Dynamite duo

Battavio, Donelson never far apart in the box score, combine for 57 as Woodstown opens its tournament with easy win; Pennsville bounces back in Buena and more

THURSDAY’S GIRLS BASKETBALL SCORES
Battle at Buena
Pennsville 49, Camden Academy 33

ACIT Holiday Tech Tournament
Consolation: GCIT 51, Salem Tech 15
Championship: ACIT 55, Camden Tech 19

Wolverine Holiday Tournament
Highland 60, Paulsboro 19
Woodstown 75, Bridgeton 41

Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
St. Dominic 53, Penns Grove 51

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson are two of the most dynamic scorers on any one team in any type of geography you want to name – county, conference, section, state.

Woodstown coach Kara Straughn would put them up against anyone anywhere. And when she does, they usually dominate the box score.

When they’re are on – and often when they’re not – they’re capable of outscoring any team they play by themselves. They came thisclose to scoring 30 points in the same game for the first time in their career Thursday, but settled for 28 and 29, respectively, and it was plenty as the Wolverines routed winless Bridgeton 75-41 in the opening round of the Wolverine Holiday Tournament.

They had plenty of time to get it, but they were lifted to play another day with 2:20 left in the game and the win safely tucked away.

“Mainland I believe has a set of twins this year that are seniors who are very good, Megan and Talia caliber, but I don’t know of anybody in Tri-County or maybe South Jersey,” Woodstown coach Kara Straughn said. “Gloucester Catholic has a couple, but they’re not Megan and Talia.

“The big thing is there’s no competition (between them). You have some teams who have two really great players, but it’s a constant competition. But with those two, they’re feeding each other. Together, the two of them, I don’t think there are anybody (like them).”

Battavio agreed the combination gives the Wolverines “something different.”

Donelson said “it’s like a power move for us. We just work really well together because we’ve been playing with each other a lot time. We’re like just locked in together.”

The two juniors are a lot closer than what you see in the scoring column. Sure, it might look like they’re locked in some friendly competition to see who gets scoring honors for the night, but they’re close friends that extend beyond the high school basketball court and genuinely want to see the other succeed.

In the 59 games Woodstown has played during their varsity careers, Battavio has been the higher scorer of the two 27 times, Donelson has had the better of it 26 times and they’ve wound up even six times. Their final line has been within three points of each other 32 times and only three times in the last 26 games has the difference between them been more than six points.

While they were so close to going for 30 in the same game for the first time Thursday, they’ve both gone for 20 in the same game five times and in four of the last eight games going back to last season, including the last two. Their previous best combined effort before Thursday was a 56-point night against Penns Grove (Donelson went for 31) in last year’s South Jersey Group I semifinals.

“I think we share a chemistry over the three years and also being really good friends helps,” Battavio said. “We like to push the ball and get it up to each other and I think we’re both not selfish about it. I’m willing to give up the ball to get her a layup any day. If she has 20 and I have 10, if we win, it’s a win. We’re heavy on that.”

Of course, the biggest beneficiary of it all is the team and the program.

“I think it sets the tone for not just now but the future as well,” Straughn said. “I have a lot of sophomores who are looking to those two and saying, ‘OK, I want to be the Megan and Talia in two years when I’m a junior and senior and they’re gone.’ So they’ve set a great example and a great tone for the young girls and the program overall.

“We have youth programs coming out to watch both of them. And they’re both involved in the youth program, they both help out. So, I think it doesn’t just help on the court, it helps the future of Woodstown basketball as well.”

They played a big part in the Wolverines putting this one away early. Bridgeton stayed with them early, even leading 9-8, but then the avalanche came. The Wolverines went on a 15-3 run to the end of the quarter that turned into a 27-5 spree before the Bulldogs called time with 4:21 left in the first half.

The Dynamic Duo had 25 of the Wolverines’ first 35 points and 29 points in the first half. Donelson had 11 in the first quarter.

While there is no pact for making it happen, everyone involve – Battavio, Donelson and Straughn – all agree it would be “really cool” if they both hit their 1,000th career point on the same night.

After Thursday, Donelson stands are 753 career points and Battavio is at 741. They’re projected to be the 10th and 11th members of the school’s girls 1,000-Point Club sometime around the Tri-County Tournament.

“I think that would really be the icing on the cake,” Straughn said. “I can’t even imagine that celebration.”

WOODSTOWN 75, BRIDGETON 41
BRIDGETON (0-6) – Adelina Wilks 10 3-7 25, Ayianna Ridgeway 0 0-0 0, Diara McGriff 1 0-0 2, Imara James 4 0-0 8, Jayla Bowman 2 0-2 4, Sarena Parker 1 0-0 2, Kahmya Johnson 0 0-0 0, Karina Perez 0 0-0 0, TaMiyah Russell 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 3-9 41.
WOODSTOWN (3-1) – Talia Battavio 11 4-8 28, Megan Donelson 13 0-0 29, Alyssa Baber 1 1-1 4, Gianna Maiorini 0 0-0 0, Shannon Pierman 4 2-2 10, Lauren Hengel 1 0-0 2, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Jala Thomas 0 0-0 0, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Brae DiGregorio 0 0-0 0, Kendall Young 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 7-11 75.

Bridgeton	12	12	6	11 –	41
Woodstown	23	16	18	18 –	75

3-point goals: Bridgeton 2 (Wilks 2); Woodstown 6 (Battavio 2, Donelson 3, Baber). Total fouls: Bridgeton 11, Woodstown 16. Officials: Konyak, Rosenberger, Jackson.

Cover photo: Megan Donelson (20) and Talia Battavio lead the Woodstown girls basketball team out of timeout Thursday just as they usually do in the scoring column. (Photo by Collin Groom)

Battle at Buena

PENNSVILLE 49, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 33: After having what coach Sam Trapp called “a big honest conversation” about how their opening-round loss to Pemberton went down, the Eagles got back on the winning road in the consolation game, but an even bigger issue emerged.

The Eagles played through two injured and endured another during the game.

Point guard Marley Wood played through an ankle injury she sustained the day before, Taylor Bass didn’t play because of a broken finger on her left hand and Annika Macalino suffered a knee injury during the game.

“It’s just so frustrating, it feels like a curse this year,” Trapp said. “I struggled with a lot of injuries with soccer and here we are with Round 2 in basketball. The best thing I can do is just keep coaching the other girls through it and working our team strength at this point and hoping the girls will be able to recover and get back on the court quickly.”

Even with all that going on, the Eagles had enough to get past the winless Cougars. They placed three scorers in double figures and led wire-to-wire, even with a hiccup in the third quarter. Nora Ausland led the offense with 17 points, Wood came through with 12 and Bella Farina had 11.

They built a 14-point halftime lead and never lost it, unlike the day before when Pemberton rallied in the second half. The third quarter was a little interesting, though, as they were outscored 16-14. The Eagles have been outscored in the third quarter in four of their five games this season.

