Salem CC’s Phillips brings national championship tournament experience to a roster full of new players who’ve never been here before
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
UTICA, N.Y. – Stef Phillips took one step into the gym for Salem CC’s first practice at the national tournament venue Tuesday and it all came rushing back to him. The sights, the sounds, the smells of last year’s national tournament flooded his senses.
He even saw things in his mind’s eye that weren’t there yet – specifically, the big bracket board on the other side of the floor where the Mighty Oaks planted their logo after winning their first-round game.
On a team of virtually all new players, Phillips holds a unique position. He’s the only player on the roster who has ever faced what the Mighty Oaks are about to experience this week in the JUCO Division III national tournament in nearby Herkimer, N.Y.
“All of it’s familiar,” the sophomore post said before stepping into the banquet that recognized the 12 teams participating in the event. “You always remember your first experience coming to the national tournament. The only thing I don’t remember is the food, so hopefully I’ll remember that today.”
A year ago they were all new, as the Mighty Oaks made their first national tournament appearance in school history. When most of the players left for greater pursuits or just didn’t come back, Phillips found himself as the team’s only returnee. He didn’t feel left behind – he was planning to stay two years all along – but thought he’d have “somebody else” back with him.
Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green agreed “it’s important,” on a team with so many new players, to have a player who has been there done that, and he’s glad Phillips is in that role. Because Phillips is the only one who’s been here, it’s only natural the players have picked his brain about the experience. Interestingly, a lot of the questions had to do with the banquet. They’re just eager to play.
“This is a different group of kids,” Phillips said. “These kids are ultra confident. They’re not afraid to be themselves. I try to tell them to take it all in, enjoy the moment because you don’t know when you’re going to get an opportunity in here. You don’t want to take it for granted.”
The game will come soon enough. As the No. 4 seed, the Mighty Oaks (30-2) have a first-round bye and won’t play until 4 p.m. Thursday. They’ll meet the winner of Wednesday’s 2 p.m. game between No. 5 Dallas College Eastfield and No. 12 Joliet.
All the players were curious, but freshman Idris Rines was the most inquisitive.
“I look at Stef as a big brother; my first practice at Salem, Stef took me (as his drill partner),” Rines said. “I didn’t want to come in here blind. It’s not nerves or anything like that. I just want to know the layout, what I’m going into, how it is and what to expect. It was everything that Stef explained.”
The players followed their captain’s lead all the way to the national tournament.
“He was the first player off the bus, walked away, knew where to go,” Rines said. “So we all just followed him.”
NOTES: The Mighty Oaks will work out at Utica University Wednesday before heading to Herkimer to watch Eastfield-Joliet game … Green has no preference of the opponent. “It’s a tournament of champions; they’re all champions,” Green said. “I worry about my team, making sure we’re locked in and ready to go” … Banquet organizers drew door prizes for a lucky player on each team. Qua Smith had his number drawn for Salem. He won a Gatorade sports bottle.
Author: almusky
Salem CC diamond drama
Mighty Oaks softball swept at home by Harford, baseball splits on first day of Myrtle Beach trip
SOFTBALL
Harford CC 12-4, Salem CC 2-3
BASEBALL
PSU-Hazleton 12, Salem CC 8
Salem CC 8, Illinois Valley 7
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – There was a lot to digest in Salem CC’s softball doubleheader Monday. There was some good. There was some bad. There was even some it could’ve been worse.
The bad was the Mighty Oaks were swept by Harford CC 12-2 and 4-3 to snap their four-game run-rule winning streak. In the it could’ve been worse department, at least it wasn’t a Region 19 counter like their season-opening sweep by Lackawanna. As for the good, they’ve got two more days of expected good weather to get themselves right before heading out on its spring break trip in Virginia, not that that’s any consolation.
“Being swept is never good whether it’s a region (doubleheader) or not,” Salem coach Angel Rodriguez said. “That’s just something we don’t want to deal with and we have to be able to play and win these kind of games.
“We’re right there, there’s some little things we have to keep working on to get better, but this one is going to hurt because we had every right to stay in this game. We did. We showed a little bit of our stuff, but we just didn’t show it consistently. We had a good opportunity to stick with and beat a really good team (and) we did not do that. We’ve got to do better. We’ve got to be able to pull stuff like this out.”
The Mighty Oaks (4-4) didn’t have much luck in the opener, falling behind 4-1 and then giving up six runs in the third inning. Noelle Beavers had three hits and seven RBIs for Harford (4-2), including a game-breaking three-run triple in the third.
The nightcap went much better for the home side. The Mighty Oaks were putting together a potential game-winning rally in the bottom of the seventh of the nightcap, getting the tying run to second with none out, before a bizarre infield out and a game-ending bang-bang 4-6-3 double play that left both teams wondering if it was the right call.
Salem trailed 4-2 going into their last bats, but had the top of the order due. Jalyn Rambally and Lilly Peverelle opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 4-3. J.J. Aguirre, the Mighty Oaks’ most productive hitter, draw a walk and was replaced by Kasen Ervin on the bases.
