No. 2 Mighty Oaks make it six in a row, back home over Ocean; Salem women play first game in two weeks, fall at Mercer

MENS BASKETBALL
Salem CC 113, Ocean 90
WOMENS BASKETBALL
Mercer 88, Salem CC 39

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – One of the biggest keys to Salem CC’s deep run to the national tournament last year was its ability to get contributions from throughout the roster. The starters were the engine, but when the reserves went in the game the Mighty Oaks could count on getting something from them to keep the train rolling. 

The new group of starters still make the Mighty Oaks go this year, but the new group of reserves are still trying to find their niche.

Second-ranked Salem won its sixth straight Tuesday night, returning home from a weekend away to beat Ocean 113-90.

All five starters scored in double figures (82 points) for the second time this season and had the Mighty Oaks (6-0) on pace to break the scoreboard, but when coach Mike Green gave the second group a chance to show their stuff with a comfortable lead, the Vikings kept it from getting further out of hand.

They hadn’t given up that many points in a game since a 102-93 loss at Camden in the eighth game last season.

“We gave those guys who don’t play as much … some game reps so they can help us later on down the road,” Green explained. “A few of them didn’t appreciate those minutes, so we might have to pull them back.

“We were good offensively, we were good defensive with our first five, six guys. Those guys seven, eight, nine, ten, they’ve got to give us something. If they think they’re going to outscore those starters, they got it all wrong. They’ve got to come guard, they’ve got to make that extra pass, they’ve got to come get a rebound because those five who start are going to score the ball – all year long. Last year we were good from one to 11. We’ve got to get that again.”

“Any team shouldn’t be scoring 90 points on us,” freshman guard Jarrell Little said. “Ninety points is way too much for a team like that, especially if we’re blowing them out.”

It’s not that they’re down on the non-starters, the group just didn’t deliver on this particular night.

“They’ve got it, they’ve just got to come show it,” Green said. “If they come in with the wrong mindset they’re going to struggle more and more and more. But we recruited them for a reason. They have to understand their role on the team.”

The Mighty Oaks’ shooting stroke came around. They were 38-of-132 from 3-point range coming into the game, but hit a season-high 14-of-29 against the Vikings (2-3), tying for third-most in Green’s 58-game tenure as coach. Seven players hit at least one; the starters were 11-for-16. The reason they had a 22-point halftime lead is because they had seven more 3s than the Vikings in the half.

“We want to be around double-digit 3s and we got 14 of them today – and a good percentage, too,” Green said. “We were shooting 28 percent from 3, that’s why teams were zoning us.”

“We were just shooting the ball today,” Little said. “It’s our home gym, we’re supposed to be lighting it up.”

Little was 0-for-10 from beyond the arc the last time the Mighty Oaks played at home, but he nailed the first 3 of the game from the right corner and had three on the night en route to a game-high 23 points. In the three games since that cold home debut, he’s averaging just under 22 points a game and is 8-of-21 from behind the arc.

“My coach always gave me the confidence to shoot the ball; either way, I’m just going to keep shooting,” Little said. “That’s all he put in my brain, just keep shooting, and I worked on it the next day at practice. I was just focusing on being consistent, taking better shots and working on my game.”

He wasn’t the one who’s shot came around. Zyaire Gibson was 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the Mighty Oaks’ two wins at Penn Highlands last weekend, but he hit 4-of-5 in the first half and finished with 14 points.

“He can shoot the ball; we’re just trying to get those guys confident in the shot they’re taking,” Green said. “Saving face when you miss is when you make. You can’t go out there feeling sorry for yourself, the basketball gods don’t care. You can go 0-for-10, they don’t care.”

The Mighty Oaks also got big games from starters Nasseem Wright and Saaid Lee. Wright had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Lee, the point guard, bounced back from fouling out Sunday seven minutes into the second half with 15 points and eight assists

“I just wanted to make up for this week; it made me want to be there for my team,” Lee said. “I left them on the water by themselves last game, so I wanted to make sure I was there to do what I’ve got to do and be there for them.”