“I was just very honest with the girls,” Trapp said. “I just told them we’ve got to take better care of the basketball. You have to step up when you’re playing in the game. You have to do your best when you’re on the court at all times.

“It’s taking accountability for their mistakes and what they can do better moving forward. Thankfully, the girls responded to what I said. We changed our gameplan a little bit with the injuries that we had, so it all ended up shaking out all right at the end.”

PENNSVILLE 49, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 33
CAMDEN ACAD. (0-5) – Angel Waysome 0 0-0 0, Nashalie Lugo 0 0-0 0, Yomeidy DeLaRosa 2 2-3 7, Angelise Rodriguez 2 0-0 6, Diomeiry DeLaRosa 5 6-6 20, Nikya Smith 0 0-0 0, Mariana Garriga 0 0-0 0, Malani Taplin 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 8-9 33.
PENNSVILLE (3-2) – Calli Ausland 1 0-0 2, Nora Ausland 7 0-0 17, Karsen Cooksey 1 0-0 2, Bella Farina 5 1-4 11, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2, Annika Macalino 1 0-0 3, Malani McGee 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Saulin 0 0-0 0, Avery Watson 0 0-0 0, Marley Wood 4 2-2 12. Totals 20 3-7 49.

Camden Acad.	5	3	`6	7 –	33
Pennsville	11	11	14	13 –	49

3-point goals: Camden Academy 7 (Y. DeLaRosa, Rodriguez 2, D. DeLaRosa 4); Pennsville 6 (N. Ausland 3, Macalino, Wood 2). Total fouls: Camden Academy 6, Pennsville 7.

Boardwalk Classic

ST. DOMINIC 53, PENNS GROVE 51: The Red Devils staged a furious fourth-quarter rallying from double digits to tie the game, but just came up short. RaNiyah Wilson scored 15 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help Penns Grove come back from a nine-point deficit.

The Red Devils rallied from 12 down to tie the game, but St. Dominic went back ahead when leading scorer Alyssa Stridiron hit a pair of technical foul shots. In the final five seconds Brianna Robbins drove the length of the floor and got to the basket with contact, but didn’t get a call they thought was warranted.

Robbins, who tied the game twice in the fourth quarter, finished with 15 points.

Stridiron was 6-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and finished with 28 points.

ST. DOMINIC 53, PENNS GROVE 51
PENNS GROVE (4-1) – Amani Taylor 2 0-0 4, Meely Horace 3 4-5 10, RaNiyah Wilson 8 1-2 19, Rolande Delva 0 1-2 1, JaNiyah Cummings 0 0-0 0, Arinna Dowe 0 0-0 0, Semijah Hines 1 0-0 2, Zoey Caesar 0 0-2 0, Brianna Robbins 5 4-6 15, Syanna Robbins 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-15 51.
ST. DOMINIC (3-3) – Kelly Clare Hester 1 0-0 2, Kalista D’Elia 0 0-0 0, Janiyah Capers 4 3-8 12, Alyssa Stridiron 10 8-13 28, Gianna Scrpa 0 0-0 0, Julia Hester 3 1-4 7, Stella DeFilippis 1 0-0 2, Emily Matos 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 12-25 53.

Penns Grove	8	5	14	24 –	51
St. Dominic	16	9	11	17 –	53

3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Wilson 2, B. Robbins); St. Dominic 1 (Capers). Fouled out: Taylor, Wilson. Technical fouls: Wilson. Total fouls: Penns Grove 17, St. Dominic 13.

ACIT Holiday Tech Tournament

GCIT 51, SALEM TECH 15
SALEM TECH (0-4) – Demajae White 1-0-2, Hanna DeWitt 0-1-1, Morgan VanDover 3-0-7, Drummond 1-0-2, Amedee 1-0-2, Reed 0-1-1. Totals 6-2-15.
GLOUCESTER TECH (4-3) – Sophia Molinari 1-0-3, Maggie Duer 4-0-12, Leanne Riddick 3-2-8, Ava Friel 1-0-2, Savanna Shute 2-0-4, Reis Hartman 3-0-6, Gina Sheehan 0-1-1, Averie Clement 3-0-8, Sofia McKay 1-0-2, Octavia Adkins 5-0-13. Totals 23-5-51.

Salem Tech	2	5	7	1 –	15
Gloucester Tech	21	11	12	7 –	51

3-point goals: Salem Tech 1 (VanDover); GCIT 10 (Molinari, Duer 4, Clement 2, Adkins 3).

Pressing on

Wednesday roundup: Woodstown turns to the press in fourth quarter, uses it to fuel big comeback against Steinert

BOYS SCORES
Warrior Classic
Woodstown 53, Steinert 52
New Egypt 36, Pinelands 32

Bayonne Holiday Classic
Charlestown (Mass.) 90, Salem 70
Bayonne 69, West Orange 44

ACIT Holiday Showcase
Camden Tech 48, Salem Tech 42
GCIT 37, ACIT 30

GIRLS SCORES
Boardwalk Classic
Salem 52, Oakcrest 25

ACIT Holiday Showcase
Camden Tech 24, Salem Tech 11
Atlantic Tech 31, GCIT 30

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

NEW EGYPT – Woodstown hasn’t rolled out the press much before Wednesday this season because, quite frankly, coach Phil Campbell wasn’t sure they were comfortable enough to make it work.

The Wolverines pulled it out late in their Warrior Classic opener against Steinert when they absolutely had to make something happen and ran it just like the coach remembers doing it during his high school playing days back in Texas.

The press helped them rally from 12 down with four minutes left and eight down two to go for an unlikely 53-52 victory to remain undefeated. They’ll play host New Egypt for the tournament title today.

Garrett Leyman’s putback and one with eight seconds left gave the Wolverines (3-0) their first lead of the game and Rocco String sealed it when he stole a skip pass with 1.5 seconds to go.

“It kind of reminded me of our opening game last year where we were down like that against Pitman and came back and beat them by one to start the season,” Campbell said. “I think this is a little bit better one.”

It was all about the adjustment they made at halftime to set up the man press and the way everyone who got on the floor played a part in making it work. They plugged it in with about four minutes left trailing 52-40 and it was so suffocating the Spartans (0-5) never scored again.

“I had a lot of faith,” Leyman said. “We just started being really aggressive, got some turnovers, started hitting our shots, doing what we knew we could. We just kept saying keep fighting. We know with our brand of basketball we know we could come back, and we did.”

It produced a couple steals right off the bat and Blake Bialecki, Alejandro Vazquez and Leyman all hit 3s to make it even more effective.

With time running out and his team down 2, Leyman picked up a loose rebound just outside the lane and confidently hit a short jumper and was fouled. His and-one gave Woodstown the lead.

The Wolverines still had two fouls to give and took them. The Spartans tried to get the ball in but couldn’t find an opening and String stepped in make the game-sealing steal.

