Author: almusky

Long time coming

Pennsville girls basketball ends long title drought by clinching share of Diamond Division, plus the rest of Monday’s Salem County sports calendar

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 65, Penns Grove 25
Pitman 48, Salem Tech 26
Schalick 46, Woodstown 25
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove 80, Pennsville 16
Salem 60, Paulsboro 54
Pitman 52, Salem Tech 31
Woodstown 46, Schalick 33
INDOOR TRACK
Pennsville, Salem at Ocean Breeze

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE — Pennsville assistant coach Ryan Wood stood before the girls basketball team after the game and gave the day its historical context in a way uniquely his own.

The Eagles had just clinched a share of its first division title since 1988 Monday when they bashed Penns Grove 65-25 in Rudy Baric Gym and Wood let them know just how long ago that was.

“Forty years ago,” he said rubbing his hands over his thinning scalp, “I had a full head of hair.”

And if you don’t believe it, his daughter, senior guard Marley Wood, has the proof.

“I’ve seen pictures, him and my brother (Luke) look the exact same, which is really weird,” she said.

The girls basketball banner at Pennsville High will soon get an update to reflect the latest division title.

The Eagles’ sixth straight win — and fourth since the coaching change — left them 9-1 in the TCC Diamond Division and a share of their first division title since 1988 with Glassboro. The teams split in the regular season.

“We’ve all worked very hard for this,” senior forward Taylor Bass said. “A lot of sweat, blood and tears have gone into it.”

There’s a banner in the far left corner of Pennsville’s Salberg Gym that commemorates the team’s last division title. After the boys soccer team won its first division title in 32 years in October, it left girls basketball with the school’s longest championship drought among teams that have won a championship. The boys basketball program has never won one. The girls track team is now on the clock (2011).

“Every year we get reminded that it’s been a while, so getting to do with my team my senior year and my dad in the back with us is great,” Marley Wood said.

The Eagles (14-6) had control of this one from the start. They built a 33-15 halftime lead, then opened the third quarter with 16 straight points to put it out of reach.

Bass and Addie Johnston led the offense with 18 points apiece. Since the coaching change that elevated Robin Efelis to head coach and brought Ryan Wood back to the bench, Johnston has scored 52 points and hit eight 3-pointers. 

“It’s just been good games, good days,” the sophomore said. “My shooting’s been good, my confidence overall has been high. Just been coming out hot every day.”

Wood had six points, but grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 12 assists. Already the second-leading all-time girls scorer in school history, she needs one point for 1,300 and four assists for 500. That would put her in the 1300-500-500 Club since she already has 521 rebounds.

PENNSVILLE 65, PENNS GROVE 25
PENNSVILLE (14-6): Taylor Bass 8 1-5 18, Marley Wood 3 0-2 6, Addie Johnston 7 1-2 18, Izzy Saulin 4 2-2 10, Jaida Burns 3 0-0 6, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2, Kylie Weist 1 0-0 3, Reagan Sipps 0 0-0 0, Makayla Griffith 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 4-11 65.
PENNS GROVE (2-18): Janiyah Cummings 6 3-4 16, Keziah Patterson 1 2-2 5, Yeichelyn Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Domari Torres 1 0-0 3, Yanet Cruz 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Washington 1 0-0 2, Armahni Blackston 0 0-0 0, Yasmin Cruz 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-6 26

Pennsville23101913-65
Penns Grove7847-26
3-point goals: Pennsville 5 (Bass, Johnston 3, Weist); Penns Grove 3 (Patterson, JCummings, Torres). Total fouls: Pennsville 6, Penns Grove 6.

SCHALICK 46, WOODSTOWN 25: The Cougars put together one of their best defensive efforts of the season in a year filled with big defensive efforts and ended a 13-game losing streak against the Wolverines. It was almost seven years to the day the last time they won in the series, Feb. 12, 2019.

“This one feels good,” Schalick coach John Whelan said. “The girls were ready for this game and they put together four full quarters of good basketball. It was a signature win as we come to the end of there egular season. It will be a great momentum builder as we head into the playoffs.”

The Cougars (14-5) held their hosts to single digits in all four quarters. They led 10-8 after the first quarter, then took control in the second quarter. They closed Woodstown out with a 15-3 fourth quarter. They are averaging a shade under 24 points against in their 14 wins this season.

“As always we build off our defense,” Whelan said. “It was an outstanding defensive performance where the girls took pride in winning on that side of the court. That aggressiveness translated to playing downhill on the offensive end. Everyone played a part.”

Ava Scurry anchored the defense. She had 14 rebounds, including the 600th of her career, five steals and seven blocked shots. Cali Fisler had four steals and Olivia Vanacker had eight rebounds, a career-high nine assists and three steals.

Willow Davis led the offense with four 3-pointers and a career-high 18 points. Nevaeh Robinson had 10. Kendall Young was Woodstown’s leading scorer with 10 points.

The Wolverines, who once had a 39-game winning streaks against Salem County opponents, have now won lost two in a row to in-county foes.

SCHALICK (14-5): Ava Scurry 1 2-4 4, Cali Fisler 1 6-10 8, Olivia Vanacker 3 0-0 6, Nevaeh Robinson 3 3-6 10, Willow Davis 6 2-2 18. Totals 14 13-22 46.
WOODSTOWN (9-13): Lauren Hengel 3 0-0 8, Emma Perry 0 1-2 1, Kendall Young 4 0-0 10, Talia Guardascione 0 1-2 1, Gina Murray 2 0-0 5. Totals 9 2-4 25.

Schalick1015813-46
Woodstown8683-25
3-point goals: Schalick 5 (Robinson, Davis 4); Woodstown 5 (Hengel 2, Young 2, Murray). Rebounds: Schalick 32 (Scurry 14, Vanacker 8)

PITMAN 48, SALEM TECH 26: Audrey Duffield scored 19 points and three other players had at least eight as the Panthers snapped a six-game losing streak that followed their last win over the Chargers. Shelby Liber led Salem Tech with 13 points. Amora Delaine had seven points and eight rebounds.

PITMAN (4-13): Marlee Adams 4 1-4 9, Emery Sharpnack 4 0-0 8, Audrey Duffield 7 5-8 19, Bella Pramov 2 0-0 4, Jocelyn O’Brien 4 0-0 8. Totals 21 6-12 48.
SALEM TECH (2-13): Amora Delaine 3 1-6 7, Shelby Liber 5 0-4 13, Rachel Reed 0 0-0 0, Shelby Drummond 1 0-0 2, Evening Amedee 0 1-2 1, Olivia Lydon 0 0-0 0, Carmen Mott 0 0-0 0, Tiara Bazemore 1 1-2 3. Totals 10 3-14 26.

Pitman1018137-48
Salem Tech5794-26
3-point goals: Salem Tech 3 (Liber 3). Rebounds: Salem Tech 35 (Delaine 8, Mott 7).

Boys games

PENNS GROVE 80, PENNSVILLE 16: The Red Devils went out 17-0 in the first five minutes and got scoring from 13 players.

Will Roy led the assault with 13 points, nine in the first quarter. Zane Thomas and Geonni Conrad had 11 apiece, and Jameel Horace had 10.

“That’s what we’re looking for,” Penns Grove coach Damien Ware said. “We have 10 to 12 guys who can play, contribute for us, so that’s really what we want to do on a night-in, night-out basis. If we can just play together. I tell them (to) play consistent.

“We’ve been playing good in stretches. We play good for five minutes and play bad for five minutes. Once we get to the point where we’re playing consistently good basketball we’re going to be tough to beat. We’re pretty deep. We have a lot of guys who can play, so we’ll be tough to deal with.”

PENNS GROVE (14-8): Roman Gipson 0 0-0 0, Carson Pearsall 4 0-0 9, Haneef Frisby 1 0-0 2, Will Roy 6 0-0 13, Mishawn Brantley 3 0-0 6, Geonni Conrad 5 0-0 11, Luis Colon 2 0-0 4, Jameel Horace 5 0-0 10, Jeremy Costacamps 1 0-0 2, Jerry Wooten 1 1-1 3, Ahkeen Edwards 1 0-0 2, Messiah Allah 0 2-2 2, Eli Pearsall 1 0-0 3, James Minor 0 2-2 2, Zane Thomas 4 3-3 11. Totals 34 8-8 80.
PENNSVILLE (3-17): Jake Layfield 0 0-0 0, Shamir Watkins 1 0-0 2, Gavin Spears 0 0-0 0, Danny Knight 1 0-0 3, Jake Farina 2 0-0 6, Trey Clevinger 2 0-0 5, Colin Keenan 0 0-0 0, Liam Crane 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 0-0 16.

Penns Grove25252010-80
Pennsville3562-16
3-point goals: Penns Grove 4 (Pearsall, Roy, Conrad, E. Pearsall); Pennsville 4 (Knight, Farina 2, Clevinger). Total fouls: Penns Grove 3, Pennsville 4.

SALEM 60, PAULSBORO 54: Tymear Lecator scored 21 points to inch closer to 1,000 career points and hit two free throws in a one-point game to keep the Red Raiders at arm’s length. The junior guard needs 22 points to hit the milestone going into Tuesday’s game with Penns Grove. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Deshaan Williams and BJ Robbins added nine points apiece for the Rams (17-4), the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group I power points standings and No. 2 seed in the upcoming Tri-County Conference Tournament. Marshall Stephens and Donnie Weathers both grabbed 10 rebounds Stephens also blocked three shots.

The Rams came from eight down at halftime to take a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Red Raiders got within 54-53, then Lecator hit two free throws to stretch the lead and the Rams (17-4) closed it out from the line. They were 18-of-27 from the line in the game as a team, Lecator was 8-for-10.

When the milestone comes, he’ll be the 18th Salem player on the Salem County boys 1,000-point list.

“I’m not anxious, I know what work I put in and that never lies,” he said. “I’m just looking at it like another game and it’ll definitely be a blessing to hopefully reach the milestone tomorrow.”

SALEM (17-4): Donnie Weathers 2 1-2 5, Xavier McGriff 1 0-0 2, Neziah Spence 0 2-4 2, Tymear Lecator 5 8-10 21, Fatah Paige 1 0-0 2, Deshaan Williams 3 3-4 9, BJ Robbins 4 0-0 9, Marshall Stephens 3 0-1 6, Darrelle Johnson 0 4-6 4. Totals 19 18-27 60.
PAULSBORO (9-10): Malakai McKenzie 4 11-14 21, Jeremiah Carr 3 4-9 10, Jeff Taylor 2 0-0 6, LaShawn Clay 2 0-0 5, Dayvon Kersey 1 1-2 4, Jamal Robinson 1 1-2 3, Khalil Streater 1 1-2 3, Jakai Bennett 0 2-4 2. Totals 14 20-33 54.

