No. 2 Salem CC makes it 13 in a row with another 100-point effort in win at RCSJ-Cumberland; overtakes GSAC lead with Union’s loss

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

VINELAND – Last year’s Salem CC offensive production on the basketball floor was good enough to get them a record-smashing season and a fifth-place finish in the national tournament. Don’t look now, but this year’s version is looking even stronger, with younger players and a lot more players who can handle the ball.

The Mighty Oaks have been challenging the limits of scoreboards all over the region this year. Thursday night they hit the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season and second game in a row in blasting an improved RCSJ-Cumberland team, 106-78.

With their 13-0 start, the second-ranked Mighty Oaks are already halfway to last year’s win total. They hit the 100 mark five times in 34 games last year, they’ve already surpassed that this year and it’s not even Christmas.

“A hundred points definitely feels good,” guard Zyaire Gibson said. “We’re trying to see how many times we can do it, and we try to do it as many times as we can over and over and over until somebody stops us from doing it. The team that stops us from (doing it) we’re going to figure out what we did wrong and we’re going to (get it going) again.”

Last year, the Mighty Oaks finished 15th nationally in scoring (84.4) in an offense that basically ran through three players. With only one player back from that squad, going into Thursday night they were fourth in scoring (93.2), seventh in total points and in the top 10 in field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, 3-point shooting and the number that impresses coach Mike Green most during this run, assists.

Everybody who played in the game for Salem scored, including deep reserve Michael Goodwin, whose bucket at the rim late in the second half pushed the Mighty Oaks over the 100-point threshold.

They’ve hit triple digits this year against Bergen (102), Ocean (113), Passaic (111), Essex (109), RCSJ-Gloucester (100) and the Dukes. After Thursday night, their scoring average rose to 94.2 ppg and their average margin of victory is 20.3 points.

“It means you’re sharing the ball,” Green said. “You don’t score 100 points by going one on one (and) just not caring about your teammates. It shows this team cares about each other; we’re sharing the ball. I don’t know how many assists (tonight), but I’m sure it’s another 20-plus game.

“These guys are picking up what the coaches are putting down and it shows on the court. I’ve said it before: There’s something special about them. They have a certain specialness, a certain toughness, about them. That’s special.”

For the record, the Mighty Oaks had a season-high 25 assists (for 37 baskets), and that doesn’t count “coach’s assists” where guys get fouled going to the bucket without the shot falling and collect from the free throw line. Saaid Lee would have had at least 11 assists (and another points-assists double-double) if you counted those. They’ve had 20 or more assists seven times this season and 21 times in Green’s 65 games as coach.

The Mighty Oaks scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed. The Dukes (5-5) got as close as three with seven minutes left in the first half, then Salem scored the next 10 in a row on the way to a 16-point halftime lead.

Nasseem Wright led Salem with 26 points, six assists and three blocked shots. Jarrell Little, who leads Region XIX in total points, had 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals, and Lee had 14 points, eight assists and six steals. Stefan Phillips and Jaiayre Wright had nine points apiece. Gibson and Idris Rines each had eight.

“It’s good to play in an offense like that,” Little said. “There’s a lot of freelance. You can really play your game in this offense.”

“It’s way better than high school,” added Jaiayre Wright. “It’s fast-paced, everybody gets open shots, nobody is selfish on this team. I just like it. It’s real nice.”

The Dukes got 66 points out of their three big scorers – Vance Brown (28), Jamaal Davis (21) and reigning Region XIX and national Player of the Week Jameel Purnell (17) – but only 12 from the rest of the roster.

The Dukes were the first team Green faced after he got the Mighty Oaks’ coaching job right before Christmas in 2023. His daughter M’ersen was born Dec. 11 and he got the job 12 days later. They have celebrated 48 wins together, a .738 winning percentage.