Salem CC 113, Ocean 90

OCEAN (2-3): A.J. Lemons 6-12 5-6 18, Myles Marabuto 2-4 2-2 7, Jamari Smith 7-10 8-10 22, Aiden Sosinov 4-6 0-0 8, James Gibbons 3-3 0-0 6, Jack Malek 2-3 0-0 4, Kai Barckley 3-5 0-0 6, Omar Hadid 1-2 0-0 2, Aiden Falduto 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Grospe 1-5 0-1 2, Mattox Watson 1-1 1-3 4, Tristan Ulrich 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Krye 2-6 0-0 5, Liam Yefet 2-2 0-6 4, Joseph Witter 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 35-63 16-28 90.
SALEM CC (6-0): Jarrell Little 9-15 2-2 23, Saaid Lee 7-10 0-0 15, Zyaire Gibson 5-7 0-1 14, Nasseem Wright 8-15 3-5 20, Stefan Phillips 4-4 0-0 10, Jahseir Sayles 0-3 0-0 0, Jaiayre Wright 1-3 1-2 3, Qua Smith 1-4 5-8 7, Lenar Anderson 3-7 0-1 7, Idris Rines 4-9 4-4 14, Michael Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 42-78 15-23 113.

Ocean	41	49-	90
Salem	63	50-	113

3-point goals: Ocean 4-18 (Lemons 1-4, Marabuto 1-2, Sosinov 0-1, Barckley 0-2, Grospe 0-4, Watson 1-1, Ulrich 0-1, Krey 1-3); Salem 14-29 (Little 3-6, Lee 1-1, Gibson 4-5, N. Wright 1-2, Phillips 2-2, Sayles 0-3, Smith 0-1, Anderson 1-4, Rines 2-5). Rebounds: Ocean 32 (Yefet 8); Salem 38 (N. Wright 5, Smith 5, Rines 5). Technical fouls: Gibbons. Fouled out: J. Smith. Total fouls: Ocean 20, Salem 19.

Region XIX Standings

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

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem 113, Ocean 90
Prince George’s 105, Essex 94
Union 84, Atlantic Cape 66
Sussex 68, Luzerne 64
Allegany (Md.) 103, Harrisburg Area 66
Delaware County at Thaddeus Stevens
Brookdale 63, Philadelphia 54
Morris 88, Lackawanna 76
RCSJ-Cumberland at Northampton
Montgomery 67, Camden 65
Passaic 89, Bergen 80

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
CCBC Dundalk at Delaware Tech
Harcum at Cecil

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Passaic
Miseracordia JV at Luzerne
SUNY-Broome at Northampton
Bucks at Middlesex
Raritan Valley at Mercer
Philadelphia at Georgian Court JV
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
Ocean at RCSJ-Gloucester
Sussex at Bergen

Women’s game

WEST WINDSOR – The Salem CC women were playing just their second game of the season and first game in two weeks, and the layoff was evident.

The Mighty Oaks were held to 14 points in the first half and fell on the road to Mercer, 88-39.

“It helped us in a way because our players got healthy,” Salem coach Brian Marsh said of the layoff, “but (it) affected our timing, for sure.”

The Mighty Oaks were shorthanded as it was, but they already were without injured point guard Justine Cardona and Neicy King fouled out in the first half.

“It definitely affected our press break and we had 41 turnovers,” Marsh said. “But they still played hard even very short-handed.”

Mercer’s Alexandra Galan-Garcia led all scorers with 29 points. Evangelina Fransisco had 20. Kasey Oliver and Tanya Shaw led Salem with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

SALEM CC (0-2): Ray’Nescia King 0-1 0-0 0, Tanijya Shaw 4-12 4-5 12, Kasey Oliver 5-11 3-9 13, Dani Gustin 4-9 0-2 8, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0, Jayda Hunter 0-6 3-5 3, Paula Wilson 1-8 1-2 3. Totals 14-47 11-24 49.
MERCER (4-1): Evangelina Fransisco 7-14 1-2 20, Mayah Alford 6-10 0-2 12, Zaakirah Edwards 5-16 0-3 10, Gabriella Smith 3-8, 0-0 6, Qui-Mia Wilkins 2-9 1-4 5, Alexandra Galan-Garcia 13-22 2-4 29, Patricia Moore 2-5 0-0 4, Emma Wilke 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 39-91 4-12 88.