“We pressed some last year and got away from it because the guys just were struggling to understand exactly how I wanted it to go and it got a little sloppy,” Campbell said. “This year we waited to reimplement the press. For the last week or so we’ve been slowly putting it back in, talking about we might need to press some people.

“I talked to (senior captain) Max Webb about it towards the end of the third quarter and it was like we weren’t quite there yet and I was like I agree, I’m thinking about when we need to put it in. There were about three or four minutes left and he looked over at me and I was like, yeah, it’s time. We put it in and they (Steinert) just didn’t know what to do with it.”

When Campbell was playing high school ball in Texas, his Abilene High School team pressed from the minute it got off the bus and regularly scored 100 points in a game. Even as well as Woodstown’s version worked against the Spartans, the Wolverines won’t use it that much going forward, but when they do find the ‘opportune moments’ to put it in motion Campbell will expect it to be run properly and productively.

Their defense this year has been strong without it. They didn’t press against Schalick and had 19 steals. They didn’t press Cumberland and won the turnover and rebounding battle while holding their opponent to an ice-cold percentage from the field.

Leyman was Woodstown’s leading scorer with 13 points, but the Wolverines spread the wealth. Vazquez, with three 3s, and M.J. Hall each scored nine points. Webb and String had eight apiece. String also had five blocked shots and three steals. One of Vazquez’ 3s was a half-court bomb that beat the second-quarter horn and sent the Wolverines into the half down seven instead of 10.

“Garrett had a great game overall, with 13 points he’s definitely the X factor,” Campbell said. “But everybody contributed … If it wasn’t for some great plays from Max, great shots from guys like Blake and Alejandro and M.J., some great defensive plays from M.J. and Rocco, we don’t get that win. It was definitely a team effort. Everybody who hit the court made a positive contribution towards getting that team win.”

WOODSTOWN 53, STEINERT 52
STEINERT (0-5) – Avery Cannato 4 1-2 11, Joseph Lee 2 0-0 5, Logan Kaboski 0 0-0 0, Mert Yilmaz 3 0-2 6, Ryan Leach 1 0-0 2, Walter Connor 1 0-0 2, Joseph Ditta 4 0-0 11, Jon Weaver 0 0-0 0, Cameron Popso 5 4-4 15. Totals 20 5-8 52.
WOODSTOWN (3-0) – Blake Bialecki 1 1-2 4, Alejandro Vazquez 3 0-2 9, M.J. Hall 3 2-5 9, Garrett Leyman 5 2-3 13, Anthony Bokolas 1 0-0 2, Max Webb 3 2-3 8, Rocco String 4 0-0 8, Elijah Caesar 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-15 53.

Steinert	16	14	11	11 –	52
Woodstown	10	13	13	17 –	53

3-point goals: Steinert 7 (Cannato 2, Lee, Ditta 3, Popso); Woodstown 6 (Bialecki, Vazquez 3, Hall, Leyman). Fouled out: Hall. Total fouls: Steinert 15, Woodstown 12.

ACIT Holiday Showcase

CAMDEN TECH 48, SALEM TECH 42: The Chargers cut an seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to one with two minutes to go, but Camden Tech came back down and scored and Salem Tech didn’t have an answer. When the Chargers started fouling to stop the clock, the Warriors made their free throws down the stretch.

Evan Brummel hit three 3-pointers and led Camden Tech with 15 points. Salem Tech’s Antoine Robinson led all scorers with 18 points.

CAMDEN TECH (3-1) – Frankie Clas 0 0-0 0, Salvatore Algeri 2 1-2 6, Isaiah Haynes 0 2-4 2, Alex Ojeda 1 0-0 3, Evan Brummel 6 0-1 15, Jamal Sosa 1 0-0 3, Mehki Harper 0 0-2 0, Elijah Franks 3 1-2 7, Charles Banour 2 3-4 7, Shareef Cox 1 3-8 5. Totals 16 10-23 48.
SALEM TECH (0-5) – Antoine Robinson 8 0-0 18, Chase Wills 1 0-2 2, Josh Muntz 2 5-5 10, Haneef Frisby 4 1-4 9, Joseph Hayes 0 1-4 1, Gio Holmes 0 0-0 0, Daviontae Russell 1 0-0 2, Charlie Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-15 42.

Camden Tech	14	8	11	15 –	48
Salem Tech	9	7	10	16 –	42

3-point goals: Camden Tech 6 (Sosa, Brummel 3, Ojeda, Algeri); Salem Tech 3 (Robinson 2, Muntz). Fouled out: Wills, Muntz. Total fouls: Camden Tech 12, Salem Tech 21.

Girls Games

Boardwalk Classic

SALEM 52, OAKCREST 25: QwenNasha Logan had a triple double – 10 points, 11 rebounds and 15 blocked shots –.to help the Rams collect their first win of the season. She had 15 blocked shots in the first three games of the season.

SALEM 52, OAKCREST 25
OAKCREST (1-3) – Zeriena Buckle 0 0-0 0, Aliyah Cause 4 0-0 8, Anastasia Lisojo 1 0-0 2, Natalyah Mikulak 0 0-0 0, Atrirah Mitchell 5 1-6 11, Aminah Mullins 1 2-4 4. Totals 11 3-10 25.
SALEM (1-3) – QwenNasha Logan 5 0-0 10, Ava Rodgers 4 0-0 8, Ryann Foote 3 2-4 8, Ameriyona Hunter 3 0-0 6, Carlysia Pierce 1 1-2 3, Kaela Nichols 3 3-4 9, Marrissa Bower 2 0-2 8, Naveah Hickman 2 0-0 4, Zaniyah Frieson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 6-12 52.

Oakcrest	4	6	7	8 –	25
Salem	10	12	12	18 –	52

3-point goals: None. Total fouls: Oakcrest 14, Salem 13.

No bueno in Buena

Both Pennsville teams lost their Battle at Buena tournament openers, girls after blowing big lead, boys in a blowout

BATTLE AT BUENA
Girls games
Pemberton 50, Pennsville 47
Buena 48, Camden Academy Charter 20
Boys games
Camden Academy Charter 98, Pennsville 58
LEAP 68, Buena 31

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BUENA – The first game of the post-Christmas segment of their schedule couldn’t have started any better for the Pennsville girls basketball team Wednesday. It couldn’t have ended any worse.

Quimia Wilkins hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to give Pemberton a three-point lead, then made one of two with one second left to complete a second-half comeback that sent the Eagles to a 50-47 loss in the opening round of the Battle at Buena.

The Eagles led until the final 75 seconds of the game. They led by 15 in the second quarter (23-8) and 11 (35-24) after Nora Ausland’s 3-pointer with 3:57 left in the third quarter. Pemberton took the lead for the first time when Aniah Rodgers hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 1:15 to play and never lost it.

Foul trouble and turnovers were the biggest conspirators against the Eagles. Their starters were strapped to the bench the majority of the second half and the team was charged with 19 turnovers in the last quarter and a half.