Salem1392018-60
Paulsboro1317816-54
3-point goals: Salem 4 (Lecator 3, Robbins); Paulsboro 6 (McKenzie 2, Taylor 2, Clay, Kersey). Rebounds: Salem (Lecator 8, Williams 7, Johnson 7, Stephens 10, Weathers 10); Paulsboro 30 (Carr 7, Bennett 7).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTALNEXT
Tymear Lecator, Salem21 vs. Paulsboro978vs. Penns Grove, Tues.

WOODSTOWN 46, SCHALICK 33: The teams played even for a half, but Woodstown came out of the break in a strong defensive posture and pulled away. The Wolverines held them hosts to two points in the third quarter to pull ahead, then kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter.

“No special adjustment,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “We just played harder in the second (half),.”

Elijah Caesar led Woodstown’s offense with 14 points. Blake Bialecki added 12, including his 194th career 3-pointer, and went over 200 career assists. Kade Macom led the Cougars with a career-tying 16 points.

WOODSTOWN (14-8): Elijah Caesar 7 0-0 14, Blake Bialecki 4 2-2 12, Lucas Fulmer 0 2-2 2, Andrew White 2 2-4 7, Frank Hoerst 0 0-0 0, Alejandro Vazquez 2 0-2 5, Josh King 3 0-0 6, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-10 46.
SCHALICK (9-11): Julian Dickerson 4 0-0 10, Orion Baldwin 1 0-0 3, Dylan Sheehan 1 0-0 2, Kade Macom 6 2-2 16, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 2-2 33.

Woodstown1312813-46
Schalick121227-33
3-point goals: Woodstown 4 (Bialecki 2, White, Vazquez); Schalick 5 (Dickerson 2, Baldwin, Macom 2).

PITMAN 52, SALEM TECH 31: The Panthers controlled the game by dominating the first and third quarters. Peter DeChristopher led the effort with 16 points, four 3-pointers and six rebounds. Lucas Razze had six points, seven assists and five steals. Aiden Bobo led the Chargers’ offense with 10 points.

SALEM TECH (2-16): Chase Pompper 2 1-2 5, Luke Kroll 2 0-0 6, Ayden Myers 1 0-0 3, Raphael Busch 2 0-0 4, Sterling Lewis 1 1-2 3. Totals 12 3-6 31.
PITMAN (9-13): Lucas Razze 2 1-2 6, Parker DeChristopher 6 0-0 16, Joey Zubert 4 0-0 9, Jake Bowen-Ashwin 1 1-2 3, Jay Craig 4 0-0 8, Oliver Spier 3 0-0 8, Micah Frost 0 0-0 0, Michael Aubrey 0 0-0 0, Kiernan Clark 0 0-0 0, Liam Etter 1 0-0 2, Brady Green 0 0-0 0, Brayden Geary 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-4 52.

Salem Tech312313-31
Pitman1911184-52
3-point goals: Salem Tech 4 (Kroll 2, Myers, Bobo); Pitman 8 (Razze, DeChristopher 4, Zubert, Spier 2). Rebounds: Pitman 27 (DeChristopher 6, Craig 6).

Indoor track

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Salem’s Amiyah Jones and Pennsville’s Aubrey Manorowitz both posted Top 10 finishes in jumping events to headline the Salem County performers at the SJTCA Meet at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Facility.

Jones was fourth in the girls long jump (15-7) and eighth in the girls triple jump (30-9.75). Manorowitz placed fifth in the girls high jump (4-10).

TCC Tournament

Salem pulls down No. 2 seed in boys championship bracket; Kingsway No. 1 boys seed, Gloucester Catholic No. 1 girls seed; tournament starts Friday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Salem’s approach of playing anybody, anywhere, any time and having some success in it landed it the No. 2 seed among the boys and five total Salem County teams made their respective championship brackets in the Tri-County Conference tournament that starts Friday.

The 16-4 Rams, the TCC Classic Division champions and current South Jersey Group 1 No. 1, drew a first-round bye with the other three division winners when the tournament pairings dropped Monday and are the highest seeded Salem County team in either field. They will host the Penns Grove-Williamstown winner in the quarterfinals next Monday.

“We have been able to take care of business during the regular season to put ourselves in this position,” Rams coach Anthony Farmer said. “Now we have to go finish the job.”

Kingsway (No. 1), Delsea and Overbrook are the other three boys top seeds. Gloucester Catholic (No. 1), Wildwood, Glassboro and Timber Creek are the top four seeds in the girls bracket.

Penns Grove (No. 10) and Woodstown (No. 11) are the other two Salem County teams in the boys championship bracket. Pennsville (No. 9) and Woodstown (No. 11) are the two county teams in the girls championship bracket.

All the other county teams were placed in what the conference is calling the “post-season bracket.” Teams that lose in the opening round can play a second game unless they mutually opt out of the matchup. 

Anthony Farmer has the Salem Rams No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings and the No. 2 seed in the Tri-County Tournament. The boys championship bracket is in the top photo.

TCC officials seeded the top 12 teams in each championship bracket according to South Jersey power points, rewarding the four division winners with first-round byes. Other tiebreakers were in place for divisions not decided by Sunday’s deadline and teams could jump seed if they had the head-to-head edge over the team immediately above them in the rankings.

Pennsville and Glassboro are currently tied for the Diamond Division girls lead – Pennsville can clinch a share of its first division title since 1988 today at Penns Grove – but Glassboro got the bye with a better overall record (and power points), and Wildwood overtook the Bulldogs for the 2 seed by virtue of winning their regular-season meeting.
 
Teams that finished 13 through 23 in the power points standings went to the post-season bracket. Schalick’s girls had the best luck of the local teams on the bubble. The Cougars (13-5) came in at 13 overall, but grabbed the No. 1 seed in their bracket with a first-round bye.

All games in the post-season bracket will be played at the higher seed. The first three rounds of the championship bracket will be played at the higher seed with the finals played in a boys-girls doubleheader at Washington Twp. Feb. 21.

“We are excited to be in a position to have the tournament run through Pittsgrove,” Schalick coach John Whelan said. “It’s another step in the right direction for this team.

“The girls have earned this opportunity and they are excited about having home court advantage. Our parents, fans and student section have been great recently creating a fun atmosphere to play in.

“Coach (Les) Berry and I are proud of the girls for everything they’ve accomplished so far and we are excited to see where this opportunity takes us.”

The girls Championship Bracket for the Tri-County Basketball Tournament.



TCC BOYS TOURNAMENT
Championship Bracket
Friday’s games
Game 1: No. 9 Clearview (9-13) at No. 8 Timber Creek (10-10)
Game 2: No. 12 Gloucester Catholic (8-14) at No. 5 Deptford (18-4)
Game 3: No. 11 Woodstown (13-8) at No. 6 Cumberland (15-8)
Game 4: No. 10 Penns Grove (13-8) at No. 7 Williamstown (13-8)

Feb. 17
Game 5: Clearview-Timber Creek winner at No. 1 Kingsway (14-9)
Game 6: Gloucester Catholic-Deptford winner at No. 4 Overbrook (16-6)
Game 7: Woodstown-Cumberland winner at No. 3 Delsea (12-9)
Game 8: Penns Grove-Williamstown at No. 2 Salem (16-4)

Feb. 19 (at higher seed)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Feb. 21
At Washington Twp. HS
Championship game, 11 a.m.

Postseason Bracket
Friday’s games
Game 1: No. 9 Schalick (9-10) at No. 8 Clayton (7-12)
Game 2: No. 5 Glassboro (6-13) bye
Game 3: No. 11 Salem Tech (2-15) at No. 6 Wildwood (13-8)
Game 4: No. 10 Pennsville (3-17) at No. 7 Highland (5-16)

Feb. 17
Game 5: Schalick-Clayton winner at No. 1 GCIT (10-10)
Game 6: Glassboro at No. 4 Triton (7-14)
Game 7: Salem Tech-Wildwood winner at No. 3 Pitman (8-13)
Game 8: Pennsville-Highland winner at No. 2 Washington Twp. (7-15)

Feb. 19 (at higher seed)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Feb. 21 (at higher seed)
Championship game


TCC GIRLS TOURNAMENT
Championship Bracket
Friday’s games
Game 2: No. 12 Cumberland (10-11) at No. 5 Clearview (13-8)
Game 3: No. 11 Woodstown (9-12) at No. 6 Kingsway (14-8)
Game 4: No. 10 Triton (11-10) at No. 7 Washington Twp. (12-8)
Saturday’s games
Game 1: No. 9 Pennsville (13-6) at No. 8 Delsea (12-9)

Feb. 17
Game 5: Pennsville-Delsea winner at No. 1 Gloucester Catholic (17-3)
Game 6: Cumberland-Clearview winner at No. 4 Timber Creek (12-7)
Game 7: Woodstown-Kingsway winner at No. 3 Glassboro (15-6)
Game 8: Triton-Washington Twp. winner at No. 2 Wildwood (14-6)

Feb. 19 (at higher seed)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Feb. 21
At Washington Twp. HS
Championship game, 1 p.m.

Postseason Bracket
Friday’s games
Game 1: No. 9 Pitman (3-13) at No. 8 Highland (2-19)
Game 2: No. 5 Salem (8-8) bye
Game 3: No. 11 Salem Tech (2-12) at No. 6 Clayton (7-11)
Game 4: No. 10 Penns Grove (2-17) at No. 7 Overbrook (4-16)

Feb. 17
Game 5: Pitman-Highland at No. 1 Schalick (13-5)
Game 6: No. 5 Salem at No. 4 Williamstown (4-15)
Game 7: Salem Tech-Clayton winner at No. 3 GCIT (5-16)
Game 8: Penns Grove-Overbrook winner at Deptford (8-13)

Feb. 19
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Feb. 21 (at higher seed)
Championship game

Season records as of Feb. 8

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 9-15

MONDAY, FEB. 9
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Paulsboro, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Pitman, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Schalick, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Pitman at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m.
Schalick at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m.
INDOOR TRACK
Pennsville, Salem at Ocean Breeze, 4:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Salem, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Delsea girls at Schalick, 5 p.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 5 p.m.
Penns Grove at Palmyra, 5:30 p.m.
Cedar Creek at Schalick, 6 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Union at Salem CC, 5 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Salem CC at Morris, TBA

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Pitman, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Oakcrest at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Pitman at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Pennsville, Salem at Overbrook Girls Jamboree, 5 p.m.
Salem at Willingboro, 5 p.m.
Pennsville at Haddon Heights, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wildwood at Salem, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Camden at Salem CC, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 13
BOYS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Clearview at Timber Creek
Gloucester Catholic at Deptford
Woodstown at Cumberland
Penns Grove at Williamstown
Postseason Bracket
Schalick at Clayton
Salem Tech at Wildwood
Pennsville at Highland
GIRLS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Cumberland at Clearview
Woodstown at Kingsway
Triton at Washington Twp.
Postseason Bracket
Pitman at Highland
Salem Tech at Clayton
Penns Grove at Overbrook
WRESTLING
Schalick, Burlington Twp., Cherry Hill West at Maple Shade, 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14
BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem Tech at Salem, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Haddonfield, 11:30 a.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Pennsville at Delsea
WRESTLING
Highland, Mainland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Woodstown, Allentown, Haddon Heights at Delran, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Sussex at Salem CC, 2 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Essex at Salem CC, noon

SUNDAY, FEB. 15
INDOOR TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals at Bennett Complex, 9 a.m.

