Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 15-22
SUNDAY, FEB. 15 INDOOR TRACK South Jersey Group I Sectionals at Bennett Complex, 9 a.m.
MONDAY, FEB. 16 WRESTLING Cedar Creek at Salem, 10 a.m. NJSIAA Team Tournament At Paulsboro Buena vs. Paulsboro, 5:30 p.m. Pennsville vs. Schalick, 5:30 p.m. Winners to follow At Audubon Haddon Twp. vs. Woodstown, 5 p.m. Maple Shade vs. Audubon, 5 p.m. Winners to follow COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Bryant & Stratton (Va.)
TUESDAY, FEB. 17 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Timber Creek at Kingsway Deptford at Overbrook Cumberland at Delsea Williamstown at Salem, 5 p.m. Consolation game Woodstown at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m. Postseason Bracket Clayton at GCIT Glassboro at Triton Wildwood at Pitman Highland at Washington Twp. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Delsea at Gloucester Catholic Clearview at Timber Creek Kingsway at Glassboro Washington Twp. at Wildwood Consolation game Woodstown at Triton, 5:30 p.m. Postseason Bracket Pitman at Schalick Salem at Williamstown Clayton at GCIT Penns Grove at Deptford
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 WRESTLING Pennsville at Pennsauken, 6 p.m. Team Sectional Finals BOYS BOWLING South Jersey Group I Tournament Salem vs. Doane Academy, Wood Lanes, 3 p.m. Asbury Park at Camden Catholic
THURSDAY, FEB. 19 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Timber Creek-Kingsway vs. Deptford-Overbrook Cumberland-Delsea vs. Williamstown-Salem Postseason Bracket Clayton-GCIT vs. Glassboro-Triton Wildwood-Pitman vs. Highland/Washington Twp. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Delsea-Gloucester Catholic vs. Clearview-Timber Creek Kingsway-Glassboro vs. Washington Twp.-Wildwood Postseason Bracket Pitman-Schalick vs. Salem-Williamstown Clayton-GCIT vs. Penns Grove-Deptford Consolation game Cumberland at Pennsville, 4 p.m. WRESTLING Salem at New Egypt, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEB. 20 BOYS BASKETBALL Camden County Tech at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Medford Tech at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. WRESTLING St. Joseph (Hamm.) at Salem, 5 p.m. Penns Grove at Cherry Hill West, 6 p.m. State Team Semifinals
SATURDAY, FEB. 21 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Championship, Washington Twp., 11 a.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Championship, Washington Twp., 1 p.m. BOYS BOWLING South Jersey Group I Championship WRESTLING Pennsville, Ewing at Pt. Pleasant Beach, 10 a.m.
SUNDAY, FEB. 22 TRACK NJSIAA Group Championships, Bennett Center, 9 a.m.
Scores, details and projected playoff pairings highlight the Saturday Salem County sports report; Salem projected to pull down No. 1 boys seed in South Jersey Group 1; will be updated with more
SATURDAY, FEB. 14 BOYS BASKETBALL Salem 66, Salem Tech 44 Steinert 55, Schalick 30 Haddonfield 49, Woodstown 44 GIRLS BASKETBALL Middle Twp. 55, Schalick 26 TCC Tournament Delsea 47, Pennsville 30 WRESTLING Highland, Mainland at Pennsville Woodstown at Delran Quad
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM — All year long the carrot Salem’s boys basketball team had been chasing was the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament. It appears the Rams have claimed their prize.
After dispatching Salem Tech 66-64 on Saturday’s final day of power points qualifying, the Rams (19-4) appear to have secured the No. 1 seed by nearly two full points over No. 2 Palmyra. If the tournament were seeded as of 5 p.m. Saturday night, they would host No. 16 Riverside in the opening round of the playoffs.
It’s the first time an Anthony Farmer-coached Salem team is No. 1 in South Jersey. The Rams went to the South Jersey finals in his first season as the No. 2 seed.
“We’ve been taking care of business all season long, we’ve been finding ways to win, so this is the result,” Farmer said. “We’re excited about being the 1 seed and having everything come through Salem and having home court advantage. Now we’ve just got to get to work and see how far we can go with this thing.”
Here are the top 16 South Jersey Group I boys qualifers (and projected matchups) based on the power points standings at press time:
1. Salem (19-4), 2. Palmyra (17-6), 3. Haddon Twp. (20-5), 4. KIPP (15-6), 5. Burlington City (12-11), 6. Penns Grove (15-10), 7. Woodbury (11-14), 8. Woodstown (15-10), 9. Paulsboro (11-11), 10. x-Audubon (12-12), 11. Pitman (10-14), 12. Glassboro (7-15), 13. Wildwood (12-11), 14. New Egypt (11-13), 15. Gateway (13-11), No. 16 Riverside (9-14). x-LEAP, No. 10 in the power points standings, is ineligible for the playoffs.
Projected pairings based off those seeds: Riverside at Salem, Paulsboro at Woodstown, Glassboro at Burlington City, Wildwood at KIPP, New Egypt at Haddon Twp., Pitman at Penns Grove, Audubon at Woodbury, Gateway at Palmyra.
Projected pairings based off those seeds: Clayton at Haddon Twp., Burlington City at Woodbury, New Egypt at Palmyra, Riverside at Glassboro, Cape May Tech at Audubon, Woodstown at Pennsville, Schalick at Gateway, Salem at Wildwood.
In Farmer’s mind, having the home court is the biggest advantage to being the No. 1 seed.
“That is the big deal,” he said. “Kids have a tendency to get behind the home crowd and play with more energy and play better at home. Salem has a lot of support, our fans come out, so it’s great for us to be at home.”
The Rams were home Saturday and sent their seniors off in style. Farmer played the seniors on Senior Day and they made it happen.
Donnie Weathers led them with 13 points. Xavier McGriff had 12, and Kaden Robinson and Marshall Stephens had 10 apiece. All the players will be available for their next start, Tuesday against Williamstown in the Tri-County Tournament quarterfinals..
“We’ve been playing good basketball the last few weeks, I’m excited where we are,” Farmer said. “You want to be playing your best basketball around this time and I feel like we’re more disciplined, we have a better understanding of who we are as a group, so I’m excited about the run we’re going to make.”
HADDONFIELD 49, WOODSTOWN 44: The Wolverines cut a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to three with five seconds left, but couldn’t come all the way. Haddonfield missed a free throw with 4.7 seconds left and the Wolverines had the ball, but couldn’t get the tying shot to fall and the Bulldogs escaped with their 11th straight win.
Blake Bialecki led Woodstown with 12 points, but was held without a 3-pointer for the first time in 21 games and the first time at home since last year’s opening-round win in the South Jersey Group I tournament. He remains at 199 for his career. He had a good look at one with about 30 seconds left and the Wolverines down five, but rattled the rim three times before falling out. Elijah Caesar and Alejandro both hit two 3s and both finished with 10 points.