Savannah Palverento hit a ball towards second that hit Ervin on the basepaths, killing the play and sending Peverelle back to second base. Chantelle Haskie pinch-hit for Sawyer Simmons, who had been hitless in the doubleheader, and grounded to second that keystone combo Audrey Coker and Katelyn McCullough turned into their third twin killing of the twinbill, with Haskie called out on a close play at first.
Haskie said “I feel like I was there already; kind of shocking a bit.” Rodriguez was convinced she was. Harford coach Dan Ashby said he wouldn’t have argued if they called the runner safe; “it was that close,” he said. Video replay showed the sophomore beat the throw.
“She 100 percent beat it out, but what are you going to do,” Rodriguez said. “We just have to put ourselves in a better position and hopefully not get into something like that to where it’s a close call, but … It’s a call that should’ve been maybe gotten help on, but they said we’re not going to judge on a judgement call, which was tough, especially on a close play like that. I thought it was close. At the end of the day it’s 50-50 and it just didn’t go our way that time.”
The Mighty Oaks took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, playing small ball to put runners in scoring position before Peverelle delivered a two-run single. The Fighting Owls robbed them of another run in the inning on a diving catch in the outfield, then retook the lead with three in the sixth.
“It showed us what we could’ve done, but we waited too long to do it,” Rodriguez said. “We had to adjust sooner and we just weren’t. We were playing into the pitcher’s pitches. We had a lot of hitter’s counts we were not capitalizing on and that hurt today. We just have to reflect on that and learn from that and get better. We were in a lot of positions to help ourselves out and we just played it to her ball and they made a couple really good plays on defense.”
| GAME ONE | HARFORD 12 | SALEM CC 2 | R | H | E |
| Harford (3-2) | 226 | 02- | 12 | 12 | 1 |
| Salem CC (4-3) | 011 | 00- | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| GAME TWO | HARFORD 4 | SALEM CC 3 | R | H | E |
| Harford (4-2) | 001 | 003 0- | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Salem CC (4-4) | 000 | 020 1- | 3 | 11 | 3 |
Baseball splits
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Trevor Hernandez hit his second homer of the season and Chase Hortiz and Tyler Hacker each drove in a pair of runs as the Salem CC baseball team edged Illinois Valley 8-7 to earn a split on the first day of its spring break trip.
The Mighty Oaks lost their first game to Penn State-Hazleton 12-8.
Salem scored three runs in the first inning of their second game and held a 5-1 lead after two. Illinois Valley tied it in the fourth, but the Mighty Oaks scored single runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth and never lost the lead. Joe Pallante pitched the first four innings for the win and Tyler Hacker worked the seventh for the save.
The trip got off to a balky start. First-game starter Joe D’Amato walked five of the seven batters he faced in the first inning and Penn State-Hazleton scored five in the first on the way to an 8-0 lead. The Mighty Oaks got within 9-5 after a four-run fourth inning, but could never get the lead.
Hacker homered and doubled and drove in three runs. Roman Hernandez went 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
The trip continues Tuesday with a pair of night games against Lakeland CC and the CC of Rhode Island.
| GAME ONE | PSU-HAZLETON 12 | SALEM CC 8 | R | H |
| Salem CC | 001 | 401 2- | 8 | 9 |
| PSU-Hazleton | 531 | 021 x- | 12 | 14 |
| GAME TWO | SALEM CC 8 | ILLINOIS VALLEY 7 | R | H |
| Illinois Valley (0-3) | 012 | 201 1- | 7 | 8 |
| Salem CC (3-3) | 320 | 111 x- | 8 | 8 |
Meet of Champions
Woodstown trio focuses on individual specialities at MOC in prep for New Balance Nationals; Crawford finishes third in 800
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Josh Crawford says he’ll remember his final NJSIAA indoor race for a long time. Not for what didn’t happen, but what did.
The Woodstown senior middle distance specialist ran his final NJSIAA-sanctioned indoor 800 Sunday in the Meet of Champions. He finished third in the race, but closed the gap on race winner Keandre Kelly of Union Catholic to give him confidence for the spring and set his indoor PR with a time of 1:53.30.
“I barely remember the last race, to be honest, but this one I’m going to think about for the rest of my life; this one was fun,” Crawford said. “I knew the guys I was racing against and I like kind of looked towards them as a goal where I should have to be the entire season. So, since I met that goal, it made me with my journey so far.”
For the most part he thought he ran a ”pretty solid” race despite a pace that wasn’t quite his cup of tea. His first 200 was “good” (26.50) and was running second, but then he relaxed on Laps 2 and 3, then the pack went as hard as they could on the bell lap and he finished a second off the lead as Kelly came from third by closing with a 26.95. Crawford’s time was four seconds band 11 places etter than his finish in the MOC last year.
“I think I had more left in the tank at the end,” he said. “But I think I did my job and it showed me I’ve improved since last spring season because last spring season (Kelly) had like a 50-meter gap from me at Meet of Champs, but now I was like right on his heels the entire race. And especially since winter times are usually slower than spring times, it shows I can also have a faster spring time and just see what I can put out there.”
The Wolverines also qualified in the 4×400 and 4×800 relays at the MOC, but passed on those events to focus on their individual specialties and save their legs for next week’s trip to the New Balance Nationals in Boston where they qualified in the 4×8 (Thursday) and Crawford and Karson Chew qualified in the 800 (Friday).