Salem County Saturday

Here are the scores and details from Saturday’s Salem County sports calendar; includes basketball, wrestling

BOYS BASKETBALL
Deptford 68, Penns Grove 62
Woodstown 66, Pennsville 21
Battle by the Bay, Atlantic City
Cherry Hill East 73, Salem 56

By Riverview Sports News

ATLANTIC CITY — Salem had hoped to get off to a hot start in its highly charged Battle By The Bay matchup with Cherry Hill East. Instead, the Rams fell behind out of the gate and although they played even in the second half fell 73-56.

It was a battle between the No. 2 teams in the South Jersey Group I power points standings against the No. 1 in SJ Group 4.

The Cougars (19-2) ran out to an 11-1 lead and held the Rams (16-4) without a field goal until Deshaan Williams’ put back with 3:22 left in the first quarter. It was 17-9 after the first quarter and 39-22 at halftime.

The Cougars were aware of the damage Salem guard Tymear Lecator could inflict and held him to nine points, the first time he’s been out of double figures in 12 games. The junior guard is now 43 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Neziah Spence led Salem with 21 points, tying his career high, set earlier this year against A.I. duPont.

Chris Delgado led CHE with 19 points. Justin Farber had 15 points and Chris Abreu 14. The Cougars hit nine 3-pointers in the game. Salem was 3-of-13 from behind the arc.

CHERRY HILL EAST 73, SALEM 56
CHERRY HILL EAST (19-2): Chris Abreu 4 5-7 14, Chris Delgado 7 3-3 19, Justin Farber 5 3-4 15, Noah’s Marciano 2 0-0 5, Rya Olson 1 0-0 2, Noah Johnson 3 1-4 9, Kristian Glenn 3 0-0 7, Jaden Green 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 12-18 73
SALEM (16-4): Marshall Stephens 1 0-2 4, Xavier McGriff 1 2-2 4, Neziah Spence 6 6-7 21, Tymear Lecator 3 3-3 9, Deshaan Williams 2 1-2 5, BJ Robbins 1 0-2 2, Darrelle Johnson 2 0-0 4, Fatah Paige 2 1-4 5, Donnie Weathers 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 13-24 56.

Cherry Hill East17221519-73
Salem9131420-56
3-point goals: CHE 9 (Abreu, Delgado 2, Farber 2, Marciano, Johnson 2, Glenn); Salem 3 (Spence 3). Rebounds: CHE 27 (Marciano6, Abreu 6); Salem 42 (Weathers 9Paige 7, Johnson6).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTALNEXT
Tymear Lecator, Salem 9 vs. Cherry Hill East957at Paulsboro, Monday

WOODSTOWN 66, PENNSVILLE 21: Alejandro Vazquez tied his season-high with four 3-pointers and scored 18 points, Lucas Fulmer hit three 3s and scored a career-high 17 points, and the Wolverines opened a big halftime lead. Vazquez scored 15 points in the first half as the Wolverines opened a 45-9 lead. Danny Knight had 13 of the Eagles’ 21 points.

PENNSVILLE (3-17): Jake Layfield 0 0-0 0, Gavin Spears 0 0-0 0, Aidan Clark 0 0-2 0, Danny Knight 4 2-4 13, Jake Farina 2 0-0 6, Shamir Watkins 0 0-0 0, Keevan 0 0-0 0, Trey Clevinger 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 2-6 21.
WOODSTOWN (13-8): Eli Caesar 1 0-0 2, Jalen Markward 3 1-3 7, Blake Bialecki 3 0-0 8, Alejandro Vazquez 7 0-0 18, John Hood-McGinley 0 0-0 0, Josh King 1 0-0 2, Andrew White 2 0-0 5, Trey Markward 1 0-0 2, Lucas Fulmer 6 1-2 16, Bryce Ayers 1 0-2 2, Brian Booker 0 0-0 0, Frank Hoerst 1 0-0 2, Connor Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 2-7 66.

Pennsville6384-21
Woodstown19261110-66
3-point goals: Pennsville 5 (Knight 3, Farina 2); Woodstown 10 (Bialecki 2, Vazquez 4, White, Fulmer 3). Total fouls: Pennsville 5, Woodstown 4.

DEPTFORD 68, PENNS GROVE 62: Both teams had three scorers in double figures, but the Spartans’ trio outscored Penns Grove’s 52-41. Deptford’s Jordan Williams led all scorers with 24 points, Luke Vilary had 17 and Kenny Cockrell had a double-double (11/10 assists). The Red Devils got 15 points apiece from Roman Gipson and Geonni Conrad. Carson Pearsall had 11.

PENNS GROVE (13-8): Roman Gipson 7 1-1 15, Haneef Frisby 4 0-0 8, Geonni Conrad 5 5-7 15, Mishawn Brantley 2 0-0 5, Carson Pearsall 4 2-3 11, Jameel Horace 3 2-2 8, Will Roy 0 0-0 0, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-13 62.
DEPTFORD (18-4): Luke Vilary 7 0-0 17, Brian Orio 1 0-0 2, Jordan Williams 11 0-0 24, Kenny Cockerill 3 5-5 11, Mike Yankowski 2 1-2 5, Antoine Sims 1 0-0 2, Bryce Tull 3 0-0 7. Totals 28 6-7 68.

Penns Grove17141714-62
Deptford20171714-68
3-point goals: Penns Grove 2 (Brantley, Pearsall); Deptford 7 (Vilary 3, Williams 2, Tull 2).

Wrestling

WILLIAMSTOWN 40, WOODSTOWN 30
106: Ayden Danley (WI) pinned TJ Conto, 0:44
113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) won by forfeit
120: Carson Bradway (WO) dec. Maddox Slotnick, 4-2
126: Freedom Neff (WI) pinned Walker Battavio, 5:52
132: Joseph Lascala (WI) dec. Barry Coverly, 7-3
138: Jayden Hennessy (WI) tech fall over Luke Woronicak, 18-1 (3:25)
144: Ahmed Valverde (WI) pinned Nehemiah Carter, 2:32
150: Ryan Douk (W) tech fall over Mathyias Ellis, 15-0 (5:54)
157: Jack Masterson (WI) pinned Chance Bayonne, 2:17
165: Logan Warfield (WO) dec.Aiden Garcia, SV-1, 19-12
175: Greyson Hyland (WO) pinned Aiden Garcia, 4:37
190: Karlens Borgart (WI) dec. Asher Fitzpatrick, 6-4
215: Bradley Snitcher (WO) pinned Bernardo DeJesus, 1:37
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Logan Kennedy, 0:19


PENNSVILLE QUAD
CLEARVIEW 48, PENNSVILLE 24
106: Brett Land (P) won by forfeit
113: Johnathan Contravo (CL) dec. Erick Davalos, 5-4
120: Michael Lloyd (CL) dec. Earl Wynn, 10-6
126: Jason Hughes (CL) dec. Mehki Dicks, 11-6
132: Landon Wright (CL) maj. dec. Chase Baker, 11-3
138: Ethan Calhoun (CL) pinned Vincent Grether
144: Lucas Gandy (CL) tech fall over nathaniel Mason, 18-2
150: Travis Hagan (P) pinned Logan Wright
157: Elijah Beatty (CL) pinned Gabe Supernavage
165: Tyler Trovato (CL) pinned Robbie McDade
175: Julian Malatesta (CL) pinned Cristian Blyler
190: Stephen Pangle (P) pinned Antonio Green
215: Aaron Veytsman (CL) won by forfeit
285: Jacob Hand (P) won by forfeit

OAKCREST QUAD
OAKCREST 70, SALEM 12
106: Giovanni Taylor (O) won by forfeit
113: Mason Sanchez (O) won by forfeit
120: Joseph Sanchez (O) tech fall over Zachary Tortella, 17-2
126: Keagan Santana (O) tech fall over Jesiyah Tomlinson, 18-2
132: Nikoloz Tchikadze (O) won by forfeit
138: Brodie Parker (S) pinned Kevin Longo
144: Aiden Xayaphachan (O) pinned Joseph Goetaski
150: Ziyon Moore (S) pinned Gavin Gabriel
157: Malik Hughes (O) won by forfeit
165: Adrienn Aponte (O) pinned Jordan Brown
175: Gunnar Olivieri (O) won by forfeit
190: Nyree Montford (O) won by forfeit
215: Nicholas Bellace (O) won by forfeit
285: Youssef Nossair (O) pinned Abdullah Jenkins

STERLING 65, SALEM 15
113: Gavin Kangas (ST) won by forfeit
120: Lucas Romano (ST) tech fall over Zachary Tortella, 19-4
126: Chris Gallucci (ST) pinned Jesiyah Tomlinson, 1:32
132: Guylherme Quintanilha (SA) pinned Ryan Pleis, 0:35
138: Marlon Williams (ST) pinned Brodie Parker, 0:56
144: Joseph Goetaski (SA) dec. Sebastian Adams, 11-10
150: Chase Szpargowski (ST) won by forfeit
157: Mason Marvin (ST) won by forfeit
165: Victor Romano (ST) pinned Jordan Brown, 1:31
175: Rene Camacho (ST) won by forfeit
190: Julian O’Donnell (ST) won by forfeit
215: Liam Crawford (ST) won by forfeit
285: Abdullah Jenkins (SA) won by med. forfeit
106: Luciano Pizzo (ST) won by forfeit

PENNS GROVE QUAD
LINDENWOLD 35, PENNS GROVE 24
106: Jose Santiago (P) won by forfeit
113: Double forfeit
120: Double forfeit
126: Adan Gonzalez (P) won by forfeit
132: Nyla West (P) won by forfeit
138: Joshua Knight (L) pinned Cristian Garcia, 1:04
144: Brandon Caro (L) won by forfeit
150: Ravon Jackson (L) tech fall over Angel Ocasio, 25-10
157: AbdulMuta’Alie IbnAbdulHailm Tart (P) pinned Kane Castner, 2:49
165: Angel Ramos (L) pinned Rogelio Fraga-Martinez, 0:23
175: Raheem Johnson (L) won by forfeit
190: Double forfeit
215: Julian Sanchez (L) dec. Antonio Cooper, 6-3
285: Mekhi Collins (L) dec. Maliq Reddick, 5-1

