Salem CC men complete season-opening homestead 6-1 after beating Atlantic Cape; Brewington on a three-game tear

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When Coach Mike Green and Xavier Brewington got this year’s Salem CC basketball schedule and saw the first seven games of the season all were at home they genuinely thought the Mighty Oaks could go through the run undefeated.

Outside circumstances have since prevented that from happening – not by much – but they’re still in a pretty good neighbood.

The Oaks reached the end of their season-opening homestand Saturday with a 72-63 win over Atlantic Cape CC and are quite happy with the 6-1 record it produced. The only blemish is a loss to Delaware Tech. They’ve won four in a row., the longest streak since Jan. 25-Feb. 5, 2022 (five games).

“To be honest I thought we wouldn’t lose a game,” Green said. “We had a bunch of kids that we thought were going to be eligible. Think about it, there’s a 6-6 kid, a 6-5 kid, a 6-3 kid, so you’d be that much bigger and stronger.

“I was thinking 7-0, to be honest; I had hi-i-i-gh hopes, man. But where we are is great. We’re in a great place. These guys picked up the slack. We’ll be stronger in January.”
 
The Oaks strained the theory of being better shooters in the Saturday afternoon in the first half, but they came out with a different vibe in the second half that carried them to the victory.

When the Oaks guard better, they shoot better, and they did both to start the second half. They went on an impressive 21-1 run over the first five minutes of the half to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a 13-point lead and then kept the Bucs at arm’s length the rest of the game.

They forced the Buccaneers (2-5) into six turnovers during that stretch and scored points (13) off all of them.

“During halftime we had a talk like we’re better than this and we had to push it,” Brewington said. “Coach told us we had to fight through it, it was going to be a dogfight the whole game. They’re not sweet, they’re a really good team, so we had to play as team and play harder than them.

“It’s not even halftime, it’s during the games, too. Coach is very blunt with us. He’ll tell what we need to do, what we need to get right. We take it to the chin and we’ve just got to push through it and do what the coaches tell us to do. That’s how it’s about winning.”

Brewington came off screens to hit a 3 and a 2 to give the Oaks the lead and then hit back-to-back 3s later in the half to keep the lead in double digits. The freshman scored a career-high 20 points and has scored 51 points in his last three games. 

He was 7-of-14 from the field against the Bucs and hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range against the Bucs. He also grabbed six rebounds, dealt six assists and played solid defense on the Bucs’ Christopher Parker. In his three-game hot streak Brewington is 16-of-33 from the field, 8-of-13 from 3, and 11-of-12 from the line.

“X is a good basketball player,” Green said. “He’s got to get comfortable. A too comfortable X is a danger to us. A comfortable X, a confident X, is a really, really good player. He hasn’t shown it; he’s been showing it these last (three) games. 

“He’s very comfortable and he’s confident right now. We’re trying to get the rest of our guys up there because there’s a bunch of them who can play. We’ve got to get them confident. We’ve got to get them comfortable.”

Rodney Shelton and Niame Scott also scored in double figures for the Oaks, putting up 12 points apiece. Scott also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds

The Oaks shot 41 percent overall (54-133) and 42 percent from 3-point range (28-of-67) in their two previous Saturday wins, a marked improvement from their colder hand during the midweek night games. 

But in the first half against the Bucs they were just 12-of-38 from the floor and 4-of-23 from 3-point range. They missed their last 12 shots from behind the arc.

But in the second half, shooting towards the windows that let in the daylight, they were 8-of-17 from 3-point range. Shyheed Taylor drained one from the top of the key to open the half and the Oaks were off and running. They hit four 3s in the opening salvo and six of their first nine shots overall.

Now the scenery changes. The Oaks play their next two games and four of the next five on the road.

“That might be better for us,” Green said. “I know when I played I used love being on the road, so maybe some of these guys can come out of their shell on the road.”