Chris Beane led Haddonfield (21-3) with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Chase Stadler hit three 3s and finished with 10. The Bulldogs are the projected No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group 2.
HADDONFIELD (21-3): Mike Douglas 2 1-6 6, John Scipione 1 2-4 5, Chris Beane 4 4-8 12, Jack McKeever 1 0-0 2, Mike Mooney 3 1-4 7, Ryan Guyeiyian 1 5-9 7, Chase Stadler 3 1-4 10. Totals 15 14-35 49. WOODSTOWN (15-10): Elijah Caesar 4 0-0 10, Andrew White 3 0-3 6, Blake Bialecki 6 6-7 12, Alejandro Vazquez 3 2-3 10, Josh King 1 4-4 6. Totals 17 12-17 44.
STEINERT 55, SCHALICK 30: The Spartans from Mercer County dominated the first and third quarters to take control of the game. Steinert’s Michael Shaklin hit four 3-pointers and led all scorers with 18 points. Christian Guagliardo went 6-of-9 from the line and added 10. Julian Dickerson led Schalick with 14 points.
Steinert
16
18
15
6-
55
Schalick
9
13
3
5-
30
Girls games
DELSEA 47, PENNSVILLE 30: Peyton Parker scored 22 points and the Crusaders held Pennsville’s top two scorers to a combined 13 points to win in the final game of the opening round of the Tri-County Conference Championship Bracket. The loss snapped Pennsville’s seven-game winning streak and was the Eagles’ first in the six games since changing coaches Feb. 2.
Taylor Bass was Pennsville’s leading scorer with 10 points. Marley Wood was held to three. She tried to play through illness in the first half, but sat out the second.
“Delsea came out to play,” Eagles coach Robin Efelis said. “They were aggressive and played well. We had a few days of good practices, but it wasn’t enough.”
MIDDLE TWP. 55, SCHALICK 26: The Panthers went looking for a last-minute game addition to enhance its power points position and the Cougars answered the call to test themselves against the projected No. 1 team in South Jersey Group 2.
Middle (21-4) jumped out quickly and held the Cougars (15-6) to two points in each of the first two quarters. Interestingly, the Panthers didn’t put a scorer in double figures, but had 11 players scored. Vicky Basich led Schalick with eight points. Nevaeh Robinson had seven points and 10 rebounds.
Schalick benefitted from the game as well. The Cougars earned enough power points to project to No. 10 in the South Jersey Group 1 standings, the second-highest team from Salem County.
Sophomores rule the day as No. 3 Mighty Oaks wrap up regular season with 104-69 win over Sussex, await Region 19 tournament seedings, but should get Ocean-Philadelphia winner
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — There’s never been a game Stef Phillips wanted to make it back for more in his entire career than Saturday’s regular-season finale.
The Salem CC forward has been out with a sore knee the last three games and tried all the rehab humanly possible to make sure he was back for Sophomore Day.
Not only did he return for the festivities, he came back in a big way, posting his second career double-double to help the Mighty Oaks crush Sussex 104-69 to complete an historic regular season that saw them ranked No. 1 for six weeks and claim the overall No. 1 seed in Region 19.
He scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 21 minutes. It was his first double-double since the second game of last season.
“After I hurt my knee it was like in the air if I would play or I wouldn’t,” Phillips said. “I made sure I came to rehab every day with the mindset of me getting back, not for this game particular but any game, playoffs or anything.
“Yesterday at practice I felt great. I felt like myself. I woke up this morning happy. I knew for sure I was playing and I played my heart out, too.”
It was a good day for three sophomores, who are guaranteed one more game in Dupont Fieldhouse as a semifinal host in their region tournament bracket. Crowd favorite Mike Goodwin, a Penns Grove native who coach Mike Green called “the ultimate team guy,” earned the first start of his college career and had career highs in points (five) and rebounds (10). Nayeem Johnson scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.
“The sophomores played really well; they combined for some heavy power,” Green said. “It’s good the sophomores go out with a bang.”
Phillips was active from the start. He scored the first basket of the game on an aggressive putback of a Goodwin miss and had another putback a few minutes later. He scored six of the Mighty Oaks’ first 13 points and had 11 points and nine rebounds at halftime.
“We challenged him to go out there and rebound,” Green said. “He can score the ball . We tried to get him to go out and rebound and he had nine in the first half. He was supposed to be on minutes restriction, but he was playing so well I kind of forgot about it. He gave us what we need.”
Goodwin’s start wasn’t just a token gesture, a tradition to reward time served and out at the first dead ball. He played the first five minutes before giving way to leading scorer Jarrell Little, but that wasn’t the end of his day.
He played a career-high 15 minutes, much to the delight of the student section that began calling him back with eight minutes left in the game. His teammates were working to get him in the scoring column and everyone in the building let out a roar when he finally got one to fall with 4:08 left. It was such an exhilarating experience he followed it with a layup-and-one on the next possession.
He might have even gotten a double-double if he were a little sharper around the basket.
“I never thought I’d start,” he said. “I just thought to be ready whenever my name is called and just perform when it is. But it definitely felt good. You hustle, you work, it felt like all the work, it paid off to finally start.
“I was definitely in my head the first couple shots. I wasn’t finishing through contact and I was a little discouraged, but I tried to pick myself up at halftime. I’ve just got to learn to keep working through it.”
He wasn’t in the game to lead the Mighty Oaks in scoring. His greatest asset is as a rebounder.
“I may not be the best scorer, but I know to hustle and try to get ball off the rim,” he said. “That’s one of my strong suits. I’m going to keep on grabbing the boards.”
Every player who got in the game for the Mighty Oaks scored and seven finished in double figures. All but one grabbed at least one rebound.
They wrapped up the regular season 29-1 and will be one of the No. 1 seeds when Region 19 seeds the two region/district tournament next week. They are projected to face the winner of the play-in game between Ocean and Philadelphia) in their home tournament opener, which will be the sophomores’ final home game.
The Skylanders (8-21) made it hard on Salem early. It was 26-24 when Qua Smith, Nasseem Wright and Phillips returned to the game after a Sussex timeout with 7:37 left in the half. Over the next five minutes the Mighty Oaks outscored the visitors 19-5 to take control of the game.
Phillips had a 3-pointer and another putback in the run.
“Just wearing guys down … and the results show,” Green said. “Sometimes it takes a whole half and it has been lately.”
SCATTERED ACORNS: It was the 13th time this year the Mighty Oaks have hit 100 and the fourth time they have had seven scorers in double figures … They are 14-0 at home this year and have a 21-game home winning streak … They rank first in JUCO Division III in total points, third in scoring average. They’re also first in field goal percentage and assists per game.