SALEM CC 106, RCSJ-CUMBERLAND 78
SALEM CC (13-0): Jahseir Sayles 1-4 0-0 2, Jarrell Little 6-11 8-9 24, Saaid Lee 6-10 1-3 14, Jaiayre Wright 4-6 1-1 9, Qua Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Zyaire Gibson 3-11 0-0 8, Nasseem Wright 10 5-8 26, Idris Rines 2-5 4-4 8, Stefan Phillips 2-4 3-4 9, Michael Goodwin 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 37-69 22-30 106.
RCSJ-CUMBERLAND (5-5): Ahmad Woodard 0 1-2 1, Ahzaeah Woodard 0 0-0 0, Jameel Purnell 7 3-6 17, Jamaal Davis 9 3-4 21, Darell Newton 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Greene 0 0-0 0, Daelan Dickerson 2 0-2 4, Vance Brown 10 6-8 28, Jacob Williams 0 0-0 0, Jack Schuler 2 0-0 6, Exodus DeJesus 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 13-22 78.

Salem CC	49	57-	106
RCSJ-Cumberland	33	45-	78

3-point goals: Salem CC 10-27 (Little 4-7, Lee 1-2, Gibson 2-8, N. Wright 1-2, Phillips 2-2, Rines 0-2, Smith 0-1, Sayles 0-3); RCSJ 5 (Davis, Brown 2, Schuler 2). Rebounds: Salem CC 45 (Little 8, J. Wright 7, Gibson 7, Rines 6, Phillips 6); RCSJ 25 (Purnell 9). Total fouls: Salem CC 19, RCSJ 18.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
SALEM CC (2)	8-0	13-0	6-0
Northampton (5)	8-0	12-0
Union (4)	8-1	9-1	6-1
Brookdale (RV)	10-2	10-4	6-2
Montgomery (10)	4-1	5-2
Camden	7-3	7-3	5-2
Ocean	7-3	7-3	4-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	4-3	5-5	4-3
Thaddeus Stevens	2-3	5-6
Bergen	4-8	5-8	2-5
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-7	4-8	1-4
Atlantic Cape	2-6	3-6	2-6
Passaic	2-6	2-8	2-6
Sussex	2-7	3-9	1-6
Harrisburg Area	1-4	2-9
Philadelphia	1-7	4-7
Delaware County	1-8	2-10
Luzerne	0-5	3-7

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem 106, RCSJ-Cumberland 78
Ocean 65, Union 60
Lackawanna 93, Penn State Scranton 76
Harrisburg Area 89, Luzerne 73
Southern Maryland 87, Delaware County 74
Borough of Manhattan CC 62, Passaic 54
Bucks at Philadelphia
Essex 98, Rockland 90
Northampton 76, Montgomery 74
Orange County 85, Sussex 61
Middlesex 73, Delaware Tech 67
Raritan Valley 92, Westchester 82
Bergen at Dutchess
Brookdale 69, RCSJ-Gloucester 65
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Brookdale at Salem CC
RCSJ-Gloucester at Philadelphia
Bergen at Luzerne
Morris at Mercer
Camden at Harrisburg Area
Lackawanna at Rockland
Montgomery at Southern Maryland
Thaddeus Stevens at Atlantic Cape
Passaic at Delaware County
Raritan Valley at Essex
RCSJ-Cumberland at Sussex
Harcum at Brunswick

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union (4)	7-0	13-0	5-0
Harcum (7)	5-0	10-1
Mercer (22)	5-1	9-2	2-0
Essex	3-2	6-3	3-1
Raritan Valley	3-3	6-5	3-2
Delaware Valley	2-3	3-9
Lackawanna	2-4	2-7
Middlesex	1-7	5-10	0-4
Morris	0-4	0-4	0-3
SALEM CC	0-5	0-7	0-3

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Northampton 51, Montgomery 37
Delaware Tech 83, Middlesex 71
Brookdale 61, RCSJ-Gloucester 45
LaGuardia at Essex
Raritan Valley 67, Westchester 55
Union at Harcum
Sussex 64, Orange County 51
Monroe at Mercer
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Lackawanna at Salem CC
Montgomery at Atlantic Cape
RCSJ-Cumberland at Sussex
Raritan Valley at Essex
Morris at Mercer
Orange County at Camden
Onondaga at Northampton

No. 2 Salem CC shakes slow start, erupts for 100 points and 12th straight win; women’s game canceled

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The way this Salem CC basketball team has been going this season even with a disjointed start you got the sense once the first shot fell through the points were just going to keep coming.