Salem CC	6	8	10	15-	39
Mercer	22	20	18	28-	88

3-point goals: Salem 0-7 (King 0-1, Shaw 0-1, Oliver 0-3, Hunter 0-2); Mercer 6-24 (Fransisco 5-9, Edwards 0-3, Smith 0-4, Wilkins 0-1, Galan-Garcia 1-2, Moore 0-1, Wilke 0-3). Rebounds: Salem 48 (Hunter 12, Oliver 6); Mercer 49 (Wilkins 10, Alford 7). Fouled out: King, Moore. Total fouls: Salem 13, Mercer 22.

Region XIX Standings

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

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Mercer 88, Salem CC 39
Essex 53, Prince George’s 46
Harcum 113, Middlesex 45
Union 84, Raritan Valley 60
Montgomery 44, Camden 43
Passaic 82, Bergen 51
Philadelphia 74, Brookdale 67
Northampton 84, RCSJ-Cumberland 23
Lackawanna 69, Morris 56
Atlantic Cape 73, Sussex 41

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Palm Beach (Fla.) State at Salem CC
Ocean at RCSJ-Gloucester
Raritan Valley at Mercer
SUNY-Broome at Northampton
Sussex at Bergen
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
RCSJ-Cumberland at Philadelphia
Middlesex at Bronx
Union at Essex
Lackawanna at Five Towns
Allegany (Md.) at Camden

No. 2 Salem CC runs over Bryant & Stratton in Penn Highlands Turkey Classic, plays host team Sunday

PENN HIGHLANDS TURKEY CLASSIC
Salem CC 89, Bryant & Stratton 55
Sandhills 107, Penn Highlands 98
Sunday’s Games
Sandhills vs. Bryant & Stratton, 1 p.m.
Salem CC vs. Penn Highlands, 3 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Second-ranked Salem CC regained some of its 3-point shooting touch, started fast and ended even faster in overrunning Bryant & Stratton (Ohio), 89-55, Saturday in the opening game of the Penn Highlands Turkey Classic.

The Mighty Oaks were cold from behind the arc in their home opener (7 of 37), but went 10-of-28 in the Penn Highlands gym. Jerrell Little, 0-for-10 from 3 in the last game, hit their first 3 of the game and went on to shoot 5-of-11 on deep balls against the Bobcats. The Mighty Oaks are 24-of-73 from 3-point range in their three road games this season.

“It’s a win, another road win, feisty team, feels great getting another one,” coach Mike Green said. “This is the third team that’s zoned us in a row, so most of the teams must think we can’t shoot the ball and we haven’t proved it yet.”

Little finished with 19 points. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Nasseem Wright led all scorers with 20 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. Jaiayre Wright had five points, but grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots.

Stefan Phillips, the only returning player from last year’s national tournament team, scored a career-high 14 points without missing a shot. He was 5-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 at the line and hit his only 3-point attempt.

“That’s what we expect from him the whole year,” Green said. “The kind of game he played today is what’s expected of him. It’s good to see he finally put it together. He’s done a good job leading us. it felt good to see him play the way we envision him playing.”

The Mighty Oaks (4-0) opened the game with an 11-2 run and steadily stretched the lead. The Bobcats got within 22 with about eight minutes left, then Salem went on a 20-4 run to slam the door.

“We kept our foot on the pedal the whole game,” Green said. “We’re here to pile up wins. However they look it doesn’t even matter, it’s winning.”

On Sunday they play host Penn Highlands, a team that puts up 35 3-pointers a game.

Salem CC 89, Bryant & Stratton 55

BRYANT & STRATTON (2-3): Aaron Wilson 3-5 0-0 7, Caron McClendon 0-2 1-2 1, Kevon Clay 0-1 0-0 0, Donovan Barnes 6-12 1-2 14, Curtis Granger 1-3 0-0 2, Zavionn Thurman 2-5 0-0 4, Remi Gilmore 3-7 1-2 9, Jack Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Jayshaun Lewis 3-6 0-1 6, Blake Brookenthal 3-10 0-0 8, Hunter Graham 2-6 0-1 4. Totals 23-71 3-8 55.
SALEM CC (4-0): Jahseir Sayles 1-4 1-2 4, Jarrell Little 7-15 0-0 19, Saaid Lee 4-9 0-0 9, Jaiayre Wright 1-1 3-4 5, Qua Smith 1-2 2-2 4, Zaire Gibson 1-8 0-0 2, Nasseem Wright 9-13 2-4 20, Lenar Anderson 2-4 0-0 5, Idris Rines 2-4 0-0 5, Stefan Phillips 5-5 3-3 14, Michael Goodwin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 34-67 11-15 89.