VINELAND 57, PENNS GROVE 22
120: Joseph Ruberti (V) won by forfeit
126: Nick Garreffi (V) dec. Adan Gonzalez , SV-1 17-14
132: Donnie Tharp (V) pinned Nyhla West, 1:15
138: Jayden Minkowski (V) pinned Cristian Garcia, 0:41
144: Angel Ocasio (P) pinned Joel Acosta, 1:15
150: Ismael Rodriguez (V) won by forfeit
157: AbdulMuta’Alie IbnAbdulHailm Tart (P) won by forfeit
165: Cameron Herman (V) pinned Rogelio Fraga-Martinez, 0:11
175: Cris Lopez Perez (V) won by forfeit
190: Ethyn Mercado (V) won by forfeit
215: Antonio Cooper (P) won by forfeit
285: Brian McCarter (V) pinned Maliq Reddick, 3:51
106: Jose Santiago (P) maj. dec. Jeremiah Rosa, 23-10
113: Santino Machinsky (V) won by forfeit

WINSLOW 66, PENNS GROVE 18
113: Christopher Steed (WI) won by forfeit
120: Aaden King (WI) won by forfeit
126: Alverse Cannon (WI) pinned Adan Gonzalez, 0:49
132: Nathan Downey (WI) pinned Nyhla West, 0:35
138: Noah Young (WI) pinned Cristian Garcia, 0:50
144: Nathan Smalls (WI) pinned Angel Ocasio, 5:03
150: Chase Hamilton (WI) won by forfeit
157: AbdulMuta’Alie IbnAbdulHailm Tart (P) pinned Luke Virogito, 1:36
165: Emilian Sanchez-Thompkins pinned Rogelio Fraga-Martinez, 1:57
175: Pablo Hernandez (WI) won by forfeit
190: London Brown (WI) won by forfeit
215: Antonio Cooper (P) pinned Make Coney, 1:22
285: Izuchukwu Ugwuzor (WI) pinned Maliq Reddick, 0:43
106: Jose Santiago (P) pinned Jason Green, 0:58

Reaching the bar

Salem CC men match last year’s win total; women’s program dealing with serious personnel issue that postponed Saturday’s game

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News


CARNEYS POINT — The engine driving this year’s Salem CC basketball team is the desire to clear the lofty bar raised by last year’s national tournament team.

This year’s team can say it’s at least reached the bar after Saturday’s 100-67 win over CC of Philadelphia. By winning, the third-ranked Mighty Oaks (26-1) have matched last season’s win total — in seven fewer games.

“It just adds more fuel to the fire,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “I always compare us to the last year’s team because they set a real high bar. Coming into the situation I knew we would have to pick up right where they left off.

“They had some unfinished business. They won the regional, but they left nationals and the conference on the table, so this year I wanted to come and get all three. That’s still the goal.”

He’s not the only one who feels that way.

“I feel like we done better than them right now, but we’re not done until we win the national championship,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “Once we solidify the national championship, that’s when I feel like we did better than last year’s team.”

“It’s like bragging rights,” added freshman Idris Rines. “We always try to brag and say like we’re better than last year’s team, so just matching their win total with however many games left just means bragging rights.”

This year’s team is ahead of last year’s historic season in so many ways. They are currently statistically better in at least four major categories. Saturday was the 12th time this team has hit the 100-point mark (last year it was four). They are third in JUCO Division III in scoring (95.0), first in field goal percentage and second in assists. 

But Mighty Oaks head coach Mike Green would throttle back the enthusiasm just a bit. He’s glad this year’s team has big goals of its own, but right now they’re talking about two different ballgames.

“26-1 don’t raise no banner; you got to win championships, you gotta win games,” he said. “This team is tough, they’re winning games. They’re doing everything they’re supposed to do, I don’t think it’s got nothing to do with last year’s team. Last year’s team was special in its own way. This year is another special year. It’s not complete so it’s hard to measure those two.”

Little and Wright did all they could to make Saturday happen. They both came within one assist of a triple-double. Little had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Wright had 14 points and 11 rebounds. 

They would’ve gotten it, too, Green suggested, had the Mighty Oaks not gone through “a five- or six-minute stall” late in the second half. “Every minute counts,” the coach said.

Wright came close to getting his second triple-double of the season. He went on 2-on-1 break with Nayeem Johnson in the closing seconds, passed it over to Johnson for what would have been an easy layup, but instead of taking the shot, Johnson alley-ooped it to Wright for a game-ended slam.

“It definitely feels good to show my versatility on the floor,” Wright said. “Same thing with Jarrell. A lot of people fall in love with the fact he can score, but there is a bunch of other things he can do. That’s what I try to tell him every day. If you use yourself are way more aspects than just scoring that’s what’s going to elevate your game.”

Green said Thursday the team “got Little back” after his leading scorer’s shooting confidence seemed to return in their win over Harrisburg Area. He didn’t think he was even going to play after hurting his shoulder Thursday, but after going 9-for-14 from the floor Saturday – 7-of-9 for 15 points in the second half – Little proclaimed he was “fully back.” 

“At halftime MG told me I had seven rebounds,” Little said. “I didn’t know how many assists I had (three) so I was just playing for the double-double. Once we got at the end of the game they told me you need one more assist. I was trying to get it, but it just didn’t happen. The crazy thing is I wasn’t supposed to play today.”

“That’s Jarrell, man,” Green said. “That’s the kid who early in the year was a player of the year candidate. He’s out of his funk it seems and he’s a weapon.”

Three other players scored in double figures. Idris Rines had a career-high 19 in his first college start, Zyaire Gibson had 14 and Johnson had 18 off the bench. Another interesting stat: They had 33 total assists (for 42 buckets) and only 11 turnovers.

Rines and Johnson have been making big contributions off the bench all year. Rines was the natural choice for the start after when Phillips tweaked his knee early in the HACC game and couldn’t go Saturday.

He looked a little uncomfortable early, but quickly settled into his rhythm. He also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“I started in high school so it wasn’t really anything big for me, but I think it just shows the trust MG (Green) has in me so that gave me a boost of confidence,” Rines said. “It meant a lot, starting any game, especially in college, because college nowadays it’s hard to start. It didn’t hit me until like two minutes in and then I’m like this is a regular basketball game.”

Johnson seemed to make a pitch to be the next second unit player to make a start, hitting three 3s in a row in the first half to help the Mighty Oaks take control of the game.

To Green, there’s no difference between the starters and the backups.

“People get caught up on starters and all that,” Green said. “Idris plays starters minutes, that’s what he should be doing with them. We’ve got nine guys who can start on any other team in this region and they know it.”

SALEM CC 100, PHILADELPHIA 67 
PHILADELPHIA (11-11): Buster Fallah 6-18 11-18 23, Robert Perry 4-4 2-2 10, Amaury Hunter 1-5 2-2 4, Jaques Aurel Silue 2-5 2-4 7, Sekou Kamara 0-0 0-0 0, Christopher Jones 1-10 0-0 2, Jonathan Miller 7-15 3-4 18, Marques Robinson-Myricks 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 22-59 20-30 67.
SALEM CC (26-1): Jarrell Little 9-14 0-0 20, Saaid Lee 4-10 0-0 9, Zayire Gibson 5-12 1-1 14, Nasseem Wright 6-12 1-1 14, Idris Rines 8-11 2-3 19, Jahseir Sayles 1-4 0-0 2, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Nayeem Johnson 7-14 1-2 18, Mike Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 42-79 5-7 100.

Philadelphia2542-67
Salem CC4456-100

3-point goals: Philadelphia 3-17 (Fallah 0-4, Hunter 0-3, Aurel Silue 1-2, Jones 0-3, Miller 1-4, Robinson-Myricks 1-1); Salem CC 11-33 (Little 2-6, Lee 1-3, Gibson 3-10, Wright 1-3, Rines 1-3, Sayles 0-3, Johnson 3-5). Rebounds: Philadelphia 30 (Miller 8, Fallah 6); Salem CC 47 (Little 12, Wright 11). Technical fouls: Wright, Green. Fouled out: Lee. Total fouls: Philadelphia 13, Salem CC 23.

Top photo: Idris Rines (24), Jarrell Little (1) and Nasseem Wright all played big roles in Salem CC’s win over Philadelphia.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
SALEM CC (3)13-126-118-1
Northampton (10)14-222-3
Brookdale (RV)14-318-712-4
Montgomery (8)12-316-4
Camden11-316-911-8
Union (9)12-419-711-3
Bergen10-713-1213-11
Ocean8-713-119-9
Atlantic Cape8-712-129-8
RCSJ-Cumberland6-89-157-11
RCSJ-Gloucester6-99-183-15
Thaddeus Stevens5-910-12
Philadelphia4-1011-11
Harrisburg Area4-105-16
Delaware County3-135-19
Sussex2-127-194-11
Passaic2-144-213-15
Luzerne1-134-20

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking


SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 100, Philadelphia 67
Camden 73, Union 68
Montgomery 70, Bergen 69
Brookdale 87, Luzerne 60
Delaware County 81, Sussex 76
Morris 80, Delaware Tech 77
RCSJ-Cumberland 82, Ocean 77
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester 94, Passaic 89 (OT)
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Harcum 101, Lackawanna 69
Northampton 75, Atlantic Cape 72 (OT)
Westchester 89, Middlesex 67

Women’s game postponed, issues

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s game at Middlesex Saturday was postponed and the remainder of the season in doubt following an incident in Pennsville over the weekend said to involve several players.

Athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed the game’s postponed, citing “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give additional details. Pennsville police officials were not immediately available.

Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said they were working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest.

The Salem women are 3-16 and have four games left. The Mighty Oaks don’t play another region game until Saturday, so another postponement is plausible. They are scheduled to play Morris Club on the road Tuesday.

“We don’t play another region game until next Saturday, so if we had to make a decision for Tuesday it would be an easy one just because it’s already a club game because Morris moved to club,” Hughes said. “That’s the most I can say about it. We will evaluate it on Monday.

“Right now we are day by day with this. We could not play the game today due to a personnel issue.”

The team only has eight players so any incident involving multiple players could leave it without enough players to either be competitive or continue altogether. Injuries forced them reschedule three games earlier this season so they would have enough players available to play.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION IIR19ALLGSAC
Harcum (3)12-021-1
Union (12)11-220-38-0
Mercer (14)10-218-35-1
Essex7-515-64-4
Raritan Valley4-78-153-4
Delaware Tech4-88-15
Middlesex3-99-160-6
SALEM CC2-103-160-5
Lackawanna1-114-15
Morris0-00-70-0

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex, ppd.
Philadelphia 61, Camden 48
RCSJ-Gloucester 59, Passaic 49
Northampton 77, Atlantic Cape 62
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Harcum 106, Lackawanna 34

Learning on the go

Pennsville girls win third straight for new coach on Senior Night; Robinson comes to life in second half to lead Schalick

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 44, Millville 38
Schalick 42, Penns Grove 37

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – There are still some things about this head coaching stuff Robin Efelis is still getting used to.