But they had to get the first one and the way it started it didn’t look like either team would.

The Mighty Oaks didn’t score in the first five minutes of the game Tuesday night, but they racked up 100 over the next 34 minutes and put away RCSJ-Gloucester 100-72 to remain undefeated and pull into a share of the Region XIX Division III lead with fourth-ranked Union.

“We just had to see the ball go in the hoop,” said freshman Idris Rines, one of a season-high seven Mighty Oaks scorers in double figures. “Defensively, we held a team to zero points, so it’s not like we were asleep or anything. We couldn’t get shots to fall. We settled for a lot of 3s, weren’t getting to the rim or anything. Once we’d seen finally a layup go through everybody just seen the ball go through the hoop the rest of the game.”

“I knew once we made one shot we were going to keep hitting and going on our runs,” added point guard Saaid Lee.

Neither team could put the ball in the basket early and it was scoreless through the first four minutes of play.

The Roadrunners (4-7) finally scored on a putback 4:15 into the game and went up 4-0. Qua Smith finally broke the ice for second-ranked Salem with 14:50 left in the half and the bucket jumpstarted a 19-0 run that gave the Mighty Oaks (12-0) control of the game.

The Mighty Oaks got to the gym late and it took them a bit to settle in. They opened the game with 11 empty possessions, going 0-for-8 with five turnovers. But they still played good defense, forcing the Roadrunners to go 0-for-3 with six turnovers before somebody scored.

“We were supposed to be here 5:45, guys got here like 6; basketball gods aren’t going to reward that, so that’s probably why we started off so slow,” Lee said. “We just had a lot of brain farts and had to wake up.”

Head coach Mike Green put it a little more delicately.

“We missed shots; shots we normally make, we missed,” he said. “You see a zone and you automatically think shoot 3, 3, 3. We started working the ball. We started getting in the paint, getting finishes, and we took off from there. They picked it up. They listened to what we said and got going.”

Once the Mighty Oaks scored, they never stopped. They scored on eight of their next possessions, going 7-of-11 from the field capped by their first 3-pointer of the game from Zyaire Gibson. And they continued playing strong defense, holding the Roadrunners to 2-of-12 shooting and 10 turnovers in the spree.

The Roadrunners gathered themselves during a timeout and clawed back to within five with 6:23 left in the half, but then the Mighty Oaks put together a 15-4 run to eventually build an 18-point halftime lead.

All five starters scored in double figures for the third time this season, and then some. They got 36 points off the bench. Nasseem Wright was their leading scorer and rebounder with 18 points and eight, respectively.

Lee enjoyed his first double-double on any level with 11 points and 10 assists, easily winning a playful bet he made with someone in a Hawaiian shirt in the stands that he’d get seven assists in the game. Four of his five assists in the second half produced 3-pointers. He also had five steals.

“I just try to be good at my role, create for my teammates, play fast, defend the ball, all that,” Lee said.

Rines came off the bench with 15 points and seven rebounds. Stefan Phillips scored all 10 of his points in the second half and didn’t miss a shot. Jarrell Little had 14 points while Gibson and reserve Jaiayre Wright each had 11.

“Everybody does their role,” Rines said. “Some teams play five or six dudes that are really good (players), but we have 11 people who can go, get out, run. Everybody fills their role. For me, specifically, tonight, I was trying to get up the floor, get open shots, not force anything, and do what everybody needed.”

Despite missing so many shots early, the Mighty Oaks still wound up shooting 50 percent from the field for the game.

Ace Lassiter led the Roadrunners with 14 points. Freshman Jabez DeJesus, a senior at Salem High two years ago, scored his team’s last five points of the first half and finished with a collegiate career-high 11. He had scored 10 points total in six previous appearances.

