutes until Zyaire Gibson’s 3-pointer with 7:00 left in the half gave the Mighty Oaks the lead for good.
They hit four of their first 10 shots to grab an early 9-2 lead, but then missed nine straight and 12 of their next 15 and the Panthers (3-16) took a four-point lead with 8:17 left in the half. The Mighty Oaks then made five shots in a row and never trailed again.
Everybody contributed. Salem put six scorers in double figures. Jarrell Little had a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Wright had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks. Gibson had 15 points with four 3-pointers. Saaid Lee had 12 points and 10 assists.
The bench scored 50 points. Nayeem Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds in 12 minutes (all in the second half) and Jaiayre Wright had 12 points and six boards in 15 minutes. Three other non-starters had at least eight points. Nobody who scored had less than seven.
“The second half, remember we always talk about that second unit, they’re just as strong as most teams in our league, and they came out and played … like they were supposed to play, so that was a big boost for us,” Green said.
SALEM CC 124, PASSAIC 70 PASSAIC (3-16): Tyler Williams 1-3 0-0 3, Josiah Etienne 8-20 0-0 19, Ajuwan Tiggs 8-21 4-4 20, Jaquis Davis 3-17 8-13 15, Aidan Secka 0-1 0-0 0, Diego Munoz 0-2 0-0 0, Joshua Renta 5-15 1-1 13. Totals 25-79 13-18 70. SALEM CC (21-0): Jarrell Little 9-14 0-1 23, Saaid Lee 6-10 0-0 12, Zyaire Gibson 4-9 3-3 15, Nasseem Wright 8-14 1-2 17, Stefan Phillips 3-6 1-1 7, Jahseir Sayles 4-6 0-0 9, Jaiayre Wright 6-10 0-0 12, Qua Smith 4-6 0-0 8, Nayeem Johnson 5-9 2-2 13, Idris Rines 3-7 1-2 8, Michael Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 52-91 8-11 124.
Passaic
34
36-
70
Salem
47
77-
124
3-point goals: Passaic 7-23 (Williams 1-2, Etienne 3-8, Tiggs 0-1, Davis 1-5, Munoz 0-2, Renta 2-5); Salem CC 12-28 (Little 5-9, Lee 0-1, Gibson 4-9, N. Wright 0-1, Phillips 0-1, Sayles 1-2, J. Wright 0-1, Johnson 1-3, Rines 1-1). Rebounds: Passaic 34 (Williams 9, Seyka 9); Salem CC 53 (Phillips 9, Little 8, Johnson 8, N. Wright 7). Assists: Passaic 10 (Williams 4); Salem CC 33 (Lee 10, Little 8). Total fouls: Passaic 7, Salem CC 17.
Region XIX Standings
DIVISION III
R19
ALL
GSAC
SALEM CC (1)
8-0
21-0
15-0
Union (8)
11-1
15-3
11-2
Northampton (5)
9-1
15-2
Brookdale
13-3
13-6
8-4
Montgomery (9)
7-2
10-3
Camden
7-2
10-6
6-5
Ocean
9-3
11-6
7-4
Bergen
10-7
10-10
3-9
Atlantic Cape
6-6
7-9
5-7
RCSJ-Cumberland
6-7
7-10
6-7
RCSJ-Gloucester
5-11
7-15
1-11
Thaddeus Stevens
3-7
6-10
Sussex
4-10
7-13
4-9
Philadelphia
2-8
7-8
Passaic
3-14
3-16
3-11
Delaware County
2-10
3-14
Harrisburg Area
1-7
2-13
Luzerne
1-8
4-14
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
SATURDAY’S GAMES Salem 124, Passaic 70 Union at Thaddeus Stevens Philadelphia 71, Luzerne 47 RCSJ-Gloucester 99, Delaware County 68 Essex 80, Delaware Tech 74 Montgomery 90, Ocean 86 Allegany (Md.) 89, Harcum 81 Sussex at Camden Atlantic Cape 75, Brookdale 72 Lackawanna 81, Baltimore City CC 67 Mercer at Ulster TUESDAY’S GAMES Passaic at Luzerne Union at Montgomery Harcum at Middlesex Bergen at Atlantic Cape Camden at Ocean Lancaster Bible JV at Thaddeus Stevens Westchester CC at Essex Sussex at Harrisburg Area Philadelphia at Northampton Lackawanna at Morris THURSDAY’S GAMES Atlantic Cape at Salem Monroe at Essex RCSJ-Cumberland at Bergen Northampton at Harrisburg Area Union at Rockland Ulster at Raritan Valley Bucks at Delaware County Ocean at Sussex Mercer at Morris Misericordia JV at Thaddeus Stevens Camden at Brookdale Delaware Tech at Baltimore City CC Philadelphia at Montgomery Orange at Lackawanna SATURDAY, JAN. 24 Luzerne at Thaddeus Stevens Union at RCSJ-Cumberland Northampton at Monroe-Bronx Sussex at Philadelphia Mercer at Orange Harrisburg Area at Delaware County Delaware Tech at Middlesex Monroe at Harcum Montgomery at Passaic Camden at Atlantic Cape Raritan Valley at Westchester Morris at Essex