“We don’t take care of the basketball; the turnovers are absolutely killing us,” Eagles coach Sam Trapp said. “People are afraid to be in tough positions. There are about two girls who are confident with the basketball when the game gets tough and I need more kids on the court who are ready for those tough situations.”

The Hornets struggled from the free throw line the first three quarters of the game, but found the range in the fourth. They were 6-of-17 from the line in the first three quarters, but went 9-of-12 in the fourth and at one point hit eight in a row.

Wilkins’ final free throw came after Marley Wood purposely missed the second of her two free throws with nine seconds left in an effort to get Pennsville a game-tying shot. Ausland corralled the rebound to give the Eagles a shot to tie, but Wilkins stepped in to steal the entry pass back into Wood and was fouled.

As if the foul trouble wasn’t unnerving enough, the Eagles held their breath momentarily late in the first half when Wood collapsed under the basket with an apparent ankle. She made her way to the training table for treatment, but was back in the game after only 15 seconds elapsed from the game clock and played until the final seconds.

Wood led the Eagles with 12 points.

“That kid is just built different; she’s tough as nails,” Trapp said. “She’s just got that competitive nature in her. She knew her team needed her and she hobbled right back out there. She knew how bad her foot was hurting and she played through it.

“You could see she couldn’t drive to the basket anymore, but to continue to get out there and fight and lead your team, tells you a lot about her.”

One of the biggest plays of the game turned out to be the reversal of a Wood jumper with 3:19 left in the game. The shot, which came right after Pemberton tied the game at 42, initially was ruled a 3, but after an officials’ huddle was changed to a 2. That point and not having to miss the free throw on purpose with nine seconds left could have sent the game to overtime.

The Eagles played strong defense at the outset to open their big early lead. At the point of their 23-8 lead in the second quarter, they held the Hornets to 3-of-15 shooting and created 10 turnovers.

“My bigs were dominant that first half and then in the second half there was just no presence there anymore,” Trapp said. “They beat us up. The kids kept getting fouls called on them and they were afraid to work. It was a shame the foul count forces the kids to be afraid to keep working for the rebounds.”

**Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien (15) pulls a rebound away from Camden Academy Charter’s Julius Dominquez in the second quarter of their Battle at Buena tournament game Wednesday.**

Boys

CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 98, PENNSVILLE 58: At least the Eagles didn’t get 100 hung on them, and that might be the best thing to come out of it for them.

The Cougars had every chance to break the scoreboard. They had 98 points with 95 seconds to play, but put up four bad 3-pointers and had a last chance to do it with two seconds left but missed a pair of free throws. It would have been the first time an opponent put 100 or more on the Eagles since Clayton and Wildwood did it in back-to-back games in February 2021.

“We talked about that in each of the last three timeouts; that was our main thing in the fourth quarter,” Pennsville coach Joe Mecholsky said. “That’s what we said. Boys, they’ve got 85. You’ve got to keep it to under 100. You’ve got to play with a little pride out there today.

“A hundred is the magic number. It’s bad enough to lose by 40 and then have that other taboo of having 100 on us … It just shows we didn’t compete today. We didn’t have any answer defensively.”

Turnovers, transition – “the killer T’s” – and rebounding all conspired to do in the Eagles. They led 8-5 after back-to-back baskets by Daniel Saulin, then the Cougars got rolling. They went on a 26-3 run to take control of the game. Pennsville had 33 rebounds and 21 turnovers in the game. Camden Academy Charter had 23 offensive rebounds.

“You’ve got to be a little bit more competitive,” Mecholsky said. “We got killed on the boards, by far. Too many second-chance points. We just didn’t take care of the ball and they turned it into transition points and that was it. We lost to a better team today.”

The drama in the game was saved for how long it would take Cougars senior Julius Dominguez to hit the 1,000-point plateau. He needed 13 points and reached the milestone on a hard drive to the basket 3:27 before halftime after five wild attempts to make it happen earlier in the quarter. He finished with 17 points and now has 1,004 for his career.

Daniel Casasola led the Cougars with a career-high 32 points.

Pennsville’s Luke Wood moved 16 points closer to the 1,000-point plateau. He now has 894.

BATTLE AT BUENA
GIRLS GAME
Pemberton 50, Pennsville 47
PEMBERTON (2-3) – Quimia Wilkins 4 4-6 12, Mijanay McKinny 0 0-0 0, Akeelah Thomas 0 2-6 2
Eniola Oluwagbemi 5 5-8 15, Tamya Harvin 1 0-0 2, Taleylah Williams 0 0-0 0, Aniah Rodgers 7 5-9 19. Totals 17 16-27 50.
PENNSVILLE (2-2) – Taylor Bass 4 0-0 8, Anikka Macalino 1 0-0 2, Marley Wood 5 1-2 12, Isabelle Saulin 3 1-2 7, Nora Ausland 4 1-1 10, Malani McGee 1 0-0 2, Calli Ausland 0 0-0 0, Bella Farina 2 0-2 4, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 3-7 47.

Pemberton	5	13	15	17 –	50
Pennsville	14	13	10	10 –	47

3-point goals: Pemberton 0; Pennsville 2 (Wood, N. Ausland). Fouled out: Farina, Wood. Total fouls: Pemberton 10, Pennsville 19.

BOYS GAME
Camden Academy Charter 98, Pennsville 48
CAMDEN ACADEMY (4-1) – Michael Morton 6 1-1 14, Kamar Goodhall 5 0-0 12, Julius Dominquez 6 5-6 17, Omar Quinones 2 0-0 5, Aaron Figueroa 2 0-0 6, Joseph Devine 2 0-0 5, Zyare Roberts 0 0-2 0, Yasir Logan 0 0-0 0, Marcus Smith 0 0-0 0, Kensworth Clarke 0 2-2 2, Daniel Casasola 13 6-6 32, Jenar Carmichael 2 0-2 5. Totals 38 14-19 98.
PENNSVILLE (2-3) – Luke Wood 6 3-6 16, Peyton O’Brien 5 0-2 10, Daniel Saulin 6 0-2 12, Jayden Thomas 6 2-3 15, Malik Rehmer 0 0-0 0, Cohen Petrutz 0 1-2 1, Mason O’Brien 1 0-0 2, Conner Starn 0 0-0 0, Logan Hitt 0 0-0 0, Carlo Merindino 0 0-0 0, Cole Johnston 1 0-0 2, Totals 25 6-15 58.

Camden Academy	20	22	31	25 –	98
Pennsville	11	11	26	10 –	58

3-point goals: Camden Academy 8 (Morton, Goodhall 2, Quinones, Figueroa 2, Devine, Carmichael);
Pennsville 2 (Wood, Thomas). Technical fouls: Camden Academy (admin), Wood, Rehmer. Total fouls: Camden Academy 12, Pennsville 17.