Chew got caught in traffic in his 800 race and finished 25th (2:03.14) and Jacob Marino was 22nd in the 1600 (4:37.80). Marino and David Farrell are also on the 4×8 relay team.
“The race didn’t go very well for me,” Chew said. “I got stuck in boxes wherever I went for the first two laps and wasted my energy trying to bounce in and out of them to find position. It just wasn’t a great day for me.
“Josh did amazingly, though. A second and a half indoor PR is insane as well as placing third at the Meet of Champions.”
The spring season for all the Wolverines under new coach Tom Mason begins Monday.
Different fortunes
Salem CC softball enjoys second straight run-rule sweep, while baseball is swept at Brookdale before trip to Myrtle Beach
SOFTBALL
Salem CC 17-16, Monroe-Bronx 2-0
BASEBALL
Brookdale 17-7, Salem CC 10-3
By Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Jordyn Busch and Savannah Palverento combined on a five-inning no-hitter and got a lot of help from their fielders to preserve it as the Salem CC softball team crushed Monroe-Bronx 16-0 to complete its second run-rule sweep in as many days Saturday.
The Mighty Oaks (4-2) got the day started with a 17-2 win in the opener.
Busch, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of Friday’s nightcap against Sussex, worked the first three innings Saturday before giving way to Palverento. Busch walked one, hit two and struck out five. Palverento walked one, struck out two and faced one batter over the minimum for her stint.
The defense made several nice plays behind their pitchers to get the gem alive. J.J. Aguirre made a diving catch on a bunt in the first inning, Emme Witter caught a ball going over the rightfield foul fence in the fourth and Pahola Chavez ended the game with an over-the-shoulder catch in deep right field.
The hitters made it a comfortable day for the pitchers. They scored 11 runs in the first inning. Aguirre hit another homer and drove in five runs in the game. Jalyn Ramball had two hits and two RBIs and Witter drove in two.
Raegan Wilson pitched a complete game for the Mighty Oaks in the opener. She gave up five hits, two unearned runs in the fifth inning, and struck out two.
Her hitters gave her a nice cushion early, scoring nine runs in the first inning. Aguirre had another big game with two hits and four RBIs. Lilly Peverelle and Bella Rappa both had had two hits and three RBIs, and Witter and Megan Koski both drove in a pair of runs.
GAME ONE
| Monroe-Bronx | 000 | 02- | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Salem CC | 950 | 3x- | 17 | 9 | 2 |
WP: Raegan Wilson. 2B: J.J. Aguirre (S). 3B: Savannah Palverento (S).
GAME TWO
| Monroe-Bronx | 000 | 00- | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Salem CC | (11)41 | 0x- | 16 | 7 | 0 |
WP: Jordyn Busch. HR: Aguirre (S)
Region wrestling
Here are the results of the Region 8 Championships, these four placers advance to the state championship in Atlantic City
NJSIAA REGION 8
TEAM SCORES: Southern Regional 229, Delsea 181.5, St. Augustine 165, Lower Cape May 153, Red Bank Catholic 126, Kingsway 113, WOODSTOWN 52, Clearview 51.5, Middle Twp. 43, Paulsboro 41. Also, Pennsville 9, Schalick 2.
106
1st Place Match
Jonas Lusker (Southern Regional) dec. John Tarantino (Red Bank Catholic), 5-1
3rd Place Match
Will Cruz (Paulsboro) maj. dec. Adam Froehlich (Delsea), 13-0
113
1st Place Match
Tristan Rosemeyer (Lower Cape May) dec. Evan Villecco (Kingsway), 4-1
3rd Place Match
Nick Banos (Southern Regional) dec. Liam Kisby (Absegami), 5-3
120
1st Place Match
Cade Collins (Southern Regional) dec. Bryce Paley (Lower Cape May), 3-0
3rd Place Match
Casey Pekula (St. Augustine) pinned Joseph Vezzosi (Red Bank Catholic), 3:21
126
1st Place Match
Anthony Mason (Southern Regional) dec. Dante DePaul (Delsea), 6-0
3rd Place Match
Chase Sudano (St. Augustine) def. Cole DeAngelo (Red Bank Catholic), SV-1 12-9
132
1st Place Match
Greyson Pettit (Delsea) tech fall over Jayden Jardine (Eastern), 20-3 (4:42)
3rd Place Match