SATURDAY’S WOMEN’S GAMES Middlesex at Salem CC, ppd. Sussex at Camden Atlantic Cape 58, Brookdale 40 Essex 79, Delaware Tech 64 Montgomery 61, Ocean 44 Lackawanna 67, Baltimore City 28 Northampton 71, Raritan Valley 58 Passaic 71, Philadelphia 50 TUESDAY’S GAMES Mercer at Salem CC Sussex at Passaic Westchester CC at Essex Philadelphia at Northampton Bergen at Atlantic Cape Harcum at Middlesex Union at Raritan Valley Lackawanna at Morris Camden at Ocean THURSDAY’S GAMES RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem Mercer at Morris Camden at Brookdale Raritan Valley at Monroe Delaware Tech at Baltimore City CC Ocean at Sussex Philadelphia at Montgomery RCSJ-Cumberland at Bergen Orange at Lackawanna SATURDAY, JAN. 24 Salem at Lackawanna Camden at Atlantic Cape Mercer at Orange Montgomery at Passaic Sussex at Philadelphia Delaware Tech at Middlesex Union at Harcum Raritan Valley at Westchester Morris at Essex
Here are the results and details of the games on Friday night’s Salem County sports calendar
GIRLS BASKETBALL Schalick 44, Lindenwold 8: Nevaeh Robinson and Willow Davis combined for 26 points and the Cougars had another shutout quarter. Robinson scored 14 points and Davis scored 12. The Cougars held Lindenwold scoreless in the second quarter and to just three field goals in the game.
Cumberland 67, Salem 34: After a competitive first half, the Colts outscored the Rams 30-6 in the second half. Elizabeth Pflieger led three Cumberland scorers in double figures with a game-high 21 points. Dyaira Anderson and Madison Dixon scored 14 points each for Salem. Salem at Cumberland, 5:30 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL Salem Tech 41, Buena 35: Sophomore Raphael Busch scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and the Chargers used a 15-7 fourth quarter surge to snap an eight-game losing streak. It was the Chargers’ first win since their season opener. Chase Pompper also scored 10 points and Aiden Bobo pulled down nine rebounds.
3-point goals: Buena 4 (Taylor, Weightman, Nieves-Medina, Murray); Salem Tech 2 (Pompper, L. Kroll). Rebounds: Salem Tech 36 (Busch 15, Bobo 9)
Gloucester Catholic 53, Penns Grove 44: The Rams went out fast, opening a 20-8 lead in the first quarter, and kept the Red Devils at arm’s length the rest of the game. B.J. Williams led three GC scorers in double figures with 16 points. Alahajee Fofana grabbed 12 rebounds and Amor Sears dealt 13 assists. Sophomore Carson Pearsall led Penns Grove with a career-high 15 points. Pearson averaged 12 ppg in three games this week.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (7-6): Jack Pund 3 1-2 10, BJ Williams 7 2-2 16, Alahajee Fofana 3 2-2 8, TK Tanner 4 2-2 11, Darius Attoh-Mensah 2 1-2 5, Jordan Mendez 1 0-0 3, Kamor Sears 0 0-2 0, Kalief Armstrong 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-12 53. PENNS GROVE (7-5): Will Roy 1-0-2, Carson Pearsall 6-2-15, Roman Gipson 5-0-12, Mishawn Brantley 1-0-2, Geonni Conrad 3-0-6, Jeremy Costacamps 3-1-7, Luis Colon 0-0-0. Totals 19-3-44.
Woodstown boys edge Glassboro for first state indoor relays title, clinch it in final event of night
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
TOMS RIVER — The Woodstown boys set their lineups to grab the most points possible and it all came down to the last race of the night.
A first- or second-place finish in the 4×400 would wrestle away the Wolverines’ first NJSIAA Indoor Relays state title from rival Glassboro. Running on what had to be dead legs at the end of a long night, all they did was win the race vy 1.4 seconds to give them 38 team points and edge the Bulldogs (who placed sixth) by three for their first NJSIAA indoor title since the 2016 sectionals.