The interim Pennsville girls basketball coach was down on the floor doing a couple post-game interviews Friday after the Eagles put away Millville 44-38 on Senior Night – an exercise she repeated a couple times that she’s never done before – when assistant coach Ryan Wood ducked his head out of the locker room and asked if she wanted to talk to the team.

Something else she hadn’t done before.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for all this,” she said. “I’m just trying to go from one day to the next, you know.

“This week has been really hard, but the girls are settled, they’re trying their hardest, I can’t ask for any more.

There are a lot of things different from her time as an assistant for the Eagles’ last two girls basketball coaches. When you’re the assistant you can always defer to the head coach. When you’re the head coach, the buck stops here.

Efelis was installed as the interim head coach Monday following the abrupt resignation of former coach Steve Merritt on the eve of one of the Eagles’ biggest games of the season. She accepted the assignment with the aim of keeping the girls together and the team on track to secure a share of its first division title since 1987-88.

So far, so good. The Eagles are 3-0 since the change with wins over Woodstown, Schalick and Millville, and have won five in a row overall. They can clinch that elusive division title with a win at Penns Grove Monday and can claim it outright with a win and a Glassboro loss to Clayton Wednesday.

“I think everyone is taking the change well,” senior guard Marley Wood said. “I don’t think anyone’s playing bad. I think everyone’s taking it very well.

“Everyone’s been really pumped up. We made some changes to our offense because of the different coaching styles that Ms. Efelis and Merritt and my dad have. Everyone’s been super pumped. We love basketball, so that’s all we really care about, and being together as a team.”

To give Efelis some help, Eagles athletics director Jamy Thomas reached out late Monday night to longtime Pennsville coach Ryan Wood to be the assistant coach.

The former boys basketball and football coach has coached seven of the players on the team, including all four of the seniors recognized before Friday’s game, which he said makes the transition “a little bit easier.” He was doing the X and O detail during the timeouts in Friday night’s game.

“He’s trying to help me,” Efelis said. “I listen to how he talks. I used to listen to Sam (Trapp) talk, how she talks (to the players), and I get more out of that trying to see how to maneuver the girls to be the best they can be.”

Looking at it as a career coach, Wood said Efelis is doing just fine.

“She is wonderful,” he said. “The girls love her; she’s great with the girls. She does a lot of stuff and I take care of a lot of X and O stuff.

“I don’t think you really learn how to become a head coach until it’s thrust upon you. There’s a big difference between being an assistant and being ‘the guy.’ It’s two different things.”

One of the benefits of being the team’s assistant is it gives him the chance to coach his daughter, Marley, again. It’s been a joy for both of them.

“I had no idea (he was going to be asked),” Marley said. “My dad told me they asked him to coach and I was like, OK. I was excited because I love having my dad as a coach. He coached for a little bit my sophomore and freshman year, which was nice, and then last year and this year he didn’t. Having him back has been nice.”

“Having the opportunity to coach my daughter is always a special thing, for anybody,” Papa Wood said. “I’m just here to support Robin in any way I can.”

Both teams got off to a slow start Friday. The Eagles scored the last five points of the second quarter to take a 16-12 halftime lead. Millville got within one in the third quarter, 22-21, then Taylor Bass made a bucket and Wood hit a 3-pointer and the Eagles never led by less than three the rest of the game.

“We had a slow start, but the second half everyone stepped it up,” Marley Wood said. “It’s really nice to win on your Senior Day.”

To mark the occasion, seniors Wood, Bass, Izzy Saulin and Kylie Harris started with sophomore Addie Johnston. The four senior players and a senior manager, a former player, have combined for 2,835 points and 60 wins in their career.

Wood scored 23 points to move into third place on Pennsville’s all-time girls scoring list, 10 away from No. 2. She also cleared 500 career rebounds and moved closer to 500 career assists.

Getting to No. 1 might be a bit of a stretch. Pennsville’s all-time leading scorer Katie Kline also is Salem County’s all-time leading scorer among the girls with more than 2,100 points.

“I can’t (get that), Katie Kline has 2,000,” Marley said. “I beat my siblings (Ryane and Luke), though. I was trying to get 1,500. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but I’m glad I beat my siblings.”

PENNSVILLE 44, MILLVILLE 38
MILLVILLE (7-12): Kamya Smith 2 1-2 5, Rahnasia Casper 1 0-0 2, Naomi Burkhart 6 2-2 19, Angeliya Cephas 5 1-1 12, Aphrea Robinson 0 0-2 0, Jada hart 0 0-0 0, Brielle Rivera 0 0-0 0, Tatyana Myles 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-7 38.
PENNSVILLE (13-6): Taylor Bass 4 0-1 8, Marley Wood 9 4-4 23, Addie Johnston 0 3-4 3, Izzy Saulin 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Jaida Burns 3 2-2 8. Totals 17 9-11 44.

Millville481214-38
Pennsville2141513-44
3-point goals: Millville 6 (Burkhart 5, Cephas); Pennsville 1 (Wood). Technical fouls: Robinson, Wood. Fouled out: Burkhart. Total fouls: Millville 16, Pennsville 12.

SCHALICK 42, PENNS GROVE 37: The Cougars used a big third quarter to take the lead, then held on in the fourth.

Penns Grove held Neveah Robinson was held in check in the first half, but the Cougars’ leading scorer came to life after the break and scored 11 of her 13 points in a 21-point third quarter that gave here team a 39-28 lead. Robinson also grabbed 13 rebounds.

Ava Scurry led the Cougars (13-5) with 14 points. She also had a career-high 18 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She know has 592 rebounds and 214 blocks for her career. Liv Vanacker came within one point and one steal of a double-double.

Penns Grove’s Keziah Patterson led all scorers with 15 points. Janiyah Cummings had 13, six in the fourth quarter and the Red Devils cut it close.

PENNS GROVE (2-17): Janiyah Cummings 6 1-3 13, Keziah Patterson 5 3-5 15, Mikayla Washington 3 1-3 7, Domari Torres 0 0-0 0, Armani Blackston 1 0-2 2, Jamila Colon 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-13 37.
SCHALICK (13-5): Cali Fisler 0 0-1 0, Ava Scurry 5 4-8 14, Willow Davis 3 0-0 6, Nevaeh Robinson 5 1-3 13, Olivia Vanacker 4 1-4 9, 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. 17 6-11 42.

Penns Grove14689-37
Schalick108213-42
3-point goals: Penns Grove 2 (Patterson 2); Schalick 2 (Robinson 2). Total fouls: Penns Grove 16, Schalick 9.

Top photo: Interim head coach Robin Efelis (R) and assistant coach Ryan Wood talk with the Pennsville girls basketball team in a timeout during Friday’s win over Millville.

Right at right time

No. 3 Salem CC getting back to old form, routs HACC; women fall to Delaware Tech

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green looked over the box score after another one-sided Salem CC win and saw a lot of what he liked.

The Mighty Oaks had just crushed Harrisburg Area 110-72 Thursday night for its 25th win of the season and the tale of the tape on the table before him was filled with a lot of positive numbers.

Seven scorers in double figures, 14 3-pointers (the most since November), 24 assists, a plus-10 rebound margin, a limited number of turnovers (in the second half). That’s more like it.

“We’re getting back to us,” Green said after collecting the 60th win of his coaching career. “I told them before the game we’re trending down. I feel like we’re trending down. I challenged them. And I’ll challenge them again tomorrow.

“We’re not as scary as we were early on, I don’t believe. We’ve gotta turn this up.”

The Mighty Oaks are 25-1 and ranked third in the country, but truthfully they haven’t been quite the team that was mercilessly dismantling teams on their rise to No. 1. They were winning games, but there just seemed to be something missing. It came to a head when they finally lost a game, and carried on.

They’re not the first elite team to go through a rough patch during what’s developing into a special year. Green was reminded of that earlier in the day.

“I was watching the North Carolina special today,” he said. “I was laying down before the game (and) I could hear the North Carolina special, and it put it all in perspective.

“Those guys, the team with George Lynch that beat (Michigan’s) Fab 5 (for the 1992-93 national championship, the famous Chris Webber no-timeouts game). I watched that. They had a tough time in the ACC when they lost about three or four games, and some of the things those guys were saying put the team back together. 

“You winning like that, sometimes you get burned out. Hopefully, it don’t cost us four games, but you’ve got to be at your best. They’re in college, man, they’ve got to be at their best.”

Even this one got off to a slow start. The Mighty Oaks trailed a team with a 5-15 record by nine with nine minutes gone in the game and they trailed the whole first 15 minutes.

The bench played a huge role in bringing them back. The non-starters got them back in the game in the first half, scoring just two points fewer than the starters, grabbing more rebounds and making fewer turnovers.

The bench scored 46 points in the game, shooting 17-for-26 from the field, 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and had 26 of their 46 rebounds.

At one point in the first half, right after Idris Rines finally gave them the lead on a 3-pointer with 4:54 left, Nayeem Johnson had nine straight Salem points that carried them to a 10-point halftime lead. Rines had seven points in the half and provided the Mighty Oaks steady play in the post after Stef Phillips left the game with knee injury after his three-point play six and a half minutes into the half.

“They did their job,” Green said. “A couple guys didn’t do their job early on, we had to bring them out. This ain’t a free opportunity. We don’t owe nobody nothing,. You get what you work for. Those (reserves) got an early opportunity and they did what they’re supposed to and then our guys, the ones who weren’t caught up, caught up.”

Johnson finished with 16 points. Rines had 13 points and seven rebounds. Qua Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes and Jahseir Sayles had seven points and three boards in 19 minutes.

Among the starters, Nasseem Wright had a team-high 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Zyaire Gibson had 14 points (four 3s) and nine rebounds, and Saaid Lee had 14 points and nine assists.

Rines played the most minutes of any Mighty Oaks player in the game – 30. It’s the most he’s played in a game since high school. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

“Me and MG talked yesterday and MG said just keep the energy up when you’re in, just play your minutes.,” Rines said. “I knew coming into Salem it was going to be a commitment going from starting (in high school) to making sacrifices.

“I think everybody makes sacrifices. We all played like 20 out of 32 minutes of high school, then coming here and splitting minutes with guys. I think we are connected with each other and our friendship makes it so we can make sacrifices and makes us a really unselfish team and that really helps us.”

Another thing that helps them is when Jarrell Little scores the ball, which he hasn’t done a lot of lately.

In his last three games the Mighty Oaks’ leading scorer has logged only 23 points on 8-for-28 shooting, 3-for 17 from 3-point range. He took only four shots in the win over Montco and 12 in the last two games.

“It’s not like a slump,” he said. “I feel like it was never gone, I just feel like I didn’t take enough shots.

“When we played Montco I didn’t shoot a lot of shots; it wasn’t me. I feel like the whole game I wasn’t myself. I didn’t shoot the ball at all. Four shots as the leading scorer is crazy and Mike Green got on me about that. It’s the second time this season I shot less shots in a big game.”