Eli Glover (Lower Cape May) dec. Wyatt Tolson (Ocean City), 7-1
138
1st Place Match
Chase Hansen (Lower Cape May) dec. Amari Vann (Delsea), 10-4
3rd Place Match
Ryan Preziosi (Kingsway) tech fall over Robbie Fritz (Red Bank Catholic), 16-0 (2:31)
144
1st Place Match
Anthony Depaul (Delsea) def. Attila Vigilante (Southern Regional), UTB 3-2
3rd Place Match
Adrian Arbelo (St. Augustine) maj. dec. Luken Ramos (Red Bank Catholic), 9-1
150
1st Place Match
Ryan Glenn (Kingsway) dec. Anthony Russo (Red Bank Catholic), 6-4
3rd Place Match
Jean Paul Bonnette (St. Augustine) tech fall over Anthony Molinaro (Southern Regional), 17-0 (4:54)
157
1st Place Match
Matthew Miranda (Kingsway) 35-3, Fr. over Johnny Chirico (St. Augustine), 8-6
3rd Place Match
Daniel Byrne (Lower Cape May) pinned Elijah Beatty (Clearview), 3:19
165
1st Place Match
Vincent Esposito (Southern Regional) dec Cameron Pote (Delsea), 3-1
3rd Place Match
Robert Attenborough (Middle Township) dec. Cristian Rodriguez (Red Bank Catholic), 7-2
175
1st Place Match
Vincent Palermo (Hammonton) maj. dec. Greyson Hyland (Woodstown), 12-3
3rd Place Match
Nicholas Daddona (Southern Regional) dec. Shane Morrell (Lower Cape May), 4-1
190
1st Place Match
Levi Foote (Southern Regional) dec. Brody Taylor (St. Augustine), 11-5
3rd Place Match
Brian Garcia (Red Bank Catholic) dec. Greg Sawyer (Delsea), 9-8
215
1st Place Match
Salvatore Marchese (Delsea) tech fall over Daniel Francis (St. Augustine), 20-5 (3:18)
3rd Place Match
Jacob Chapman (Ocean City) dec. Aaron Veytsman (Clearview Regional), 11-5
285
1st Place Match
Mateo Vinciguerra (Woodstown) pinned Braden Shields (St. Augustine), 2:54
3rd Place Match
Slayton D`Amico (Cedar Creek) dec. Ahmad Fears (Gateway/Woodbury), 8-2
1,000-Point Club
Here is a list of Salem County’s all-time leading scorers in basketball; documented additions/updates should be sent to al.muskewitz@gmail.com
Boys
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | TOTAL | YEAR |
| Paul Gause | Schalick | 3144 | 2005 |
| Keith Jackson | Salem | 1940 | 1986 |
| Richard Brokenbaugh | Penns Grove | 1730 | 1989 |
| Marcus Robinson | Salem | 1726 | 1990 |
| Joe Hickman | Woodstown | 1726 | 1972 |
| Zach Manorowitz | Pennsville | 1679 | 2020 |
| Mike Holloway | Schalick | 1634 | 2015 |
| Rashan Holloway | Schalick | 1622 | 2014 |
| Kavon Lewis | Penns Grove | 1600 | 2020 |
| Dominique Roy | Penns Grove | 1574 | 2008 |
| Mike Wright | Penns Grove | 1551 | 1988 |
| Derrick Parsley | Salem | 1532 | 2008 |
| Greg Frith | Schalick | 1532 | 1990 |
| Fred Drains | Woodstown | 1444 | 1989 |
| Jawan Roane | Penns Grove | 1424 | 2018 |
| Jerry Dickerson | Salem | 1416 | 1963 |
| Sean Collins | Schalick | 1393 | 1996 |
| Geshawn Davis | Penns Grove | 1393 | 2013 |
| Melvin Allen | Schalick | 1355 | 2014 |
| Ron Michael | Salem | 1350 | 2002 |
| Bradley Rowand | Woodstown | 1346 | 2000 |
| Tyler Lunsford | Schalick | 1345 | 2016 |
| James Rowe | Salem | 1300 | 1997 |
| Dan Feruck | Pennsville | 1284 | 1980 |
| Lowell Fortune | Salem | 1255 | 1989 |
| Brian Sye | Salem | 1227 | 1978 |
| Ralph Kowalkowski | St. James | 1220 | 1955 |
| Josh Hedgeman | Schalick | 1219 | 1989 |
| Luke Wood | Pennsville | 1198 | 2025 |
| William Barnes | Salem | 1192 | 2005 |
| Jamar D. Johnson | Penns Grove | 1189 | 2020 |
| Anthony Farmer | Salem | 1175 | 2024 |
| Jim Shivers | Woodstown | 1170 | 1973 |
| George Seager | Pennsville | 1158 | 1989 |
| Michael Moore | Penns Grove | 1147 | 1991 |
| Gage Ausland | Salem | 1144 | 2020 |
| Butch Karr | Pennsville | 1143 | 2009 |
| Scott Powers | Woodstown | 1134 | 1993 |
| Joe Cassidy | St. James | 1117 | 1983 |
| Clifton Shaw | Penns Grove | 1111 | 1996 |
| Blake Bialecki | Woodstown | 1107 | 2026 |
| Billy McMackin | Woodstown | 1105 | 2003 |
| Joe Mecholsky | Pennsville | 1103 | 1992 |
| Mike Driscoll | Woodstown | 1100 | 1968 |
| Brandon Bermudez | Salem Tech | 1097 | 2023 |
| Tim Buzby | Pennsville | 1093 | 1987 |
| Jim Brown | Salem | 1085 | 1985 |
| Ramon Roots | Salem | 1080 | 2016 |
| Mike Harrell | Schalick | 1075 | 1986 |