Bryant & Stratton (Ohio)	26	29-	55
Salem CC	47	42-	89

3-point goals: B&S 6-36 (Wilson 1-10, McClendon 0-1, Barnes 1-4), Granger 0-1), Thurman 0-3, Gilmore 2-6, Smith 0-4, Lewis 0-1, Brookenthal 2-6); Salem CC 10-28 (Sayles 1-2, Little 5-11, Lee 1-3, Smith 0-1, Gibson 0-6, N. Wright 0-1, Anderson 1-2, Rines 1-1, Phillips 1-1). Rebounds: B&S 29 (Brookenthal 7, Graham 5); Salem CC 44 (Gibson 6, J. Wright 8).

Region XIX Standings

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

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 89, Bryant & Stratton (Ohio) 55
Union 77, Harrisburg Area 52
RCSJ-Gloucester 87, Luzerne 70
Morris 79, Cecil 76
Camden 60, Thaddeus Stevens 58
Frederick 71, Mercer 66
Montgomery 65, Philadelphia 58
Atlantic Cape 81, Sussex 57
RCSJ-Cumberland at Brookdale
Bergen 86, Delaware County 82
Northampton 81, Ocean 75
Raritan Valley 81, Howard CC 73
Essex 87, Delaware Tech 85

SUNDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Penn Highlands, 3 p.m.
Morris vs. Howard CC
Essex vs. Camp CC
Raritan Valley at Cecil
Richard Bland at Harcum
Delaware Tech at Montgomery (Md.)

Salem CC wins second straight road game, preps for home opener and banner raising Thursday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

MEDIA, Pa. – Good teams defend their floor. Great teams win on the road.

The Salem CC basketball team is starting the season proving to be winning road warriors. The Mighty Oaks won their second straight road game to open the season Saturday, 86-58 at Delaware County CC.

A year ago, during their run to the national tournament, the Mighty Oaks were 9-5 on the road – and avenged all five of the losses. This year, they’re 2-0 away from DuPont Fieldhouse.

“Winning on the road is not easy,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “I feel like playing on the road and you win, it’s like one and a half wins. They’re big deals, man, because normally most teams protect their home court. You steal a couple on the road, now you’re looking at another 20-win season.

“We’re 2-0 on the road; big time, man. Hopefully when we get home these guys are ready to explode, three-point barrage when we get home.”

The next time the Mighty Oaks are home something special will be happening. They play their home opener Thursday against Bergen and before the game officials will raise the banner commemorating their district championship and fifth-place finish at the national tournament.

“It’s definitely a highlight, it’s a big deal,” Green said. “It’ll be there forever. I’ll be gone 100 years from now and that’s still going to be up there. It is a big deal.”

As for their current state of affairs, the Mighty Oaks were a little choppy in the first half against Delco’s zone, but after they hit a few shots early in the second half the Phantoms switched to a man and it played right into Salem’s hands.

They ended up putting four scorers in double figures. Nasseem Wright led the way with 24 points and seven rebounds; he had 15 points in the second half. Zyaire Gibson hit four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Saaid Lee hit a couple shots behind the arc and had 11 points and five assists. Jarrell Little had 12 points.

“Another tough one on the road,” Green said.

SALEM CC 86, DELAWARE COUNTY 58
SALEM CC (2-0) – Nasseem Wright 10-14 4-9 24, Zyaire Gibson 6-13 1-1 17, Jarrell Little 5-11 0-0 12, Saaid Lee 4-5 1-2 11, Idris Rines 1-8 3-4 5, Stefan Phillips 2-5 1-2 5, Qua Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Lenar Anderson 1-3 2-4 4, Jaiayre Wright 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 33 12-24 86.
DELAWARE COUNTY (0-1) – Stephen Rosemin 4 2-5 12, Jabree Martin 3 10-12 17, Asher Mansor 1 0-0 2, Villacorte 3 1-4 7, Andre West 0 0-0 0, Joey Pell 1 2-3 4, Omar Warring 7 2-5 19, Frank Pewa 0 0-1 0. Totals 19 17-30 58.

