Author: almusky

County boys shut out

Friday the 13th was a bad day for the Salem County boys basketball teams, all 4 teams on the day’s Tri-County Tournament slate lost; Salem only one left and makes tourney debut Tuesday

TCC BOYS TOURNAMENT
Championship Bracket
Timber Creek 75, Clearview 63
Deptford 71, Gloucester Catholic 44
Cumberland 54, Woodstown 32
Williamstown 57, Penns Grove 36
Postseason Bracket
Clayton 94, Schalick 79
Wildwood 68, Salem Tech 31 (Thurs.)
Highland 74, Pennsville 18
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Championship Bracket
Timber Creek at Kingsway
Deptford at Overbrook
Cumberland at Delsea
Williamstown at Salem
Postseason Bracket
Clayton at GCIT
Glassboro at Triton
Wildwood at Pitman
Highland at Washington Twp.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BRIDGETON — Ramon Roots has seen teams play aggressive defense against his Woodstown basketball team in the past, but Friday may have been one of the most energetic he could remember. It only looked better because of the trouble his team didn’t handle it.

The Colts were all over the Wolverines all game and were particularly effective in the fourth quarter while pulling away to a 54-32 win in the opening round of the Tri-County Tournament Championship Bracket.

“They played tough, they play hard on defense,” Roots agreed. “We’ve seen a 1-2-2 before, it was nothing new, we just didn’t execute what we were supposed to do. They play hard, they play relentless, they really wanted to win. Their energy level was up there with some of the best teams. We just kept making mistakes.”

In the second half alone the Colts (17-8) forced Woodstown into 15 turnovers and 5-for-22 shooting.

“They’re an aggressive team for sure,” point guard Alejandro Vazquez said. They were aggressive, hands all over, always playing the passing lanes. They were a very good defensive team. We’ve played against aggressive teams, all these teams that pressure, we just couldn’t handle the pressure today.”

The Wolverines (15-9) weren’t bad defensively either, early. They’d get stop after stop, but then they’d turn it over before they could capitalize. “You can’t win like that,” Roots said. 

They finally cracked in the fourth. Blake Bialecki hit his 199th career 3-pointer with 6:47 to go in the game to bring the Wolverines within five, 34-29, but they didn’t score again until John Hood-McGinley’s 3-pointer with 1:40 left. By then, the Colts had opened a 21-point lead. 

The Wolverines were 0-for-7 from the floor, with six turnovers and two missed free throws between the treys. All 15 of their points in the second half came on 3-pointers.

“One of the things we’ve focused on was finishing,” Colts coach Lamont Robinson said. “A year ago we played really well for 28, 29, 30 minutes, but our finishes weren’t great. Beginning of the year we got a couple early-season losses because of how we couldn’t finish. Even a week ago. So that’s something we focused on, being our best when it matters most, and tonight we were able to do that.

“We’ve progressed and improved our identity on the defensive end and tonight was a reflection of that growth. Our guys are bought in to the things it takes to win. If you want to win a championship you better be able to stop somebody and that’s what we’re trying to do – build a program that is willing to do the things that it takes to win and defense is a big part of that.”

Cumberland didn’t allow the Wolverines a scorer in double figures. Blake Bialecki was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all on 3-pointers. He should get his 200th career 3-pointer Saturday morning against Haddonfield in their last game before the power points cutoff.

The Colts, meanwhile, had three scorers in double figures — DJ Mosely (14), Pat Crawford (12) and Kaleb Green (11).Crawford had 10 in the fourth quarter.

They also held Vazquez, Woodstown’s other 3-point threat, to four points – all in the first quarter. Robinson said being aware of their location on the court was a big part of the Colts’ approach.

“Absolutely,” he said. “There are guys you don’t want beating you because that’s how teams beat you and those were those guys for them, so we came in wanting to neutralize those guys. I’m not sure what they ended up with, but for the most part I feel like we did really well.”

WOODSTOWN (15-9): Blake Bialecki 3 0-0 9, Elijah Ceasar 2 0-0 5, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 1 0-0 2, Alejandro Vazquez 1 1-3 4, Josh King 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-2 0, Frank Hoerst 2 2-2 6, Connor Miller 1 0-0 3, John Hood-McGinley 1 0-0 3, Trey Markward 0 0-0 0, Brian Booker 0 0-0 0, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 3-7 32.
CUMBERLAND (17-8): DJ Mosely 6 0-0 14, Jay Davis 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Green 4 3-4 11, Major Martin Dunns 4 0-0 9, Pat Crawford 5 2-2 12, Mike Hollis 2 1-3 5, Khalif Dawkins 0 0-0 0, Duhmazje Cartwright 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 6-9 54.

Woodstown8969-32
Cumberland914724-54
3-point goals: Woodstown 7 (Bialecki 3, Ceasar, Vazquez, Miller, Hood-McGinley); Cumberland 4 (Mosely 2, Martin Dunns, Cartwright). Total fouls: Woodstown 12, Cumberland 9.

WILLIAMSTOWN 57, PENNS GROVE 36: The Braves got off to a fast start, opened a seven-point halftime lead, then put together a big second half to earn a spot in the Championship Bracket semifinals. They will visit second-seeded Salem Tuesday. Teams that lose in the first round are allowed to play a second game if they choose. The Red Devils have already connected with Woodstown for a game Tuesday.

PENNS GROVE (15-10): Roman Gipson 14, Geonni Conrad 8, Haneef Frisby 5, William Roy 2, Carson Pearsall 3, Jeremy Costacamps 2, Luis Colon 2.
WILLIAMSTOWN (15-9): Jameer Gordon 13, Clinton Suggs 16, Tyson Forman 6, Kaysen Matthews 8, Dametri Walker 7, Elijah Batts 6, Ian Basillo 3.

Penns Grove111186-36
Williamstown2361414-57


POSTSEASON BRACKET
CLAYTON 94, SCHALICK 79: You know when you get in a game with the Clippers you’d better be ready for a track meet. Schalick placed five scorers in double figures, but was slow out of the gate compared to their hosts and was in catch-up mode the whole second half.

Jase Volovar led the Cougars with a season-high 18 points, two off his career high. Kade Macom had 16, matching his career-high for the second straight game. Julian Dickerson had 17 points while Orion Baldwin and Cooper Willoughby had 10 apiece. Virtually all of their points came from the field. They didn’t go to the line much and had only one free throw.

Clayton’s James Fritz led all scorers with 21 points. The Clippers had three other scorers in double figures and got scoring from seven others. Only two others scored for Schalick outside of its double-figure scorers.

SCHALICK (9-12): Julian Dickerson 8 0-0 17, Orion Baldwin 4 0-4 10, Kade Macom 8 0-1 16, Jase Volovar 8 0-0 18, Kenny Bartee 1 1-1 3, Cooper Willoughby 5 0-0 10, Eian Cirino 2 0-0 5. Totals 36 1-6 79.
CLAYTON (8-14): Jackson Venuto 4 2-2 12, James Fritz 8 4-9 21, Kevin Mosley 5 0-0 11, Nasir Carter 5 0-0 13, Isaiah Aviles 3 1-2 7, Dominic Lemon 4 0-1 8, Trevor Rehm 1 2-2 4, King Mosley 2 1-2 7, Anthony Archer 2 0-0 4, Michael Bull 0 3-4 3, Sincere Sierra 1 1-2 4. Totals 35 14-24 94.