| Brian Booker | Woodstown | 1068 | 2002 |
| Keith Robinson | Penns Grove | 1065 | 2019 |
| Troy Johnson | Schalick | 1062 | 2017 |
| x-Tymear Lecator | Salem | 1061 | |
| Lew Ridgeway | Salem | 1058 | 1975 |
| Eric Spencer | St. James | 1054 | 1990 |
| Tom Summiel | Salem | 1050 | 1971 |
| Clint Hitchner | Woodstown | 1050 | 1996 |
| Jamy Thomas | Pennsville | 1048 | 1994 |
| DeAndre Solomon | Schalick | 1044 | 2014 |
| Charles McNeil | Penns Grove | 1040 | 1956 |
| Jim Smith | Woodstown | 1038 | 1955 |
| Charles Haines | Penns Grove | 1030 | 1953 |
| Bruce Spencer | St. James | 1023 | 1983 |
| Colin Rieger | Pennsville | 1014 | 2015 |
| Terrence Sorrell | Salem | 1014 | 1988 |
| Darryl Gause | Schalick | 1007 | 2001 |
| Dan Yucis | Pennsville | 1003 | 1999 |
| Matt Kates | Schalick | 1002 | 2008 |
| Woodrow Furbush | Salem | 1002 | 2011 |
Girls
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | TOTAL | YEAR |
| Katie Kline | Pennsville | 2110 | 2004 |
| Amanda Young | St. James | 1762 | 1995 |
| Sharias Hill | Penns Grove | 1661 | 2009 |
| Brittany Smith | Salem | 1623 | 2007 |
| Talia Battavio | Woodstown | 1620 | 2025 |
| Megan Donelson | Woodstown | 1588 | 2025 |
| Tia Furbush | Schalick | 1574 | 2021 |
| Tori Smick | Woodstown | 1566 | 2013 |
| Shayla Llanos | Salem | 1436 | 2008 |
| Crystal Bailey | Schalick | 1406 | 1984 |
| Stephanie Owen | Woodstown | 1381 | 1993 |
| Marley Wood | Pennsville | 1362 | 2026 |
| Dawn Curry | Pennsville | 1288 | 2008 |
| Tamara Watkins | Penns Grove | 1276 | 2005 |
| Charlie Baldwin | Woodstown | 1275 | 2020 |
| Shaqui Coppage | Salem | 1265 | 2010 |
| Vynette Miller | Salem | 1255 | 1985 |
| Kelli Griffith | Pennsville | 1248 | 1989 |
| Paige Caldwell | Woodstown | 1237 | 2017 |
| Taylor Bass | Pennsville | 1237 | 2026 |
| Ryane Wood | Pennsville | 1224 | 2022 |
| Carly Lane | Penns Grove | 1217 | 2001 |
| Shaniece Banks | Penns Grove | 1205 | 2008 |
| Elizabeth Hudock | Salem | 1203 | 2019 |
| Marie Patrick | Salem | 1186 | 1995 |
| Hannah Cooksey | Pennsville | 1168 | 2019 |
| Lindsey Minch | Pennsville | 1163 | 2010 |
| Riley Fulmer | Woodstown | 1163 | 2022 |
| RaNiyah Wilson | Penns Grove | 1156 | 2025 |
| Nora Ausland | Pennsville | 1144 | 2025 |
| Tiasia Tatem | Salem | 1139 | 2015 |
| Che’Na Thompson | Salem | 1130 | 2009 |
| Ashley Hansen | Schalick | 1124 | 2008 |
| Bethany Humenik | Woodstown | 1120 | 2009 |
| Kelly Thompson | Woodstown | 1115 | 1990 |
| Latika Ross | Salem | 1102 | 2001 |
| Lindsay Rivell | Salem | 1081 | 2001 |
| Caitlin McCaffery | Pennsville | 1080 | 2003 |
| Natrice Reed | Penns Grove | 1065 | 2018 |
| Meely Horace | Penns Grove | 1063 | 2024 |
| Kayla Mayers | Woodstown | 1041 | 2015 |
| Shannon Pollock | St. James | 1037 | 1993 |
| Christy Britton | St. James | 1037 | 1989 |
| Ashley Engel | Woodstown | 1012 | 2007 |
| Susanne Daly | St. James | 1002 | 1991 |
| Sandy Alston | Penns Grove | 1983 |
Cinderella lives
New Egypt stuns top-seeded Salem in overtime for SJ Group I final; 14th-seeded Warriors knocked off 3, 6, 2 and 1 along the way
GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
SOUTH
New Egypt 48. Salem 46 (OT)
CENTRAL
Thrive Charter 48, Point Pleasant Beach 23
NORTH I
Waldwick 66, Pequannock 61
NORTH II
Shabazz 95, Arts 72
GROUP I FINAL FOUR
March 11
New Egypt (15-14) vs. Thrive Charter (21-5) at Monroe H.S., 5 p.m.
Waldwick (21-9) vs. Shabazz (27-1) at Franklin H.S., 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – The clock struck midnight twice for Cinderella Saturday and she’s still dancing.
New Egypt continued its magical run through the Group 1 basketball playoffs Saturday, knocking off the biggest of the single-digit seeds it’s been beating in the post-season when it took down top-seeded Salem 48-46 in overtime.
The 14th-seeded Warriors (15-14), over .500 for the first time since Jan. 23, extended their Hoosiers story into the Group I semifinals, where they’ll play Central Jersey champion Thrive Charter (21-5) Wednesday at Monroe High School.