Cover photo: Pennsville’s Marley Wood (4) and Kylie Harris apply pressure to Pemberton’s Eniola Oluwagbemi in the final minute in hopes of giving the Eagles another shot to regain the lead.

Thursday’s schedule
Girls games
Consolation: Pennsville vs. Camden Academy Charter, 11 a.m.
Championship: Pemberton vs. Buena, 3 p.m.
Boys games
Consolation: Pennsville vs. Buena, 1 p.m.
Championship: Camden Academy Charter vs. LEAP, 5 p.m.

Boardwalk Classic

Salem girls fall to Millville in their first Classic showcase, they’ll return Wednesday to play Oakcrest seeking their first win

BOARDWALK CLASSIC
Girls Games
Millville 44, Salem 27
Lower Cape May vs. Hammonton
Wednesday’s Games
Hammonton vs. Cape May Tech, 10 a.m.
Oakcrest vs. Salem, 11:30 a.m.
Kingsway vs. Absegami, 1 p.m.
Nazareth Academy (Pa.) vs. Methacton (Pa.), 2:30 p.m.
Lower Cape May vs. Delsea, 4:15 p.m.
Barnegat vs. Wildwood, 5:45 p.m.
Padua Academy (Del.) vs. Polytech (Del.), 7:15 p.m.

By Riverview Sports News

WILDWOOD – The Salem girls played their opponent even in the second half, but a slow start doomed them in a 42-27 loss to Millville in Tuesday’s Atlantic Ocean Showcase of the Boardwalk Basketball Classic at the Wildwood Convention Center.

The Rams were held to only one field goal in the first quarter, 10 points in the first half, and fell behind 25-10 at halftime. But after the break they played the Thunderbolts point for point, 17-17.

Leading scorer Brooke Joslin scored 10 of her season-high 18 points in the first half, including both of her 3-pointers. Ryann Foote led Salem with nine points.

Foote and Marissa Bower each had five points for the Rams in the second half.

The Rams (0-3) play here again Wednesday against Oakcrest at 11:30 a.m.

MILLVILLE 42, SALEM 27
MILLVILLE (2-3) – Brooke Joslin 8 0-0 18, Aubree Joslin 4 0-0 8, Jaylynn Jones 2 2-2 6, Ayla Gomez 2 1-2 6, Marissa Stevens 2 0-4 2. Totals 18 3-8 42.
SALEM (0-3) – QwenNasha Logan 3 1-2 7, Ava Rodgers 2 0-0 4, Ryann Foote 3 3-6 9, Ameriyona Hunter 1 0-0 2, Kaela Nichols 0 0-0 0, Marissa Bower 2 0-0 5, Carlysia Pierce 0 0-2 2. Totals 11 4-10 27.

Millville	12	13	10	7 –	42
Salem	2	8	10	7 –	27

3-point goals: Millville 3 (B. Joslin 2, Gomez); Salem 1 (Bower). Fouled out: Foote. Total fouls: Millville 8, Salem 7.

County girls leaders

Here are the Salem County girls basketball statistical leaders through Dec. 25 based on information reported to statewide service

Scoring

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	PTS	AVG
Talia Battavio	Woodstown	3	58	19.3
Meely Horace	Penns Grove	4	74	18.5
RaNiyah Wilson	Penns Grove	4	69	17.3
Nora Ausland	Pennsville	3	52	17.3
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	3	46	15.3
Marley Wood	Pennsville	3	45	15.0
Brianna Robbins	Penns Grove	4	49	12.3
QwenNazha Johnson-Logan	Salem	2	16	8,0
Ava Rogers	Salem	2	16	8,0
Shannon Pierman	Woodstown	3	23	7.7
Ava Scurry	Schalick	3	20	6.7
Carly Vicente	Schalick	3	20	6.7
Ryann Foote	Salem	2	12	6,0
Morgan VanDover	Salem Tech	3	18	6.0
Ameriyona Hunter	Salem	2	11	5.5
Cali Fisler	Schalick	3	16	5.3
Carlysia Pierce	Salem	2	10	5.0
Marissa Bower	Salem	2	9	4.5
Kaylin Beardsley	Salem Tech	2	9	4.5
Abigail Willoughby	Schalick	3	13	4.3
JaNiyah Cummings	Penns Grove	4	14	3.5
Demajae White	Salem Tech	2	7	3.5
Cianna Gaines	Schalick	3	10	3.3
Zoey Caesar	Penns Grove	3	9	3.0
Alyssa Baber	Woodstown	3	9	3.0

Rebounding

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	RBS	AVG
Ava Scurry	Schalick	3	36	12
Cianna Gaines	Schalick	3	23	7.7
Shannon Pierman	Woodstown	3	21	7.0
Ryann Foote	Salem	2	14	7.0
QwenNazha Johnson-Logan	Salem	2	14	7.0
Ava Rodgers	Salem	2	11	5.5
Gianna Maiorini	Woodstown	3	15	5.0
Abigail Willoughby	Schalick	3	15	5.0
Carlysia Pierce	Salem	2	10	5.0
Cali Fisler	Schalick	3	12	4.0
RaNiyah Wilson	Penns Grove	4	15	3.8
Katie Little	Schalick	3	11	3.7
Ameriyona Hunter	Salem	2	7	3.5
Zoey Caesar	Penns Grove	3	10	3.3
JaNiyah Cummings	Penns Grove	4	13	3.3
Alyssa Baber	Woodstown	3	10	3.3
Lauren Hengel	Woodstown	3	9	3.0
Marissa Bower	Salem	2	6	3.0
Brianna Robbins	Penns Grove	4	11	2.8
Meely Horace	Penns Grove	4	10	2.5

Free Throw Shooting

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	FTM	FTA	PCT
Ava Rodgers	Salem	2	4	6	.667
Meely Horace	Penns Grove	4	9	16	.563
RaNiyah Wilson	Penns Grove	4	6	12	.500
Ryann Foote	Salem	2	6	12	.500
QwenNazha Johnson-Logan	Salem	2	2	4	.500
Kaela Nichols	Salem	1	1	2	.500
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	3	4	9	.444
Cali Fisler	Schalick	3	4	10	.400
Ameriyona Hunter	Salem	2	2	6	.333
Brianna Robbins	Penns Grove	4	4	17	.235
Ava Scurry	Schalick	3	2	18	.111

STEALS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
Meely Horace	Penns Grove	4	13
Abigail Willoughby	Schalick	3	11
Brianna Robbins	Penns Grove	4	10
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	3	9
Cali Fisler	Schalick	3	9
Ava Scurry	Schalick	3	8
Ryann Foote	Salem	2	7

ASSISTS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
Talia Battavio	Woodstown	3	11
Gianna Maiorini	Woodstown	3	9
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	3	8
Katie Little	Schalick	3	7
Ryanna Foote	Salem	2	6

BLOCKED SHOTS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
Ava Scurry	Schalick	3	17
QwenNazha Johnson-Logan	Salem	2	10
Talia Battavio	Woodstown	3	4
Ava Rodgers	Salem	2	4
Megan Donelson	Woodstown	3	3