Schalick14132923-79
Clayton23242621-94
3-point goals: Schalick 6 (Dickerson, Baldwin 2, Volovar 2, Cirino); Clayton 10 (Venuto 2, Fritz, Ke Mosley, Carter 3, Ki. Mosley 2, Sierra)

HIGHLAND 74, PENNSVILLE 18: Jacob Woodard scored 30 points and Highland held the Eagles to only two points in the second half.

PENNSVILLE (3-20):Jake Layfield 1 1-2 4, Shamir Watkins 1 0-0 2, Gavin Spears 0 2-4 2, Danny Knight 1 0-0 3, Jacob Farina 1 0-0 2, Trey Clevenger 2 0-0 5. Totals 6 3-6 18.
HIGHLAND (6-18): Justin Woodard 11 6-8 30, Adrian Smith 2 0-0 6, Gevon Livingston 1 0-0 2, Bashir Lynch 3 1-2 7, Leon Holmes 1 0-0 2, Andryc Molina 1 2-2 4, Terron Moody 4 0-1 8, Nazhier Hand 2 1-1 6, Charonn Hicks 2 0-0 4, Hakeem Kelly 0 0-2 0, Mikey Simbert 2 1-1 5. Totals 29 11-17 74.

Pennsville13302-18
Highland33171410-74
3-point goals: Pennsville 3 (Layfield, Knight, Clevenger); Highland 5 (Woodard 2, Smith 2, Hand).

Red Devils rise up

Penns Grove beats Overbrook for third time this season in Tri-County Post-Season Bracket opener; Woodstown, Salem Tech fall

TCC GIRLS TOURNAMENT
Championship Bracket
Clearview 59, Cumberland 36
Kingsway 39, Woodstown 24
Washington Twp. 54, Triton 33
Pennsville at Delsea (Sat.)
Postseason Bracket
Pitman at Highland
Clayton 62, Salem Tech 15
Penns Grove 44, Overbrook 37
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Championship Bracket
Pennsville-Delsea at Gloucester Catholic
Clearview at Timber Creek
Kingsway at Glassboro
Washington Twp. at Wildwood
Postseason Bracket
Pitman-Highland at Schalick
Salem at Williamstown
Clayton at GCIT
Penns Grove at Deptford

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PINE HILL – Deja Cook had to be feeling pretty confident going into the opening round of this year’s Tri-County Conference Post-Season Bracket.

Her Penns Grove girls basketball team hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success during her first season as the head coach, but the success it did have came against the team it was playing in the first round.

The Red Devils made it three in a row over Overbrook Friday night, 44-37, advancing to the semifinals of their bracket. They visit second-seeded Deptford Tuesday at 4 p.m.

“We beat adversity and we showed that our will was stronger than the opposing team,” Cook said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times and we did.”

All three of the wins over the Rams pulled the Red Devils (3-18) out of the doldrums. The first one snapped a six-game losing streak and gave Cook her first win as a head coach. The second snapped a nine-game slide. Friday’s ended a three-game streak. They held the Rams to less than 40 points in every game.

They won this one with a good finish, outscoring the seventh-seeded Rams 14-6 in the fourth quarter to take the lead and win by seven.

Keziah Patterson and Janiyah Cummings led Penns Grove’s offense with 14 points each. Cummings completed the double-double with 18 rebounds and also had six blocked shots. Patterson had seven rebounds and six steals. Mikayla Washington had eight points and 17 rebounds.

“We were down numerous times during the game but the girls remained uplifted, kept fighting and were able to work together to get the win,” Cook said. “I’m proud of how far they came as a team and individuals. Looking forward to our next game.”

Gianna Simon led Overbrook (5-18) with 23 points. She hit six 3-pointers.

Penns Grove1281014-44
Overbrook1011106-37

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
KINGSWAY 39, WOODSTOWN 24:The Wolverines remembered how the last meeting with Kingsway went and didn’t want to repeat that again. They tightened up the things that got away from them in that 54-17 loss and gave the Lady Dragons a much better battle, but they just couldn’t get shots to fall.

They did score the first basket of the game, then Kingsway held them scoreless the rest of the quarter while opening an 11-2 lead. It was 28-8 in the third quarter, but they fought to stay in it.

“It was working on the things that we talk about working on all the time,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We had an emphasis of doing things in practice this week and to see the girls implement it, that was positive for us.

“Shots didn’t fall. We missed a couple layups in the beginning that could have maybe changed the game, but we were taking those layups, we were being aggressive, so I was proud of that all day today.”

Lauren Hengel was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all of them coming in the second half. She also grabbed eight rebounds, five in the fourth quarter. Kyia Leyman had 12 rebounds, eight in the first half.

WOODSTOWN (10-14): Lauren Hengel 3 3-4 9, Emma Perry 1 2-2 4, Kyia Leyman 2 0-0 4, Kendall Young 3 0-0 7, Talia Guardascione 0 0-0 0, Gina Murray 0 0-0 0, Autumn Paleschic 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-6 24.
KINGSWAY (17-8): Alessia Lentini 4 3-3 13, Annika Dohlen 4 1-1 10, Chloe McNeill 3 2-4 9, Liv Myers 0 0-0 0, Ojonile Gabriel 1 2-3 4, Bella Archer 0 0-0 0, Gia Baus 1 0-0 2, Ellie Farro 0 0-0 0, Lila Storms 0 1-2 1, Jayah Love 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-13 39.

Woodstown2697-24
Kingsway119163-39
3-point goals: Woodstown 1 (Young); Kingsway 4 (Lentini 2, Dohlen, McNeill). Rebounds: Woodstown 28 (Leyman 10, Hengel 8). Kingsway 30 (McNeill 7). Total fouls: Woodstown 11, Kingsway 11.

Salem County Thursday

Penns Grove takes down Willingboro, Salem Tech falls in TCC bracket; Salem bowling reaches sectional semis

BOYS BASKETBALL

PENNS GROVE – The reason teams try to schedule games late in the cutoff week is to make a last-minute move up the power points standings.

Penns Grove gained a lot of power points in its hope to move into the South Jersey Group 1 top four and potentially two home playoff games Thursday with its 69-58 win over Willingboro.

The Red Devils (15-9) jumped out front early and stayed in control. Geonni Conrad and Roman Gipson led their usually balanced scoring attack with 16 and 14, respectively. 

The Chimeras had three scorers in double figures, led by Yasin Hogue’s 25 points, but Penns Grove had eight players hit the scoring column, with half of them scoring at least seven points.

Wildwood 68, Salem Tech 31: Trevor Troiano hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Warriors in the first round of the Tri- County Postseason Bracket. Raphael Busch led the Chargers with 11. Wildwood now plays at Pitman in the quarterfinals.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Wildwood 59, Salem 27: The Warriors (17-6) roared to a 23-4 first-quarter lead and cruised to a third straight victory. Wildwood’s Rebecca Benichou led all scorers with 23 points. Angela Wilber dished 10 assists. Dyaira Anderson led the Rams (8-9) with 16 points.

BOYS BOWLING
SJ GROUP 1 QF
Salem 2, Maple Shade 0: Troy Carey rolled two games of 266 for the day’s high series (532) and Jacob Puni rolled games of 242 and 228 to lead the second-seeded Rams (10-3) into the sectional semifinals. They’ll face sixth-seeded Doane Academy (8-10) Wednesday at Wood Lanes. The winner gets Camden Catholic or Asbury Park in the Feb. 21 finals.

SJ GROUP 2 QF
Lindenwold 2, Salem Tech 1: Second-seeded Lindenwold (14-1-1) won the rubber game 842-789 to reach the sectional semifinals. Cooper Rappa bowled the high game (216) and high series (550) for the Chargers (6-8). 