SALEM CC 100, RCSJ-GLOUCESTER 72
RCSJ-GLOUCESTER (4-7): Dasir Williams-Bey 0-7 2-2 2, Ace Lassiter 5-12 1-1 14, Hajir Davis 2-6 4-4 8, Nasir Baker 6-8 0-0 12, Aiden Cranmer 1-4 0-0 3, Zair Green 1-1 1-2 4, Julian Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, Amara Cacko 3-10 0-0 7, Jerome Cuff 1-2 0-0 3, Sydney Maynard III 0-0 0-0 0, Jabez DeJesus 3-5 5-6 11. Totals 25-59 13-15 72.
SALEM CC (12-0): Jarrell Little 5-12 2-2 14, Saaid Lee 5-8 1-3 11, Zyaire Gibson 4-9 0-0 11, Nasseem Wright 8-14 2-4 18, Stefan Phillips 4-7 0-0 10, Jahseir Sayles 1-9 0-0 3, Jaiayre Wright 4-5 2-3 11, Qua Smith 3-6 1-2 7, Idris Rines 4-6 5-6 15, Michael Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-76 13-20 100.

RCSJ-Gloucester	33	39-	72
Salem CC	51	49-	100

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
SALEM CC (2)	8-0	12-0	5-0
Union (4)	8-0	9-0	6-0
Northampton (5)	7-0	11-0
Montgomery (10)	4-0	5-1
Brookdale (RV)	9-2	9-4	5-2
Camden	7-3	7-3	5-2
Ocean	6-3	6-3	3-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	4-3	5-4	4-2
Thaddeus Stevens	2-3	5-6
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-6	4-7	1-3
Bergen	4-8	5-8	2-5
Atlantic Cape	2-6	3-6	2-6
Passaic	2-6	2-7	2-4
Sussex	2-7	3-8	1-6
Harrisburg Area	1-4	1-9
Philadelphia	1-7	4-7
Delaware County	1-8	2-9
Luzerne	0-5	3-6

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 100, RCSJ-Gloucester 72
Camden 75, Bergen 65
Brookdale 85, Sussex 58
Atlantic Cape 73, RCSJ-Cumberland 61
Middlesex at Raritan Valley
Morris 77, Westchester 73
Luzerne 84, Delaware County 80
Mercer 77, Lackawanna 66
Northampton 70, Thaddeus Stevens 69
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem at RCSJ-Cumberland
Union at Ocean
Lackawanna at Penn State Scranton
Luzerne at Harrisburg Area
Delaware County at Southern Maryland
Passaic at Borough of Manhattan CC
Bucks at Philadelphia
Rockland at Essex
Montgomery at Northampton
Orange County at Sussex
Middlesex at Delaware Tech
Westchester at Raritän Valley
Bergen at Dutchess
RCSJ-Gloucester at Brookdale

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union (4)	7-0	13-0	5-0
Harcum (7)	5-0	10-1
Mercer (22)	5-1	9-2	2-0
Essex	3-2	6-3	3-1
Raritan Valley	2-3	4-5	2-2
Lackawanna	2-4	2-7
Delaware Tech	1-3	2-9
Middlesex	1-5	5-8	0-3
Morris	0-4	0-4	0-3
SALEM CC	0-5	0-7	0-3

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Morris at Salem CC, canceled
Camden 70, Bergen 31
Middlesex at Raritan Valley
Northampton 81, Ocean 31
Harcum 103, Essex 60
Atlantic Cape 96, RCSJ-Cumberland 32
Brookdale 63, Sussex 51
Passaic 46, Montgomery 39
RCSJ-Gloucester 68, Philadelphia 63
Mercer 100, Lackawanna 36
Union 106, Delaware Tech 60
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Montgomery at Northampton
Middlesex at Delaware Tech
RCSJ-Gloucester at Brookdale
LaGuardia at Essex
Westchester at Raritan Valley
Union at Harcum
Orange County at Sussex
Monroe at Mercer

Smith comes off the bench to spark 10-0 closing run that lifts No. 2 Salem CC over Thaddeus Stevens for tenth win of season

THURSDAY BASKETBALL
Salem CC 89, Thaddeus Stevens 79

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – As a role player, Qua Smith doesn’t get the kind of minutes in a Salem CC box score the way the starters do, but he knows when he does get time he has to be ready for it. Head coach Mike Green expects it.