SALEM CC 104, SUSSEX 69 SUSSEX (8-21): Nico Sosa 9-22 1-1 20, Isaiah Bivens 3-7 4-4 12, DJ Baker 2-6 2-3 6, Elijah Geary 3-5 1-2 7, Ryan Geene 5-10 4-4 16, Liam DeLorenzi 0-5 0-0 0, Liam Dunn 3-9 0-0 8. Totals 25-64 12-14 69. SALEM CC: Saaid Lee 5-9 2-2 13, Zyaire Gibson 4-9 0-0 10, Nasseem Wright 7-8 0-0 15, Stefan Phillips 7-11 0-0 15, Mike Goodwin 2-8 1-1 5, Jahseir Sayles 2-8 0-0 4, Jarrell Little 1-7 1-2 3, Qua Smith 4-5 2-2 10, Nayeem Johnson 7-8 2-2 18, Idris Rines 5-10 0-0 11. Totals 44-83 8-9 104.
Sussex
32
37-
69
Salem CC
47
57-
104
3-point goals: Sussex 7-20 (Sosa 1-3, Bivens 2-4, Geene 2-4, DeLorenzi 0-3, Dunn 2-6); Salem CC 8-26 (Lee 1-2, Gibson 2-6, Wright 1-1, Phillips 1-3, Sayles 0-5, Little 0-4, Johnson 2-2, Rines 1-3). Rebounds: Sussex 26 (Bivens 7, DeLorenzi 5); Salem CC 49 (Phillips 10, Goodwin 10, Smith 7). Total fouls: Sussex 8, Salem CC 13.
Salem CC’s three sophomores (L-R) Mike Goodwin, Stefan Phillips and Nayeem Johnson combined for 48 points and 23 rebounds on Sophomore Day.
Region XIX Standings
DIVISION III
R19
ALL
GSAC
x-SALEM CC (3)
16-1
29-1
21-1
x-Northampton (8)
15-2
23-4
x-Montgomery (9)
14-3
19-4
x-Brookdale (RV)
14-3
19-9
13-6
x-Union (13)
12-5
21-8
13-4
x-Camden
12-5
17-11
12-9
x-Bergen
10-7
15-12
15-11
x-Ocean
10-7
15-12
10-10
Atlantic Cape
8-9
12-15
9-9
Thaddeus Stevens
7-10
12-14
RCSJ-Cumberland
7-10
10-17
8-12
RCSJ-Gloucester
6-11
10-20
4-16
Harrisburg Area
6-11
7-17
x-Philadelphia
5-11
13-12
Delaware County
3-14
5-21
Passaic
3-14
5-23
4-16
Sussex
2-14
8-22
4-14
Luzerne
2-15
5-22
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking; games left in italic are region counters; x-clinched playoff berth
SATURDAY’S GAMES Salem CC 104, Sussex 69 Union 69, Brookdale 45 Harrisburg Area 78, Atlantic Cape 75 Northampton 77, Camden 62 Montgomery 89, RCSJ-Gloucester 76 Ocean 111, Luzerne 95 Morris 68, Raritan Valley 66 Lackawanna 79, Delaware Tech 61 Passaic 76, Philadelphia 65 Harcum 64, Mercer 62 Thaddeus Stevens 85, RCSJ-Cumberland 78 Middlesex 90, Ulster 56
PROJECTED REGION 19 SEEDS 1. Salem CC, 2. Northampton, 3. Brookdale, 4. Montgomery, 5. Camden, 6. Union, 7. Bergen, 8. Ocean, 9. Philadelphia
PROJECTED MATCHUPS North Atlantic A Ocean-Philadelphia winner vs. Salem Camden at Montgomery North Atlantic B Union at Brookdale Bergen at Northampton Winners advance to finals at Northampton
Penns Grove beats Overbrook for third time this season in Tri-County Post-Season Bracket opener; Woodstown, Salem Tech fall
TCC GIRLS TOURNAMENT Championship Bracket Clearview 59, Cumberland 36 Kingsway 39, Woodstown 24 Washington Twp. 54, Triton 33 Pennsville at Delsea (Sat.) Postseason Bracket Pitman at Highland Clayton 62, Salem Tech 15 Penns Grove 44, Overbrook 37 TUESDAY’S GAMES Championship Bracket Pennsville-Delsea at Gloucester Catholic Clearview at Timber Creek Kingsway at Glassboro Washington Twp. at Wildwood Postseason Bracket Pitman-Highland at Schalick Salem at Williamstown Clayton at GCIT Penns Grove at Deptford
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PINE HILL – Deja Cook had to be feeling pretty confident going into the opening round of this year’s Tri-County Conference Post-Season Bracket.
Her Penns Grove girls basketball team hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success during her first season as the head coach, but the success it did have came against the team it was playing in the first round.
The Red Devils made it three in a row over Overbrook Friday night, 44-37, advancing to the semifinals of their bracket. They visit second-seeded Deptford Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“We beat adversity and we showed that our will was stronger than the opposing team,” Cook said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times and we did.”
All three of the wins over the Rams pulled the Red Devils (3-18) out of the doldrums. The first one snapped a six-game losing streak and gave Cook her first win as a head coach. The second snapped a nine-game slide. Friday’s ended a three-game streak. They held the Rams to less than 40 points in every game.
They won this one with a good finish, outscoring the seventh-seeded Rams 14-6 in the fourth quarter to take the lead and win by seven.
Keziah Patterson and Janiyah Cummings led Penns Grove’s offense with 14 points each. Cummings completed the double-double with 18 rebounds and also had six blocked shots. Patterson had seven rebounds and six steals. Mikayla Washington had eight points and 17 rebounds.
“We were down numerous times during the game but the girls remained uplifted, kept fighting and were able to work together to get the win,” Cook said. “I’m proud of how far they came as a team and individuals. Looking forward to our next game.”
Gianna Simon led Overbrook (5-18) with 23 points. She hit six 3-pointers.
Penns Grove
12
8
10
14-
44
Overbrook
10
11
10
6-
37
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET KINGSWAY 39, WOODSTOWN 24:The Wolverines remembered how the last meeting with Kingsway went and didn’t want to repeat that again. They tightened up the things that got away from them in that 54-17 loss and gave the Lady Dragons a much better battle, but they just couldn’t get shots to fall.
They did score the first basket of the game, then Kingsway held them scoreless the rest of the quarter while opening an 11-2 lead. It was 28-8 in the third quarter, but they fought to stay in it.
“It was working on the things that we talk about working on all the time,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We had an emphasis of doing things in practice this week and to see the girls implement it, that was positive for us.
“Shots didn’t fall. We missed a couple layups in the beginning that could have maybe changed the game, but we were taking those layups, we were being aggressive, so I was proud of that all day today.”
Lauren Hengel was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all of them coming in the second half. She also grabbed eight rebounds, five in the fourth quarter. Kyia Leyman had 12 rebounds, eight in the first half.
Penns Grove takes down Willingboro, Salem Tech falls in TCC bracket; Salem bowling reaches sectional semis
BOYS BASKETBALL
PENNS GROVE – The reason teams try to schedule games late in the cutoff week is to make a last-minute move up the power points standings.