GIRLS BOWLING
SJ GROUP 1 QF
Camden Catholic 2, Salem Tech 1: The fourth-seeded Irish (14-1) won the rubber game 686-614 to reach the semifinals. Naomi Hess rolled a high-game 181 in Game 3 for the Chargers (9-2-1), but the Irish had four games 145 or better. Hess also had the high series for the match (512).

Another box checked

No. 3 Mighty Oaks beat Camden to clinch best record in Region 19, basically clinching top seed in region/district Division III tournament, seeding Feb. 19

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC basketball team reached another major milestone in an already historic season Thursday night when it put together another big second half and pulled away from Camden 76-48.

The official line is the third-ranked Mighty Oaks (28-1) simply clinched the best record in Region 19 Division III with their sixth straight win. Yeah, try selling that to them.

In their mind, they clinched the No. 1 seed in the league, one of two No. 1s in the upcoming Region 19/North Atlantic District Tournament.

“It’s a representation of all the work we’ve been putting in to this point,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “We’re a new group of guys, we all trust in playing together. It’s just cool to see all the hard work that we’re putting in is paying off. Still more to gp though.”

It’s hard to argue the logic. The Mighty Oaks are 15-1 in Region 19 with one game remaining. In the unlikely event they lose Saturday’s regular-season finale against Sussex (8-21) and Northampton beats Camden to create a 15-2 tie at the top of the standings, the Mighty Oaks beat Northampton head-to-head, which should give them the advantage in any tiebreaker.

Region 19 basketball chairman Jack Sullivan, the athletics director at Morris, said Thursday the tournament field will be seeded based on the standings. It will be seeded Feb. 19. 

Before Thursday’s games there were 10 teams in the mix that would be split into two separate five-team brackets (North Atlantic A & B) for the region’s two automatic berths in the national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y. Teams must be .500 or better either overall or in region play to qualify.

That’s what makes grabbing the No. 1 so appealing.

“We aren’t the only ones having a good year, so it’s good to clinch it,” Green said. “Matchups matter. Those 8-9-10 teams, Bergen, Atlantic Cape, they’re nothing to play with. We know this league is dangerous.”

There’s a strong belief that even if the Mighty Oaks stumble on the way out they’ll still get an at-large bid to the nationals.

What have they done so far? Won the GSAC. Check. Surpassed last year’s win total. Check. Clinched the top seed. Check.

“I want to go 3 for 3,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “Conference, Region 19 and national championship.”

They started out Thursday as if they were going to have an easy time with the Cougars (17-10), who traditionally have been anything but easy for them. They jumped out 14-0 in the first four minutes and later 19-7 on a 3-pointer by Saaid Lee, but then went flat and didn’t hit another field goal until another Lee 3-pointer with 4:57 left in the half and had to hold on for a 28-25 halftime lead. 

“There’s no way you score 14 points in four minutes and then 14 points in 16 minutes; that’s just not us, man,” Green said. “We guarded. They only had 25 (at halftime). We just didn’t do the right things offensively.”

“I think we just got too selfish and complacent,” Lee said. “We just had to get back to what we do, playing our brand of basketball, sharing the ball, playing hard, playing fast.”

After Green “kind of straightened them out” at halftime with what Lee called “a conversation,” they got with the program.

The scored nearly twice as many points than they did in the first half and shot 53 percent from the floor. After not scoring at all in the first half, they bench gave them 13 points in the second. And they continued to play solid defense, holding the Cougars to 28 percent shooting and 23 points.

They went back up by eight at the start of the second half, but the Cougars cut it back to 37-34 with 16:23 to play. At that point the Mighty Oaks came back to life and returned to the form that had gotten them where they are today.

Wright, held to five points in the first half, scored 13 of their first 18 points of the second half, including a thunderous run-out dunk off a Little blocked shot that made it 46-34 with 11:38 to play. Six minutes later they were up 19.

Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the right corner to make it 60-41 with 5:30 left. Wright and Lee scored 20 points apiece. Little had 16. Idris Rines grabbed 12 rebounds.

“First half I was gassed, I’m not gonna lie,” Lee said. “A lot of teams in the league don’t really work as hard as us and do as much as we do, so when we’re tired we always tell each other if we’re tired they gotta be dead, so just keep pushing through, keep fighting through the adversity.” 

NOTES: The 48 points by Camden were the fewest allowed by the Mighty Oaks in Green’s 81 games as head coach … With his 16 points, Little surpassed 500 for the season and is now 26th on SCC’s all-time scoring list. Wright moved to within eight of the milestone … Saturday’s regular-season finale is Sophomore Day. “Maybe we’ll let the sophomores coach since they’ve got all the answers,” Green said . “Let Mike (Goodwin) coach. Let Nayeem (Johnson). Let Stef (Phillips) coach. It’s a celebration for them, hopefully we do something nice for them and send those guys out the right way” … Phillips expects to be back in uniform Saturday after missing the last three games with a sore knee … Never let it be said that Green doesn’t give the people what they want. With 2:38 to go the student section called for Green to put Goodwin in the game. The coach sent him in 1:43 left and the sophomore stayed in until the end. “Kid works hard every day in practice, he’s improved a ton, so he deserved the opportunity. Every chance we get ,we’re going to put him out there.”

SALEM CC 76, CAMDEN 48
CAMDEN (17-10): Kai Gatson 3-12 0-0 7, Ben McGonigle 0-3 0-0 0, ZhaMere Crawford 2-11 0-0 4, Christian Durham 3-6 0-1 8, Istavan Norwood 6-12 4-5 16, Stephen Robinson 2-3 0-0 4, Anthony Edwardi 1-3 0-0 2, Kevin Satchell 1-8 1-2 3, Sami Singletary 1-4 1-4 4. Totals 19-62 6-12 48.
SALEM CC (28-1): Jarrell Little 4-6 5-6 16, Saaid Lee 8-15 0-0 20, Zyaire Gibson 2-8 0-0 5, Nasseem Wright 8-12 4-5 20, Idris Rines 1-6 0-1 2, Jahseir Sayles 1-5 0-0 2, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 2, Nayeem Johnson 3-9 1-2 7, Mike Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 10-14 76.

Camden2523-48
Salem CC2848-76
3-point goals: Camden 4-16 (Gatson 1-6, McGonigle 0-1, Crawford 0-1, Durham 2-3, Robinson 0-1, Edwardi 0-1, Satchell 0-2, Singletary 1-1); Salem CC 8-22 (Little 3-3, Lee 4-5, Gibson 1-7, Rines 0-3, Sayles 0-3, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: Camden 37 (Norwood 9, Crawford 8). Salem CC 42 (Rines 12, Smith 8). Fouled out: Rines. Total fouls: Camden 12, Salem CC 13.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSACGAMES LEFT
x-SALEM CC (3)15-128-120-1Sus, Sat
x-Northampton (8)14-222-4Cam, Sat; TS, Tu
x-Brookdale (RV)14-319-813-5Union, Sat; Sus, Tu
x-Montgomery (9)13-318-4RC-G, Sat
x-Camden12-417-1012-9NH, Sat; Mercer, Tu
x-Union (13)12-520-811-4Brk, Sat; RC-C, Tu
x-Bergen10-715-1215-11
x-Ocean9-714-1210-10Luz, Sat
Atlantic Cape8-812-149-9HACC, Sat; Pas, Tu
RCSJ-Cumberland7-910-168-12
x-Philadelphia6-1013-11Pas, Sat; Sus, Wed
RCSJ-Gloucester6-1010-194-16
Thaddeus Stevens5-1010-14
Harrisburg Area5-106-16
Delaware County3-145-20
Sussex2-138-214-13
Passaic2-144-233-15
Luzerne1-144-21