Salem CC 72, Atlantic Cape 63

ATLANTIC CAPE (2-5) – Deandre Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Jeremy Ellis 8-13 0-0 16, Jalen Jenkins 0-5 0-0 0, Omero Chevere 2-9 1-2 6, Christopher Parker 4-12 3-4 12, Maquaje McDaniels 3-9 2-2 9, Samir Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Ramar Cook 1-3 0-0 2, Semajah Echols 6-14 2-2 14. Totals 25-67 9-12 63.
SALEM CC (6-1) – Tyrese Fortune 2-9 0-0 4, Josh Ramos 1-4 0-0 3, Xavier Brewington 7-14 1-2 20, Rodney Shelton 6-8 0-0 12, Shyheed Taylor 1-3 3-3 6, Niame Scott 3-14 4-5 12, Julien Jones 1-1 0-0 2, A.J. Jones 1-8 2-3 5, Tivon Woolford 1-3 0-0 2, Tyrone Tolson 2-6 0-1 6, Stefan Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Sami Anderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-72 10-15 72.

3-point goals: Atlantic Cape 4-13 (Brown 1-1, Ellis 0-1, Chevere 1-4, Parker 1-3, McDaniels 1-3, Echols 0-1); Salem CC 12-40 (Fortune 0-4, Ramos 1-4, Brewington 5-9, Taylor 1-1, Scott 2-7, A. Jones 1-7, Woolford 0-1, Tolson 2-6, Anderson 0-1). Rebounds: Atlantic Cape 47 (Ellis 13, Echols 8, Parker 7); Salem CC 37 (Scott 9, Brewington 6, Shelton 6). Total fouls: Atlantic Cape 11, Salem CC 14.

Cover photo of Salem CC’s Xavier Brewington by John Holt.

Salem CC men score second-most points in the Mike Green era fueled by ‘solid-steal’ defense

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The Salem CC men’s basketball team scored 100 points for the first time this season, which was cause enough for celebration. While it takes a lot of buckets to put that many points on the board, this one was fueled by the defense.

The Mighty Oaks collected 27 steals among the 29 turnovers they forced Lancaster Bible JV into Thursday night and although the defense got a little loose late in the game it was the thing that made their 106-71 possible.

“Our guys did a good job with that today,” Green said. “We were good for certain periods. Once the lead swelled up we did some things I didn’t like, but to get that lead we did what we were supposed to do.”

The 106 points matched the second most in coach Mike Green’s 24-game tenure with the Oaks (5-1). They had that many in a win over RCSJ-Gloucester last January. Their single-game high under Green is 110 against Harrisburg Area last February.

They scored 31 points off their takeaways and, truthfully, should have had more. Appropriately, they went over 100 when Julien Jones picked Marco Labasez’ pocket near midcourt, took it the other way on a driving layup and hit and-one that came with it.

Jones and Shyheed Taylor had six steals apiece. Tivon Woolford had five. Eight of the 10 Salem players who got in the game had at least one.

“It’s good to hear those numbers,” Jones said. “Our past games we hadn’t really been playing that well defensively, so that builds our confidence coming into our next game.

“As smaller guards that’s what we got to do. When we get the chance (to play) one thing we’re going to do is play defense. One of the four things (Green) says most is ‘guard your yard.’ He puts that confidence in our head that we could play defense all the time.”

It didn’t take long for the Oaks to determine the Chargers weren’t the ballhandlers they were last season. After reading the room, Green called time two minutes into the game, plugged in the full-court pressure and the Oaks went to work.

They immediately went on an 11-0 run to take control and led by 19 at halftime. The Chargers opened the second half with a run that got them within 11, then the Oaks started finding their long-range shot and used a pair of Xavier Brewington 3s to key a response that pushed the lead to 21. At one point later in the half they turned over the Chargers on six straight possessions on the way to a 30-point lead.

“It didn’t surprise us,” Taylor said of the steals. “We work really hard. We knew we’d come together one day and get a lot of steals, play defense, score a lot. Once we come together I feel like nobody can stop us.”

The steals were only part of the story. Rodney Shelton blocked eight shots – four in each half – and altered numerous other shots. He might even have more once they break down the film. He also had 12 rebounds.

“That’s just natural; I’ve been doing that since ninth grade,” Shelton said. “My game is all through film. You’re not going to catch my stats in game in person. You’ve got to take it to the film and dissect it and realize that I blocked it.

“They went up pretty soft. As a natural shot blocker I just felt as though they took advantage of me and I just went and put it back in their hands. I’m actually proud of what I did today.”

“I really want to shout out Rodney,” Jones said. “He was blocking shots. He was defending the paint really well. He was rebounding defensively really well. My defense comes from trusting Rodney that he protects me, so shout out Rodney for that.”

Six players scored in double figures, led by Woolford’s 18. Jones had 14, Brewington 13, Tyrone Tolson and Josh Ramos 12 each and Shelton 11. Everybody who played for the Oaks scored.