Penns Grove gained a lot of power points in its hope to move into the South Jersey Group 1 top four and potentially two home playoff games Thursday with its 69-58 win over Willingboro.
The Red Devils (15-9) jumped out front early and stayed in control. Geonni Conrad and Roman Gipson led their usually balanced scoring attack with 16 and 14, respectively.
The Chimeras had three scorers in double figures, led by Yasin Hogue’s 25 points, but Penns Grove had eight players hit the scoring column, with half of them scoring at least seven points.
Wildwood 68, Salem Tech 31: Trevor Troiano hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Warriors in the first round of the Tri- County Postseason Bracket. Raphael Busch led the Chargers with 11. Wildwood now plays at Pitman in the quarterfinals.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wildwood 59, Salem 27: The Warriors (17-6) roared to a 23-4 first-quarter lead and cruised to a third straight victory. Wildwood’s Rebecca Benichou led all scorers with 23 points. Angela Wilber dished 10 assists. Dyaira Anderson led the Rams (8-9) with 16 points.
BOYS BOWLING SJ GROUP 1 QF Salem 2, Maple Shade 0: Troy Carey rolled two games of 266 for the day’s high series (532) and Jacob Puni rolled games of 242 and 228 to lead the second-seeded Rams (10-3) into the sectional semifinals. They’ll face sixth-seeded Doane Academy (8-10) Wednesday at Wood Lanes. The winner gets Camden Catholic or Asbury Park in the Feb. 21 finals.
SJ GROUP 2 QF Lindenwold 2, Salem Tech 1: Second-seeded Lindenwold (14-1-1) won the rubber game 842-789 to reach the sectional semifinals. Cooper Rappa bowled the high game (216) and high series (550) for the Chargers (6-8).
GIRLS BOWLING SJ GROUP 1 QF Camden Catholic 2, Salem Tech 1: The fourth-seeded Irish (14-1) won the rubber game 686-614 to reach the semifinals. Naomi Hess rolled a high-game 181 in Game 3 for the Chargers (9-2-1), but the Irish had four games 145 or better. Hess also had the high series for the match (512).
No. 3 Mighty Oaks beat Camden to clinch best record in Region 19, basically clinching top seed in region/district Division III tournament, seeding Feb. 19
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC basketball team reached another major milestone in an already historic season Thursday night when it put together another big second half and pulled away from Camden 76-48.
The official line is the third-ranked Mighty Oaks (28-1) simply clinched the best record in Region 19 Division III with their sixth straight win. Yeah, try selling that to them.
In their mind, they clinched the No. 1 seed in the league, one of two No. 1s in the upcoming Region 19/North Atlantic District Tournament.
“It’s a representation of all the work we’ve been putting in to this point,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “We’re a new group of guys, we all trust in playing together. It’s just cool to see all the hard work that we’re putting in is paying off. Still more to gp though.”
It’s hard to argue the logic. The Mighty Oaks are 15-1 in Region 19 with one game remaining. In the unlikely event they lose Saturday’s regular-season finale against Sussex (8-21) and Northampton beats Camden to create a 15-2 tie at the top of the standings, the Mighty Oaks beat Northampton head-to-head, which should give them the advantage in any tiebreaker.
Region 19 basketball chairman Jack Sullivan, the athletics director at Morris, said Thursday the tournament field will be seeded based on the standings. It will be seeded Feb. 19.
Before Thursday’s games there were 10 teams in the mix that would be split into two separate five-team brackets (North Atlantic A & B) for the region’s two automatic berths in the national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y. Teams must be .500 or better either overall or in region play to qualify.
That’s what makes grabbing the No. 1 so appealing.
“We aren’t the only ones having a good year, so it’s good to clinch it,” Green said. “Matchups matter. Those 8-9-10 teams, Bergen, Atlantic Cape, they’re nothing to play with. We know this league is dangerous.”
There’s a strong belief that even if the Mighty Oaks stumble on the way out they’ll still get an at-large bid to the nationals.
What have they done so far? Won the GSAC. Check. Surpassed last year’s win total. Check. Clinched the top seed. Check.
“I want to go 3 for 3,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “Conference, Region 19 and national championship.”
They started out Thursday as if they were going to have an easy time with the Cougars (17-10), who traditionally have been anything but easy for them. They jumped out 14-0 in the first four minutes and later 19-7 on a 3-pointer by Saaid Lee, but then went flat and didn’t hit another field goal until another Lee 3-pointer with 4:57 left in the half and had to hold on for a 28-25 halftime lead.
“There’s no way you score 14 points in four minutes and then 14 points in 16 minutes; that’s just not us, man,” Green said. “We guarded. They only had 25 (at halftime). We just didn’t do the right things offensively.”
“I think we just got too selfish and complacent,” Lee said. “We just had to get back to what we do, playing our brand of basketball, sharing the ball, playing hard, playing fast.”
After Green “kind of straightened them out” at halftime with what Lee called “a conversation,” they got with the program.
The scored nearly twice as many points than they did in the first half and shot 53 percent from the floor. After not scoring at all in the first half, they bench gave them 13 points in the second. And they continued to play solid defense, holding the Cougars to 28 percent shooting and 23 points.
They went back up by eight at the start of the second half, but the Cougars cut it back to 37-34 with 16:23 to play. At that point the Mighty Oaks came back to life and returned to the form that had gotten them where they are today.
Wright, held to five points in the first half, scored 13 of their first 18 points of the second half, including a thunderous run-out dunk off a Little blocked shot that made it 46-34 with 11:38 to play. Six minutes later they were up 19.
Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the right corner to make it 60-41 with 5:30 left. Wright and Lee scored 20 points apiece. Little had 16. Idris Rines grabbed 12 rebounds.
“First half I was gassed, I’m not gonna lie,” Lee said. “A lot of teams in the league don’t really work as hard as us and do as much as we do, so when we’re tired we always tell each other if we’re tired they gotta be dead, so just keep pushing through, keep fighting through the adversity.”
NOTES: The 48 points by Camden were the fewest allowed by the Mighty Oaks in Green’s 81 games as head coach … With his 16 points, Little surpassed 500 for the season and is now 26th on SCC’s all-time scoring list. Wright moved to within eight of the milestone … Saturday’s regular-season finale is Sophomore Day. “Maybe we’ll let the sophomores coach since they’ve got all the answers,” Green said . “Let Mike (Goodwin) coach. Let Nayeem (Johnson). Let Stef (Phillips) coach. It’s a celebration for them, hopefully we do something nice for them and send those guys out the right way” … Phillips expects to be back in uniform Saturday after missing the last three games with a sore knee … Never let it be said that Green doesn’t give the people what they want. With 2:38 to go the student section called for Green to put Goodwin in the game. The coach sent him in 1:43 left and the sophomore stayed in until the end. “Kid works hard every day in practice, he’s improved a ton, so he deserved the opportunity. Every chance we get ,we’re going to put him out there.”