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking; games left in italic are region counters; x-clinched playoff berth

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 76, Camden 48
Misericordia at Harcum
Montgomery 81, Northampton 61
Frederick 92, Delaware Tech 85
Manhattan CC at Bergen
Brookdale 87, Ocean 69
Union 83, Passaic 79
Philadelphia 81, Delaware County 58
Lackawanna 82, Raritan Valley 68
Bergen 80, Atlantic Cape 66
Harrisburg Area at Thaddeus Stevens
RCSJ-Cumberland 84, RCSJ-Gloucester 79
FRIDAY’S GAME
Delaware County at Luzerne
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Sussex at Salem CC
Passaic vs. Finger Lakes
Union at Brookdale
Atlantic Cape at Harrisburg Area
RCSJ-Cumberland at Thaddeus Stevens
Northampton at Camden
RCSJ-Gloucester at Montgomery
Ocean at Luzerne
Raritan Valley at Morris
Passaic at Roxbury
Lackawanna at Delaware Tech
Ulster at Middlesex
Philadelphia at Passaic
Harcum at Mercer

See what you don’t snow

UPDATED: Salem CC baseball facing final prep for Monday’s season opener without ever having gotten out on the field


By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News


CARNEYS POINT – John Holt was talking with Bryant & Stratton coach Paul Bottigliero the other day about their Opening Day doubleheader in balmy (compared to here) Virginia Beach when the conversation turned to the most pressing issue of the preseason. 

Holt was lamenting “without a doubt the worst” preseason weather woes he’s seen in 30 years of coaching when the Bobcats’ coach dropped the biggest truth bomb.

“He said it’s just God reminding us that baseball needs to be played during baseball season,” Holt said.

The winter has been particularly harsh on Holt’s Salem CC ballclub. The Mighty Oaks open their season Monday before jumping right into demanding Region 19 play 10 days later with the real possibility of playing their first game without having gotten outside to practice. The Bobcats, meanwhile, will have 11 games in by the time they play Salem.

All you have to do is look out the window to see the problem. The remnants of the biggest snowstorm in a decade two weeks ago are still covering the ground. The roads are clear, but grassy surfaces remain blanketed by the white stuff.

“It’s gonna be tough to get on a baseball field somewhere,” Holt said. “If anything I think we’re gonna look maybe to at least get some work outside in a parking lot or something along those lines.”

They tried to get outside Monday, renting space at the artificial-turfed MSI Sports Complex in Upper Chichester – where they moved last year’s season opener – but work crews hadn’t finished plowing the grounds and the Mighty Oaks had to cancel the session. They’ve even set up a full field behind the snack stand at the Carneys Point Rec Complex where they play, and it dries well back Holt says, but it still has to.

“The last couple years we’ve been fortunate enough to run into 40-, 50-degree days in January and we were able to get outside on those,” Holt said. “In 30 years of doing this, this is without a doubt the worst weather ever to where it’s snowed two weeks ago and we still have that snow on the ground. It’s not supposed to happen.”

They’ve been doing live drills in the fieldhouse with pitchers and hitters, but it’s the fielders who suffer the most. No ground balls on the infield or timing on double plays and no fly-ball reads for the outfielders.

“I’ve talked to the guys and they’re stressing pretty hard about it,” Holt said. “They’ve caught a thousand ground balls and a thousand fly balls in their lifetime and all I’m looking for is them to just keep routine routine.

“We do kind of preach that throughout the entire year, but if we can just keep the routine plays routine … I’m going to expect mistakes and we’re going to expect our defense to maybe be where I think it should be, but I do think as a whole we’re a better defensive team than what we were last year so I’m not worried, but then against doing walk-throughs in the gym doesn’t exactly give you what you need for outside.”

First baseman-pitcher Tyler Hacker said the biggest hurdle to playing without being outside is “getting the feel again.”

“We have our fall season, it’s all outside, and when we come back for spring we expect to be playing outside and get true hops and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s difficult to kind of feel that you’re playing your sport outside free, so it’s definitely more of a mind game than a physical thing and I’d say we’ve adjusted well. We’ve done everything we can do to be inside and we learned how to adapt, as we should.

“There’s obviously going to be some roughs, as there is for every first game, just a different kind. We’ve done live ABs, but we haven’t fielded the live ABs in a while, so I think it’ll be a little rough through there, but it shouldn’t take long.”

For one of the newest Mighty Oaks players, this snow business is a play out of left field. Outfielder Cliff Wysinger is a redshirt freshman from McDonough, Ga., who transferred from Auburn-Montgomery and said what the Mighty Oaks are experiencing is “very different” for him. He said his biggest adjustment to not having been outside is gauging whatever wind they’ll encounter on the trip.

“It’s definitely a concern, but I do think we are ready to play,” he said. “I really don’t have any concern. Coach Holt made a good statement saying we’ve done it a thousand times before, what’s one more time. I think we’re prepared as a team. I think we’ll put up some really good runs as an offense. As a defense, we’ll have our mistakes or whatever, but as long as it’s not big mistakes I think we’ll be good.

“It’s definitely a first time for me. We’re usually on the field by now. It’s very different not being outside and I’m hearing this is like one of the worst winters. It’s definitely different for everybody, but we all played the game. We just got to go out there and compete.”

The weather woes aside, it’s still a little early for Holt to commit to an Opening Day lineup and a pitching rotation for the doubleheader is still “up in the air.” Fortunately, he has a lot of options in both areas.

“I’ve got a lot of good problems this year and one of the main purposes of the Bryant & Stratton series is to give those guys the opportunity to prove who’s going to be that nine,” Holt said. “For me it’s let’s see what we get in these two games and give guys opportunities.

“I would have liked to have had a couple more non-conference (games) before we jump into Ocean, a must-win situation, but I think they’ll have enough opportunity with Bryant Stratton to kind of reassure me what I’m thinking, but I’m going to use (the doubleheader) to figure out who those nine are going to be.”

Updated: Season suspended

Salem CC women end their basketball season following the arrest of four players in Pennsville over the weekend

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News


CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College women’s basketball program has suspended the remainder of its 2025-26 season following the weekend arrest of four players that athletics department officials say will prevent it from fielding a competitive team.

The players – Raynesecia Q. King, 19; Paula E. Wilson, 19; Tanijya M. Shaw, 18; and Jayda L. Hunter, 19 – were arrested at the Pennsville Walmart Feb. 6 and all charged with concealing merchandise from the store without intent to pay. All listed a Pennsville address as their place of residence although all have out-of-state hometowns on the team roster.

All four had a bail hearing in the Carneys Point/Pennsville Joint Municipal Court and were released on summons.

School officials confirmed the decision to suspend the season after informing all the remaining teams on the schedule. The Mighty Oaks had three games remaining after postponing Tuesday’s game with Morris Club.

Initially, SCC athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed Saturday’s postponement with Middlesex, the first game after the incident, citing only “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give details, and Tuesday’s game was removed from the team’s athletic department website. 

“I can tell you officially that Salem has decided to discontinue the rest of our women’s basketball season,” Hughes said Monday. “We do not have enough players to field a competitive team at this time.”

Hughes continued to decline comment on the particulars of the weekend issue, citing student privacy concerns. Pennsville police provided the arrest records in response to an Open Public Records request by Riverview Sports News.

Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said Saturday the program was working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest. A despondent sounding Marsh Monday deferred any comment on the season suspension to Hughes.

