Here are the qualifiers for the regional wrestling tournament from districts involving Salem County Teams; top 3 finishers in each weight class advance
106 1st Place Match Adam Froehlich (Delsea) dec. Geno DiJoseph (Cumberland), 10-4 3rd Place Match Brett Land (Pennsville) pinned Alex Alicea (Buena), 1:39
113 1st Place Match Jayson Garcia (Egg Harbor) maj. dec. DeAnthony Harden (Cumberland), 8-0 3rd Place Match John Sutton (Buena) pinned Jadon Middlemiss (Woodstown), 5:48
120 1st Place Match Carson Bradway (Woodstown) maj. dec. Maruf Reza (Egg Harbor), 8-0 3rd Place Match Caleb Jenkins (Schalick) pinned Reid Lightfoot (Delsea), 2:32
126 1st Place Match Dante DePaul (Delsea) pinned Kolton Sheppard (Cumberland), 3:10 3rd Place Match Ruben Cruz (Millville) pinned Hector Villarrubia-Torres (Cedar Creek), 7:29
132 1st Place Match Greyson Pettit (Delsea) pinned Chase Baker (Pennsville), 1:02 3rd Place Match Brian Tennant (Egg Harbor) over Chase Bordley (Vineland), forfeit
138 1st Place Match Amari Vann (Delsea) pinned Nathaniel Mason (Pennsville), 1:10 3rd Place Match Colin Bittle (Schalick) pinned Jayden Cinkowski (Vineland), 3:30
144 1st Place Match Anthony Depaul (Delsea) pinned Gabriel Supernavage (Pennsville), 0:33 3rd Place Match Graham Schlemo (Egg Harbor) pinned Michael Baisch (Schalick), 4:30
150 1st Place Match Ayden Jenkins (Schalick) maj. dec. Patrick Tull (Millville), 12-4 3rd Place Match Lionel Lertora (Egg Harbor) dec. Lucas Coesfeld (Delsea), 13-9
157 1st Place Match Jamison Devlin (Delsea) maj. dec. Chase Williams (Cumberland), 12-3 3rd Place Match Travis Hagan (Pennsville) pinned Jake Hardiman (Cedar Creek), 3:35
165 1st Place Match Cameron Pote (Delsea) pinned Robert McDade (Pennsville), 0:24 3rd Place Match Jared Hoffman (Millville) pinned Marcos Concepcion (Egg Harbor), 6:43
175 1st Place Match Greyson Hyland (Woodstown) dec. Christian Solano (Egg Harbor), 6-1 3rd Place Match Eric Sulik (Schalick) dec. David Seeger (Cumberland), 8-4
190 1st Place Match Greg Sawyer (Delsea) pinned Evan Elliott (Schalick), 1:07 3rd Place Match Ralph Hitchner (Cumberland) dec. Asher Fitzpatrick (Woodstown), 7-1
215 1st Place Match Salvatore Marchese (Delsea) pinned James Cook (Schalick), 0:19 3rd Place Match Anthony Trainor (Buena) dec. Tyshawn English (Millville), 3-0
285 1st Place Match Mateo Vinciguerra (Woodstown) pinned Jacob Hand (Pennsville), 0:53 3rd Place Match Slayton D`Amico (Cedar Creek) pinned Andrew Pinnock (Millville), 1:46
DISTRICT 32 (Qualifiers from Penns Grove, Salem) Team scores: 1. Lower Cape May 231, 2. Red Bank Catholic 225.8, 3. Clearview 159, 4. Deptford 122, 5. Paulsboro 81.5, 6. Clayton/Glassboro 60, 7. Pitman 31, 8. Salem 18, 9. Penns Grove 10
285 1st Place Match John Hearon (Lower Cape May) dec. Abdullah Jenkins (Salem), 1-0 3rd Place Match Daniel Maguire (Deptford) dec. Philip Bertole (Red Bank Catholic), 3-2
Top-ranked Salem CC upset in North Atlantic District finals, still confident of at-large bid; selection show Wednesday
JUCO D-III DISTRICT FINALS Saturday’s Games for AQ berths North Atlantic A Montgomery (21-4) 58, Salem CC 55 North Atlantic B Northampton (27-4) 96, Brookdale 86 South Central Dallas North Lake (22-10) 101, Dallas Brookhaven 79
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It was supposed to be the crowning moment of a dominant Region XIX basketball season. It turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments.
Just how big of one is a matter for a bunch of basketball guys zoomed together from some far-flung places deciding who gets the four coveted at-large bids to the national tournament.
Top-ranked Salem CC came to Northampton as the favorite in the Region XIX/North Atlantic District A finals Saturday, but overlooked a Montgomery County team playing with a chip on their shoulder and a lot to prove.