The Oaks wrap up their season-opening seven-game home stand Saturday against Atlantic Cape CC (2-4), a team that swept them last year.

LANCASTER BIBLE JV (1-4) – Curtis Brosious 0-2 0-0 0, Harrison Owens 0-2 0-0 0, Antonio Osbourne 2-6 2-2 8, A.J. Switzer 6-14 2-2 15, Brock Osbourne 4-11 4-6 12, Amari Williams 1-4 0-0 3, Jaden Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Karahn Garfield 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Mills 1-4 0-0 3, Marco Labasez 7-14 9-11 24, Noah MacCartney 1-3 0-0 2, Elijah Hogan 2-6 0-2 4. Totals 24-67 17-23 71.
SALEM CC (5-1) – Tyrese Fortune 2-7 2-2 6, Josh Ramos 5-10 0-0 12, Xavier Brewington 4-9 3-3 13, Rodney Shelton 5-9 1-1 11, Shyheed Taylor 2-4 2-3 6, Julien Jones 5-10 4-5 14, A.J. Jones 4-8 0-0 8, Tivon Woolford 8-12 0-0 18, Tyrone Tolson 4-6 2-2 12, Sami Anderson 2-6 1-2 6. Totals 41-81 15-18 106.

3-point goals: Lancaster Bible 6-17 (Brosious 0-2, Owens 0-1, A. Osbourne 2-3, Switzer 1-2, Williams 1-1, Garfield 0-1, Mills 1-3, Labasez 1-4); Salem CC 9-28 (Fortune 0-1, Ramos 2-6, Brewington 2-4, Shelton 0-1, J. Jones 0-3, A. Jones 0-2, Woolford 2-5, Tolson 2-4, Anderson 1-2). Rebounds: Lancaster Bible 41 (Labasez 10, Hogan 9); Salem CC 38 (Shelton 12, Fortune 7, Brewington 7). Fouled out: Fortune, Anderson. Total fouls: Lancaster Bible 10, Salem CC 20.

Salem CC women: Freshman post settling into her position, life away from home, enjoys career day against Lehigh Carbon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Being so far from home and on her own for the first time in her life, Salem CC freshman Akira Chambers admitted her first couple months at school were “scary, shaky and nervous.”

But as she’s slowly settled into her new environment and gotten more comfortable on a higher level of basketball she put all that emotional excess behind her for the first time Saturday and came out of it closer to the player she and the Mighty Oaks want her to be.

The 5-foot-11 post from Cleburne, Texas — one of five Texans on the roster – scored a lifetime high 21 points and gave the Mighty Oaks the reliable post presence coach Brian Marsh has been looking for in an easy 85-36 win over Lehigh Carbon at DuPont Fieldhouse.

“Most people know that I’m from Texas,” Chambers said. “I think one of the biggest things today was knowing that I had my family at home watching and supporting me; they couldn’t be here today. I have a big support system already here with my coach, my team, my family.

“One of the things today was just to go out there and play hard, play like I know how to play basketball. I’m at a higher level, it’s time to go up and change and do what I’m supposed to do to help my team to help me out more. I think my biggest goal today was just get out and play and have fun.

“I can definitely say today I let loose way more than I have any other game. I finally came back out.”

Chambers was ready from the jump. She had scored only 15 points in the Mighty Oaks’ first two games, but had that many in the first half Saturday on 7-for-8 shooting. She had eight of the Oaks’ first 12 points.

She couldn’t remember having a 20-point game in high school. With the help of her big outing Saturday she is averaging 12 points and five rebounds through her first three college games, and gives the Mighty Oaks that aggressive, athletic post they were sorely missing last season.

“I’ve really been working with her,” Marsh said. “I’ve been in higher ed a long time so I try to tell people the first semester is always the hardest. You’re always from your home, away from your parents; that’s why we try to be family here, but it’s hard. I always tell them to get through that first semester.

“What we’ve been working on with Akira is I always used to use basketball as therapy. It’s two hours where you just forget everything. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her. It’s two hours, don’t worry about it. Thanksgiving break’s coming up, I give them two weeks off for Christmas, so you’re getting to the end of it, getting closer to home.

“It’s been hard on her, I’ll be really honest, but she’s doing a really good job of dealing with it. Our team is really close-knit, so I think that’s helped and I think she’s just been really working on herself just to play basketball.”