The Salem women are 3-17 in a season filled with drama and had three games left at the time of the suspension. They had eight healthy players available and are rostered for nine.

”We could not have fielded a competitive team,” Hughes said.

All four players were starters. Shaw, a freshman guard from Arlington, Texas, was their best player statistically, averaging a team-leading 17.6 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 steals. Hunter, a freshman post who lists Allentown, Pa., as her hometown on the team webpage, was their second-leading rebounder (7.7) while averaging 3.6 ppg. Wilson, a freshman forward from El Paso, averaged 5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg and had a team-leading 17 blocked shots. King, a sophomore guard from Dallas who also played softball last spring, averaged 5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.2 steals.

It wasn’t immediately known if the Mighty Oaks would absorb forfeit for the three remaining games or simply end the year 3-17.

The team has had problems this year. Injuries forced them to reschedule three games earlier this season and sources have said there have been other incidents off the floor.As much a team officials have maintained during the adversity they were committed to playing out the season, this situation was one that was too severe to survive.

”I feel sorry for taking away opportunity for competition from any student-athlete,” Hughes said. 

Wednesday sports report

Here are the scores and highlights from Wednesday night’s Salem County sports schedule

BOYS BASKETBALL
Pitman 53, Pennsville 16
Woodstown 64, Salem Tech 15
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Schalick 37, Oakcrest 24
Pennsville 49, Pitman 21
Woodstown 67, Salem Tech 16
WRESTLING
Willingboro 33, Salem 30
Pennsville 63, Haddon Heights 10

By Riverview Sports News

GIRLS BASKETBALL
WOODSTOWN 67, SALEM TECH 16: Emma Perry just missed her career-high on her Senior Night, 12 players scored and the Wolverines rolled in their final regular-season game. Perry scored 17 points, one shy of tying her career high she set two weeks ago. Lauren Hengel, another senior, added 12 points and 10 other Wolverines scored.

The Wolverines celebrated their Senior Night, then shutout the Chargers in the first quarter 26-0.

“It was a very good night,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We have had a tough season this year and the girls continued to work hard every practice and every game.

“There have never been any complaints all year from the girls. They enjoy the game of basketball and they enjoy being around each other. There are countless conversations and jokes happening all the time with this group.

“The best part of the game for me as a coach was seeing the smiles on the girls’ faces. They were out there having fun. Yes, we care about wins and losses, but you play a sport because you have fun doing it. We often forget that and the girls did not forget about that tonight.”

The team’s four seniors — Perry, Hengel, Kyia Leyman and Kailyn Kennedy — all scored in the game. They combined for 39 points, 22 rebounds and 12 assists. In addition to her points, Perry had five rebounds and five assists. Hengel had eight rebounds and seven assists, Leyman had five rebounds and Kennedy had four rebounds.

“This senior class is a very special class,” Smart said of the group that has been a part of 70 wins in four years and played for three head coaches. “(They) all work extremely hard all of the time. They are a tight-knit group, but a very selfless group; you could see that tonight. We gave up good shots for better shots and moved the ball well. Seeing that on over half the shots we made tonight there was an assist is a very special thing.

“I’m going to miss this group so much. They are very special and you can tell how much they mean to the rest of the team based off of tonight’s Senior Night festivities. Luckily, our journey isn’t over yet.”

SALEM TECH (2-14): Rachel Reed 0 0-0 0, Shelby Liber 4 0-0 11, Amora Delaine 0 0-2 0, Carmen Mott 0 0-0 0, Shelby Drummond 0 0-0 0, Olivia Lydon 0 0-0 0, Tiara Bazemore 1 0-0 3, Evening Amedee 0 0-0 0, Maci Fiant 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 0-2 16.
WOODSTOWN (10-13): Lauren Hengel 5 0-0 12, Kyia Leyman 3 0-0 6, Emma Perry 8 0-1 17, Kendall Young 2 1-2 6, Talia Guardascione 0 0-0 0, Kailyn Kennedy 2 0-0 4, Maddie Roback 1 0-0 2, Ava White 3 0-0 6, Jaelyn McDonald 0 0-0 0, Gina Murray 3 0-0 6, Autumn Paleschic 1 0-0 2, Kamiya Brunson 1 0-0 2, Cecelia Nachbar 1 0-0 2, Gabriella Maldonado 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 1-3 67.

Salem Tech0682-16
Woodstown2619913-67
3-point goals: Salem Tech 4 (Liber 3, Bazemore); Woodstown 4 (Hengel 2, Perry, Young). Rebounds: Woodstown 52 (Maldonado 8, Hengel 8, Young 6). Total fouls: Salem Tech 4, Woodstown 4.

SCHALICK 37, OAKCREST 24: Nevaeh Robinson hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Cougars (15-5) to their third straight win. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. The sophomore hit a 3-pointer in each quarter. Ava Scurry added six rebounds to run her career total to 612 and blocked five shots (226). Liv Vanacker had seven rebounds and seven assists.

OAKCREST (5:13): A Tirah Mitchell 2 3-6 7, Rashonda Brown 6 3-9 16, Mia Silipena 0 0-0 0, Riley Sanders 0 0-0 0,, C. Russ 0 1-2 1, Paula Pahang 0 0-0 0, Hailey Perkins 0 0-0 0, Briella Johnson 0 0-0 0, Catina Lark 0 0-0 0, Avery Aponte 0 0-0 0, Palmero 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 7-17 24.
SCHALICK (15-5): Cali Fisler 2 1-7 6, Ava Scurry 2 1-2 5, Willow Davis 1 2-4 4, Nevaeh Robinson 6 1-1 17, Olivia Vanacker 2 1-2 5, Vicky Basich 0 0-0 0, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Bailey Wentz 0 0-0 0, Eve Berger 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-16 37.

Oakcrest7566-24
Schalick911116-37
3-point goals: Oakcrest 1 (Brown); Schalick 5 (Fisler, Robinson 4). Rebounds: Schalick 36 (Robinson 11, Vanacker 7, Scurry 6). Technical fouls: O’Neill. Fouled out: Sanders. Total fouls: Oakcrest 14, Schalick 16.

Top photo: Schalick’s Ava Scurry is joined by her teammates to commemorate her 600th career rebound. (Submitted photo).

PENNSVILLE 49, PITMAN 21: Taylor Bass pumped in 23 points to surpass 1200 for her career, Marley Wood scored 16 (to go over 1,300) and the Eagles held Pitman scoreless in the third quarter to win their seventh straight. It’s their longest winning streak since they won seven straight in the 2019-20 season. It was their fifth straight win since the coaching change.

PITMAN (4-14): Colette Rollins 1 0-2 3, Jocelyn O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Marlee Adams 1 0-3 2, Kendall Bennett 2 0-0 4, Emery Sharpnack 1 2-2 4, Audrey Duffield 3 0-2 7, Bella Pramov 0 1-4 1. Totals 8 3-13 21.
PENNSVILLE (15-6): Taylor Bass 10 0-2 23, Marley Wood 7 1-2 16, Addie Johnston 1 0-0 2, Izzy Saulin 2 1-2 6, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 2-6 49.

Pitman9804-21
Pennsville1181119-49
3-point goals: Pitman 2 (Rollins, Duffield); Pennsville 5 (Bass 3, Wood, Saulin).

BOYS BASKETBALL
WOODSTOWN 64, SALEM TECH 15: The Wolverines spread the wealth, getting scoring from 12 players, and held the Chargers to three points in the second half to win its third in a row — all over Salem County competition. Andrew White led the way with 13 points. Connor Miller had eight and Frank Hoerst had seven. Blake Bialecki hit two more 3-pointers and is now four away from extending his school record to 200 for his career. He has hit at least one trey in each of his last 19 games.