The Mighty Oaks played their poorest game of the season, maybe the poorest in Mike Green’s 2 1/2-year tenure as head coach, and were stunned by the Mustangs 58-55.
The win sends the eighth-ranked Mustangs (21-4) to the JUCO Division III national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y., March 11-14 as an automatic qualifier.
The Mighty Oaks (30-2) were hoping to be going back to better their fifth-place showing of a year ago but now must wait for the selection show Wednesday at 6 p.m. to see if a return trip becomes a reality.
“I got a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a tough L,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “I feel like we didn’t come to play our Salem basketball today. We had a lot of turnovers. I hope we can get in the national tournament and play them again, but I just got a bad taste in my mouth. A bad loss.”
ONE ON ONE: Salem CC’s Jarrell Little moves in to defend against Montgomery’s Matthew Williams (1).
It wasn’t one of the Mighty Oaks’ best or even average games. They seemed out of it from the start, although they did wake up from it midway through the second half to get back in it and even take a couple small leads.
But it was all a fight for survival. They couldn’t get it inside and they couldn’t hit from the outside against the Mustangs’ zone.
They shot 7-for-27 from the field in each half, ended up with 18 turnovers, just six assists and were outrebounded by 14. They had just 13 offensive boards and nine second-chance points. Where they normally put four or more scorers in double figures, Little was the only one (17 points). The bench, one of the keys to their success all year, was outscored 18-9.
“They out-toughed us,” Green said. “They were the tougher team … We didn’t execute. We were terrible executing. We practiced. We do things certain things and then we went out and did what we wanted to do and we lost.”
Montco had something different for them than first time they played and both Little and Nasseem Wright suggested the Mighty Oaks may have overlooked them because of it despite Green’s warnings to the contrary.
The Mustangs were being coached by assistant Jerome Monroe because their head coach and point guard were suspended for the game after being ejected from their semifinal win over Camden. Ironically, Monroe accepted Koran Prince’s Region XIX Coach of the Year award along with the rest of the winners’ hardware after the game.
Monroe was on Green’s Salem staff last year. He said he didn’t use any of the secrets he picked up with the way the Mighty Oaks did things on their way to the national tournament last year because that would be too easy and he knew Green would be ready for that.
“I did not try to do that because Mike, as a ballplayer — we played back in the day when we were kids — he was always a crafty player and I knew he would be a crafty coach, so I didn’t even try to plan for it,” he said. “I just tried to plan to get my guys ready to take this home.
“I was going to switch the defneses up a lot and get up on them and make them work like they make teams work all season. I watched a bunch of film and I felt like we’ve got to make them work and it worked out.”
Salem point guard Saaid Lee said the Mustangs looked different than when the teams played the first time. They knew to be ready for it, but it still caught them off guard.
“I did expect it to be different but I didn’t expect it to be like that,” Lee said. “They had a better coach coaching them so they threw a lot of stuff at us; we just weren’t as prepared.”
For all the shortcomings, the Mighty Oaks did rally from 11 down with 12:12 to play and took a 41-40 lead on Little’s 3 from the left corner with 9:13 to go. Saaid Lee put two free throws behind it to make it a three-point lead.
Zyaire Gibson hit a 3 to put Salem up 51-50 with 3:08 left, and later hit three free throws to give them a 55-52 lead with 1:38 to go.
Montco led 56-55 with 20 seconds left. The Mighty Oaks were working to retake the lead, but Lee had the ball knocked away by Qudire Bennett in lane traffic with nine seconds to go. Idris Rines fouled Bennett immediately and he hit two free throws to bring the final margin.
“I was trying to corner kick it but I ended up turning it over,” Lee said. “I was just trying to make whatever the right play was, but they all collapsed on me and I wasn’t strong with it.”
It was a tough day for the usually steady point guard. He was 0-for-8 from the field, scoring all nine of his points from the free throw line, and was charged with six turnovers. It was that kind of day for the Mighty Oaks.
GAME OVER: Montgomery County CC comes up with the steal that seals No. 1 Salem CC’s loss in district championship game.
MONTGOMERY 58, SALEM CC 55 MONTGOMERY (21-4): Brandon Bush 1-4 2-3 4, Qudire Bennett 5-9 2-2 13, Tariq Jennings 3-7 6-7 13, Issac Cole 4-14 2-5 10, Julius Marshall 0-1 0-0 0, Matthew Williams 1-5 0-2 2, Steven Hill 4-7 0-0 9, Kevin Addison 3-11 1-2 7, Ryan Holmburg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 13-21 58. SALEM CC (30-2): Jarrell Little 6-17 2-3 17, Saaid Lee 0-8 9-10 9, Zyaire Gibson 2-7 3-3 9, Nasseem Wright 1-9 2-2 4, Stefan Phillips 2-4 3-5 2, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0, Qua Smith 0-1 1-2 1, Nayeem Johnson 1-3 1-3 3, Idris Rines 2-4 1-3 5. Totals 14-54 22-31 55.