The game was full of gaudy numbers. Their 49-point margin was their largest margin of victory since reviving the women’s program last year; they only beat the Cougars by three last season. Their 93 shots and 29 assists were the most since bringing back the program.

Ten of the 11 Mighty Oaks who played scored and the only who didn’t, Geo Tjaden, came within one assist of a backdoor double-double (10 rebounds, nine assists). Nyiajah Jackson was their second-leading scorer with 18 points.

It wasn’t just on the offensive end. The Oaks forced Lehigh Carbon into 34 turnovers and held it to six points in each the second and third quarters. Their 19 steals tied their post-revival high and their 48 rebounds were the second-most since bringing back the program. 

Marsh would place it “in the top three” defensive efforts in his two-year tenure with the program.

“We wanted to go out and play aggressive man defense and as I’ve been saying really utilize our length and our athleticism,” Marsh said.

SALEM CC 85, LEHIGH CARBON 36
LEHIGH CARBON (1-3) – Jacksymerth Martinez 1-15 0-2 3, Emily Sebastian 8-12 4-6 20, Sarah Hope 2-7 0-0 4, Julianna Bowen 2-3 0-0 4, Maddy Taylor 1-4 0-2 2, Morgan Ritchie 1-5 0-0 3, Bronwyn McKee 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 4-10 36.
SALEM CC (3-0) – Maggie St. Clair 4-9 0-0 8, Dani Gustin 2-5 1-2 5, Kathryn Laurence 3-5 0-0 7, Jakayla Jenkins 2-3 0-0 4, Akira Chambers 9-14 3-6 21, RayNescia King 2-11 1-2 5, Nyaijah Jackson 9-12 0-0 18, Geo Tjaden 0-9 0-0 0, Jolee Robinson 2-7 0-0 4, Imara James 4-7 0-0 8, Alexa Hopkins 2-11 0-0 5. Totals 39-93 5-10 85.

3-point goals: Lehigh Carbon 2-8 (Martinez 1-4, Sebastian 0-1, Hope 0-1, Ritchie 1-2); Salem CC 2-16 (St. Clair 0-1, Laurence 1-2, King 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Tjaden 0-4, James 0-1, Hopkins 1-6). Rebounds: Lehigh Carbon 35 (Taylor 14, Hope 6); Salem CC 48 (Tjaden 10, Robinson 8, Jenkins 6). Technical fouls: James. Total fouls: Lehigh Carbon 12, Salem CC 14.

Salem CC men: After 90-minute meeting to get some things straight, Mighty Oaks were engaged all game, rediscovered their outside shot and beat Lehigh Carbon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – If Mike Green’s post-game comments two nights earlier about his team being “not good enough” in certain aspects of the game was a not-so-veiled message directed at his players through the media, they certainly seemed to hit the mark.

And if they didn’t, well, a 90-minute closed-door meeting in lieu of practice Friday morning with the coach doing most of the talking reinforced the idea.

The Mighty Oaks, who’ve been consistently slow out of the gate in their first three games, were engaged from the start Saturday and even got their long-range shooting touch back in beating Lehigh Carbon CC 90-76 at the DuPont Fieldhouse.

They did it with another big second half, but at least this time they didn’t have to dig themselves out of an early hole before doing their second half thing. That’s what he’s talking about.

“They responded very well,” Green said. “Good teams hold each other accountable and we don’t do that all the time. I challenged them again to hold each other accountable because I’m not going to keep doing it. It’s got me looking crazy. I’m yelling. I don’t yell.

“Today they held each other accountable. You saw my starting lineup? Those are the people who have been accountable up to this point. The guys who have been given minutes, been given opportunities, y’all got to earn them now because I’m going with the people who hold each other accountable. They responded well. They responded very well.” 

On Thursday night the Oaks fell behind Delaware Tech 14-0 at the start and trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but unlike their first two games when they rallied from slow starts to win, this time they never recovered and suffered their first loss of the season.

It prompted the second-year coach to say his team was “not good enough” to regularly give teams points early with hopes of rallying later, a point he reiterated in Friday’s meeting – and again at halftime Saturday.

“We are a very good team when we play together, so coach was saying we have a lot of selfish, a lot of egos, going on,” freshman guard Tyrone Tolson said. “We came together, we talked about it, everybody figured out what we wanted to do and get our roles all in.”