The Wolverines won three races at the Bubble: 4×400 (3:28.27), 4×800 (8:09.20) and the sprint medley (3:38.34). They were second to Glassboro in the distance medley.
“I’m so so happy we won,” said Karson Chew, who ran the second leg of the 4×4 and the leadoff leg in the 4×8. “We’ve been working so hard up to this moment and it’s such a great boost of confidence and momentum for us going into late season. We all went into the meet knowing what we had to do to get the win and executed perfectly.”
One of the key decisions of the night was substituting 800 specialist Josh Crawford into that leg of the sprint medley and they won that race by nearly seven seconds over Audubon. Glassboro was third, some 10 seconds off the pace. Kyle Reitz, Anthony Costello and Ben Lippincott ran the other legs of the race.
“We knew our main competition tonight was Glassboro,” Crawford said. “We respect their team. We knew we had to get as many points as possible, so we made some last-minute changes.”
That win set the stage for the 4×400 drama. Reitz led it off, followed by Chew, Costello and Crawford. Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell and Crawford ran the 4×800.
“We did what we do, as a team, so well,” Crawford said. “We listen to our coaches. We talked to each other and strategize about our strengths and how we are each feeling about what we have left in the tank to put the right person in each position. We trust each other and we know that we will all leave everything we have on the track.”
Schalick’s boys finished tied for tenth with eight pole vault points. Salvatore Longo finished second individually in the event.
Penns Grove and Salem also were in that T-10. The Red Devils were 3-4 in the shot put. The Rams were third in the 4×800 and sixth in the shuttle hurdles.
Pennsville’s girls were ninth. Kallie Morrison had the Eagles’ best individual finish, second in the high jump.
NJSIAA RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS At The Bubble, Toms River GROUP 1 BOYS TOP 15 TEAM SCORES: Woodstown 38, Glassboro 35, Glen Rock 30, Ramsey 23, New Providence 22, Hasbrouck Heights 18, Haddon Twp. 16, Audubon 13, Pascack Hills 9, Schalick 8, Highland Park 8, Penns Grove 8, Salem 8, Hanover Park 6, Newark Tech-Essex 6. 4000 Distance Medley: 1. Glassboro 10:43.76; 2. Woodstown (Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford, Karson Chew) 10:45.69. 4×55 Shuttle Hurdles: 1. Hasbrouck Heights 34.85; 6. Salem (Timothy Gregory, Cashmir Parsley, Jerry Seals, Gradin Buzby) 37.92. 4×200: 1. Glen Rock 1:34.87. 4×800: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford), 8:09.20. Sprint Medley: 1. Woodstown (Kyle Reitz, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford, Ben Lippincott), 3:38.84. 4×400: 1. Woodstown (Kyle Reitz, Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford), 3:32.59; 3. Salem (Gradin Buzby, Timothy Gregory, Jerry Seals, Quimere Bergen), 3:38.27. High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro, 6-0; 1. Leighton Kelly, Glen Rock, 6-0. Pole Vault: 1. Luciano Zizza, Ramsey, 13-6; 2. Salvatore Longo, Schalick, 12-0.08 (14. Josh Weiner, Schalick, 9-6.05). Shot Put: 1. Evan Youzon, Glen Rock, 57-10; 3. Raymond Brown, Penns Grove, 43-1.5; 4. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove, 42-5.5.
GROUP 1 GIRLS TOP 15 TEAM SCORES: Ramsey 60, Audubon 48, Glassboro 23, Metuchen 18, Shore 16, Hasbrouck Heights 11, Pequannock 11, Butler 10, Pennsville 9, New Providence 8, Mountain Lakes 8, West Deptford 8, Waldwick 8, Glen Rock 7, Lower Cape May 6, Penns Grove 6. 4000 Distance Medley: 1. Shore Regional 12:42.13. 4×51.5 Shuttle Hurdles: 1. Ramsey 35.34 4×200: 1. Ramsey 1:50.95; 4. Salem (Ramiyah Jones, Janiyah Parsons-Smith, Amaia Massengill, Anyzha Williams), 1:52.0. 4×800: 1. Ramsey 10:14.03. Sprint Medley: 1. Audubon 4:19.43. 4×400: 1. Ramsey 4:17.60. High Jump: 1. Jessica Tsang, Mountain Lakes, 5-2; 2. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville, 5-0.02 (10. Molly Gratz, Pennsville, 4-6). Pole Vault: 1. Elizabeth Mann, Glassboro, 8-6; 7. Molly Gratz, Pennsville, 7-0 (8. Laura Tamberella, Pennsville, 6-0). Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro, 36-8.75; 6. Zoey Ceasar, Penns Grove, 31-1.5 (11. Jarlene Vichi, Penns Grove, 29-8.75.