He was 4-for-10 from 3-point range against the Hawks, but 6-for-12 overall. 

“He’s our leading scorer for a reason,” Green said. “Somewhere along the line he lost that and just started dribbling the ball. He’s better when he’s in attack mode.”

The Salem starters started looking more like themselves in the second half. They original four minus Phillips had 40 of the Mighty Oaks’ 64 points after halftime. Little and Wright had 13 apiece; Little had three 3s. 

“As a team we always start off slow and pick it up at halftime,” Little said. “This time one of our coaches came in screaming at us. I feel like we just turned it on.”

SALEM CC 110, HARRISBURG AREA 72
HARRISBURG AREA (5-16): Zhamire Chaplin-Carter 0-1 0-1 0, Eli Vega 2-6 5-6 10, Jaiden Wiley 3-15 1-2 9, William Byrd 6-10 4-6 17, John McNeil 6-22 7-10 21, Dustin Littles 1-4 0-0 3, Ziveon Kyle 2-7 2-2 6, Kaden Folk 2-8 2-2 6, Duane Woodson 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Floyd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-74 21-29 72.
SALEM CC (25-1): Jarrell Little 6-12 0-0 16, Saaid Lee 6-10 2-2 14, Zyaire Gibson 5-13 0-0 14, Nasseem Wright 7-10 2-4 17, Stefan Phillips 1-3 1-1 3, Jahseir Sayles 2-6 2-2 7, Qua Smith 4-5 2-2 10, Nayeem Johnson 6-8 3-3 16, Idris Rines 5-6 0-0 13, Mike Goodwin 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 42-74 12-15 110.

Harrisburg Area3636-72
Salem CC4664-110
3-point goals: HACC 7-21 (Chaplin-Carter 0-1, Vega 1-3, Wiley 2-7, Byrd 1-2, McNeil 2-4, Littles 1-2, Kyle 0-2); Salem CC 14-35 (Little 4-10, Gibson 4-11, Wright 1-3, Phillips 0-1, Sayles 1-4, Johnson 1-2, Rines 3-4). Rebounds: HACC 36 (McNeil 10), Wiley 7); Salem CC 46 (Gibson 9, Smith 8, Rines 7). Fouled out: Little. Total fouls: HACC 16, Salem CC 24.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
SALEM CC (3)12-125-118-1
Northampton (10)13-221-3
Brookdale (RV)13-317-712-4
Union (9)12-319-610-2
Montgomery (8)11-315-4
Camden10-315-910-7
Bergen10-613-1113-10
Ocean8-613-109-8
Atlantic Cape8-612-119-8
RCSJ-Cumberland5-88-156-11
RCSJ-Gloucester5-108-181-14
Philadelphia4-911-10
Thaddeus Stevens4-99-12
Harrisburg Area4-105-16
Passaic3-134-203-14
Sussex2-107-174-11
Delaware County2-134-19
Luzerne1-124-19

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 110, Harrisburg Area 72
Compass Prep at Morris
Montgomery 97, Passaic 75
Essex at Monroe
RCSJ-Gloucester 79, Camden 76
Delaware County 75, RCSJ-Cumberland 72
Atlantic Cape 91, Ocean 82
Rockland 89, Lackawanna 86
Mercer 77, Middlesex 69
Northampton 73, Brookdale 67
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia at Salem CC
Union at Camden
Bergen at Montgomery
Brookdale at Luzerne
Delaware County at Sussex
Delaware Tech at Morris
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Lackawanna at Harcum
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Westchester at Middlesex

Women can’t shake slide

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem women lost their fourth in a row in a winnable game that came down to too many turnovers and too many fouls.

The Mighty Oaks were charged with 32 turnovers off which Delaware Tech scored 26 points. They were hit with 26 fouls, including a pair of technicals. Del Tech was 24-of-41 from the free throw line.

Salem recovered from a cold start to tie the game at 30 with 5:22 left in the third quarter. But Del Tech (8-15) scored the next nine points and never lost the lead again. The Mighty Oaks got within four several times, but couldn’t get closer.

TJ Shaw led Salem (3-16) with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Paula Wilson had 11 points and three of their four 3-pointers. Dani Gustin had 10 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.

Del Tech’s Kai Burnett led all scorers with 30 points. She was 10-of-24 from the field, 10-of-13 from the free throw line.

DELAWARE TECH 65, SALEM CC 56
DELAWARE TECH (8-15): Bria Harker-Brown 2-11 2-4 6, Kai Burnette 10-24 10-13 30, Laila Jacobs 1-3 0-0 2, Talaney Pierce 4-15 4-8 12, Maddie August 1-8 0-0 2, Sabrina Washington 0-1 0-0 0, Aaliyah Smith 2-8 6-14 11, Ciara Whittle 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 20-73 24-41 65.
SALEM CC (3-16): RayNescia King 0-7 1-2 1, TJ Shaw 3-19 10-12 16, Kasey Oliver 3-9 2-2 8, Paula Wilson 4-13 0-0 11, Jayda Hunter 1-5 1-2 3, Justine Cardona 3-7 0-0 7, Dani Gustin 2-4 6-8 10. Totals 16-64 20-26 56.

Delaware Tech14111525-65
Salem CC9141122-56
3-point goals: Del Tech 1-14 (Harker-Brown 0-6, Burnette 0-5, Smith 1-3); Salem CC 4-23 (King 0-5, Shaw 0-2, Oliver 0-1, Wilson 3-11, Hunter 0-1, Cardona 1-3). Rebounds: Del Tech 50 (Pierce 14, August 11); Salem CC 50 (Shaw 12, Gustin 14). Technical fouls: Shaw, Cardona. Fouled out: Oliver. Total fouls: Del Tech 18, Salem CC 26.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION IIR19ALLGSAC
Harcum (3)11-020-1
Union (12)11-220-38-0
Mercer (14)10-218-35-1
Essex7-515-64-4
Raritan Valley4-78-153-4
Delaware Tech4-88-15
Middlesex3-99-160-6
SALEM CC2-103-160-5
Lackawanna1-104-14
Morris0-00-70-0

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech 65, Salem CC 56
RCSJ-Gloucester 70, Camden 55
Atlantic Cape 93, Ocean 67
Northampton 72, Bergen 28
Montgomery at Brookdale
Monroe 98, Raritan Valley 58
Philadelphia 70, Sussex 52
Mercer 103, Middlesex 29
Union 65, Essex 59
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex
Camden at Philadelphia
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Lackawanna at Harcum

Making their way

Salem boys clinch TCC Classic division title in big way; Pennsville girls settling in with new coach, win second with Efelis; also scores and highlights from the rest of Thursday night’s Salem County sports calendar


BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove 66, Glassboro 52
Salem 110, Clayton 77
Schalick 63, Pennsville 33
Overbrook 51, Woodstown 46
Buena 57, Salem Tech 42
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Glassboro 65, Penns Grove 31
Salem 54, Clayton 40
Woodstown 54, Overbrook 16
Pennsville 52, Schalick 35
WRESTLING
Oakcrest 67, Salem 9

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – The second time around was a little bit easier for Robin Efelis and the Pennsville girls basketball team.

With a lot less chaos and a bit more preparation, the Eagles won their second game in three days under their new coach Thursday night, topping Schalick 52-35 to remain on pace for a Tri-County Conference Diamond Division crown.

“They named Ryan Wood assistant coach, so with his knowledge and skill it made it a lot easier,” Efelis said. “Right now I’m just trying to get used to the thought (of being head coach). The girls are good. They’re handling it well, all the changes this week. They just pushed and pushed tonight and they did really good.

“I was just letting the girls be the girls. We had a few things that we tweaked here and there, but for the most part this week we were just letting them play.”

Efelis was installed as the Eagles’ interim head coach Monday night, less than 24 hours before they took on their biggest county rival in a game that could have derailed their title hopes. They beat Woodstown that night, but Efelis admitted “I was just a little bit overwhelmed. Everything happened so fast. I don’t mind stepping up, but I kind of miss my partner, too.”

She was promoted following the abrupt resignation of coach Steve Merritt after Monday’s practice. It’s her first time as a head coach in basketball, although she spent two seasons as the Pennsville track coach earlier in her career.

Neither Merritt nor Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas would comment on the internal nature of the resignation when the news broke. And neither would Efelis, except to express loyalty and appreciation for the coach she aided both years of his tenure.

“Steve’s heart was in the game,” Efelis said. “He had basketball in his heart. My opinion is not going to change.”

The Eagles (12-6) are a veteran team so Efelis wasn’t worried about them being able to handle the adversity. They got off to a slow start Thursday, falling behind 14-7 in the first quarter, but the fortunes swung on the last two minutes of the second quarter and first two minutes of the third. It was Pennsville’s fourth straight win.

Taylor Bass and Marley Wood led the offense with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Bass had 13 in the second half. Addie Johnston, who hit five 3-pointers in the Woodstown game, hit three more against the Cougers (12-5) and finished with 11 points. Jaida Burns and Izzy Saulin played key roles defensively.

Nevaeh Robinson and Ava Scurry led Schalick with 11 points apiece. Robinson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the Cougars’ first-quarter surge, but was held to five the rest of the night.

“The Pennsville girls kind of ran the show tonight,” Efelis said. “They got it together. They were a little lax the first quarter and then they took off.

“My coaching thing is I’m in it for the girls. I love watching them play. I love everything. Whether they lose or whether they win, I love seeing them compete. Tonight was a good night for us.”

They don’t time to rest on it. They have another emotional game Friday, hosting Millville for Senior Night.

PENNSVILLE 52, SCHALICK 35
PENNSVILLE (12-6): Taylor Bass 7 2-2 18, Marley Wood 5 6-8 17, Addie Johnston 4 0-0 11, Izzy Saulin 2 0-0 4, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Jaida Burns 1 0-2 2. Totals 19 8-12 52.
SCHALICK (12-5): Cali Fisler 1 1-4 3, Ava Scurry 4 3-8 11, Willow Davis 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Robinson 4 0-0 11, Olivia Vanacker 3 2-2 8, Vicky Basich 0 0-0 0, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Emma O’Neill 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 6-11 35.

Pennsville716209-52
Schalick14597-35
3-point goals: Pennsville 6 (Bass 2, Wood, Johnston 3); Schalick 3 (Robinson 3). Total fouls: Pennsville 13, Schalick 10.


SALEM 54, CLAYTON 40: Dyaira Anderson scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season, Carlysia Pierce scored 16 points and Jaryn Weathers had 10 as the Rams won their second straight and got back to .500 (8-8) on the season. Pierce also had eight rebounds, six steals and two blocked shots.

WOODSTOWN 54, OVERBROOK 16: The Wolverines got balanced scoring and played a tough defense that held the Rams to two points in three of the four quarters. Kendall Young led Woodstown’s offense with 14 points. Lauren Hengel had 10. Kemma Perry and Autumn Paleschic had eight apiece. For Paleschic, a sophomore in her first year on varsity, it was a career-high and doubled her season point total.