SALEM CC 76, CAMDEN 48 CAMDEN (17-10): Kai Gatson 3-12 0-0 7, Ben McGonigle 0-3 0-0 0, ZhaMere Crawford 2-11 0-0 4, Christian Durham 3-6 0-1 8, Istavan Norwood 6-12 4-5 16, Stephen Robinson 2-3 0-0 4, Anthony Edwardi 1-3 0-0 2, Kevin Satchell 1-8 1-2 3, Sami Singletary 1-4 1-4 4. Totals 19-62 6-12 48. SALEM CC (28-1): Jarrell Little 4-6 5-6 16, Saaid Lee 8-15 0-0 20, Zyaire Gibson 2-8 0-0 5, Nasseem Wright 8-12 4-5 20, Idris Rines 1-6 0-1 2, Jahseir Sayles 1-5 0-0 2, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 2, Nayeem Johnson 3-9 1-2 7, Mike Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 10-14 76.
Camden
25
23-
48
Salem CC
28
48-
76
3-point goals: Camden 4-16 (Gatson 1-6, McGonigle 0-1, Crawford 0-1, Durham 2-3, Robinson 0-1, Edwardi 0-1, Satchell 0-2, Singletary 1-1); Salem CC 8-22 (Little 3-3, Lee 4-5, Gibson 1-7, Rines 0-3, Sayles 0-3, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: Camden 37 (Norwood 9, Crawford 8). Salem CC 42 (Rines 12, Smith 8). Fouled out: Rines. Total fouls: Camden 12, Salem CC 13.
Region XIX Standings
DIVISION III
R19
ALL
GSAC
GAMES LEFT
x-SALEM CC (3)
15-1
28-1
20-1
Sus, Sat
x-Northampton (8)
14-2
22-4
Cam, Sat; TS, Tu
x-Brookdale (RV)
14-3
19-8
13-5
Union, Sat; Sus, Tu
x-Montgomery (9)
13-3
18-4
RC-G, Sat
x-Camden
12-4
17-10
12-9
NH, Sat; Mercer, Tu
x-Union (13)
12-5
20-8
11-4
Brk, Sat; RC-C, Tu
x-Bergen
10-7
15-12
15-11
x-Ocean
9-7
14-12
10-10
Luz, Sat
Atlantic Cape
8-8
12-14
9-9
HACC, Sat; Pas, Tu
RCSJ-Cumberland
7-9
10-16
8-12
x-Philadelphia
6-10
13-11
Pas, Sat; Sus, Wed
RCSJ-Gloucester
6-10
10-19
4-16
Thaddeus Stevens
5-10
10-14
Harrisburg Area
5-10
6-16
Delaware County
3-14
5-20
Sussex
2-13
8-21
4-13
Passaic
2-14
4-23
3-15
Luzerne
1-14
4-21
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking; games left in italic are region counters; x-clinched playoff berth
THURSDAY’S GAMES Salem CC 76, Camden 48 Misericordia at Harcum Montgomery 81, Northampton 61 Frederick 92, Delaware Tech 85 Manhattan CC at Bergen Brookdale 87, Ocean 69 Union 83, Passaic 79 Philadelphia 81, Delaware County 58 Lackawanna 82, Raritan Valley 68 Bergen 80, Atlantic Cape 66 Harrisburg Area at Thaddeus Stevens RCSJ-Cumberland 84, RCSJ-Gloucester 79 FRIDAY’S GAME Delaware County at Luzerne SATURDAY’S GAMES Sussex at Salem CC Passaic vs. Finger Lakes Union at Brookdale Atlantic Cape at Harrisburg Area RCSJ-Cumberland at Thaddeus Stevens Northampton at Camden RCSJ-Gloucester at Montgomery Ocean at Luzerne Raritan Valley at Morris Passaic at Roxbury Lackawanna at Delaware Tech Ulster at Middlesex Philadelphia at Passaic Harcum at Mercer
Salem CC women end their basketball season following the arrest of four players in Pennsville over the weekend
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College women’s basketball program has suspended the remainder of its 2025-26 season following the weekend arrest of four players that athletics department officials say will prevent it from fielding a competitive team.
The players – Raynesecia Q. King, 19; Paula E. Wilson, 19; Tanijya M. Shaw, 18; and Jayda L. Hunter, 19 – were arrested at the Pennsville Walmart Feb. 6 and all charged with concealing merchandise from the store without intent to pay. All listed a Pennsville address as their place of residence although all have out-of-state hometowns on the team roster.
All four had a bail hearing in the Carneys Point/Pennsville Joint Municipal Court and were released on summons.
School officials confirmed the decision to suspend the season after informing all the remaining teams on the schedule. The Mighty Oaks had three games remaining after postponing Tuesday’s game with Morris Club.
Initially, SCC athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed Saturday’s postponement with Middlesex, the first game after the incident, citing only “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give details, and Tuesday’s game was removed from the team’s athletic department website.
“I can tell you officially that Salem has decided to discontinue the rest of our women’s basketball season,” Hughes said Monday. “We do not have enough players to field a competitive team at this time.”
Hughes continued to decline comment on the particulars of the weekend issue, citing student privacy concerns. Pennsville police provided the arrest records in response to an Open Public Records request by Riverview Sports News.
Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said Saturday the program was working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest. A despondent sounding Marsh Monday deferred any comment on the season suspension to Hughes.
The Salem women are 3-17 in a season filled with drama and had three games left at the time of the suspension. They had eight healthy players available and are rostered for nine.
”We could not have fielded a competitive team,” Hughes said.
All four players were starters. Shaw, a freshman guard from Arlington, Texas, was their best player statistically, averaging a team-leading 17.6 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 steals. Hunter, a freshman post who lists Allentown, Pa., as her hometown on the team webpage, was their second-leading rebounder (7.7) while averaging 3.6 ppg. Wilson, a freshman forward from El Paso, averaged 5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg and had a team-leading 17 blocked shots. King, a sophomore guard from Dallas who also played softball last spring, averaged 5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.2 steals.
It wasn’t immediately known if the Mighty Oaks would absorb forfeit for the three remaining games or simply end the year 3-17.
The team has had problems this year. Injuries forced them to reschedule three games earlier this season and sources have said there have been other incidents off the floor.As much a team officials have maintained during the adversity they were committed to playing out the season, this situation was one that was too severe to survive.
”I feel sorry for taking away opportunity for competition from any student-athlete,” Hughes said.
Here are the scores and highlights from Wednesday night’s Salem County sports schedule BOYS BASKETBALL Pitman 53, Pennsville 16 Woodstown 64, Salem Tech 15 GIRLS BASKETBALL Schalick 37, Oakcrest 24 Pennsville 49, Pitman 21 Woodstown 67, Salem Tech 16 WRESTLING Willingboro 33, Salem 30 Pennsville 63, Haddon Heights 10
By Riverview Sports News
GIRLS BASKETBALL WOODSTOWN 67, SALEM TECH 16: Emma Perry just missed her career-high on her Senior Night, 12 players scored and the Wolverines rolled in their final regular-season game. Perry scored 17 points, one shy of tying her career high she set two weeks ago. Lauren Hengel, another senior, added 12 points and 10 other Wolverines scored.