Salem CC board approves Accorsi as head football coach, first assistant coach, authorizes purchase of property for practice facility
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The football program at Salem Community College took a huge step forward tonight when the school’s board of trustees approved two major personnel appointments and authorized the purchase of a piece of property that will become the team’s practice facility.
On the personnel side, the board approved Jay Accorsi as the head football coach and veteran college coach Joe Dougherty as an assistant. On the facilities side, the board authorized the purchase of a piece of property known as the Twins’ field adjacent to the Carneys Point Rec Complex, just beyond the right fence where the baseball team plays its home games.
“Now we can really start making some rapid progress with these folks in place,” Salem CC president Mike Gorman said after the board meeting. “It sets us up to take more big steps.”
ACCORSI
The college plans to formally launch the program Jan. 28.
Salem had been exploring the possibility of bringing football to the campus since Accorsi brought the idea to Gorman in the spring. He was formally hired as a consultant in August, presented his findings through a presentation by athletics director Bob Hughes in October and the board green-lighted the program in November. Thursday night, the board installed him as the program’s first head football coach.
Hughes received more than 80 applications from what he described as some highly qualified candidates from across the college football spectrum and after reviewing his thoughts on process, Gorman said, “at the end it was very obvious Jay had the name recognition and just what he had done in serving as our consultant really demonstrated to us that this is the man we need to get the program started.”
He added, “bringing a guy like Jay on board who has the respect of the South Jersey football community gives us a leg up on everybody else. Just having somebody of his caliber to start the program, that’s putting us out on the right track.”
Accorsi announced his retirement from Rowan University on the final day of spring practice 2024 after 30 years in the program, the last 22 as head coach, the longest tenured head coach in the program’s history. He posted a record of 143-78 with seven conference titles and seven trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Two of his teams reached the national semifinals.
But the thought of junior college football in the state of New Jersey had long intrigued him. His months in retirement gave him a chance to look at it further. The urge to get back in the game returned, but this time with a different approach to the calling.
“First I want to say I am grateful for the opportunity provided to me by the Salem Community College board of trustees, president Michael Gorman and athletic director Bob Hughes,” Accorsi said. “When I walked away at Rowan obviously I was happy and had a great career and was ready to go onto the next chapter of my life and didn’t think it would be football, to be honest with you. This idea kind of popped around. I think it’s more this time for me more about helping other people and helping young men, but I really didn’t think I’d be doing something like this.
“I only imagined it would be possible and only thought it would be a stretch, but it’s kind of becoming a reality now. It’s something I just never thought this would happen. I didn’t think I’d really coach again. I didn’t think I’d be involved with football again. I thought I would be done and headed in a different path or a different career, just be done forever. In my wildest dreams I never really thought this would occur.”
DOUGHERTY
The hiring of his first assistant is full circle moment. Dougherty most recently the defensive backs and special teams coach at Widener, but he’s been the defensive coordinator and national recruiting coordinator at Juniata, offensive coordinator at Catholic University, DC at Hamilton College and coached at Lafayette and Fordham. He was a graduate assistant for KC Keeler and later Accorsi at Rowan in 2001 and 2002..
His position responsible in Salem’s program is currently undetermined.
“We haven’t really gone down that path yet,” Accorsi said. “He obviously has had variety of experiences coaching … Those are things we’re going to piece together and figure out what to do.
“I’m happy the board was able to get me some help right away because it’s, as I thought it would be, been a little overwhelming even for somebody with my experience, so I think it’s a good start in a good direction to have somebody help me a little bit as we start to move this thing forward.”
One of the biggest hurdles to getting the program off the ground was finding a suitable everyday practice facility. The board authorized the purchase of the property adjacent to the Rec not to exceed $125,000. Settlement is expected to be next month.
In addition to the property, the board also approved entry into an agreement for the design and construction oversight of an athletic facility at the field at a fee of $69,500.
“It’s a perfect kind of environment for us to do this,” Gorman said. “Our baseball team is already at an adjacent field to this and we’ll be looking in the future to hopefully bring our softball team back into that complex.”
Top photo: New Salem CC head football coach Jay Accorsi (C) stands between president Mike Gorman (L) and athletics director Bob Hughes during a recent board of trustees meeting.
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