WOODSTOWN (15-8): Elijah Caesar 2 0-2 4, Jalen Markward 2 0-0 4, Blake Bialecki 2 0-0 6, Alejandro Vazquez 1 1-2 3, John Hood-McGinley 1 0-0 3, Josh King 3 0-2 6, Andrew White 6 0-0 13, Trey Markward 1 0-0 2, Lucas Fulmer 2 0-0 6, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0, Frank Hoerst 3 0-0 7, Connor Miller 3 0-0 8, Brian Booker 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 1-6 64.
SALEM TECH (2-17): Chase Pompper 3 0-0 6, Brody Kroll 0 0-0 0, Ayden Myers 0 0-0 0, Aiden Bobo 1 1-2 3, Avery Reed 0 0-0 0, Keidyn Robinson 0 0-0 0, Luke Kroll 0 0-0 0, Raphael Busch 3 0-0 6, Micah Cavanaugh 0 0-0 0, Sterling Lewis 0 0-2 0. Totals 7 1-4 15.

Woodstown12281410-64
Salem Tech 4812-15
3-point goals: Woodstown 9 (Bialecki 2, Hood-McGinley, White, Fulmer 2, Hoerst, Miller 2). Total fouls: Woodstown 6, Salem Tech 8.

PITMAN 53, PENNSVILLE 16: Jay Craig had his third double-double in his last six games and the Panthers hit eight 3-pointers as a team to roll past the Eagles. Craig had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jake Bowen-Ashwin also scored 11 points and Parker DeChristopher had 12. Lucas Razze had eight of the Panthers’ 21 steals.

PENNSVILLE (3-19); Jake Layfield 4 0-0 9, Shamir Watkins 1 0-0 3, Gavin Spears 1 1-2 3, Colin Keevan 0 1-3 1, Danny Knight 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 2-5 16.
PITMAN (10-13): Lucas Razze 3 0-0 8, Parker DeChristopher 4 1-1 12, Joey Zubert 1 0-0 2, Jay Craig 5 1-4 11, Jake Bowen-Ashwin 3 4-6 11, Micah Frost 0 0-0 0, Nolan Russell 0 0-0 0, Keaton Libby 0 0-0 0, Michael Aubrey 0 0-0 0, Carter Snyder 0 0-0 0, Brayden Geary 0 0-0 0, Oliver Spier 3 1-1 9. Totals 19 7-12 53.

Pennsville (3-19)5263-16
Pitman (10-13)162485-53
3-point goals: Pennsville 2 (Layfield, Watkins); Pitman 8 (Razze 2, DeChristopher 3, Bowen-Ashwin, Spier 2). Rebounds: Pitman 34 (Craig 11).

Wrestling

WILLINGBORO 33, SALEM 30
106: Double forfeit
113: Double forfeit
120: Fahad Irshad (WI) pinned Adrien Morales, 0:47
126: Zachary Tortella (S) pinned Demarco Edwards, 4:47
132: Guylherme Quintanilha (S) pinned Michael Barker, 0:51
138: Yiornniel Cordero (WI) dec. Brodie Parker, 9-6
144: Joseph Goetaski (S) won by forfeit
150: Roatan Alleyne (WI) won by forfeit
157: Ziyon Moore (S) dec. Deryck Montoya, 9-3
165: Precious Bankole (WI) won by forfeit
175: Dovonte Ruiz (WI) won by forfeit
190: Toren Schoners (WI) pinned Kaleb Ewald, 1:53
215: Abdur Jenkins (S) def. Lebron Martin, SV-1 4-1
285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) won by forfeit

PENNSVILLE 63, HADDON HEIGHTS 10
106: Aniello Napolitano (H) pinned Brett Land, 5:53
113: Erick Davalos (P) pinned Andrew Hanchey, 1:22
120: Maximos Efelis (P) won by forfeit
126: Michael Ferraro (H) maj. dec. Mehki Dicks, 13-3
132: Chase Baker (P) pinned Brennan Albright, 2:15
138: Nathaniel Mason (P) pinned Gavin Gilliss, 4:58
144: Vincent Grether (P) pinned Leo Falco, 3:57
150: Gabe Supernavage (P) tech fall over Ryan Bailey, 18-3 (5:03)
157: Travis Hagan (P) pinned Ian Bomgardner, 1:30
165: Robbie McDade (P) maj. dec. Andrew Gutkin, 10-2
175: Cristian Blyler (P) dec. Shawn Thompson, 10-3
190: Stephen Pangle (P) won by forfeit
215: Hunter Coulbourn (P) pinned Cameron Mayo, 1:51
285: Jacob Hand (P) dec. Nathan Lelionis, 7-2

Answering the bell

Down 2 starters, third-ranked Salem CC weathers storm, beats No. 13 Union, surpasses last year’s win total

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — All year long Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green has been saying his team has a scorebook full of players who not only could start for every other team in Region 19 but be a big piece in their plans. The Mighty Oaks put that theory to the test Tuesday night and delivered on it in a big way.

Down two starters, including their recognized energy guy, the Mighty Oaks weathered the storm and beat No. 13 Union for the second time this season, 96-75.

It was their 27th win of the season, giving them more wins than they had in last year’s historic national tournament season. At 14-1 in Region 19, they hold a one-game lead in the loss column atop the region’s Division III standings and a two-game lead in the loss column on presumably one of the two No. 1 seeds in the region/district tournament.

The Mighty Oaks (27-1) went into what shaped up as one of their sternest tests of the late season without injured sophomore post Stef Phillips (knee) and freshman vocal leader Nasseem Wright (suspended by region rule for picking up a third technical foul in the last game). But their replacements, Idris Rines and Qua Smith, combined for 25 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.

Smith, making his first college start, didn’t give the Mighty Oaks the scoring they would have gotten from Wright, but he did all the other things. He grabbed 16 rebounds, dealt four assists, blocked three shots and caught the eye of the NCAA Division II scouts in attendance. Rines, making his second straight start, had 18 points and six rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes.

“We just had to pick the energy up (without Wright) because he’s a real big energy guy, so everybody else just had to give a little more than they usually give,” point guard Saaid Lee said. “I think everybody stepped up. Our team is built for the next man to be up, so I think everybody just did their job and did what we had to do.”

Green had some options for Wright’s spot, but went with Smith because of matchups. Besides, if he started Nayeem Johnson, the presumptive pick for the spot based on what he’s been provided in a sixth- or seventh-man role, the Mighty Oaks would have lost the game-changing firepower the Montco transfer provides off the bench.

The game was tight in the first half until the Mighty Oaks plugged in the full-court press with a very specific lineup. Usually they have Wright at the top of it, but with him not available, Green wanted Jahsier Sayles, Smith and Johnson with any other guard. They went into it with 6:11 left in the half, right after Jarrell Little’s two free throws got them within 23-21 and went on a defense-fueled 14-6 run that gave them the lead. 

“It was a great pressure group that we went with,” Green said. 

The Owls rallied to tie it at 35 with 1:17 left in the half, but the Mighty Oaks outscored them 7-1 to the horn to take a 43-36 halftime lead. Rines capped it with a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left after Lee drained the final 22 seconds off the clock.

The Mighty Oaks came out of the break firing. They opened the half with a 17-3 in the first six minutes to take control. Smith was particularly active in the stretch, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, blocking a shot and snagging a steal. The steal led to a 3-pointer by Rines, one of the rebounds set Zyaire Gibson on a runout layup and the blocked shot led to a give-and-go with Lee that he finished off with a layup.