Montgomery
26
32-
58
Salem CC
22
33-
55
3-point goals: Montgomery 3-14 (Bush 0-2, Bennett 1-1, Jennings 1-2, Cole 0-3, Marshall 0-1, Hill 1-2, Addison 0-2, Homburg 0-1); Salem CC 5-30 (Little 3-10, Lee 0-3, Gibson 2-7, Wright 0-6, Phillips 0-1, Sayles 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Rines 0-1). Rebounds: Montgomery 50 (Cole 9, Jennings 8); Salem CC 36 (Phillips 8). Fouled out: Williams. Total fouls: Montgomery 23, Salem CC 23.
A year ago Jerome Monroe was on Mike Green’s staff helping Salem CC reach the JUCO national tournament. After changing jobs in the offseason and through a crazy set of circumstances this week, he was coaching Montgomery County to an upset of the Mighty Oaks Saturday for a berth in the nationals.
Woodstown boys win 4×400 relay to clinch indoor track title, their first state title in track program’s history
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
TOMS RIVER – When Josh Crawford hit the finish line in the final even of the day, he not only brought the Woodstown boys a 4×400 relay title, he delivered a state championship.
The Wolverines won the Group I indoor track championship Saturday – their first track title in school history – with a strong showing in the running events. Their first-place win in the relay gave them 35 points, seven ahead of a Ramsey team that had them by three entering the final race of the meet.
“We didn’t need to win the 4×400 to win the meet, but it was a great cap to a great season,” Wolverines coach Alex Dominy said. “Overall this season has been hard with snow days, difficult in terms of flu and colds and Arctic blasts, but these boys continue to improve despite barriers to a more typical season. I couldn’t be happier.
“Going into states with only six boys in events and not being the favorite was very daunting, but everyone performed amazingly and did their job to the fullest,” senior Karson Chew said.
“It was a big accomplishment in general for six guys to beat schools that have tons of people to choose from,” added Crawford.
The relay team of Jacob Marino, Chew, Anthony Costello and Crawford came home in 3:31.03, 22-hundreths of a second ahead of race runner-up New Providence.
Marino was subbing in the 4×4 for Kyle Reitz, another casualty of the postponement, and was a late scratch in the 3200 to focus on the relay and helped bring them through.
He got the Wolverines off and running while not exactly a 400 specialist. Chew got them back up to second and Costello kept them there, maybe even closing the gap. Crawford still had “a hefty gap” (about two seconds) to make up when he took the baton, but when he passed the New Providence runner who jammed him up in the 400 right before the finish he knew they had it won.
“With the meet being moved we weren’t able to run our usual 4×400 with Kyle Reitz,” Dominy said. “Being that Jacob was doing the two mile, we opted to have him scratch and focus on holding it down in the 4×400. Seeing that we won with less than a second it was a great choice.”
Marino also finished second in the 1600 (4:28.65). Crawford also won the 800 (1:57.52) with Chew finishing third (1:58.87) and got points in the 400.
The Woodstown boys track team enjoys a victory lap in The Bubble after clinching their first ever state championship after winning the Group I indoor track title. (Submitted photo)
From the time they clinched, their phones were blowing up with congratulatory messages from Woodstown track alums from various generations. They got to take a victory lap around the track and they were welcomed back into town by an escort of fire engines.
“That was just a great feeling,” Costello said of the victory lap. “We saw other teams do it before after they snuck it out in front of us so we said all right it’s our time now, we’re going to do it and we’re going to take it all in while we can.”
Schalick’s Sal Longo finished second in the boys pole vault, topping out at 12-6. He was beaten out for gold by Ramsey’s Luciano Zizza in a jump off at 13 feet.
Four jumpers made it to 12-6 and Longo and Zizza cleared that bar on their first attempts. Haddon Twp.’s Bobby McIlvaine joined them on his final attempt while Bound Brook’s Jake Markey fell out. All three missed three shots at 13-0, but Longo and Zizza advanced to the jump off with fewer misses and Zizza got it on the first extra attempt.
“It means a lot to me,” Longo said. “To get second place at the group championship meet today, it was very relieving to know that the hard work I put in this season is finally paying off.
“Going for the gold was very exciting. I was so close to getting that height on my last jump, I just need to tweak my technique. Overall, it was probably one of the funnest competitions I’ve been involved in.”
Ramsey’s 1-5 finish in the pole vault set the stage for the drama in the relay. The 12 points vaulted the Rams into the lead, but they didn’t have an entry in the relay. The Wolverines had to finish second to pass them and not be caught by third-place Glen Rock.