The Wolverines celebrated their Senior Night, then shutout the Chargers in the first quarter 26-0.
“It was a very good night,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We have had a tough season this year and the girls continued to work hard every practice and every game.
“There have never been any complaints all year from the girls. They enjoy the game of basketball and they enjoy being around each other. There are countless conversations and jokes happening all the time with this group.
“The best part of the game for me as a coach was seeing the smiles on the girls’ faces. They were out there having fun. Yes, we care about wins and losses, but you play a sport because you have fun doing it. We often forget that and the girls did not forget about that tonight.”
The team’s four seniors — Perry, Hengel, Kyia Leyman and Kailyn Kennedy — all scored in the game. They combined for 39 points, 22 rebounds and 12 assists. In addition to her points, Perry had five rebounds and five assists. Hengel had eight rebounds and seven assists, Leyman had five rebounds and Kennedy had four rebounds.
“This senior class is a very special class,” Smart said of the group that has been a part of 70 wins in four years and played for three head coaches. “(They) all work extremely hard all of the time. They are a tight-knit group, but a very selfless group; you could see that tonight. We gave up good shots for better shots and moved the ball well. Seeing that on over half the shots we made tonight there was an assist is a very special thing.
“I’m going to miss this group so much. They are very special and you can tell how much they mean to the rest of the team based off of tonight’s Senior Night festivities. Luckily, our journey isn’t over yet.”
3-point goals: Salem Tech 4 (Liber 3, Bazemore); Woodstown 4 (Hengel 2, Perry, Young). Rebounds: Woodstown 52 (Maldonado 8, Hengel 8, Young 6). Total fouls: Salem Tech 4, Woodstown 4.
SCHALICK 37, OAKCREST 24: Nevaeh Robinson hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Cougars (15-5) to their third straight win. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. The sophomore hit a 3-pointer in each quarter. Ava Scurry added six rebounds to run her career total to 612 and blocked five shots (226). Liv Vanacker had seven rebounds and seven assists.
Top photo: Schalick’s Ava Scurry is joined by her teammates to commemorate her 600th career rebound. (Submitted photo).
PENNSVILLE 49, PITMAN 21: Taylor Bass pumped in 23 points to surpass 1200 for her career, Marley Wood scored 16 (to go over 1,300) and the Eagles held Pitman scoreless in the third quarter to win their seventh straight. It’s their longest winning streak since they won seven straight in the 2019-20 season. It was their fifth straight win since the coaching change.
BOYS BASKETBALL WOODSTOWN 64, SALEM TECH 15: The Wolverines spread the wealth, getting scoring from 12 players, and held the Chargers to three points in the second half to win its third in a row — all over Salem County competition. Andrew White led the way with 13 points. Connor Miller had eight and Frank Hoerst had seven. Blake Bialecki hit two more 3-pointers and is now four away from extending his school record to 200 for his career. He has hit at least one trey in each of his last 19 games.
3-point goals: Woodstown 9 (Bialecki 2, Hood-McGinley, White, Fulmer 2, Hoerst, Miller 2). Total fouls: Woodstown 6, Salem Tech 8.
PITMAN 53, PENNSVILLE 16: Jay Craig had his third double-double in his last six games and the Panthers hit eight 3-pointers as a team to roll past the Eagles. Craig had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jake Bowen-Ashwin also scored 11 points and Parker DeChristopher had 12. Lucas Razze had eight of the Panthers’ 21 steals.
WILLINGBORO 33, SALEM 30 106: Double forfeit 113: Double forfeit 120: Fahad Irshad (WI) pinned Adrien Morales, 0:47 126: Zachary Tortella (S) pinned Demarco Edwards, 4:47 132: Guylherme Quintanilha (S) pinned Michael Barker, 0:51 138: Yiornniel Cordero (WI) dec. Brodie Parker, 9-6 144: Joseph Goetaski (S) won by forfeit 150: Roatan Alleyne (WI) won by forfeit 157: Ziyon Moore (S) dec. Deryck Montoya, 9-3 165: Precious Bankole (WI) won by forfeit 175: Dovonte Ruiz (WI) won by forfeit 190: Toren Schoners (WI) pinned Kaleb Ewald, 1:53 215: Abdur Jenkins (S) def. Lebron Martin, SV-1 4-1 285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) won by forfeit
PENNSVILLE 63, HADDON HEIGHTS 10 106: Aniello Napolitano (H) pinned Brett Land, 5:53 113: Erick Davalos (P) pinned Andrew Hanchey, 1:22 120: Maximos Efelis (P) won by forfeit 126: Michael Ferraro (H) maj. dec. Mehki Dicks, 13-3 132: Chase Baker (P) pinned Brennan Albright, 2:15 138: Nathaniel Mason (P) pinned Gavin Gilliss, 4:58 144: Vincent Grether (P) pinned Leo Falco, 3:57 150: Gabe Supernavage (P) tech fall over Ryan Bailey, 18-3 (5:03) 157: Travis Hagan (P) pinned Ian Bomgardner, 1:30 165: Robbie McDade (P) maj. dec. Andrew Gutkin, 10-2 175: Cristian Blyler (P) dec. Shawn Thompson, 10-3 190: Stephen Pangle (P) won by forfeit 215: Hunter Coulbourn (P) pinned Cameron Mayo, 1:51 285: Jacob Hand (P) dec. Nathan Lelionis, 7-2
Down 2 starters, third-ranked Salem CC weathers storm, beats No. 13 Union, surpasses last year’s win total
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — All year long Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green has been saying his team has a scorebook full of players who not only could start for every other team in Region 19 but be a big piece in their plans. The Mighty Oaks put that theory to the test Tuesday night and delivered on it in a big way.
Down two starters, including their recognized energy guy, the Mighty Oaks weathered the storm and beat No. 13 Union for the second time this season, 96-75.
It was their 27th win of the season, giving them more wins than they had in last year’s historic national tournament season. At 14-1 in Region 19, they hold a one-game lead in the loss column atop the region’s Division III standings and a two-game lead in the loss column on presumably one of the two No. 1 seeds in the region/district tournament.
The Mighty Oaks (27-1) went into what shaped up as one of their sternest tests of the late season without injured sophomore post Stef Phillips (knee) and freshman vocal leader Nasseem Wright (suspended by region rule for picking up a third technical foul in the last game). But their replacements, Idris Rines and Qua Smith, combined for 25 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.
Smith, making his first college start, didn’t give the Mighty Oaks the scoring they would have gotten from Wright, but he did all the other things. He grabbed 16 rebounds, dealt four assists, blocked three shots and caught the eye of the NCAA Division II scouts in attendance. Rines, making his second straight start, had 18 points and six rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes.