County boys leaders

Here are the Salem County boys basketball statistical leaders through Dec. 25 based on information reported to statewide service

Scoring

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	PTS	AVG
Anthony Farmer	Salem	3	56	18.7
Luke Wood	Pennsville	4	65	16.3
Giomar Conrad	Penns Grove	5	79	15.8
Antoine Robinson	Salem Tech	3	43	14.3
Jabez Dejesus	Salem	3	42	14.0
Rocco String	Woodstown	2	26	13.0
Blake Bialecki	Woodstown	2	25	12.5
Paul Weathers	Salem	3	35	11.7
Max Webb	Woodstown	2	21	10.5
Haneef Frisby	Salem Tech	4	41	10.3
MJ Hall	Woodstown	2	20	10.0
Daniel Saulin	Pennsville	4	39	9.8
Jayden Thomas	Pennsville	4	39	9.8
Reggie Allen	Schalick	3	29	9.7
Tymear Lecator	Salem	3	29	9.7
Daniel Lis	Schalick	3	25	8.3
Roman Gipson	Penns Grove	5	41	8.2
Josh Muntz	Salem Tech	4	32	8.0
Nasir Sutton	Schalick	3	22	7.3
Chase Wills	Salem Tech	4	28	7.0
Ryan Johnson	Schalick	2	14	7.0
Garrett Leyman	Woodstown	2	14	7.0
Chase Burchfield	Pennsville	2	14	7.0
KaRon Ceaser	Penns Grove	5	30	6.0
Nylan Sutton	Schalick	3	18	6.0
Tyler Zampino	Salem Tech	4	23	5.8
Ramaji Bundy	Salem	3	16	5.3
Willie Slocum	Pnnns Grov	5	24	4.8
Peyton O’Brien	Pennsville	4	19	4.8
Cohen Petrutz	Pennsville	4	19	4.8
Jordan Johnson	Schalick	3	13	4.3
Mason O’Brien	Pennsville	3	12	4.0
Mehki Ballard	Penns Grove	5	19	3.8
Brandin Robbins	Penns Grove	5	18	3.6
Malik Rehmer	Pennsville	4	14	3.5

Rebounding

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	RBS	AVG
Rocco String	Woodstown	2	21	10.5
Peyton O’Brien	Pennsville	4	38	9.5
Willie Slowcum	Pnnns Grov	5	41	8.2
Daniel Saulin	Pennsville	4	31	7.8
Garrett Leyman	Woodstown	2	13	6.5
Max Webb	Woodstown	2	11	5.5
Giomar Conrad	Penns Grove	5	27	5.4
KaRon Ceaser	Penns Grove	5	25	5.0
Anthony Bokolas	Woodstown	2	9	4.5
Paul Weathers	Pennsville	3	12	4.0
Luke Wood	Pennsville	4	14	3.5
Roman Gipson	Penns Grove	5	16	3.2
Blake Bialecki	Woodstown	2	6	3.0
Elijah Caesar	Woodstown	2	6	3.0
Mehki Ballard	Penns Grove	5	14	2.8

Free Throw Shooting

PLAYER (1.5 FTA/GP)	SCHOOL	GP	FTM	FTA	PCT
Antoine Robinson	Salem Tech	3	12	16	.750
Luke Wood	Pennsville	4	14	19	.737
Ryan Johnson	Schalick	2	4	6	.667
Garrett Leyman	Woodstown	2	2	3	.667
Rocco String	Woodstown	2	4	6	.667
Jabez Dejesus	Salem	3	6	9	.667
Tymear Lecator	Salem	3	10	15	.667
Daniel Saulin	Pennsville	4	9	14	.643
Daniel Lis	Schalick	3	7	11	.636
Anthony Farmer	Salem	3	12	19	.632
Willie Slocum	Penns Grove	5	5	8	.625
Jayden Thomas	Pennsville	4	5	8	.625
Blake Bialecki	Woodstown	2	3	5	.600
Malik Rehmer	Pennsville	4	6	10	.600
Paul Weathers	Salem	3	4	7	.571
Josh Muntz	Salem Tech	4	6	11	.545
Haneef Frisby	Salem Tech	4	10	19	.526
Joseph Hayes	Salem Tech	3	4	8	.500
Max Webb	Woodstown	2	2	4	.500
Mason O’Brien	Pennsville	3	3	6	.500
Nylan Sutton	Schalick	3	6	16	.375
Reggie Allen	Schalick	3	2	6	.333
Nasir Sutton	Schalick	3	4	12	.333
Giomar Conrad	Penns Grove	5	4	17	.236
Chase Wills	Salem Tech	4	2	9	.222

STEALS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
KaRon Ceaser	Penns Grove	5	13
Giomar Conrad	Penns Grove	5	12

ASSISTS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
Giomar Conrad	Penns Grove	5	14
Max Webb	Woodstown	2	11
Brandin Robbins	Penns Grove	5	10
Malik Rehmer	Pennsville	4	9
Black Bialecki	Woodstown	2	5

BLOCKED SHOTS
PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	TOT
Willie Slocum	Penns Grove	5	6
Luke Wood	Pennsville	4	6
Rocco String	Woodstown	2	4
Paul Weathers	Salem	3	4

Cover photo: Salem’s Anthony Farmer (1) and Pitman’s Elijah Crispin went head-to-head in a game last week.

This week’s schedule

Holiday tournaments highlight the schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Dec. 25-30

DEC. 26
BASKETBALL
Girls
Battle of the Boards
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Millville, 1 p.m.

DEC. 27
BASKETBALL
Girls
Battle at Buena
Pennsville vs. Pemberton, 11 a.m.

Battle of the Boards
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Oakcrest, 11:30 a.m.

ACIT Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 10 a.m.
GCIT vs. ACIT, 1 p.m.

Boys
Battle at Buena
Pennsville vs. Camden Academy Charter, 1 p.m.

ACIT Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 11:30 a.m.
GCIT vs. ACIT, 3:30 p.m.

Bayonne Tournament
Salem vs. Charlestown, 4 p.m.
West Orange at Bayonne, 5:30 p.m.

Warrior Classic, New Egypt
Pinelands at New Egypt, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Steinert, 5:30 p.m.

WRESTLING
Audubon, Northern Burlington at Woodstown, 10 a.m.

INDOOR TRACK
Woodstown at Ocean Breeze Complex, Staten Island, N.Y.

DEC. 28
BASKETBALL
Girls
Battle at Buena
Pemberton vs. Buena
Pennsville vs. Camden Academy

ACIT Tournament
Consolation: Salem Tech vs. GCIT, 10 a.m.
Championship: Camden Tech vs. ACIT, 1 p.m.

Wolverine Holiday Tournament
at Woodstown
Highland vs. Paulsboro, 10 a.m.
Bridgeton vs. Woodstown, noon

Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Penns Grove vs. St. Dominic, 5:45 p.m.