“Every 5-10 minutes (we were) checking scores, just trying to feel it out,” Costello said. “We knew it was going to come down to the wire, so were like all right we need to do this and we’re not going to worry about the scores anymore. It just got to that point where we’re just going to go out and win the thing.”
The top two finishers in each event and the top wildcards all advance to next week’s Meet of Champions.
GROUP I INDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP (Event winners and Salem County point-scorers) BOYS Team scores (top 15): Woodstown 35, Ramsey 28, Glen Rock 28, Haddon Twp. 20, Camden 20, New Providence 18, Glassboro 18, Manville 17, Hasbrouck Heights 10, New Milford 8, Pascack Hills 8, Wood-Ridge 8, Dayton 8, Shore 8, Buena 8, Schalick 8. Also, Penns Grove 2, Salem 1. 400: 1. Giorgio Bruttini, Ramsey 50.67; 6. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 51.83 1600: 1. Shaun Maloney, Haddon Twp. 4:27.28; 2. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:28.65 55 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 7.73 800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:57.62; 3. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:58.87 55 Dash: 1. Michael Napolitano, Hasbrouck Heights 6.49 3200: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 9:31.74 4×400: 1. Woodstown (Jacob Marino, Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford) 3:31.03 High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-4 Pole Vault: 1. Luciano Zizza, Ramsey 13-0; 2. Sal Longo, Schalick 12-6 Shot Put: 1. Evan Yuzon, Glen Rock 58-7.75; 5. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 46-7; 6. Jailon Fletcher-Wilson, Salem 45-6
Here are the district tournaments that will earn automatic bids to the NJCAA Division III national tournament March 11-14 in Herkimer, N.Y.; four at-large teams also will be selected
JUCO DIVISION III RANKINGS 1. SALEM CC (29-1), 2. Northern Essex (27-3), 3. Dallas-Eastfield (20-8), 4. Dallas-Richland (20-8), 5. Riverland (26-2), 6. Dallas-North Lake (19-10), 7. Dutchess (23-4), 8. Montgomery County (19-4), 9. Northampton (24-4), 10. Ridgewater (20-5), 11. Virginia Peninsula (21-6), 12. North Country (24-3), 13. Genesee (20-7), 14. Union (22-8), 15. Herkimer (18-6).
DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS
North Atlantic A (Feb. 26-28) Salem CC 80, Ocean 60 Montgomery 85, Camden 65 Saturday’s game at Northampton No. 1 Salem CC vs. No. 8 Montgomery, 3 p.m.
North Atlantic B (Feb. 26-28) Brookdale 73, No. 14 Union 62 Northampton 72, Bergen 64 Saturday’s game at Northampton Brookdale vs. No. 9 Northampton, 6 p.m.
East (Feb. 26-March 2) No. 2 Northern Essex 94, Bristol 67 Quincy 85, Springfield Tech 65 Roxbury 80, Massasoit 70 Friday’s games Northern Essex 101, MassBay CC 74 Quincy vs. Roxbury Sunday’s game Northern Essex vs. Quincy-Roxbury
Mid-Atlantic (Feb. 27-28) Joliet 88, Penn Highlands 67 No. 11 Virginia Peninsula 98, Allegheny County 56 Sunday’s game Joliet vs. Va. Peninsula, 12:30 p.m.
North (Feb. 27-March 1) No. 13 Genesee 88, Tompkins Cortland 71 Mohawk Valley 76, No. 15 Herkimer 75 (OT) No. 12 North Country 77, Hudson Valley 73 Onondaga 80, Adirondack 77 Saturday’s games Genesee vs. Mohawk Valley North Country vs. Onondaga
Northeast (Feb. 25-March 1) No. 7 Dutchess 93, LaGuardia 75 Hostos 80, Nassau 71 Sullivan 65, Queensborough 61 Monroe Bronx 64, Borough of Manhattan 53 Saturday at Suffolk County CC Dutchess vs. Hostos, 5 p.m. Sullivan vs. Monroe Bronx, 7:30 p.m.
North Plains (Feb. 26-March 1) Central Lakes Brainerd 82, St. Cloud T&C 79 No. 10 Ridgewater 108, Minn North Rainy River 84 No. 5 Riverland 108, Minn. North Mesabi Range 56 Anoka-Ramsey 81, Northland T&C 71 Friday’s games Ridgewater 105, Central Lakes-Brainerd 97 Riverland 85, Anoka-Ramsey 75 Sunday’s game Ridgewater vs. Riverland
South Central (Feb. 25-28) No. 6 Dallas North Lake 84, Dallas Mountain View 76 Dallas Brookhaven 85, Dallas Cedar Valley 75 Friday’s games Dallas Brookhaven 51, No. 4 Dallas Richland 50 Dallas North Lake 82, No. 3 Dallas Eastfield 78 Saturday’s game Brookhaven vs. North Lake, 4 p.m.