The Rams (22-5) had chances to win or tie it at the end of regulation and overtime, but their shots didn’t fall. Their dream of winning a sectional title turned into a pumpkin when they missed two free throws with 0.8 seconds left in overtime.
Warriors coach Mick Hughes shared afterwards that his 2-year-old daughter, Penny, “demanded” he read her a story last night. Her choice: Cinderella.
You can’t make this up.
“She knew we were playing today,” Hughes said realizing the irony, “but it all happened and it happened because these guys believe in themselves. We had a little bit of a disappointing regular season, but we thought we had the talent to make a run.
“Just from jump in the playoffs we liked what we saw right away and once we won that first game against Haddon Twp., who was a great ball club, we kind of just said to ourselves why not us. We just believed. That’s really it. It’s funny how far that can take you.”
The Warriors have mowed down top seeds like the power points didn’t matter. They beat the 3, 6, 2 and 1 seeds (with a combined record of 81-29 at the time of their game) along the way. Thrive was the No. 1 seed in Central Jersey.
“After we won that first round we knew it wasn’t a Cinderella, we were actually here to play some good basketball,” senior Nolan Arnold said. “We started locking down on defense, started making shots and … we knew we had a shot. No more Cinderella now.”
Salem (22-6) was playing in the sectional final for the first time since 2022 – coach Anthony Farmer’s first season with the team – and looking to win its first sectional title since 2008.
Farmer described the game as a “heavyweight fight” and neither team gave an inch. There were 11 ties and nine lead changes. The game was tied at the end of the second, third and fourth quarters. The Rams last led 44-42 with 1:52 left in regulation.
“We had opportunities,” Farmer said. “We had chances to make some big plays, to make some big shots and we just came up short. We just didn’t make the plays. We left them on the floor. That’s what happens in a tight game like this.
“We never got a run when we were able to get into our stuff and execute. We were always fighting, clawing back, trading blows. We couldn’t get our run.”
The Warriors had a chance to take all the momentum midway through the third quarter when a six-point lead could’ve gone to nine after Arnold made both ends of an intentional foul, but they turned over the ensuing possession and never got a shot. The Rams stormed back to tie it by quarter’s end and the slugging continued in front of a sold-out crowd.
Arnold, New Egypt’s all-time leading scorer headed to Iona for baseball, hit two free throws with 21.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Warriors a 48-46 lead. He also hit the game-tying layup with 38 seconds left in regulation after the Warriors scrambled to save a ball from going out of bounds.
“Early on in the season foul shooting wasn’t my strong suit,” Arnold said. “During practice we’ll shoot foul shots non-stop now and that definitely helped late in this game. I just told myself to relax, I told myself I’m going to make these two and we’re going to win the game.”
The Rams had a chance to win it at the end of regulation and win it or tie at the end of overtime. Neziah Spence got through traffic and put up a runner in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter but his shot hit the rim. In overtime, after Arnold’s go-ahead free throws, Xavier McGriff took a 3-pointer from in front of Salem’s bench with four seconds left that went long and Fatah Paige was fouled trying to put back the rebound with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Paige needed to make both free throws to extend the game. He missed the first shot and the Rams were called for a lane violation anticipating a rebound on the second miss effectively ending the game.
“There was a lot of pressure, it just felt like there was a lot of pressure, and I let it get to me,” Paige said. “There’s just a lot of emotion right now. It’s going to take me a little while to move past this, but I’ll get past it.”
NEW EGYPT 48, SALEM 46
NEW EGYPT (15-14): Nolan Arnold 4 12-13 20, Clyde Ferris 6 2-4 17, Cam Cassandrea 0 0-0 0, Ryan Reynolds 2 0-0 6, Paul Kennedy 1 0-0 2, Dylan Harper 1 0-0 2, Jake Milicia 0 1-4 1. Totals 14 15-21 48.
SALEM (22-6): Donnie Weathers 0 0-0 0, Xavier McGriff 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 5 2-2 16, Tymear Lecator 3 1-2 8, Fatah Paige 2 2-5 6, Deshaan Williams 3 4-8 10. BJ Robbins 0 2-2 2, Darrell Johnson 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 11-19 46.
| New Egypt | 11 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 4- | 48 |
| Salem | 9 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 2- | 46 |
Top photo: New Egypt coach Mick Hughes celebrates with his players after they beat Salem in overtime for the South Jersey Group I basketball title Saturday.
Future foe
Here is a thumbnail look at Salem CC’s potential quarterfinal round opponent in the JUCO Division III national tournament. The Mighty Oaks have drawn a first-round bye and will play the Dallas Eastfield-Joliet winner Thursday at 4 p.m.