The 6-4 freshman from Philadelphia only got nine minutes in the Mighty Oaks’ 89-79 win over Thaddeus Stevens Thursday night, but it’s what he did in the final two that made all the difference in keeping his team undefeated.

His defense and athleticism sparked second-ranked Salem’s 10-0 closing run after the Bulldogs tied the game at 79. He scored only three points, but it was a three-point play with 1:20 left that gave the Mighty Oaks a five-point lead, and after that came up with a rebound, two assists and a big steal to keep the Bulldogs from threatening again.

“I just make sure when I get in to grab rebounds and do whatever my coach tells me to do,” Smith said. “The mindset is just compete. No matter how many minutes you get, give 100 percent, the whole time.

“You’ve just to stay calm and stay confident. It doesn’t matter how many minutes you get, you’ve just got to go there and do what you have to do for the team. It’s a team thing. It’s not about yourself. That’s how we got the win today.”

It was just a couple weeks ago Green gave his reserves some extended minutes in a blowout win and lamented their play demonstrated they didn’t “appreciate” the opportunity. Smith was locked in when he went into a much tighter game this time.

The Mighty Oaks never trailed in the game and led by as many 16 in the second half. But the Bulldogs (4-5) started hitting the shots they were missing in the first half and eventually tied it at 79 on leading scorer Kneco Hill’s 3-pointer with 2:12 to play. The battle-tested Mighty Oaks weren’t worried.

“You just had to stay calm,” Nasseem Wright said. “Calm men always win through adversity like that. It was just staying calm, staying poised and finishing the game up.”

That’s just about when Smith reentered the game. No sooner had he checked in then Jerrell Little blocked a shot, collected the loose ball and fed Smith for a three-point play at the other end to make it a five-point game with 1:20 left. 

From there to the end, Smith had a defensive rebound, made a steal that Little converted into a layup and assisted on Little’s final bucket of the game.

“He turned the game,” Green said. “There are times when he’s locked in and we got lucky it was the last two minutes tonight. We’ve just got to do a better job getting him locked in more often.

“If Quade’air’s locked in he’ll play a lot more minutes for us. It’s hard to keep him locked in. You’ve got classes on Monday and Wednesday, you play Tuesday and Thursday, and he just was sick so we haven’t played him since the Essex game (Nov. 22). We’ve got to get him locked him,. Same with Jaiayre (Wright). Once we get them locked in they give us another push and we needed that push tonight. Jayaire did it early and Qua did it late.”

“Qua always changes the game for us with his athleticism and rebounding at the end,” Little said. “Our coach always says there’s no garbage minutes on our team because everybody needs to come to play all the time. We need every single person on our team from first to last on the bench. He came in a changed the game.”

Little led the Mighty Oaks with 27 points .Wright came within one assist of a triple double, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Point guard Saaid Lee had 16 points in 37 minutes.

SALEM CC 89, THADDEUS STEVENS 79
THADDEUS STEVENS (4-5): William Fowlkes 2-9 3-3 7, Levon Brown 3-10 2-2 8, Kneco Hill 9-20 6-6 27, Isaiah Diggs 5-9 0-1 10, Tyree Banks 4-7 0-0 11, Luis Torres 0-2 1-2 1, Willie Hashamy 4-8 0-0 8, Anthony Henson 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Smith 1-4 0-0 3, Travis Turner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-74 12-14 79.
SALEM CC (10-0): Jarrell Little 11-22 2-3 27, Saaid Lee 6-9 1-2 16, Zyaire Gibson 1-8 1-2 3, Nasseem Wright 9-13 3-8 21, Stefan Phillips 3-4 0-0 7, Jahseir Sayles 2-4 0-0 5, Jaiayre Wright 1-3 2-2 4, Quadeair Smith 1-1 1-3 3, Idris Rines 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 35-69 11-22 89.