“We just had to pick the energy up (without Wright) because he’s a real big energy guy, so everybody else just had to give a little more than they usually give,” point guard Saaid Lee said. “I think everybody stepped up. Our team is built for the next man to be up, so I think everybody just did their job and did what we had to do.”
Green had some options for Wright’s spot, but went with Smith because of matchups. Besides, if he started Nayeem Johnson, the presumptive pick for the spot based on what he’s been provided in a sixth- or seventh-man role, the Mighty Oaks would have lost the game-changing firepower the Montco transfer provides off the bench.
The game was tight in the first half until the Mighty Oaks plugged in the full-court press with a very specific lineup. Usually they have Wright at the top of it, but with him not available, Green wanted Jahsier Sayles, Smith and Johnson with any other guard. They went into it with 6:11 left in the half, right after Jarrell Little’s two free throws got them within 23-21 and went on a defense-fueled 14-6 run that gave them the lead.
“It was a great pressure group that we went with,” Green said.
The Owls rallied to tie it at 35 with 1:17 left in the half, but the Mighty Oaks outscored them 7-1 to the horn to take a 43-36 halftime lead. Rines capped it with a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left after Lee drained the final 22 seconds off the clock.
The Mighty Oaks came out of the break firing. They opened the half with a 17-3 in the first six minutes to take control. Smith was particularly active in the stretch, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, blocking a shot and snagging a steal. The steal led to a 3-pointer by Rines, one of the rebounds set Zyaire Gibson on a runout layup and the blocked shot led to a give-and-go with Lee that he finished off with a layup.
“I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I can for the team; that’s really my role, for real,” Smith said. “I was just trying to play my role basically and step up. Definitely big responsibility because we’re playing the No. 13 team in the nation. You’ve got to step up, you’ve got to be ready, and I was ready today.”
“He’s just got to realize doing what we ask him to do is enough, that’s enough,” Green said. “That’s all we want all these guys to realize. Doing what we ask you to do is enough. You’re playing real basketball. You’re not playing JUCO basketball. You’re playing real basketball.”
Salem had only one scorer in double figures at halftime. Because of the way they picked it up after the break, they wound up with five when it was over.
Lee and Little both scored 10 in the second half and finished with 18 and 19, respectively. Little also had eight rebounds and nine assists. Gibson had 14 points and Sayles a career-tying 12. Union’s Nicolas Acosta led all scorers with 27 points (and 16 rebounds).
Phillips is expected to be out another week. Wright will be back for Thursday’s game with Camden. The reserves are expected to be ready all the time, because you never know when their number will be called.
SALEM CC 96, UNION 75 UNION (19-8): Tareak Williams 2-10 6-7 10, Anthony Hicks 5-11 1-1 11, Nicolas Acosta 6-18 15-18 27, Kanye Brown 0-4 3-4 3, Zahkey Jeter 6-13 0-1 12, Aljanai Best 0-3 0-0 0, Jasir Calloway 1-6 5-6 7, James Downing 2-4 0-0 5, Jake Zawacki 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-70 30-37 75. SALEM CC (27-1): Jarrell Little 4-8 8-10 18, Saaid Lee 4-8 10-14 19, Qua Smith 3-7 1-3 7, Zyaire Gibson 6-12 1-2 14, Idris Rines 6-10 3-5 18, Jahseir Sayles 4-9 2-2 12, Nayeem Johnson 3-7 0-2 6, Mike Goodwin 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 31-63 25-39 96.
Union
36
39-
75
Salem CC
43
53-
96
3-point goals: Union 1-13 (Williams 0-3, Hicks 0-1, Acosta 0-1, Brown 0-3, Jeter 0-3, Calloway 0-1, Downing 1-1); Salem CC 9-26 (Little 2-6, Lee 1-1, Smith 0-1, Gibson 1-5, Rines 3-5, Sayles 2-6, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds: Union 43 (Acosta 18, Calloway 7); Salem CC 40 (Smith 16, Little 8, Rines 6). Technical fouls: Union coach. Fouled out: Brown, Sayles, Johnson. Total fouls: Union 29, Salem CC 26.
Top photo, Qua Smith (4) and Idris Rines (24) were new starters for Salem CC Tuesday. Rines started last Saturday’s game, but Smith was making his first college start.
Region XIX Standings
DIVISION III
R19
ALL
GSAC
SALEM CC (3)
14-1
27-1
19-1
Northampton (8)
14-2
22-3
Brookdale (RV)
14-3
18-8
12-5
Montgomery (9)
13-3
17-4
Camden
12-3
17-9
12-8
Union (13)
12-5
19-8
11-4
Bergen
10-7
14-12
14-11
Ocean
9-7
14-11
10-9
Atlantic Cape
8-8
12-13
9-8
RCSJ-Cumberland
6-9
9-16
7-12
RCSJ-Gloucester
6-9
10-18
4-15
Thaddeus Stevens
5-10
10-14
Philadelphia
5-10
12-11
Harrisburg Area
5-10
6-16
Delaware County
3-13
5-19
Sussex
2-13
7-21
4-13
Passaic
2-14
4-22
3-15
Luzerne
1-14
4-21
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES Salem CC 96, Union 75 Harrisburg Area 76, Luzerne 60 Montgomery 88, Atlantic Cape 78 Philadelphia 72, Thaddeus Stevens 66 Mercer 89, Lackawanna 82 Camden 80, RCSJ-Cumberland 70 Bergen 76, Brookdale 73 Raritan Valley at Middlesex Harcum 92, Essex 70 RCSJ-Gloucester70, Sussex 69 Hostos 100, Passaic 75 WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Ulster at Sussex Ocean at Northampton Atlantic Cape at Brookdale Passaic at Middlesex THURSDAY’S GAMES Camden at Salem CC Misericordia at Harcum Northampton at Montgomery Delaware Tech at Frederick Manhattan CC at Bergen Ocean at Brookdale Passaic at Union Delaware County at Philadelphia Raritan Valley at Lackawanna Atlantic Cape at Bergen Harrisburg Area at Thaddeus Stevens RCSJ-Gloucester at RCSJ-Cumberland FRIDAY’S GAME Delaware County at Luzerne SATURDAY’S GAMES Sussex at Salem CC Passaic vs. Finger Lakes Union at Brookdale Atlantic Cape at Harrisburg Area RCSJ-Cumberland at Thaddeus Stevens Northampton at Camden RCSJ-Gloucester at Montgomery Ocean at Luzerne Raritan Valley at Morris Passaic at Roxbury Lackawanna at Delaware Tech Ulster at Middlesex Philadelphia at Passaic Harcum at Mercer
Crowd rushes the floor after Salem’s Tymear Lecator reaches 1,000-point plateau, Woodstown wrestling wins division title in coach’s final regular-season home match, also ncludes scores and highlights from Tuesday night’s Salem County sports calendar
BOYS BASKETBALL Salem 71, Penns Grove 52 WRESTLING Delsea girls 46, Schalick 21 Woodstown 58, Timber Creek 24 Penns Grove at Palmyra Schalick 45, Cedar Creek 33
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Tymear Lecator had known for a while what was going to happen if he scored his 1000th career point at home. When the milestone came, he just let it come to him.