| SALEM CC | DALLAS EASTFIELD | JOLIET | |
| SEED | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| ROAD | At Large | At Large | Mid-Atlantic AQ |
| RECORD | 30-2 | 20-9 | 15-11 |
| STREAK | L1 | L1 | W5 |
| LAST 10 | 8-2 | 7-3 | 8-2 |
| OFFENSE | 93.0 | 83.9 | 85.1 |
| DEFENSE | 71.9 | 71.9 | 81.5 |
| FG/3P/FT | 48.8/33.3/68.3 | 46.6/28.7/69.6 | 48.0/32.2/69.3 |
| DEFENSE | 38.3/28.4/66.6 | 44.2/33.9/74.0 | 46.0/35.4/72.8 |
| TOP SCORERS | Jarrell Little 17.3 Nasseem Wright 17.2 Saaid Lee 14.7 | Braydon Campbell 15.6 Martez James 14.6 Aiden White 10.1 | Jeff Fleming 17.2 Ricky Hill 16.9 Levi Goad 12.4 |
| TOP REBOUNDERS | Nasseem Wright 7.9 Jarrell Little 5.2 Idris Rines 5.2 | Martez James 10.4 Martin Nicholas 6.1 Ricky Wilson 4.6 | Jeff Fleming 12.0 Kareem Parker 7.1 Victor Yatou 6.8 |
| AST/TO/ST | Saaid Lee 163/76/61 Nasseem Wright 138/87/55 Jarrell Little 133/63/52 | Braydon Campbell 135/50/40 Martez James 62/35/35 Aiden White 49/39/27 | Ricky Hill 102/61/41 Levi Goad 91/46/39 Jeff Fleming 42/48/55 |
Bouncing back
Palverento, Mighty Oaks put Opening Day setback behind them, score run-rule sweep of Sussex; homegrown talent shines
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE —Despite all the softball she has played over the years, and even with a taste of the college game in the low-intensity fall, Savannah Palverento was as anxious as she’s ever been for a game during Salem CC’s opening-day doubleheader earlier in the week. And it showed.
She was a lot more comfortable with her surroundings the second time out Friday. And it showed.
The freshman from Pennsville collected her first two college hits, including her first college home run, and closed the game in the circle as the Mighty Oaks powered past Sussex 11-2 on the way to a run-rule doubleheader sweep. The Mighty Oaks won the second game 19-5 behind two big innings at the start and four no-hit innings from freshman pitcher Jordyn Busch.
It was a whole lot better for the Mighty Oaks (2-2) in general and Palverento in particular than getting swept by Lackawanna on Opening Day.
Palverento went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts from the leadoff spot in the two games and gave up seven runs in two innings in the circle in the opener. On Friday, hitting out of the 5-hole, she started a six-run second inning with a leadoff single and led off the four-run fourth with a homer. She pitched the fifth inning, giving up an unearned run and striking out the side.
“I was definitely nervous (Opening Day),” she said. “It wasn’t so much nerves — I feel like I got that part out — it was kind of getting in my head because I expected myself to do better than what I did.
“i definitely was a lot more comfortable today. I kind of just gave myself a mental reset and thanks to my coaches for giving us all a pep talk. We have so many more games to look forward to and we can’t just keep our head down on the past, we just have to move on.”
Palverento hit one home run in her four-year high school career (167 at-bats), her junior year against Salem. She called the one she hit Friday, in just her seventh college at-bat, “special” and not just because it was her first in college. Palverento lost her mother, Tina, in 2020 and Friday would have been her birthday.
“I told myself I was going to play hard for her today and I definitely did; I’m really proud of myself,” she said. “I definitely had a moment of clarity, like, oh my God, I just hit a home run and I was like, you know what, it was for her. Everything was for her.”
The Mighty Oaks got a big collective game from their Salem County players. The four local position players in the opener — Palverento, Lilly Peverelle (Pennsville), Ava Ortiz (Salem) and Sawyer Simmons (Pennsville) — were a combined 5-for-8 with five runs and four RBIs. Raegan Wilson (Salem) pitched the first four innings, allowing two hits and an unearned run.
Palverento didn’t play in the nightcap, but the Mighty Oaks’ contingent from Salem County showed out again. Bella Rappa (Pennsville) hit two doubles and together with Peverelle and Ortiz the homegrown players went 4-for-8 with four runs and three RBIs.
“Our goal when we first came in here was to not only try and recruit and let county student-athletes know that we’re here, but also anyone can do it,” Mighty Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. “For them, they grew up playing on this field, it’s very exciting to see their hard work pay off and they’re getting better. I know it takes a while to kind of reflect on it, but they’re starting to notice too how advances they’re starting to get at this game.
“I think it’s very cool. I think it opens up a lot of hopeful eyes for the county to say, hey, Salem Community College is here. It’s a good place to be and it’s a great place to be right now. Hopefully that opens up some other people seeing how good they’re doing to want to get behind them and want to do the same thing.”
The Mighty Oaks wasted little time taking control of the nightcap. They sent 13 batters to the plate in each of the first two innings, erupting for 17 runs. Their first eight hitters of the game all reached base and scored. J.J. Aguirre hit a three-run homer in the second inning, her third in the last two games.
Busch took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. She faced only three batters over the minimum to that point, struck out seven and had only five balls put in play. She lost the gem on a bunt single that loaded the bases after a pair of walks, then gave up a hard single off first baseman Rappa’s leg and a bases-clearing triple by Rachel Teague that ended her day. Emme Witter put out the fire with a strikeout, sacrifice fly and game-ending roller back to the circle.
“Knowing I was three outs away I was excited to get there, but I just was happy the way I did after Tuesday because I personally thought I didn’t give it my best on Tuesday,” Busch said. “Coming in and just having a great day on a day like this was nice. I was so close. I need three more outs, so it just makes you want to work harder.”