Woodstown girls come up with late steal and layup, last-second free throws to complete comeback against Pennsville; Schalick, Salem both fall in the South Jersey Group I opening round
SJ GROUP I GIRLS TOURNAMENT Friday’s games Woodbury 48, Burlington City 10 Palmyra 40, New Egypt 23 Glassboro 60, Cape May Tech 15 Audubon 54, Salem 35 Woodstown 51, Pennsville 47 Gateway 43, Schalick 21 Monday’s games Woodbury at Haddon Twp. Palmyra at Glassboro Woodstown at Audubon Gateway at Wildwood
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE — There’s a power in sports even stronger than the will to keep a rival from beating you three times in the same season. It’s the will to keep a legacy alive.
That’s the power that drove the Woodstown girls team Friday night.
The Wolverines have made deep playoffs runs so regularly in recent years it’s almost an expectation. They haven’t lost a first-round playoff game since 2019, and if they had any say in it weren’t about to start in what many would consider a rebuilding year. They did face their biggest challenge to that legacy Friday and found a way to keep it alive.
Emma Perry’s dramatic steal and layup with 13 seconds left snapped a 47-all tie and Lauren Hengel hit two free throws in the final second to send the Wolverines past sixth-seeded Pennsville 51-47 in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
“It was big for us because our team the past four years we’ve had a very good program,” senior forward Lauren Hengel said. “It’s not even about losing about them the past two games but keeping the tradition alive of a good, solid Woodstown girls basketball team. For the players who went before us and the older girls that we played with the past four years and the younger girls who are coming up, showing them what it means to play for Woodstown.
“No one’s really brought it up with us because they didn’t want to stress us out, but we knew. We knew this is Woodstown basketball. Show up for your school, for the tradition, for the girls before you and keep it going.”
The 11th-seeded Wolverines (12-15) lost to the Eagles (16-8) twice during the regular season and were in danger of being the first Woodstown team in a long time to lose to the same team three times in one season trailing by seven with 3:39 to play.
It was at that point Pennsville star Marley Wood picked up her fifth foul and her departure changed so much of what the Eagles could do on both ends of the floor.
The Wolverines chipped away and finally got it tied at 45 on Hengel’s 3-pointer from the right corner right after Kyia Leyman kept the possession alive by banging a loose ball off a Pennsville defender out of bounds.
“I didn’t have time to think, “ Hengel said. “That that was just me doing what I love and playing basketball, not even thinking and just taking the shot. I was practicing in our gym before we left trying to fix my shot and get it just right before the game. It was a big deal to me.”
The game was tied again at 47 and stayed that way until 13 seconds remained when Pennsville set up for a routine inbounds play at midcourt opposite of the benches.
The Eagles wanted to get the ball into Taylor Bass and give her a chance to push to the basket and either get a shot or, depending on how the Wolverines played it, kick out for a 3-pointer, but Perry threw a wrench into all that. She ran up on Bass to knock the inbounds pass away (and Bass along with it) and after a frozen few seconds to realize there was no foul, Perry scooped up the loose ball and drove in alone for the go-ahead layup.
“I knew she was coming right to the ball so I kind of cheated out a little bit and was able to get there and took it out of her hands,” Perry said, admitting there was contact on the turnover. “The play was supposed to be for me to stay back but I just remember cheating out a little bit. I knew there wasn’t that much time left and anything I could do to get my hand on the ball I was trying to do it. I try to pop out and get steals as much as I can, but that was definitely a highlight.”
“She’s insane,” Hengel said of Perry. “She has some crazy footwork and she’s a pest on defense. I just think that was just huge and nobody deserved that play more than her.”
“It was a big play by her, but there were big plays made by everybody all game and that’s what I’m so proud of,” coach Matt Smart said. “For the most part the girls played extremely hard. That’s kind of what we preach in practice all week and that’s what they preach to each. They knew what they had to do win this game and then we went out and accomplished it.”
There was still time on the clock to get an equalizer or maybe a game-winner, but the Eagles lost the ball out of bounds attacking the basket with 2.8 seconds left. When the Wolverines put the ball back in play Hengel was fouled immediately and went to the line for her game-sealing free throws.
Hengel got Woodstown going early while the Eagles were still settling into the game and led the Wolverines with 15 points. Kendall Young had 14, Leyman 12 and Perry 10.
Pennsville’s Wood led all scorers with 20 points and finished her high school career as the Eagles’ second all-time leading girls scorer with 1352 points and 12th all-time in Salem County. Bass had 11 points and finished with 1237, tied for 19th on the all-time county girls list.
The Wolverines now play at third-seeded Audubon in the quarterfinals Monday.
“It just feels nice to not be done playing basketball,” Smart said.
Top photo: Woodstown’s Emma Perry (13) knocks away an inbounds pass intended for Pennsville’s Taylor Bass leading to her tie-breaking layup late in the fourth quarter that sent the Wolverines to playoff victory.