“I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I can for the team; that’s really my role, for real,” Smith said. “I was just trying to play my role basically and step up. Definitely big responsibility because we’re playing the No. 13 team in the nation. You’ve got to step up, you’ve got to be ready, and I was ready today.”

“He’s just got to realize doing what we ask him to do is enough, that’s enough,” Green said. “That’s all we want all these guys to realize. Doing what we ask you to do is enough. You’re playing real basketball. You’re not playing JUCO basketball. You’re playing real basketball.”

Salem had only one scorer in double figures at halftime. Because of the way they picked it up after the break, they wound up with five when it was over.

Lee and Little both scored 10 in the second half and finished with 18 and 19, respectively. Little also had eight rebounds and nine assists. Gibson had 14 points and Sayles a career-tying 12. Union’s Nicolas Acosta led all scorers with 27 points (and 16 rebounds).

Phillips is expected to be out another week. Wright will be back for Thursday’s game with Camden. The reserves are expected to be ready all the time, because you never know when their number will be called.

SALEM CC 96, UNION 75
UNION (19-8): Tareak Williams 2-10 6-7 10, Anthony Hicks 5-11 1-1 11, Nicolas Acosta 6-18 15-18 27, Kanye Brown 0-4 3-4 3, Zahkey Jeter 6-13 0-1 12, Aljanai Best 0-3 0-0 0, Jasir Calloway 1-6 5-6 7, James Downing 2-4 0-0 5, Jake Zawacki 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-70 30-37 75.
SALEM CC (27-1): Jarrell Little 4-8 8-10 18, Saaid Lee 4-8 10-14 19, Qua Smith 3-7 1-3 7, Zyaire Gibson 6-12 1-2 14, Idris Rines 6-10 3-5 18, Jahseir Sayles 4-9 2-2 12, Nayeem Johnson 3-7 0-2 6, Mike Goodwin 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 31-63 25-39 96.

Union3639-75
Salem CC4353-96
3-point goals: Union 1-13 (Williams 0-3, Hicks 0-1, Acosta 0-1, Brown 0-3, Jeter 0-3, Calloway 0-1, Downing 1-1); Salem CC 9-26 (Little 2-6, Lee 1-1, Smith 0-1, Gibson 1-5, Rines 3-5, Sayles 2-6, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds: Union 43 (Acosta 18, Calloway 7); Salem CC 40 (Smith 16, Little 8, Rines 6). Technical fouls: Union coach. Fouled out: Brown, Sayles, Johnson. Total fouls: Union 29, Salem CC 26.

Top photo, Qua Smith (4) and Idris Rines (24) were new starters for Salem CC Tuesday. Rines started last Saturday’s game, but Smith was making his first college start.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
SALEM CC (3)14-127-119-1
Northampton (8)14-222-3
Brookdale (RV)14-318-812-5
Montgomery (9)13-317-4
Camden12-317-912-8
Union (13)12-519-811-4
Bergen10-714-1214-11
Ocean9-714-1110-9
Atlantic Cape8-812-139-8
RCSJ-Cumberland6-99-167-12
RCSJ-Gloucester6-910-184-15
Thaddeus Stevens5-1010-14
Philadelphia5-1012-11
Harrisburg Area5-106-16
Delaware County3-135-19
Sussex2-137-214-13
Passaic2-144-223-15
Luzerne1-144-21

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking


TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 96, Union 75
Harrisburg Area 76, Luzerne 60
Montgomery 88, Atlantic Cape 78
Philadelphia 72, Thaddeus Stevens 66
Mercer 89, Lackawanna 82
Camden 80, RCSJ-Cumberland 70
Bergen 76, Brookdale 73
Raritan Valley at Middlesex
Harcum 92, Essex 70
RCSJ-Gloucester70, Sussex 69
Hostos 100, Passaic 75
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Ulster at Sussex
Ocean at Northampton
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
Passaic at Middlesex
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Camden at Salem CC
Misericordia at Harcum
Northampton at Montgomery
Delaware Tech at Frederick
Manhattan CC at Bergen
Ocean at Brookdale
Passaic at Union
Delaware County at Philadelphia
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
Atlantic Cape at Bergen
Harrisburg Area at Thaddeus Stevens
RCSJ-Gloucester at RCSJ-Cumberland
FRIDAY’S GAME
Delaware County at Luzerne
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Sussex at Salem CC
Passaic vs. Finger Lakes
Union at Brookdale
Atlantic Cape at Harrisburg Area
RCSJ-Cumberland at Thaddeus Stevens
Northampton at Camden
RCSJ-Gloucester at Montgomery
Ocean at Luzerne
Raritan Valley at Morris
Passaic at Roxbury
Lackawanna at Delaware Tech
Ulster at Middlesex
Philadelphia at Passaic
Harcum at Mercer

What a rush

Crowd rushes the floor after Salem’s Tymear Lecator reaches 1,000-point plateau, Woodstown wrestling wins division title in coach’s final regular-season home match, also ncludes scores and highlights from Tuesday night’s Salem County sports calendar


BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem 71, Penns Grove 52
WRESTLING
Delsea girls 46, Schalick 21
Woodstown 58, Timber Creek 24
Penns Grove at Palmyra
Schalick 45, Cedar Creek 33

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – Tymear Lecator had known for a while what was going to happen if he scored his 1000th career point at home. When the milestone came, he just let it come to him.

The sellout crowd rushed the floor after the Salem junior guard hit the number Tuesday night on a free throw with 2:22 left in the Rams’ 71-52 win over rival Penns Grove.

When he swished the historic shot, they came out of the stands. They came from the other side of the floor. They came in waves. But instead of running away from crush of humanity, Lecator just let the love envelop him. He backed off the foul line, raised his arms in triumph and let the crowd carry him all the way to the far baseline.

“It’s been talked about in school since Monday,” he said. “I didn’t get away from it. I just stood them and let everybody just run into me. I knew they were coming so I just stood there.

“(Scoring 1000 points) has been on my mind since I was a freshman and I knew I had a high chance of getting it, especially in the role I’ve been playing on this team since my freshman year.

“It means a lot because not a lot of guys do it as a junior. Everybody usually gets it their senior year. It means everything because I know how much work I’ve put in over the years. I’m just proud I hit the milestone.”

Lecator is the 18th player in the boys program’s history to join the 1000-Point Club and the first since Anthony Farmer, the son of coach Anthony Farmer, did it in January 2024.

Ironically, they did it against the same team, on the same floor, under similar circumstances and from the same free throw line.

Farmer needed 35 on his night to reach the milestone; he scored 36. Lecator needed 22; he scored 23.

Farmer got it on a free throw in the fourth quarter. Lecator hit the mark on a free throw in the fourth quarter. 

The crowd rushed the floor for Farmer. They did the same for Lecator.

“It brought back some good memories,” the elder Farmer said.

It took about 10 minutes to clear the floor after the celebration. And the player still had another free throw to make.

In some ways it was easier to nail that one down than the first one.

“Honestly, it was 10 times easier to make the second one than the first one,” he said. “The first one everybody was standing up getting ready to run on the court, so I was definitely real nervous. The second one was nothing compared to the first one.”

Needing 22 to reach the milestone wasn’t as big an ask as Farmer’s target number against Penns Grove, but it was lofty nonetheless. But Lecator wasn’t worried about getting it. He scored 20 or more 15 times in his career and six times each of the last two seasons, including Monday night at Paulsboro to get close. 