Top photo: Freshman Jordyn Busch carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of Salem CC’s second-game run-rule win over Sussex Friday. (Photo by Nolan Dowell)
GAME ONE
| Sussex (0-1) | 001 | 01- | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Salem CC (1-2) | 064 | 1x- | 11 | 8 | 2 |
GAME TWO
| Sussex (0-2) | 000 | 05- | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Salem CC (2-2) | 890 | 2x- | 19 | 16 | 0 |
It’s a slam dunk
High-flying Salem plays for SJ Group I title after beating KIPP, faces Cinderella New Egypt Saturday; Paige’s dunk highlights the win
SJ GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Salem 56, KIPP 42
New Egypt 58, Palmyra 56
Saturday’s game
No. 14 New Egypt at No. 1 Salem, 3 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM — Fatah Paige delivered one of the most electric plays of the year and Tymear Lecator had a front-row seat for it.
Paige, Salem’s 6-4 transfer from Delaware, threw down a thunderous dunk in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s South Jersey Group I semifinal with KIPP that turned the gym upside down. The Rams already had the momentum, but the dunk was like hitting the turbocharger and they rode it to a 56-42 victory.
But to call it just a thunderous dunk would not do it justice. It was highlight film material.
It started with Paige’s steal in the backcourt. He got the ball to Lecator and the Rams’ crafty point guard had the presence to give it back to him. A defender came over looking to draw a charge, but Paige flew past him like he wasn’t there and slammed it down bringing the crowd tumbling out of their seats and head coach Anthony Farmer looking for the production truck.
“I’ve got to send it to ESPN, it was that crazy,” Farmer said.
“I didn’t know if he was about to take off; I wanted him to,” Lecator said. “I saw their guy get ready to take a charge and I saw the way (Paige) was going up and I knew he was about to dunk it. It was just crazy. Ref didn’t call a charge or anything. It was clean. He made the dude fall. It was just crazy. People ran on the court. It was just crazy. Momentum shot out the roof. The place erupted.
“That was the first time I ever witnessed somebody put somebody on a poster that bad in my life.”
As if that weren’t enough, the Rams got another steal and layup the very next play and rolled out to a 10-point halftime lead they extended in the third quarter and maintained the rest of the game. They now host New Egypt Saturday for the sectional crown.
Paige’s big play was just part of another big playoff performance from the Rams’ bigs. Deshaan Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Paige grabbed 12 rebounds for the second straight game and Marshall Stephens had five rebounds and four blocked shots.
“Our bigs played amazing,” Lecator said. “I just thankful for my bigs. Honestly, I don’t think anybody has a solution for our size. Keep feeding confidence into them and they’re going to keep doing what they’ve got to do for me.”
In the Rams’ three playoffs wins, Williams has two double-doubles and is averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds, Paige is averaging 8 points and 10 rebounds, and Stephens has had eight points and 18 boards.
“They’ve been big,” Farmer said. “It’s been a strength for us on this run, being big and physical down the stretch and being able to match people inside and match their physicality. Having that trio of bigs has been key for our run.
“It’s definitely something you can’t take for granted, especially in Group 1. Having some size definitely gets you’re an advantage. But you look around the league, Glassboro had a trio of bigs, (but the Rams’) have been phenomenal. They’ve been taking in everything I’ve been preaching, that no one is as big and physical as us and we need to get on the boardboard, we need to impose our will and Fatah over this run has been a grown man. He’s flying around and creating havoc for people.”
The win sends the Rams to their first sectional final since Farmer’s first season with them in 2021-22. They last won a sectional crown in 2008 and played for the state championship. This team exceeded the 2021-22 team’s win total tonight.
Their opponent Saturday has become the talk of the tournament. The Warriors (14-14), entered the tournament as the 14th seed and have upset seeds 3, 6 and 2 in the bracket.
“Obviously they’ve been playing well enough to get there regardless of the seed, so we’ll approach them as a 2 seed,” Farmer said.
SALEM 56, KIPP 42
KIPP (17-10): Noel Campbell-Eason 0-0-0, Morton 5-2-12, Gabe Paul 3-0-8, Josiah Jones 3-0-6, Kamari Strickland 0-0-0, Jaleel Reddick 0-0-0, Moyston McIntosh 4-1-9, Nolan Sims 2-0-6, Mekhi Moore 0-1-1. Totals 17-4-42
SALEM (22-5): Deshaan Williams 7 2-5 16, Neziah Spence 4 4-5 13, Marshall Stephens 0 1-2 1, Tymear Lecator 5 1-1 13, Fatah Paige 2 1-2 5, Darrelle Johnson 3 0-0 8, Donnie Weathers 0 0-0 0, Kyvion Parsons 0 0-0 0, NJ Robbins 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-15 56.
| KIPP | 11 | 9 | 7 | 15- | 42 |
| Salem | 16 | 14 | 12 | 14- | 56 |
GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
SOUTH
New Egypt (14-14) at Salem (22-5)
CENTRAL
Point Pleasant Beach (21-7) at Thrive Charter (20-5)
NORTH I
Pequannock (22-6) at Waldwick (20-9)
NORTH II
Arts (19-8) at Shabazz (26-1)
Riverview Sports News 