What was particularly frustrating about Thursday’s game was they endured one of the worst shooting nights in Green’s short tenure with the program. The Oaks made 188 3s in their 18 games with Green last year, but were only 6-of-36 from 3-point range against the Squares and had just 14 in the last two games.

But they hit seven 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes against the Cougars Saturday and drained a season-high 17 in the game — the second most in the Green era — on 38 attempts. The first basket of the game was a jumper by Tyrese Fortune and then all 10 of their field goals the rest of the half all from beyond the arc. And then they opened the second half with one from Niame Scott to take the lead for good. Seven players made at least one 3-pointer in the game. Leading scorers Josh Ramos (15 points) and Tolson (13) had four each. 

“Our shooters had to lock in and shoot,” Tolson said. “The pass is there, we’re getting open shots and today we were knocking them down. They were falling for us and we stayed locked in.”

The reason it worked is they were moving the ball. They had a season-high 23 assists (on 27 baskets), tied for the most in the Green era, and that doesn’t count “coach’s assists” on passes that resulted in free throws on shots that failed to fall. Twelve of the 13 Oaks who got in the game scored.

“I’m in the gym with these guys all the time; I know they can make shots,” Green said. “When we’re not making shots it’s because people are being selfish; you’re not passing the ball to the open man. When we’re making shots, it’s just because we’re moving the ball. We have to be a high-volume assist team because we’ve got shooters.”

It wasn’t all rosy, though. Late in the second half the Cougars cut a 20-point Salem lead with 8:30 left to nine with 4:25 to play. Going back to the initial theme the Oaks are “not that good” to have garbage time with a big lead.

They managed to stop the bleeding by returning the accountable players to the game. Stefan Phillips’ putback (his only bucket of the game) and Tolson’s left corner 3 got the Oaks back on track and they kept the lead in double digits the rest of the game.

“We’re all supposed to hold each other accountable,” Tolson said. “The bench is supposed to come in with the same energy. They came in, we had a couple guys lollygagging, not playing serious, getting petty fouls, but coach took them out and put us back in the game.

“I told coach we can’t have that. We’ve got to stay on it, everybody has to be on the same page, everybody has to be together. We’re only good as one. Without each other we don’t do good.” 

Cover photo: Tyrone Tolson launches one of the season-high 17 3-pointers the Salem CC men’s team hit Saturday in a 90-76 win over Lehigh Carbon. (Photo by John Holt)

SALEM CC 90, LEHIGH CARBON 76
LEHIGH CARBON (1-4) – Joel Contreras 6-15 10-12 24, Josh Shepherd 5-16 5-5 16, Robert Johnson 5-8 1-5 13, Andrew Hoadley 5-15 2-4 12, Daquan Burgess 2-9 5-6 16, John Kuchta 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Hetman 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Schuebel 0-0 0-0 0, Mekhi Adonis 0-3 1-4 1. Totals 23-68 24-36 76.
SALEM CC (3-1) – Julien Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Tyrese Fortune 3-12 1-2 7, Tyrone Tolson 4-7 1-2 13, Rodney Shelton 0-0 3-4 3, Sami Anderson 2-3 2-2 8, Dontarius Jones 3-5 0-0 8, Niame Scott 2-8 1-2 7, A.J. Jones 3-6 0-0 8, Tivon Woolford 0-4 2-2 2, Josh Ramos 5-12 1-2 15, Xavier Brewington 2-7 0-0 4, Shyheed Taylor 2-4 3-3 8, Stefan Phillips 1-1 5-6 7. Totals 27-68 19-25 90.

3-point goals: Lehigh Carbon 6-26 (Contreras 2-5, Shepherd 1-9, Johnson 2-3, Hoadley 0-4, Burgess 1-5); Salem CC 17-38 (Fortune 0-4, Tolson 4-6, Anderson 2-3, D. Jones 2-4, Scott 2-4, A.J. Jones 2-3, Woolford 0-1, Ramos 4-9, Brewington 0-2, Taylor 1-2). Rebounds: Lehigh Carbon 42 (Hoadley 14, Johnson 8, Contreras 9); Salem CC 36 (Fortune 8, Shelton 5, Brewington 5). Technical fouls: Lehigh Carbon coach Foley. Fouled out: Adonis. Total fouls: Lehigh Carbon 18, Salem CC 26.