GATEWAY 43, SCHALICK 21: Down 12 with 90 seconds left in the third quarter, Schalick coach John Whelan figured it was time to roll the dice. He rolled out something the Cougars hadn’t practiced – a full-court man defense – with the aim of getting his team back in the game.
It worked for a while. The Cougars cut the deficit in half with about six and a half minutes left, but the Gators regrouped and made the plays to open it back up.
The Cougars were without Ava Scurry, the county’s leading shot-blocker by a wide margin, and guard Emmalyn Weir was excused in the third quarter for a school event. The Gators also clamped down on leading scorer Neveah Robinson, holding her without a field goal and to only two points.
“But our girls battled to the end and I am extremely proud of all they accomplished this season,” Whelan said.
Indeed. The Cougars made an 11-win turnaround from the season before and enjoyed their winningest season since 209. They won their first three games of the season and were never below .500 at any point.
Sophomore guard Liv VanAcker had three assists in the game set the Cougars’ single-season record with 91.
AUDUBON 54, SALEM 35: Emma Speyerer scored 22 points and two of her Green Wave teammates also scored in double figures. Dyaira Anderson had a double-double for the Rams (12 points and 12 rebounds).
The loss brought a close to Kemp Carr’s first season as the Rams’ coach. His team produced the program’s winningest season since 2022-23, made a six-win improvement over the year before and was .500 as late as Feb. 17.
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 the Wolverines to a 67-49 win. The stage is at least set for him to fulfill the second promise as his team now draws top-seeded Salem Monday night.
“He just hit shots; he played big tonight,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “Andro was the first person in the gym. I told them come in at 3:30 and he was there at 3:15 getting his shots up. He was the first one in the gym, took the basketballs out. He was locked in right from the beginning.”
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.
“In their zone they keyed on Blake,” Roots said. “They were in the 1-3-1, 1-2-2, they were physical with Blake. Blake made the right read and Andro just came and hit shots. Frankie played well, rebounded the ball, kicking it out. It was just a group effort.
“And we played at good pace. We took our time. We didn’t get sped up. We just played a good brand of basketball.”
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. Paulsboro made a push and got within 10 in the fourth quarter but then Woodstown “made the right plays at the right time and made it difficult for them” to get any closer.
The next round promises to be even more intriguing. Roots was Salem coach Anthony Farmer’s assistant before taking the Woodstown job and every game between the teams since except the first one, which was Roots’ first game as head coach, has been a battle. Earlier this year the Wolverines had the ball down by three with five seconds left, but lost the possession to a curious carry call.
“I think we’re at a good space right now,” Roots said. “I think that Clearview game kind of helped us get back on track. You know, we went on that three-game skid, so that game got us back on track. We feel Paulsboro and Salem play similar styles, and I think Paulsboro did a good job preparing us for Salem, but Salem in the No. 1 team, they’re the favorite as they should (be), but I like our chances. If we play the right way and just control the ball, not get sped up and just play our pace I think we have a good chance.”
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.
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.
UPDATED: Salem CC’s startup volleyball program lands its first csignee, a local product from Salem Tech, and awaits approval of two assistants
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
Andrea Bartlett has spent the last three months building the new Salem CC volleyball program from scratch. Going places, seeing people, molding the program to her vision.
BARTLETT
Now that she has a player in the fold, it finally feels like she has a team.
The Mighty Oaks’ newest women’s program and their coach landed their first official signee and she’s coming from a lot closer than originally anticipated.
Their first player is Tiara Bazemore, an all-conference setter from Salem Tech.
“It’s super exciting to have a local athlete here at Salem,” Bartlett said. “Volleyball’s not a sport that’s hugely popular in South Jersey, so I’m super excited to find a home for those local athletes to come play at the next level.”
Bazemore is excited about being the program’s first signee, too.
“I think it’s a surreal feeling,” she said. “When you’re in high school you’re always thinking about playing to the next level and now that I have the opportunity it feels nerve-wracking but exciting. I can’t wait to play at the next level with SCC and I believe we’re going to have a first good season.”
It was anticipated the Mighty Oaks’ first signee would be a right-side setter from South Florida, but Bazemore’s paperwork beat her to the punch. The Mighty Oaks are still in on that player and anticipate this initial signing will open the door to a lot more.
“Now that I’ve signed my first one, I’ve had so much built up, now it’s finally coming to fruition,” Bartlett said. “Now I’m starting to get more contacts from people finally following up with me. It’s all finally coming together it feels like.”
Similarly, the two assistants she’s bringing on, Courtney Gallo and Mike Kerns, are going through the hiring process. Gallo is former Chestnut Hill setter from Wilmington and Kerns is a swim coach at Camden Academy Charter.