GLASSBORO 65, PENNS GROVE 31. Keziah Patterson scored 20 points for Penns Grove, but Glassboro got 27 from Kezia Brackett and 19 from Lily Czubas to remain on track with Pennsville to tie for the TCC Diamond Division crown,

Boys games: Salem clinches

CLAYTON — Salem scratched off a big box on their to-do list Thursday night, clinched its first Tri-County Classic Division title in five years and did it in a most emphatic way.

The Rams placed five scorers in double-figures, got double-doubles from Tymear Lecator and Marshall Stephens, and scored the most points in a game under coach Anthony Farmer, outgunning Clayton 110-77.

With their fourth straight win, the Rams (16-3) opened a two-game lead on Wildwood with one division game to play.

“It’s one of the first goals that you try to accomplish as you move forward to the ultimate goal, which is winning a state title,” Farmer said. “The first one you’ve got to get is the division. So, definitely a good feeling for the boys and the program to claim a division again, but there’s more work to be done.”

It was the second time this season and fifth time in Farmer’s five-year tenure the Rams have scored 100 or more in a game. Four of those games were against Clayton.

Lecator led the Rams with 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Stephens had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Xavier McGriff (15), Neziah Spence (15) and Deshaan Williams (14) also scored in double figures. All of Spence’s points came on 3-pointers. Clayton’s James Fritz led all scorers with 30 points.

The Rams led 46-34 at halftime, then erupted for 38 points in the third quarter to give themselves a chance at 100.

“That’s what our pregame was about, mentally preparing for the task at hand and going to play the right way,” Farmer said. “We have been playing better lately and we wanted to keep it rolling. We know Clayton forces you into some bad things and some bad habits with their style of play, so we wanted to be conscious of the things we’ve been working on and continuing to take steps forward. I’m proud of the way they finished today.”

It was another big game for Lecator. The junior moved to within 52 points to becoming a 1,000-point scorers. He’s scored 71 points in three games this week and he’s been averaging 20.7 in the 11 games since Pitman held him to seven points on Jan. 6. He’s also had 63 assists in the same stretch.

“Ty is a true student of the game,” Farmer said. “He’s a hard worker so I’m proud as coach to see those type of guys rewarded. He’s a heck of a player and he’s improving day by day. The sky’s the limit for that kid if he continues to listen and do the right things. He’s just gotten better each year.”

The Rams have a big test in their next game, facing SJ Group 4 No. 1 Cherry Hill East (18-2) Saturday in the Battle by the Bay in Atlantic City.

SALEM 110, CLAYTON 77
SALEM (16-3): Donnie Weathers 2 1-2 5, Xavier McGriff 7 0-0 15, Neziah Spence 5 0-0 15, Tymear Lecator 6 2-2 17, Fatah Paige 3 0-0 6, Deshaan Williams 7 0-0 14, BJ Robbins 4 0-0 9, Cole Sayers 2 0-0 4, Kaden Robinson 1 0-0 2, Jovanni Rios 3 0-0 6, Marshall Stephens 5 1-2 11, Darrelle Johnson 3 0-0 6. Totals 48 4-6 110.
CLAYTON (7-11): Jackson Venuto 2 2-3 7, James Fritz 10 8-9 30, Nasir Carter 5 1-1 12, Kevin Mosley 3 1-4 10, Isaiah Aviles 1 0-0 2, Dominic Lemon 1 0-0 2, Trevor Rehm 1 0-0 3, King Mosley 2 0-0 5, Enok Figeruoa 1 0-0 2, Anthony Archer 1 2-2 4. Totals 27 14-19 77.

Salem25213826-110
Clayton15191924-77
3-point goals: Salem 10 (McGriff, Spence 5, Lecator 3, Robbins); Clayton 9 (Venuto, Fritz 2, Carter, Ke. Mosley 3, Rehm, Ki. Mosley). Rebounds: Salem 58 (Stephens 11).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTALNEXT
Tymear Lecator, Salem17 vs. Clayton948vs. CHE, Saturday in Atlantic City

PENNS GROVE 66, GLASSBORO 52: The Red Devils jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 3:30 of the game and maintained the lead. Penns Grove’s three double-digits scorers outscored Glassboro’s three by 13 points. Roman Gipson led Penns Grove with a season-high 21 points and Haneef Frisby scored 16, his best game in a Penns Grove uniform. Geonni Conrad added 10. Glassboro was led by Xavier Sabb’s 13.

OVERBROOK 51, WOODSTOWN 46: Newly minted 1,000-point scorer Blake Bialecki had 12 points and hit four 3-pointers to set Woodstown’s all-time record for career treys and Elijah Caesar had 10, but the Wolverines couldn’t overcome three double-digit scorers by the Rams. Bialecki now has 1,013 career points and 190 career 3-pointers.

SCHALICK 63, PENNSVILLE 33: Danny Knight had 22 points for Pennsville.

Wrestling

OAKCREST 67, SALEM 9
106: Giovanni Taylor (O) won by forfeit
113: Mason Sanchez (O) won by forfeit
120: Joseph Sanchez (O) tech fall over Zachary Tortella, 23-4 (4:00)
126: Romas Rivera (O) dec. Hayden Stauble, 15-11
132: Heriberto Curtidor (O) tech fall over Guylherme Quintanilha, 18-3 (4:00)
138: Kevin Longo (O) pinned Brodie Parker, 4:00
144: Aiden Xayaphachan (O) won by forfeit
150: Joseph Goetaski (S) pinned Gavin Gabriel
157: Roberth Quiroz (O) won by forfeit
165: Malik Hughes (O) won by forfeit
175: Gunnar Olivieri (O) won by forfeit
190: Nyree Montford (O) won by forfeit
215: Nicholas Bellace (O) won by forfeit
285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) dec. Youssef Nosair, 7-2.

TCC tournament

Conference tournament goes to two tiers, division winners earn first-round byes, official seeding done Super Bowl Sunday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

The Tri-County Conference basketball tournament will have a different look this year, one that expands the championship bracket to 12 teams and rewards division champions.

The tournament will be split into two sections rather than three divisions, a 12-team “championship bracket” and an 11-team “post-season bracket.” It will be seeded by conference officials on Super Bowl Sunday.

The championship bracket will be contested Feb. 13, 17 and 19, with the championship games on both the boys and girls side being played Feb. 21 at Washington Twp. Teams in the post-season bracket are guaranteed two games, but can drop the second if mutually agreed upon. 

All games leading to the championship bracket final as well as all post-season bracket games will be played at the higher seed.

The four division winner will draw first-round byes. All seeds will be determined by the NJSIAA power points standings after Saturday’s games, with some teams leapfrogging the one directly above them if they have the head-to-head advantage.

“They felt like we were cutting teeth between the 8 seed in the A bracket and the 9, 10, even down to the 11 seed, in the B bracket,” said Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas, who assists the TCC in the seeding process.

“There were a couple things at play,” he continued. “If you were that 8 seed in the A, often times you’d rather be the 9 seed in the B. It made it more competitive.

“We often didn’t have all four division champs in the A bracket – I think that happened last year – because of power points and they were basically like that shouldn’t happen. You should at least get something for winning your division.”

Based on the power points standings Wednesday morning, the projected bracket looks like this:

The four byes: 1. Deptford, 2. Kingsway, 3. Salem, 4. Overbrook.

Seeds 5-12: 5. Cumberland, 6. Williamstown (head-to-head over Delsea), 7. Delsea, 8. Timber Creek, 9. Penns Grove, 10. Clearview, 11. Woodstown, 12. Gloucester Catholic.

The bracket would have 8v9 playing the 1 seed, 5v12 playing 4, 6v11 playing 3, and 7v10 playing 2.

Seeds 13-23: Washington Twp, GCIT, Triton, Glassboro, Wildwood (head-to-head over Pitman), Pitman, Highland, Clayton, Schalick, Pennsville, Salem Tech.

And the girls projected seeds based on Wednesday’s power points standings are …

The four byes: 1. Gloucester Catholic, 2. Wildwood, 3. Glassboro, 4. Timber Creek.

Seeds 5-12: 5. Washington Twp. 6. Clearview, 7. Kingsway, 8. Delsea (beat Pennsville), 9. Pennsville, 10. Triton, 11. Woodstown, 12. Cumberland

Seeds 13-23: Schalick, Williamstown (beat Deptford), Deptford, GCIT, Clayton, Salem, Pitman, Highland, Penns Grove (beat Overbrook twice), Overbrook, Salem Tech.

Of course, it all becomes official Sunday,

“I think this will probably make it go a little smoother,” Thomas said. “Because you really only have the one cutoff between the two divisions and, honestly, power points should lock that down.”

Personal matters

No. 3 Mighty Oaks hold off Montco in Top 10 battle after dropping in the polls; women’s team loses to No. 12 Union

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – All of a sudden, a midweek game against the No. 8 team in the country became the most important game of the year for the Salem CC basketball team. But they handled it, just as they have all year, albeit with a little drama in the second half.

In a game that figured to carry a lot of post-season implications and even more personal connections throughout the roster, the now third-ranked Mighty Oaks enjoyed some early success and then held off No. 8 Montgomery County 77-71.

The game was important for a number of reasons. Chiefly, it was good to have another one Top 10 win in the bank for at-large bid consideration to the national tournament if they don’t win the region/district tournament.

“Won against another good team,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “Who else beats Top 10 teams other than us? We’re the only ones kicking Top 10 teams asses around here, so hopefully the committee will look at that when they see it.”

Then there was the issue of pride. The Mighty Oaks had been No. 1 in JUCO Division III since the Dec. 15 (Week 6) poll, but falling out of the top spot after just one loss — their only loss — didn’t sit well with the players.

“I can’t speak for everybody but I know it bothered me, for sure,” said sophomore Stefan Phillips, the only holdover from last year’s national tournament team. “I love saying we’re No. 1 in the country. Seeing we’re No. 3, it bothered me. I want to be ranked No. 1.”

“I was irked by that,” Nayeem Johnson said. “I was highly upset about that because we got one loss. There’s not a lot of teams in the country that got one loss and we dropped two slots in the poll.”

When told the new No. 1 team has six losses, more than the next three teams in the poll combined, he said, “that’s crazy.”

But on top of all that, the players said this one was personal.

“No. 8 team in the nation, they beat us in the summer; that stung,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “All our guys were freshmen and all of us never played with each other (at the time). They still won, but it was kind of personal. Those guys have been watching us all year. We knew it was going to  be a war.”

“We’re all from Philly,” Phillips said. “I knew I took it personally. They didn’t recruit me out of high school, so every time I get a chance to beat a team from Philly that hadn’t recruited me, I;m gonna take personally.”