Scott’s acrobatic layup in closing seconds saves Mighty Oaks from slow start, women open their season with dominant victory; stories will be updated

SALEM CC BASKETBALL
Men 83, Bucks County CC 82
Women 99, Anne Arundel 61

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When Niame Scott was growing up in North Philly two things used to always happen. He would watch highlights of Kyrie Irving playing basketball and then he would go out in the park and practice acrobatic layups, never really knowing if he’d ever get to use one or not.

The Salem CC sophomore pulled one out of his bag of tricks at the most opportune moment Tuesday night and the Mighty Oaks benefitted from it big time.

Scott contorted his body around Bucks County CC big man Jaquis Heath and hit a layup with 5.4 seconds left to give Oaks only their second lead of the night and they held on as a last-second shot bounced off the rim beating the Centurions 83-82 for their second win of the season.

“When I was little I worked on those shots, acrobatic layups, and I watch Kyrie, so I know how to do them,” Scott said. “Some of them go in, some of them don’t. I think this one was just me and him, just a one-on-one, and I’m good at one-on-one so I’m pretty sure I know I was going to make that.”

Because this one went in, the game ended a whole lot better for the Oaks than it started. They fell behind 14-0 in the first four and a half minutes and trailed by as many as 15 in the first half. Stefan Phillips finally got them on the board on a putback with 15:20 left in the half.

It was a long road back, but they eventually took the lead for the first time, 81-80, on two free throws by Xavier Brewington with 33.5 seconds to play. Bucks retook the lead on Heath’s aggressive putback with 12.2 seconds left. 

Scott got the game-winning play started by inbounding to Brewington then bolting to the far right corner. Brewington dribbled three times then fired a pass to Scott’s location. Scott then drove on Heath, putting up a shot with his right hand as he was falling to the ground. It went in and the Oaks had the lead.

“Basketball’s a long game and our guys fought to the end,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “I knew once we found the right unit, the cohesiveness, I knew we would get back in it.”

Green and staff spent the halftime break trying to get the right combination on the floor and apparently found the answer. The Oaks outscored their visitors 57-44 in the second half, shot 42 percent from the floor, ramped up their defense and steadily cut into the deficit until making it a one-possession game through the final five minutes.

They trailed in the first half of their opener, too, and needed A.J. Jones’ steal and layup in the final 10 seconds to earn them a 35-35 halftime tie.

“It seems like that’s been us every game,” Green said. “I told them maybe it’s me. Maybe I’ve got the wrong rotation in there. Maybe I’m starting the game with the wrong people. We can’t score in the first half. Me and the coaching staff has to figure that out.

“I thought we would come back, but it’s got to be on the coaches. If your team is not up and ready to go, it’s got to be on the coaches. We have to take credit for that. If we’re going down 14-0 maybe we’re starting the wrong people, maybe we’re not getting the right energy. It’s definitely on the coaches.”

Tyrese Fortune, Phillips, Brewington, A.J. Jones and, of course, Scott all played big roles in the comeback. Josh Ramos hit a corner 3 with 2:53 left to get the Oaks within one for the first time.

Fortune and Phillips combined for 18 points and eight rebounds in the second half and both finished with double-doubles. Shyheed Taylor had 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Scott wound up with 12.

The Centurions still had time after Scott’s go-ahead layup to break Salem’s heart. They got the ball back into the hands of Heath, who dribbled from midcourt deep into the lane, pulled back out and shot it surrounded by Salem defenders Brewington, Scott and Phillips. The shot was in the air as the horn blew and backboard lit, but it hit the back of the iron and bounded harmlessly away.

The Oaks overcame a near disastrous technical foul in the final minute when a player on the bench spilled onto the floor after Scott and Jones forced the Centurions into a 10-second violation after Jones’ three-point play got them back within one again, 78-77.

SALEM CC 83, BUCKS COUNTY CC 82
BUCKS COUNTY CC (1-3) – Jeremy Henry 3-8 3-6 10, Noah Morris 8-13 2-2 24, George Marion 3-11 5-5 11, Roberto Maldonado 0-2 0-1 0, Jaquis Heath 3-11 1-2 7, Octavio Alexander 2-6 5-6 10, Tyler Riddle 4-8 8-8 16, Craig Stargell 0-0 0-0 0, Al Corsino 0-1 0-0 0, Yaasir Muhammed 2-2 0-0 4, Niko Bianco 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 24-30 82.
SALEM CC (2-0) – Niame Scott 4-14 3-7 12, Tyrese Fortune 4-11 3-5 11, Josh Ramos 2-8 0-0 6, Xavier Brewington 1-9 5-8 7, Rodney Shelton 0-4 0-0 0, Julien Jones 1-2 0-0 3, A.J. Jones 3-10 1-1 8, Tivon Woolford 3-6 0-1 7, Tyrone Tolson 0-2 0-2 0, Shyheed Taylor 5-9 4-5 16, Stefan Phillips 5-8 3-3 13, Sami Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-83 19-32 83.