When it comes to players, ideally Bartlett would like to have a minimum of 10 to 12 players for her first season in the fall – two for each position – but it won’t really feel complete until she gets enough for an initial starting seven and then, she said, “I can really start getting into the nitty gritty of it.”
Bartlett was hired in November and brings a wealth of experience and success on the Delaware high school and club circuit. Athletics director Bob Hughes called her “the perfect coach” to launch the program.
The team will compete in the four-team Region 19 Division II – with Delaware Tech (Bartlett’s JUCO alma mater), Harcum and Morris, effectively replacing Lackawanna, which is moving to NCAA Division II – and look to play a 20-match first-year schedule. Several of the region’s Division III teams in South Jersey already have expressed an interest in playing.
The idea of starting her first program is both exciting and scary.
“To start it from the beginning you’re able to set the standards and the culture,” she said. “When you go into a program with athletes who are already there they are used to old coaching styles or what the culture used to be or these rules we used to have and I get to start from scratch so I could think of what do I want to do, what kind of environment do I want to create to make these athletes want to come play here and then we can just build from that.
“I don’t have to worry about what was previously done. I get to start it from the beginning. It’s a lot of pressure on me because it’s my first program and making sure I do set those right standards, but along with them growing Ill also grow and learn, too, and we’ll figure out kind of together what works and what doesn’t and build the program together.”
While it wasn’t necessarily planned to land a setter as her first commitment, it was a fortuitous happenstance. Bazemore recorded 173 assists this past season with 23 kills and 43 aces. She had 262 assists over the past two seasons.
“It is nice to know that I have a setter,” Bartlett said. “Having a setter first and picking up at least a couple in the beginning because that’s who’s essentially running my offense. And knowing I have at least one on the list is important.”
Because the Mighty Oaks are a true start-up, the focus of Bartlett’s first year will be on team culture, which means teamwork, growth and resilience. It’s not dissimilar to the way she develops a new bunch of players for her 17U club team who likely haven’t played together before.
“It’s all about finding kids with character,” Barlett said. “I can teach you volleyball … but it’s really hard to teach character. I’m trying to find kids who are willing to buy in and be all in for the team and not just for their own personal goals and be willing to put in the hard work.”
Rams bowlers get off to slow start, see their generational run end in Group I semifinals
NJSIAA GROUP I TOURNAMENT Semifinals Kinnelon 2, Salem 0 Middlesex 2, Rutherford 0 Championship Middlesex 2, Kinnelon 0
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
NORTH BRUNSWICK — The Salem boys bowling team was making history every time it stepped on the lanes, a “generational run” is what they called it, but a different kind of history caught them in the end.
PEREZ
The Oil Crisis hit the U.S. in the 80s, but that’s what did in the Rams Friday in the NJSIAA Group I Final Four. They struggled to find the right oil line in the first game of their semifinal match at the Lucky Strike Bowling Center, fell behind and were swept out by top-seeded Kinnelon 2-0.
Kinnelon bowled undefeated Middlesex for the Group 1 state championship.
“It definitely was a rough day,” Rams coach Kenny Buck said. “The boys came into it thinking they had a really good chance
“We were probably thrown off by one or two things. I think maybe two bowlers might have gotten caught up in the moment; I know they didn’t adjust well. They were unfamiliar with the oil pattern. None of my bowlers were able to throw the ball the way they normally throw it. They were constantly adjusting and my better bowlers were able to adjust quicker.”
The South Jersey-champion Rams dropped Game One 748-710 under the weight of 23 open frames. They adjusted to the oil pattern in Game Two, but lost that game, 860-837. Kinnelon had 20 open frames in Game One, too, but threw 10 strikes and picked up 17 spares. The Rams rolled 12 strikes in the first game, but converted only 13 spares.
The oil pattern was such a challenge AJ Carlson, the Rams’ hottest bowler in the playoffs, opened the match with four empty balls and JD Puni went the entire game without a mark.
“I heard everyone had trouble with it, but definitely my guys; it was rough” Buck said. “A lot of people were having a hard time finding the pocket.
“I knew it was going to be tight. I told my boys they would have to bowl their best game. When we threw those two blanks I said that’s not going to be recoverable. We were still in the game, but they just couldn’t find their setting.”
The Rams did get up to speed in Game Two, but just didn’t have enough to overtake the Colts.
Leadoff man Rudy Perez, a left-hander, had the best of it for the Rams. He bowled the two highest games of the match (211-207) and had high series (418). He had runs of four straight strikes in frames 4 through 7 in both games. He was the only Ram to bowl above his average.
Captain Trou Carey and Carlson were the only other Rams with consecutive strikes in the match, and they were only able to bag two in a row once each.
“He was definitely locked in,” Buck said of Perez.