“I’m used to scoring 20 … so I was like that ain’t that crazy. I could get that today,” he said. “I just made the right reads and I let the game come to me, and luckily I hit enough shots to score the 22.”

NOTES: Lecator also had eight rebounds and four assists. Deshaan Williams had his sixth double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds). Marshall Stephens and Fatah Paige also grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Penns Grove’s typical balanced scoring attack was led by Carson Pearsall’s 14 points … Salem remains the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group 1 power points standings by nearly two full points over Haddon Twp. Saturday is the cutoff date.

SALEM 71, PENNS GROVE 52
PENNS GROVE (14-9): Roman Gipson 3 2-4 9, Geonni Conrad 2 2-3 6, Naheef Frisby 2 0-0 5, Will Roy 2 0-0 4, Mishawn Brantley 1 0-4 2, Jameel Horace 2 0-0 4, Carson Pearsall 4 5-9 14, Zane Thomas 3 2-2 8. Totals 19 11-22 52.
SALEM (18-4): Tymear Lecator 9-4-23, Marshall Stephens 3-0-6, Neziah Spence 3-1-8, Fatah Paige 2-0-4, Darrelle Johnson 2-0-4, Deshaan Williams 5-4-14, BJ Robbins 1-2-4, Xavier McGriff 2-1-6, Kyaire Parsons 1-0-2. Totals 28-12-71.

Penns Grove10181113-52
Salem11261717-71
3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Colson, Fritby, Pearsall); Salem 3 (Lecator, Spence, McGriff). Rebounds: Penns Grove 24 (Frisby 7, Thomas 7); Salem 55 (Stephens 10, Paige 10, Williams 1o).

Wrestling

BOYS
SCHALICK 45, CEDAR CREEK 33
106: Sincere Wilcox (CC) pinned Victor Fenske, 0:46
113: Galel Solano-Lopez (CC) pinned Nicholas Latona, 1:35
120: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Luke Sess, 0:40
126: Hector Villarrubia-Torres (CC) pinned Caleb Jenkins, 1:39
132: Gavin Marcasciano (CC) maj. dec. over Jacon Potts, 14-3
138: Masen Cruz (CC) tech fall over Gabriel McFeeley, 15-0 (2:50)
144: Michael Baisch (S) pinned Kyle Smith 1:27
150: Mason Hollywood (S) pinned Jakob Dase, 1:16
157: Ayden Jenkins (S) tech fall over Jake Hardiman, 16-0
165: Anthony Deaver (S) pinned Cole Burton, 3:30
175: Ricky Watt (S) pinned Xavier Villarubia-Torres, 3:06
190: Gerardp Foe;o[e (S) maj. dec. Giovanni Carnes, 8-0
215: James Cook (S) won by forfeit
285: Slayton D’Amico (CC) pinned Jeff Edmonds, 1:08

WOODSTOWN 58, TIMBER CREEK 24
106: Jimmy Boone (TC) pinned TJ Conto, 0:19
113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) won by forfeit
120: Carson Bradway (WO) pinned Dyllan Klotz, 2:43
126: Walker Battavio (WO) pinned Seth Redman, 1:12
132: Barry Coverly (WO) won by forfeit
138: Chase Icon (WO) won by forfeit
144: Nehemiah Carter (WO) won by forfeit
150: Mathyias Ellis (WO) won by forfeit
157: Matt Cordovz (TC) pinned Tyrell West, 4:24
165: Ricky Watts (WO) pinned Nathaniel Collazo, 3:25
175: Greyson Hyland (WO) maj. dec. Zyeir Green, 12-4
190: Elijah Green (TC) pinned Asher Fitzpatrick, 3:43
215: Julian McCray (TC) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 2:27
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Roland Green, 0:52

GIRLS
DELSEA 46, SCHLAICK 21
100: Isabella Gjini (D) won by forfeit
107: Karleigh Six (D) won by forfeit
114: Ava Baldino (D) won by forfeit
120: Nevaeha Chaney (S) won by forfeit
126: Olivia Guzman (D) pinned River Wojcik, 0:29
132: McKenna Thomas (D) won by forfeit
138: Angelia Deaver (S) dec. Ellie Fanz, 7-3
145: Elizabeth Ostoyic (D) maj. dec. Haley Batista, 11-0
152: McKayla Rutledge (D) won by forfeit
165: Ranae Scurry (S) pinned Kyleigh Dotzel, 0:42
185: Lydia Gilligan (S) pinned Samaiya Figueroa, 5:11
235: Jessica Fantini (S) won by forfeit


Penns Grove tabs Ware

Lifelong Red Devil approved to become school’s head football coach, driven to bring the program back to former glory

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – Damian Ware has been through the highs and lows of the Penns Grove football program, both as a player and a coach. The Red Devils are in a downturn right now and he wants to bring them back and now he has that chance.

WARE

Ware was installed as the Red Devils’ new head football coach Monday night. He takes over for Marc Maccarone, who stepped down after the final game last season.

It’s an ambitious take for Ware, 48. He’s also the Red Devils’ boys basketball coach and will remain in that position in addition to the football job. Actually, he was coaching that team to a win at rival Pennsville while the board was meeting to approve him for the football job.

He also was an assistant track coach, but will give that up to oversee the strength and conditioning program. He’s hoping his players follow that lead and encourages them to become three-sport athletes.

“I’m a football guy too,” he said. “I’ve been coaching football for over 10 years at Penns Grove, I played football at Penns Grove. I was an all-star player back in the week a few times and a lot of people said I should have played football in college instead of basketball, but I love basketball more so I just played basketball in college. But I’m a football guy as well.”

What else he is is Penns Grove through and through. He played football and basketball there for Al Birch and Steve Kline before going on to play college basketball at FDU in the late 90s (and nearly beating UConn in the NCAA Tournament), and when he returned home served as an assistant for each of the Red Devils’ last three head football coaches – Kemp Carr, John Emel and Maccarone.

“One thing you know about Damian,” athletics director Anwar Golden said, “he is Penns Grove to the core. Nothing comes before the growth of Penns Grove. I’m really excited about working with him.”

The Red Devils had been championship contenders in Group I for years, but they missed the playoffs each of the last two years, bottoming out at 0-9 this past season, their first winless season in recent memory. In the most recent West Jersey Football League reshuffle, they was demoted to the Independence Division after playing in the dynamic Diamond Division since the league’s inception.

“We want to bring the pride back to Penns Grove football,” Ware said. “We were more of a football town than a basketball town and now it’s kind of flipped the other way. I want it to be both, football and basketball, because that’s what we’ve always been.

“We’ve always been a prevalent team in both sports. We’re looking to bring the culture back and bring the pride back to Penns Grove football. That’s part of the reason I wanted to take on the program, to try to bring it back,”

His approach to that will be a “homegrown way.” He said the two biggest factors in bringing them back are the commitment to a youth football program and restoring the culture surrounding the program.

“Without that feeder system it’s tough because kids come into high school without that background, knowledge of playing football or even knowing how to get into a three-point stance,” he said. “We want them to come into high school with some experience.

“We need to get our feeder system back first and foremost, and then change the culture. The pride in football has kind of been lackluster. A lot of guys went to different schools. We’d like to keep our talent here. That’s the No. 1 thing we need to do, keep our talent because we’ve always been one of the best programs because we have some of the best talent around.

“We need to bring the pride back to Penns Grove football, keep the kids here and continue to win like we always have.”

Top photo: Damian Ware (R) talks over a play with Penns Grove head coach Marc Maccarone during a preseason practice last summer. Ware was approved as the Red Devils’ new head coach Monday.