3-point goals: Bucks 8-17 (Henry 1-2, Morris 6-10, Marion 0-2, Heath 0-1, Alexander 1-1, Riddle 0-1); Salem 8-36 (Scott 1-6, Fortune 0-2, Ramos 2-7, Brewington 0-6, Shelton 0-1, J. Jones 1-1, A. Jones 1-5, Woolford 1-3, Tolson 0-1, Taylor 2-4). Rebounds: Bucks 41 (Heath 9, Alexander 7); Salem 55 (Fortune 13, Phillips 13, Shelton 9). Technical fouls: Salem bench. Fouled out: Henry, Taylor. Total fouls: Bucks 25, Salem 20.

Women’s Game

SALEM CC 99, ANNE ARUNDEL 61: The restocked Mighty Oaks did some nice things during their scrimmages while second-year coach Brian Marsh was trying to acclimate his seven newcomers into the rotation and style they want to play with an expanded roster, but he really wanted to see what they looked like when the lights came on for real.

The Oaks got points from 10 different scorers and nearly broke the scoreboard in their season opener against the undermanned Riverhawks.

“We really want to have energy all over the floor,” Marsh said. “We were Anne Arundel last year. We were shorthanded, so I know what that’s like. We wanted to push the pace. They didn’t have a bench. We finally have a bench this year so we really wanted to go and use our depth to our advantage.”

Anne Arundel came into the game with only six players so it didn’t take long for the deeper Oaks to take control. They opened as much as a 21-point lead in the first half and then erupted for 60 points in the second half. They had 90 points with just under six minutes to play. The most points they scored in a game last year was 81 and they scored more than70 just six times.

“I liked it,” Marsh said of the opening-game effort. “When we played our last pre-season game we had 15 turnovers in the first half. That was one of things we were really focusing on, to really take care of the ball. I told them I wanted it under 10 for the game. (They had seven).”

The Oaks placed four scorers in double figures – Kathryn Laurence (13), Nyajiah Jackson (16), Geo Tjaden (14) and Alexa Hopkins (15). Tjaden was quite active. In one particular exchanged, she blocked a shot, knocked the rebound off the shooter out of bounds and a 3-pointer on the other end.

SALEM CC 99, ANNE ARUNDEL 61
ANNE ARUNDEL (0-1) – Aichatta Soumaoro 3-15 5-9 11, Addi Hurst 1-4 0-1 2, Lania Nick 9-18 3-4 24, Reona Robinson 1-14 1-2 3, Ayannah Gorham 7-11 7-12 21, Jasmine Mauldin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 16-28 61.
SALEM CC (1-0) – Maggie St. Clair 4-12 1-2 9, Daniella Gustin 2-4 0-0 4, Kathryn Laurence 5-16 0-0 13, Jakayla Jenkins 3-5 1-2 8, Akira Chambers 3-7 3-4 9, RayNescia King 1-5 0-0 3, Nyaijah Jackson 5-9 6-9 16, Caroline Zullo 0-3 0-0 0, Geovanna Tjaden 5-9 1-5 14, Jolee Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Imara James 4-8 0-0 8, Alexa Hopkins 6-9 1-1 15. Totals 38-88 13-23 99.

3-point goals: Anne Arundel 3-11 (Soumaoro 0-2, Hurst 0-1, Nick 3-6, Robinson 0-1, Gorham 0-1); Salem CC 10-33 (St. Clair 0-3, Laurence 3-11, Jenkins 1-1, King 1-2, Jackson 0-3, Zullo 0-3, Tjaden 3-5, Hopkins 2-5); Rebounds: Anne Arundel 48 (Gorham 15, Nick 10); Salem CC 42 (Gustin 8, James 7). Fouled out: Gorham. Total fouls: Anne Arundel 16, Salem CC 22.