Salem CC	40	46-	86
Delaware County	22	36-	58

3-point goals: Salem 8-25 (N. Wright 0-1, Gibson 4-10, Little 2-7, Lee 2-2, Rines 0-1, Phillips 0-2, Anderson 0-2); Delco 3 (Rosemin 2, Martin). Rebounds: Salem 35 (N. Wright 7, J. Wright 6, Phillips 5, Smith 5). Fouled out: Little, Anderson, Gibson, Mansor. Total fouls: Salem 27, Delco 16.

Mighty Oaks women drop season opener, men open their season Thursday at Atlantic Cape

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s basketball team was out to keep its record in home openers under coach Brian Marsh perfect, but in the end the little things and a little roster conspired against it.

The Mighty Oaks opened their season with a 62-53 loss to Hagerstown (Md.) CC. It’s the first time in three years under Marsh they have dropped their home opener.

“It’s a tough loss at home,” Marsh said. “That’s a team I thought we could definitely compete against; we just saw them in the super jam last week. It’s definitely a game I thought was a winnable game, but I don’t think we did the little things well. We have to play better.”

The Hawks won the battle of the boards, the turnover differential and shot free throws better.

After a slow start, the Mighty Oaks picked up the pace in the second quarter and grabbed a 31-29 halftime lead. When they opened the second half with a 9-0 run, they held an held an 11-point lead with 5:52 left in the third quarter. But then the Hawks increased their energy and held Salem to only five points over the next 13 and a half minutes to grab their own 11-point lead.

“They won the 50-50 balls, they out rebounded us,” Marsh said. “At some point we have to dig deep and say this is our game. We’re trying to win our first game at home. We have a tough next couple of games and we just made that hill a little harder to climb. We’ve got to get better.”

It wasn’t all a downer. Marsh said he saw some nice things. One of the brightest spots was the play of point guard Justine Cardona. The true freshman from South Philly gave the Mighty Oaks a game-high 19 points off the bench in her college debut on a bigger floor than she was used to playing.

“Compared to the games we played before today I think I did pretty well,” she said. “I tried to calm my mind because I was playing really rushed the first two or three games. I feel like I’ve got the plays down, ran them a little bit.”

“She’s a different type of point guard than we’ve had,” Marsh said. “She can really shoot. She can score. Obviously she provided that spark and when she got hurt and was out for extended minutes trying to get wrapped it affected us. We were stuck on 40 for probably seven minutes.”

The limited roster hurt the Mighty Oaks in the end. They had two bigs foul out and were down to their last available player to put five on the floor.

“It sucks (losing a winnable game), but it’s First Game,” Cardona said. “I think we did well considering we only had five at the end. We’re just going to work to get better.

“It’s the first game. I’m not holding my head down. Usually I’d be mad al all, I’d go crazy, but I really think we didn’t do bad.”

HAGERSTOWN 62, SALEM CC WOMEN 53
HAGERSTOWN (1-0) – Tyra Hobbs 0-2 0-2 0, Andrea Elder 6-12 3-4 115 Gabbie Ball 5-13 2-3 12, Ella Bennett 2-13 0-1 6, Brianna King 6-14 1-2 13, Cylvia Prout 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Dangerfield 3-11 0-0 6, Janae Bradley 2-10 6-7 10, Addie Shall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-76 12-19 62.
SALEM CC (0-1) – RayNescia King 1-6 1-1 3, Tanijya Shaw 6-16 3-6 17, Kasey Oliver 3-7 0-2 6, Daniella Gustin 0-1 1-2 1, Jayda Hunter 1-7 0-0 2, Justine Cardona 6-12 6-11 19, Paula Wilson 2-4 0-2 5. Totals 19-53 11-24 53.

Hagerstown	12	17	12	21-	62
Salem CC	9	22	9	13-	53

Salem CC pulls in at No. 5 in the NJCAA Division III preseason basketball poll. The top five are the order in which they finished at last year’s national tournament. Five, potentially six, teams in the poll are on the Mighty Oaks’ schedule (first-place votes in parenthesis)

TEAM	POINTS
Mohawk Valley (9)	105
Herkimer	98
Dallas College-Richland	91
Minnesota State C&T	84
SALEM CC	77
Sandhills	70
Riverland	63
Northern Essex	56
Union (NJ)	49
Dutchess	42
Genesee	27
Northampton	17
Dallas-Mountain View	13
Dallas-Eastfield	8
Montgomery (Pa.)	5