Boys
Penns Grove vs. Vineland at Delsea, 4 p.m.

Battle at Buena
Pennsville vs. Buena
Camden Academy vs. LEAP

Warrior Classic, New Egypt
Pinelands vs. Steinert
Woodstown vs. New Egypt

ACIT Tournament
Consolation: Salem Tech vs. ACIT, 11:30 a.m.
Championship: Camden Tech vs. GCIT, 3:30 p.m.

Salem in Bayonne Tournament
Consolation: Salem vs. West Orange, 2 p.m.
Championship: Charlestown (Mass.) vs. Bayonne, 3:30 p.m.

WRESTLING
Pennsville in Overbrook Tournament
Schalick in Clayton Classic

DEC. 29
BASKETBALL
Girls
Wolverine Holiday Tournament
at Woodstown
Consolation game, 10 a.m.
Championship game, noon

WRESTLING
Pennsville vs. Barnegat

DEC. 30
BASKETBALL
Girls
Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Penns Grove vs. Ocean City, 2:30 p.m.
Boys
Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Penns Grove vs. Lower Cape May, 5:45 p.m.

Getting closer

Penns Grove feels better about its progress after playing better in the second half of loss to Cherokee

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – This wasn’t the way Damian Ware wanted to go into Christmas, but he felt a lot better about it the way his Penns Grove basketball team played in the second half Saturday.

The Red Devils played the last game in the county before the holidays and lost to Group IV Cherokee 45-38. It would have been a completely blue Christmas until picked up their game and won the second half.

“We never have moral victories – we always want to get the win,” Ware said. “However, we’re still growing and learning as a team, so we can take this and look at the positives that are going to come out of it like guys coming out of a slump and understanding how hard we have to actually play. We played hard in the second half.

“We’re getting there. If we can bottle up those good positions and play them for 32 minutes, we’re going to be so tough to deal with.”

The snapping out of a slump part belong to Mehki Ballard. He broke out with three 3s, two in the fourth quarter when he scored eight of his team-high 11 points. Ballard hit 59 3s last season, but hadn’t made any in the Red Devils’ first four games this season.

“I just got more comfortable,” he said. “In the first half I had to get comfortable because I was coming off the bench, so when I got in I knew I had to make shots for our team so we could come back and try to win the game.

“We came in here (at halftime) and knew we had to play harder if we wanted to get back into the game or win the game. When we came in (Ware) told us we had to turn it up the second half.”

Ballard’s stroke got a boost after he went through a form shooting drill Friday in which he couldn’t move to a new spot until he had made 10 shots all net.

The game marked the first this season the Red Devils opened the game with the same starters as the game before – because it produced a win. The group gave them an early lead (5-4), but as the half wore on it was evident they needed more scoring. They went with a different five to open the second half and it gave them a spark.

The Red Devils managed only 14 points in the first half and trailed by nine at halftime but it felt like a lot more. The margin was 14 early in the fourth quarter, but they got it back to nine with two minutes to play.

“We’re finding guys who we know are going to play tough, hard, physical and execute,” Ware said. “We found a little something in the second quarter today and we kind of stuck with it. Sometimes we may need a defensive lineup, sometimes we may need an offensive lineup; it’s fluid.”

The Chiefs got most of their points and all of their 3-pointers from Louis Galasso (18) and Judd Holt (16). They combined for 19 points in the first half.

CHEROKEE 45, PENNS GROVE 38
CHEROKEE (3-2) – Will Carr 2 1-2 5, Dan Leonard 0 0-0 0, Jared Bell 0 4-6 4, Tom Pajic 0 1-2 1, Mike Atlee 0 1-2 1, Sam Levin 0 0-0 0, Brian Magee 0 0-0 0, Jordan Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Corey Mazur 0 0-0 0, Rocco Natali 0 0-0 0, Darwin Walker 0 0-0 0, Judd Holt 7 0-0 16, Louis Galasso 7 1-2 18. Totals 16 8-14 45.
PENNS GROVE (2-3) – Brandon Robbins 1 0-0 3, Roman Gipson 2 1-2 5, Giomar Conrad 4 0-0 10, KaRon Ceaser 2 2-4 6, Willie Slocum 0 3-4 3, Mekhi Bullard 3 2-3 11, Camron Thompson 0 0-0 0, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0, Khiry Higgs 0 0-0 0, Mr Peterson 0 0-0 0, Jaden Sorrell 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 0 0-0 0, Will Roy 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-13 38.

Cherokee	10	13	8	13 –	45
Penns Grove	8	6	7	17 –	38

3-point goals: Cherokee 5 (Holt 2, Galasso 3); Penns Grove 6 (Robbins, Conrad 2, Ballard 3). Fouled out: Ballard. Total fouls: Cherokee 10, Penns Grove 14.

Future looks bright

Girls roundup: Sophomore-laden Schalick uses big second half to take down LEAP; Woodstown, Pennsville, Penns Grove all win with big second halves or fourth quarters

THURSDAY GIRLS SCORES
Salem County
Schalick 51, LEAP 28
Penns Grove 52, Cloucester Co. Christian 36
Pennsville 47, GCIT 35
Woodstown 57, Clearview 54

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – John Whalen saw the future of Schalick girls basketball in the second half of Thursday night’s game and he had to admit it looked pretty good.

The Cougars have a young team, but they played like veterans on this night. They already led by five at halftime, but outscored LEAP Academy 33-15 in the second half to earn their first win of the season 51-28.

“That showed the potential this group has,” Whalen said. “They pretty much are all sophomores. They’re very young so I think that highlights the potential this team can have.”

Their 33 second-half points were more than the Cougars (1-2) had scored in their first two games of the season combined.

“The talk at halftime was just picking up some aggression and communication on defense and looking to get the ball inside on offense,” Whalen said. “We came out the second half and the girls did an excellent job jumping passing lanes, getting a lot of steals, some fast-break layups. We started to transition a lot more, get the ball up the floor, and find Ava (Scurry) and Cianna (Gaines) inside for some layups.”

Scully and Cali Fisler shared team scoring honors with 14 points each. Scully scored 10 of her points in the second half and Fisler had nine. Carly Vicente had 13.

“The future is bright,” Whalen said. “I think if the girls stick with it … the next couple years down the road could be where we are back to our competitive years where we have been in the past.”

SCHALICK 51, LEAP 28
SCHALICK (1-2) – Abigail Willoughby 3 0-0 6, Cali Fisler 3 4-8 14, Ava Scurry 7 0-6 14, Cianna Gaines 3 0-0 6, Victoria Basich 0 0-0 0, Carly Vincente 6 0-0 13, Katie Little 1 0-0 2, Madison Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-14 51.
LEAP (0-3) – Ashriel Young 1 4-10 6, Wiliana Diaz 3 1-4 10, Mahogany Gardner 4 0-0 10, Jaleah Davis 1 0-0 2, Jayla Moormann 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-14 28.