Thaddeus Stevens	32	47-	79
Salem CC	41	48-	89

3-point goals: Thaddeus Stevens 7-19 (Fowlkes 0-2, Hill 3-8, Banks 3-5, Henson 0-1, Smith 1-3); Salem CC 8-28 (Little 3-9, Lee 3-4, Gibson 0-7, N. Wright 0-1, Phillips 1-1, Sayles 1-2, Rines 0-4). Rebounds: Thaddeus Stevens 38 (Brown 8, Diggs 7); Salem CC 41 (N. Wright 11, J. Wright 6). Technical fouls: Thaddeus Stevens bench, Salem CC coach Green. Total fouls: Thaddeus Stevens 17, Salem CC 15.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union (4)	7-0	7-0	5-0
SALEM CC (2)	6-0	10-0	5-0
Northampton (5)	6-0	10-0
Montgomery (11)	3-0	4-1
Brookdale	7-2	7-4	3-2
Camden	6-2	6-2	4-1
Ocean	5-3	5-3	3-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	4-3	4-3	3-1
Thaddeus Stevens	2-2	4-5
Bergen	4-6	5-6	2-4
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-5	3-6	1-3
Sussex	2-5	2-6	1-4
Harrisburg Area	1-3	1-8
Atlantic Cape	2-6	2-6	1-6
Passaic	2-6	2-6	2-5
Philadelphia	1-7	3-7
Delaware County	1-8	1-8
Luzerne	0-4	2-5

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 89, Thaddeus Stevens 79
Union 66, Essex 64
Camden 61, Atlantic Cape 55
Philadelphia 64, Delaware County 59
RCSJ-Cumberland 82, Luzerne 77
Raritan Valley 74, Morris 72
Northampton 83, Harrisburg Area 74
Brookdale 79, Bergen 71
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Baltimore City at Harcum
Eastern JV at RCSJ-Gloucester
Mercer vs. Manor
Philadelphia at Lancaster Bible JV
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Bergen
RCSJ-Gloucester vs. Mercer/Manor
Mercer vs. RCSJ-Gloucester/Eastern JV
Union at Sussex
Luzerne at Montgomery
Ocean at Harrisburg Area
Bucks at Thaddeus Stevens
Williamson Trades at Delaware County
Brookdale at Camden
RCSJ-Cumberland at Passaic
Monroe at Morris
Middlesex at Lackawanna

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union (4)	5-0	11-0	4-0
Harcum (8)	4-0	8-1
Mercer (RV)	4-1	7-2	2-0
Essex	3-1	6-2	3-1
Lackawanna	2-2	2-5
Delaware Tech	1-2	2-8
Morris	0-2	0-2	0-1
Raritan Valley	0-3	2-5	0-2
Middlesex	0-4	4-8	0-3
SALEM CC	0-4	0-6	0-2

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Bucks, cancelled
Harcum 86, Lackawanna 29
Union 76, Monroe 66
Montgomery 83, Ocean 40
Atlantic Cape 63, Camden 36
Brookdale 66, Bergen 50
Northampton 64, Sussex 22
Johnson County 99, Raritan Valley 48
CCBC Catonsville 61, Essex 59
FRIDAY’S GAME
Baltimore City at Harcum
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Cumberland at Passaic
Mercer at RCSJ-Gloucester
Union at Morris
Brookdale at Camden
Middlesex at Lackawanna

No. 2 Salem CC men stay unbeaten with road win at Camden; women still seeking first win after loss at Delaware Tech

TUESDAY BASKETBALL
Salem CC 69, Camden CC 59
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Delaware Tech 64, Salem CC 53

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BLACKWOOD – At the start of each of the last two seasons Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green and assistant Scooter Wilkerson got together to plot the worst-case scenario for the first month of the season. Green wouldn’t disclose his projection except to say it was better than his assistant’s – and that one was pretty good.

Suffice to say, the team is “way ahead of schedule.”