Curiously, the one player you’d think would take this game personally the most – Johnson, because he played for Montco last year and helped beat the Mighty Oaks in the regular-season meeting – just went about it as any other game. There was another emotion he felt afterwards, though.

“I don’t take any game personal; I don’t have no vendetta against anybody or no type of beef,” he said. “I will say everybody in the locker room is ecstatic. I’m ecstatic about the win. No. 1, we didn’t lose, and they came in talking a lot of trash so it definitely was satisfying to win the game.”

The win extended Salem’s home winning streak to 16 games over the last two seasons. All of their remaining regular season games are at home.

Expecting a war, the Mighty Oaks came out with gun blazing. They hit five of their first seven 3-point shots to open a 20-2 lead six minutes into the game and were up 20 at the break. The difference was their seven 3s in the half to none by the Mustangs. 

Phillips, usually a force on the inside, hit the first one, followed in rapid succession by Zyaire Gibson and Jarrell Little, and had three in the half. He now has 21 treys on the year and is hitting at a 46.7 percent clip.

“Today, really, it started with me,” Phillips said. “Once they saw me hitting a shot early we were like ‘All right, Stef’s hot, we’re all hot.’ That’s how it starts really.”

As for stepping out and shooting the 3, the sophomore said, “it’s called player development, man. You gotta work on your game, all facets. You can’t just do one thing if you want to get to the highest level you can get to, so I work on everything, not just staying in the post.”

The lead swelled to 22 on Saaid Lee’s first bucket of the second half, but then the Mustangs (14-4) started attacking the rim and were rewarded with multiple and-ones while Mighty Oaks went cold and were dreadful at the free throw line (15-of-30 in the game, 7-of-19 in the second half). Montco ended up tying it at 71 on Issac Cole’s bucket with 1:58 to play.

“Just the way you want to start it,” Green said. “Move the ball, take open shots, run our stuff. When we did it, we looked good. When we didn’t, we looked like we were getting punched on just trying to survive.

“I try to tell them don’t get into the personal stuff, because it’s not personal, it’s you team winning the game. The second half it got personal and they pulled back in it. Everybody taking a chance doing their own stuff and you find yourself in a dogfight. That’s what scares me when my team plays against familiar faces. They get sidetracked. They start thinking about selfish things. Not selfish, but just bragging rights. They look for bragging right. Just win the game.”

That’s what they did down the stretch. Wright broke the tie on a flagrant foul free throw with 1:30 left and Gibson buried a 3 from the right corner on the accompanying possession to give the Mighty Oaks some breathing room.

“Saved the game,” Green said of Gibson’s 3. “Saved the game.”

The Mustangs missed two shots from underneath and two more shots on their next possession before Lee sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds to play.

Wright led the Mighty Oaks with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and six steals. Lee had 14 points and three assists, while Gibson knocked down three 3s on his way to 11 points. Phillips also had 11 points.

Despite hitting his first 3, Little continued to struggle with his shot, but he came up big in other ways, grabbing 10 rebounds and dealing six assists. Johnson had 10 points and six rebounds against his former team.

SALEM CC 77, MONTGOMERY 71
MONTGOMERY (14-4): Alantay Dawson 7-16 1-1 15, Quire Bennett 1-3 1-1 3, Tariq Jennings 2-5 3-5 7, Issac Cole 5-9 4-6 14, Julius Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Williams 3-8 3-4 9, Steven Hill 1-6 0-0 2, Brandon Bush 9-18 1-2 19, Ryan Homburg 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 29-70 13-19 71.
SALEM CC (24-1): Jarrell Little 1-4 0-4 3, Saaid Lee 5-10 4-4 14, Zyaire Gibson 4-8 0-1 11, Nasseem Wright 6-8 5-12 17, Stefan Phillips 4-5 0-0 11, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0, Qua Smith 2-4 0-0 5, Nayeem Johnson 3-13 2-5 10, Idris Rines 1-4 4-4 6. Totals 26-57 15-30 77.

Montgomery2942-71
Salem CC4928-77

3-point goals: Monaco 0-11 (Dawson 0-2, Cole 0-1, Williams 0-2, Hill 0-1, Bush 0-2, Homburg 0-3); Salem CC 10-23 (Little 1-3, Lee 0-2, Gibson 3-6, Phillips 3-3, Smith 1-2, Johnson 2-6, Rines 0-1). Rebounds: Montco 38 (Hill 7, Bush 7); Salem CC 40 (N. Wright 10, Little 10). Technical fouls: N. Wright. Fouled out: Cole. Total fouls: Montco 22, Salem CC 17.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
SALEM CC (3)11-124-117-1
Northampton (10)12-220-3
Brookdale (RV)12-216-611-4
Union (9)12-319-610-2
Montgomery (8)10-314-4
Camden10-315-89-7
Bergen12-713-1110-6
Ocean10-613-99-7
Atlantic Cape10-611-118-8
RCSJ-Cumberland5-88-146-11
Philadelphia4-911-10
Thaddeus Stevens4-98-12
Harrisburg Area4-95-15
RCSJ-Gloucester5-127-181-12
Sussex4-127-174-11
Passaic3-144-183-11
Delaware County2-133-19
Luzerne1-124-19

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Montgomery at Salem CC
Atlantic Cape 99, Delaware County 67
Camden 91, Luzerne 65
Philadelphia 70, Union 67 (OT)
Lackawanna at Raritan Valley
Morris at Harcum
Mercer 78, Delaware Tech 68 (OT)
Middlesex 105, Essex 93
Thaddeus Stevens at Williamson Trades
Passaic at Brookdale
Northampton 93, RCSJ-Gloucester 37
Bergen 78, Ocean 76
RCSJ-Cumberland 81, Harrisburg Area 78
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harrisburg Area at Salem CC
Compass Prep at Morris
Montgomery at Passaic
Essex at Monroe
Camden at RCSJ-Gloucester
Delaware County at RCSJ-Cumberland
Atlantic Cape at Ocean
Rockland at Lackawanna
Middlesex at Mercer
Northampton at Brookdale
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia at Salem CC
Union at Camden
Bergen at Montgomery
Brookdale at Luzerne
Delaware County at Sussex
Delaware Tech at Morris
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Lackawanna at Harcum
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Westchester at Middlesex

JUCO DIVISION III POLL (1st place votes)RECPTS
Dallas College Richland (9)15-6105
Riverland22-198
SALEM CC23-191
Northern Essex21-384
Dutchess16-377
Dallas College Eastfield14-770
Dallas College North Lake13-863
Montgomery County (Pa.)14-356
Union (N.J.)19-549
Northampton19-342
North Country17-235
Mohawk Valley11-428
Sandhills16-821
Herkimer14-47
Monroe-Bronx17-53
Receiving votes: Brookdale, Joliet, Oxford College of Emory, Ridgewater

Women’s game

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s basketball suffered another lopsided loss to a nationally ranked team, but there was something about the way it looked early that seemed different somehow.

The Mighty Oaks have getting boat-raced the last couple games, but in the first half Tuesday night at least they looked competitive. Sure, they were down 22 at the break, but coming off a practice sophomore forward Kasey Oliver called “probably better than a lot of our practices,” they came out with an enthusiasm for attacking the basket, battling for loose balls, grabbing rebounds and genuinely giving No. 12 Union a hard time.

The second half it just got away and the Owls went on to bury them 105-39.

“I thought we played hard,” coach Brian Marsh said. “When they were in a zone we did really well against it. We struggled when they went man.

“I thought our team played hard. We got worn down. Union is No. 12 in the country for a reason – they’re good and they come at you in waves. When we’re playing hard we can do a lot of damage. We were just a little overwhelmed today. If we can have that same effort (they showed in the first half) for the last six games I really like our chances in most of them.”

In spite of the Mighty Oaks’ best effort, they still trailed 46-24 at halftime.

The second half was all Union. The Mighty Oaks were outscored 59-15 in the half, 30-2 in the fourth quarter, with the only two points coming from the free throw line. They had more turnovers (45) in the game than points (39), off which the Owls scored 52 points.

Union put all five starters and six players total in double figures. Oliver was the Mighty Oaks’ leading scorer with 13 points. 

It has been a tough stretch for the Mighty Oaks. They’ve lost their last three game since their last win by a combined 172 points 

“We know we’re a good team,” Oliver said. “Given our record, we really want to prove that to a lot of people, but it’s just not working out. I guess we want to prove to (Marsh) we can work hard.”


UNION 105, SALEM CC 39
SALEM CC (3-15): RayNescia King 3-6 1-1 8, TJ Shaw 3-13 0-1 6, Kasey Oliver 5-10 3-4 13, Paul Wilson 0-3 0-0 0, Jayda Hunter 3-7 0-2 6, Justine Cardona 2-4 1-2 5, Dani Gustin 0-3 1-4 1, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 6-14 39.
UNION (19-3): Jasmin McKay 7-9 8-11 22, Zakiyyah Lindsey 5-17 3-4 14, Cianna Papineau 5-10 0-0 13, Darrian Jackson 4-6 0-1 10. Zanaya Parsons 11-18 2-3 24, Aaliyah Littles 1-4 1-1 3, Gracie Cruz 0-4 0-0 0, Kada Rodgers 4-8 3-4 13, Emani Resto 1-4 1-1 3, Maria Paula Urena Rojas 0-3 1-2 1, Brianna Patterson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 39-85 19-27 105.

Salem CC1311132-39
Union20262930-105

3-point goals: Salem CC 1-11 (King 1-2, Shaw 0-2, Wilson 0-3, Hunter 0-3, Cardona 0-1); Union 8-21 (Lindsey 1-4, Papineau 3-5, Jackson 2-4, Cruz 0-1, Rodgers 2-4, Urena Rojas 0-2, Patterson 0-1). Rebounds: Salem CC 34 (Hunter 8, Gustin 9); Union 45 (Parsons 12, Lindsey 9). Fouled out: King, Gustin. Total fouls: Salem CC 21, Union 14.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION IIR19ALLGSAC
Harcum (3)11-020-1
Union (12)10-219-37-0
Mercer (14)9-217-34-1
Essex7-415-54-3
Raritan Valley3-77-143-4
Middlesex3-89-150-5
Delaware Tech3-87-15
SALEM CC2-93-150-5
Lackawanna1-94-13
Morris0-00-70-0

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Union 105, Salem CC 39
Passaic 68, Brookdale 62
Bergen 74, Ocean 52
Lackawanna at Raritan Valley
Northampton 72, RCSJ-Gloucester 59
Essex 67, Middlesex 62
Mercer 100, Delaware Tech 43
Camden 74, Sussex 49
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech at Salem CC
Camden at RCSJ-Gloucester
Atlantic Cape at Ocean
Bergen at Northampton
Montgomery at Brookdale
Monroe at Raritan Valley
Philadelphia at Sussex
Middlesex at Mercer
Union at Essex
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex
Camden at Philadelphia
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Lackawanna at Harcum