The sellout crowd rushed the floor after the Salem junior guard hit the number Tuesday night on a free throw with 2:22 left in the Rams’ 71-52 win over rival Penns Grove.
When he swished the historic shot, they came out of the stands. They came from the other side of the floor. They came in waves. But instead of running away from crush of humanity, Lecator just let the love envelop him. He backed off the foul line, raised his arms in triumph and let the crowd carry him all the way to the far baseline.
“It’s been talked about in school since Monday,” he said. “I didn’t get away from it. I just stood them and let everybody just run into me. I knew they were coming so I just stood there.
“(Scoring 1000 points) has been on my mind since I was a freshman and I knew I had a high chance of getting it, especially in the role I’ve been playing on this team since my freshman year.
“It means a lot because not a lot of guys do it as a junior. Everybody usually gets it their senior year. It means everything because I know how much work I’ve put in over the years. I’m just proud I hit the milestone.”
Lecator is the 18th player in the boys program’s history to join the 1000-Point Club and the first since Anthony Farmer, the son of coach Anthony Farmer, did it in January 2024.
Ironically, they did it against the same team, on the same floor, under similar circumstances and from the same free throw line.
Farmer needed 35 on his night to reach the milestone; he scored 36. Lecator needed 22; he scored 23.
Farmer got it on a free throw in the fourth quarter. Lecator hit the mark on a free throw in the fourth quarter.
The crowd rushed the floor for Farmer. They did the same for Lecator.
“It brought back some good memories,” the elder Farmer said.
It took about 10 minutes to clear the floor after the celebration. And the player still had another free throw to make.
In some ways it was easier to nail that one down than the first one.
“Honestly, it was 10 times easier to make the second one than the first one,” he said. “The first one everybody was standing up getting ready to run on the court, so I was definitely real nervous. The second one was nothing compared to the first one.”
Needing 22 to reach the milestone wasn’t as big an ask as Farmer’s target number against Penns Grove, but it was lofty nonetheless. But Lecator wasn’t worried about getting it. He scored 20 or more 15 times in his career and six times each of the last two seasons, including Monday night at Paulsboro to get close.
“I’m used to scoring 20 … so I was like that ain’t that crazy. I could get that today,” he said. “I just made the right reads and I let the game come to me, and luckily I hit enough shots to score the 22.”
NOTES: Lecator also had eight rebounds and four assists. Deshaan Williams had his sixth double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds). Marshall Stephens and Fatah Paige also grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Penns Grove’s typical balanced scoring attack was led by Carson Pearsall’s 14 points … Salem remains the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group 1 power points standings by nearly two full points over Haddon Twp. Saturday is the cutoff date.
SALEM 71, PENNS GROVE 52 PENNS GROVE (14-9): Roman Gipson 3 2-4 9, Geonni Conrad 2 2-3 6, Naheef Frisby 2 0-0 5, Will Roy 2 0-0 4, Mishawn Brantley 1 0-4 2, Jameel Horace 2 0-0 4, Carson Pearsall 4 5-9 14, Zane Thomas 3 2-2 8. Totals 19 11-22 52. SALEM (18-4): Tymear Lecator 9-4-23, Marshall Stephens 3-0-6, Neziah Spence 3-1-8, Fatah Paige 2-0-4, Darrelle Johnson 2-0-4, Deshaan Williams 5-4-14, BJ Robbins 1-2-4, Xavier McGriff 2-1-6, Kyaire Parsons 1-0-2. Totals 28-12-71.
Penns Grove
10
18
11
13-
52
Salem
11
26
17
17-
71
3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Colson, Fritby, Pearsall); Salem 3 (Lecator, Spence, McGriff). Rebounds: Penns Grove 24 (Frisby 7, Thomas 7); Salem 55 (Stephens 10, Paige 10, Williams 1o).
Wrestling
BOYS SCHALICK 45, CEDAR CREEK 33 106: Sincere Wilcox (CC) pinned Victor Fenske, 0:46 113: Galel Solano-Lopez (CC) pinned Nicholas Latona, 1:35 120: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Luke Sess, 0:40 126: Hector Villarrubia-Torres (CC) pinned Caleb Jenkins, 1:39 132: Gavin Marcasciano (CC) maj. dec. over Jacon Potts, 14-3 138: Masen Cruz (CC) tech fall over Gabriel McFeeley, 15-0 (2:50) 144: Michael Baisch (S) pinned Kyle Smith 1:27 150: Mason Hollywood (S) pinned Jakob Dase, 1:16 157: Ayden Jenkins (S) tech fall over Jake Hardiman, 16-0 165: Anthony Deaver (S) pinned Cole Burton, 3:30 175: Ricky Watt (S) pinned Xavier Villarubia-Torres, 3:06 190: Gerardp Foe;o[e (S) maj. dec. Giovanni Carnes, 8-0 215: James Cook (S) won by forfeit 285: Slayton D’Amico (CC) pinned Jeff Edmonds, 1:08
WOODSTOWN 58, TIMBER CREEK 24 106: Jimmy Boone (TC) pinned TJ Conto, 0:19 113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) won by forfeit 120: Carson Bradway (WO) pinned Dyllan Klotz, 2:43 126: Walker Battavio (WO) pinned Seth Redman, 1:12 132: Barry Coverly (WO) won by forfeit 138: Chase Icon (WO) won by forfeit 144: Nehemiah Carter (WO) won by forfeit 150: Mathyias Ellis (WO) won by forfeit 157: Matt Cordovz (TC) pinned Tyrell West, 4:24 165: Ricky Watts (WO) pinned Nathaniel Collazo, 3:25 175: Greyson Hyland (WO) maj. dec. Zyeir Green, 12-4 190: Elijah Green (TC) pinned Asher Fitzpatrick, 3:43 215: Julian McCray (TC) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 2:27 285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Roland Green, 0:52
GIRLS DELSEA 46, SCHLAICK 21 100: Isabella Gjini (D) won by forfeit 107: Karleigh Six (D) won by forfeit 114: Ava Baldino (D) won by forfeit 120: Nevaeha Chaney (S) won by forfeit 126: Olivia Guzman (D) pinned River Wojcik, 0:29 132: McKenna Thomas (D) won by forfeit 138: Angelia Deaver (S) dec. Ellie Fanz, 7-3 145: Elizabeth Ostoyic (D) maj. dec. Haley Batista, 11-0 152: McKayla Rutledge (D) won by forfeit 165: Ranae Scurry (S) pinned Kyleigh Dotzel, 0:42 185: Lydia Gilligan (S) pinned Samaiya Figueroa, 5:11 235: Jessica Fantini (S) won by forfeit
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