The second-ranked Mighty Oaks head into Thanksgiving 9-0 after a 69-59 win at Camden County College Tuesday night.

“I thought we’d be pretty good,” Green said after pushing his career coaching record to 44-17 (.721) with the strong start. “I thought we’d struggle at a couple places, but we’re way ahead of Scooter’s (projection) and we’re ahead of mine, let’s put it that way.”

The players expected to have success this year, even though the roster is completely new, but being undefeated might have caught some of them by surprise.

“I didn’t think we were going to be bad, but undefeated was unexpected, I’m not going to lie,” point guard Saaid Lee said. “But for us to be that way I think we’re way ahead of the curve where we’re supposed to be right now.”

“To be honest, I felt like we were going to be right where we’re at right now,” Nasseem Wright said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in my guys. We’re not looking past anybody, we’re just executing the job. It’s cool (to be undefeated), but there’s more to do, for sure.”

The Mighty Oaks took control of the game with a 17-0 run in the middle of the first half. And although the players never felt uncomfortable even when the Cougars made a couple runs at them, it just had that kind of feel about it.

They led by 16 after that initial outburst and maintained the lead throughout. The Cougars rode some intense defense to draw within six with five minutes left. Green called time at that point and the Mighty Oaks returned to the floor with renewed energy and scored the next six points to push their lead back to double digits. 

Second-chance buckets by Lee and Stefan Phillips and Zyaire Gibson’s layup after a Wright steal made it 62-50 with 3:22 left. The lead slipped below 10 only once the rest of the way.

“They don’t let you breathe,” Green said. “They’ve got a toughness about them. Our kids again answered the bell.

“We just had to reset the group. Let them know we’re still winning, it ain’t the end of the world. Let’s put something on top of it.”

The Mighty Oaks put five scorers in double figures. Jarrell Little, the newly-minted Region 19 Division III Player of the Week, and Lee led the way with 14 points apiece. Wright, Idris Rines and Stefan Phillips had 10 points apiece.

Lee scored all his points in the second half. He also had five rebounds and five assists, including the alley-oop pass that produced Wright’s thunderous dunk at the end of the game. Wright also had 10 rebounds and five assists, and once again Phillips didn’t miss a shot.

“The more weapons we’ve got, the better it is, and we’ve got a good amount of weapons,” Green said. “Nobody has successfully taken all of them out yet.”

The good thing about having a brand new team is it isn’t burdened by history. The win was the Mighty Oaks’ first in six games at Camden since the revival of the program (0-5). Green was 0-2 and had 13-point leads in both games.

The players were aware of all that, prompting Wright to call Tuesday night’s game “personal.”

“Any time you lose in overtime or you got a lead you surrender, you don’t forget that,” Green said.

One piece of history the new Mighty Oaks won’t want to forget is they have now won 11 in a row going back to last year and 17 of their last 18 (with only loss to national champion and current No. 1 Mohawk Valley in the national tournament). They’re now 7-0 away from home this season, 6-0 in true road games.

So they’re undefeated going into Thanksgiving. Going into Christmas without a loss — a joyous No-L, get it — that would be something. They play seven games in December, two against teams they’ve already beaten and none against the other three nationally ranked teams in the league.

“It’s tough, you’ve got to stay healthy,” Green said of the prospects. “Hopefully our guys stay healthy. If you stay healthy, anything can happen.”

SALEM CC 69, CAMDEN 59
SALEM CC (9-0): Jarrell Little 5-15 0-0 14, Saaid Lee 6-10 2-4 14, Nasseem Wright 4-6 2-2 10, Idris Rines 4-7 0-0 10, Stefan Phillips 5-5 0-0 10, Zyaire Gibson 3-12 0-0 7, Lenar Anderson 1-2 0-2 2, Jaiayre Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Jahseir Sayles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 4-8 69.
CAMDEN (5-2): Cam Rembert 6 0-0 12, Su Allyene 2 6-9 10, Mikey Campbell 3 0-0 6, Kyree Henry 0 0-0 0, Zhamere Crawford 1 1-2 4, Christian Durham 3 0-0 6, Sami Singletary 0 2-2 2, Istavan Norwood 8 0-2 16, Ayden Chopstick 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 9-15 59.