The loss brought a sad end to an otherwise historic season for the Rams. They set a school-record for wins, won the Tri-County Classic Division, won their first South Jersey sectional title and bowled in the Final Four for the first time. Their year-end starting five all had average of 154 or better.
“All things considered it was amazing,” Buck said. “The boys created this great bond, all of us did, we started referring to ourselves as a family and that was just amazing. We played for each other.
“We have so many games where we won just because we were so resilient and we stayed positive and we fought for each other. It was just a beautiful thing to watch. I’m sad that it ended in this way, but all great things must come to an end.”
Captain Carey echoed his coach’s sentiment.
“We just didn’t have a great day, but regardless of it all I wouldn’t want to be surrounded by any other group of guys,” he said. “The bonds and memories of not only this season and watching us grow and gel together as a team will never be forgotten. I love those guys and we made history at the end of the day so I can’t be too upset.”
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
3-point goals: Ocean 4-23 (Marabuto 2-6, Smith 0-1, Barckley 0-3, Sosinov 0-2, Gibbons 1-2, Lemons 0-3, Hadid 0-1, Grospe 0-2, Watson 1-1, Krey 0-2); Salem CC 7-21 (Little 4-9, Lee 0-2, Gibson 1-4, Wright 1-1, Phillips 1-1, Sayles 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Rines 0-2). Rebounds: Ocean 33 (Smith 10, Sosinov 10); Salem CC 43 (Wright 10, Rines 7, Little 8). Total fouls: Ocean 19, Salem CC 19.
Salem’s Jarrell Little reaches in to pick the pocket of Ocean guard Jamari Smith in the second half of Thursday night’s Region XIX/North Atlantic District playoff game. Top photo: Zyaire Gibson comes out to disrupt the shot of Ocean’s Myles Marabuto.
Salem’s Carey starts solid, then battles to find the right line in Top 100 tournament; Rams return Friday for Group I Final Four
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
NORTH BRUNSWICK – Troy Carey got off to the same solid start he did in last year’s Top 100 tournament Thursday, but he spent the last two games trying to find the right line and did not advance to the match play portion of the state’s individual boys bowling championship.
The Salem senior captain rolled games of 199, 176 and 175 for a 550 series at the Lucky Strikes Bowling Center and placed 64th out of the 100 qualifiers. A series of 625 or better made the cut into the 18-man finals.
“A 183 isn’t the worst average of the day I guess,” he said. “I know I had higher expectations, but the pairs I played on weren’t the greatest. At the end of the day life goes on. I’m right back up here tomorrow with my team (in the Group 1 semifinals).
“I tried not to have any certain expectation, just bowl and have fun, just try to deal with whatever I’m faced with and just hope the cards are in my favor.”
Carey opened last year’s Top 100 with a 199 and missed match play by one pin – a sticky 10 pin he said was something “that ate me alive for a good couple months.”
On Thursday, with all his teammates in the gallery supporting him, Carey picked up a spare in the first frame then ran off four straight strikes before an open frame ended the run. He closed with a strike-9-spare in the tenth for the 199.
But when the bowlers changed lanes, so did his fortunes. Normally a strong closer, he threw his two lowest games in competition in a month (20 games). He did finish with four straight strikes in the final game to feel a little better about his day.
“(The third game) was really hard,” he said. “The pair played really iffy. It felt like my ball was reacting different after every shot. Every frame it was a different ball reaction.
“I caught myself trying to stay ahead of it and just compensate for the last ball. It just didn’t go right. The middle game was very similar, but I’m not trying to use it as an excuse.”
Rams coach Kenny Buck could tell his captain was having trouble with the lane conditions, but was impressed with the way he tried to battle through it.
“I saw someone who was constantly looking, constantly reflecting like I asked him to,” Buck said. “He was trying to find that lane, the throw that would work. He never gave up. He kept trying. In fact, in the third game he kind of found it in the last two frames. I think he’s ready for tomorrow.”
The Rams (12-3) return to the house Friday morning to face top-seeded Kinnelon (17-4) in the Group 1 semifinals. A win will send them to bowl either Rutherford (18-5) or Middlesex (19-0) for the state championship, which would be the crowning achievement in what they’re already calling a “generational run.”
“I feel real strongly about my guys,” Carey said. “I feel like we’ll do what we’ve gotta do.
“When we have energy, we’re a great team. Tomorrow we’ll just bowl as team, play for each other. When we do that, bowl as a brotherhood, it’s hard to beat us. At the end of the day, as long as everybody just plays their role and we just do our job we’ll be fine.”
The top qualifier was eventual champion Donaven Kline of Wall. Kline bowled a 300 in Game Two, posted an 835 series and won the individual title in extra frames over second-seeded William Cunningham of St. Joe (Metuchen). GCIT’s Annabelle Carter won the girls title.
Riverview Sports News 