Salem CC (9-0)	31	38-	69
Camden (5-2)	20	39-	59

3-point goals: Salem CC 7-26 (Little 4-11, Lee 0-1, N. Wright 0-2, Rines 2-3, Gibson 1-8, Anderson 0-1)
Camden 2 (Crawford, Copestick). Rebounds: Salem CC 33 (N. Wright 10). Total fouls: Salem 13, Camden 15.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	7-0	7-0	5-0
SALEM CC	6-0	9-0	5-0
Northampton	6-0	9-0
Montgomery	4-0	4-1
Camden	5-2	5-2	3-1
Brookdale	5-2	5-4	2-2
Ocean	4-3	4-3	2-2
RCSJ-Cumberland	3-3	3-3	3-1
RCSJ-Gloucester	3-3	3-4	1-3
Bergen	3-5	4-5	2-3
Thaddeus Stevens	1-2	3-4
Atlantic Cape	2-4	2-4	1-4
Sussex	2-5	2-6	1-4
Harrisburg Area	1-3	1-6
Passaic	2-6	2-6	2-5
Delaware County	1-6	1-6
Luzerne	0-3	2-4
Philadelphia	0-7	2-7

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 69, Camden 59
Northampton 98, Delaware County 51
Union 100, Passaic 50
Harrisburg Area 69, Philadelphia 54
Morris 90, Essex 73
Thaddeus Stevens at RCSJ-Gloucester
RCSJ-Cumberland 79, Atlantic Cape 73
Sussex 92, Bergen 84
Montgomery 78, Lackawanna 52
Middlesex 71, Mercer 70
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Williamson Trades at Harrisburg Area
Morris at Allegany (Md.)
DEC. 2 GAMES
Philadelphia at Luzerne
Brookdale at Delaware County
Sussex at Passaic
Middlesex at Essex
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
CCBC Catonsville at Harcum
Northampton at Camden
Harrisburg Area at RCSJ-Cumberland
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Ocean at Atlantic Cape
RCSJ-Gloucester at Bergen

Women’s game

NEWARK, Del. — A cold night from the floor doomed the Salem CC women to a fifth straight loss to open the season, 64-53 at Delaware Tech.

The Mighty Oaks shot 23-of-82 from the floor and 3-of-17 from 3-point range. Tanijya Shaw led the offense with 16 points. Point guard Justine Cardona returned to the lineup a missing the past three games with an ankle injury and had 11 points and five rebounds. Kasey Oliver trapped a team-high 12 rebounds.

Salem CC (0-5)	8	10	16	19-	53
Delaware Tech (2-7)	15	16	16	17-	64

SALEM CC LEADERS
Scoring: Tanya Shaw 16, Justine Cardona 11, Kasey Oliver 10.
Rebounding: Kasey Oliver 12, Dani Gustin 7.
Steals: RayNescia King 4, Tanijya Shaw 4.

Region XIX Standings

WOMENS DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Union	4-0	9-0	3-0
Harcum	3-0	7-1
Mercer	3-1	6-2	2-0
Essex	2-1	5-1	2-1
Lackawanna	2-1	2-4
Delaware Tech	1-1	2-7
Morris	0-2	0-2	0-1
Middlesex	0-3	4-7	0-2
Raritan Valley	0-3	2-4	0-2
SALEM CC	0-3	0-5	0-1

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech 64, Salem CC 53
Harcum 70, Raritan Valley 60
Bergen 69, Sussex 59
Mercer 101, Middlesex 43
Atlantic Cape 89, RCSJ-Cumberland 37
Essex 125, Morris 20
Union 86, Lackawanna 33
DEC. 2 GAMES
Union at Salem
Middlesex at Essex
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Northampton at Camden
Harcum at Morris
Sussex at Passaic
Ocean at Atlantic Cape
RCSJ-Gloucester at Bergen
Brookdale at Delaware County