Schalick	8	10	16	17 –	51
LEAP	4	9	7	8 –	28

3-point goals: Schalick 1 (Vicente); LEAP (Diaz 3, Gardner 2). Total fouls: Schalick 12, LEAP 10.

WOODSTOWN 57, CLEARVIEW 54: Talia Battavio hit two free throws with less than five seconds left on the clock to seal the Wolverines’ second straight victory in a game that had more ups and downs than an elevator.

The Wolverines trailed by 10 at halftime, but opened the third quarter with a 16-0 run and took a nine-point lead into the fourth. The Pioneers rallied to tie the game at 50, but the Wolverines made the last push.

Leading scorers Battavio (26 points) and Megan Donelson (20) both hit field goals to move the Red Devils out front and then they hit three of four free throws to lock it down.

Shannon Pierman kept the ball alive with an offensive rebound on the missed free throw with five seconds left and the Wolverines up by a point. The ball got to Battavio, who was fouled and went to the line for the free throws that sealed the game.

WOODSTOWN 57, CLEARVIEW 54
CLEARVIEW (1-1) – Alexis Jones 2-2-8, Gianna Bauer 0-1-1, Brett Foster 1-2-4
Ana Pellecchia 10-0-25, Juliette Mirigliani 3-1-7, Alyson Carter 4-1-9. Totals 20-7-54
WOODSTOWN (2-1) – Talia Battavio 10-2-26, Megan Donelson 7-6-20, Alyssa Baber 1-2-4, Gianna Maiorini 0-2-2, Shannon Pierman 2-1-5, Lauren Hengel 0-0-0, Emma Perry 0-0-0. Totals 20-13-57.

Clearview	19	10	6	22 –	54
Woodstown	15	4	25	13 –	57

3-point goals: Clearview 7 (Jones 2, Pellecchia 5); Woodstown 3 (Battavio 3).

PENNS GROVE 52, GLOUCESTER CHRISTIAN 36: The teams were locked in a tight battle for three quarters, but the Red Devils pulled away by outscoring the Conquerors 21-2 in the fourth quarter for their fourth straight win to remain undefeated.

The Red Devils got 45 points from their three big weapons. RaNiyah Wilson led the way with 17 points, Brianna Robbins had 16 and Meely Horace had 12 (all in the second half). They combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter.

PENNS GROVE 52, GLOUCESTER CO. CHRISTIAN 36
GLOUCESTER CO. CHR. (3-2) – Carolina Shreids 4 0-3 8, Maddey Ewin 2 0-0 4, Angela Karamisakis 4 4-6 14, Nira Mason 4 2-2 10, Hannah Gesin 0 0-0 0 Alanna Esposito 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 6-11 36.
PENNS GROVE (4-0) – RaNiyah Wilson 7 1-3 17, Meely Horace 4 4-6 12, Brianna Robbins 6 3-6 16, Amani Taylor 0 0-0 0Zoey Caesar 0 0-0 0, Syanna Robbins 0 0-0 0, JaNiyah Cummings 3 1-1 7. Totals 20 9-16 52.

Gloucester Co. Chr.	8	11	15	2 –	36
Penns Grove	11	10	10	21 –	52

3-point goals: GCC 2 (Karamisakis 2); Penns Grove (Wilson 2, Robbins). Total fouls: GCC 9, Penns Grove 8

PENNSVILLE 47, GCIT 35: The Eagles got off to a fast start, then survived a scare in the third quarter before pulling away.

Nora Ausland led three Pennsville scorers in double figures with 17 points. Marley Wood had 15 and Bella Farina, scoring for the first time this season, had 10. Ausland had eight of her points in the fourth quarter.

PENNSVILLE 47, GCIT 35
PENNSVILLE (2-1) – Nora Ausland 6 4-4 17, Taylor Bass 1 1-1 3, Bella Farina 4 2-4 10, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Anikka Macalino 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Saulin 1 0-0 2, Marley Wood 5 3-4 15. Totals 17 10-13 47.
GCIT (3-2) – Sophia Molinari 2 0-2 6, Maggie Duer 3 0-1 9, Leanne Riddick 4 1-2 10, Ava Friel 2 0-0 4, Savanna Shute 2 2-6 6, Reese Hartman 0 0-0 0, Gina Sheehan 0 0-0 0, Averie Clement 0 1-2 1, Sofia McKay 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-13 35.

Pennsville	11	12	8	16 –	47
CGIT	4	4	16	12 –	35

3-point goals: Pennsville 3 (N. Ausland, Wood 2); GCIT 5 (Molinari 2, Duer 2, Riddick). Total fouls: Pennsville 13, GCIT 12.

Finding the right fit

Penns Grove has been shuffling lineups all season in hopes of finding the right combination; freshman’s defense sparks Pennsville’s fourth-quarter comeback, Woodstown wins, Schalick falls

THURSDAY’S BOYS SCORES
LEAP 52. Schalick 44
Penns Grove 69, Salem Tech 56
Pennsville 61, GCIT 52
Woodstown 59, Cumberland 24

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Damian Ware is still trying to get a handle on his young Penns Grove basketball team and that usually means a plethora of starting lineups before hitting on the one that sticks for the rest of the year.

Ware rolled out his fourth different starting lineup in as many games Thursday night and it produced the Red Devils’ second win of the season, 69-56 over Salem Tech.

“We’re just tooling around with stuff early in the season, plus giving guys an opportunity to play who really haven’t played that many minutes yet,” Ware said. “I’m figuring guys out. I’m figuring out who can play well with who. I’m figuring out whether we should play with two bigs or one big.

“It’s all experimental at this point in the season. It’s really an extended preseason of sorts. I just want to see what all my guys got. I got 14 guys on the team, so I want to see what all of them got in extended minutes, so that’s what we were all about today.”

Up to now, Ware has been starting any combination of four guards with one big. One game he started all guards. The lineup against Thursday featured two bigs for the first time and it gave the Red Devils a defensive bent against their hosts. They held the Chargers to 16 points in the first half while building a 34-16 halftime lead.

The same group started the second half.

The new starter in this mix was Jaden Sorrell, a 6-4 senior who “did a decent job” playing the 5 alongside 6-3 senior Willie Slocum. Sorrell scored four points — all in the second half — grabbed a couple rebounds and blocked a couple shots before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Slocum scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“It was good because I had more opportunities because I was the 4,” Slocum said. “Other games I was the 5, so it was nice.

“We’ve just got to find the five toughest guys. To me, if I’m not playing that way, the next man up. If somebody else is not playing that way, next man up. We’ve got to five tough guys.”

As that search continues, Ware said it was “very possible” the Red Devils will start even another combination when they host Cherokee Saturday afternoon.

Salem Tech coach Bryan Riley expected to see Roman Gipson among their starters as he was when Riley saw them in the all-guard lineup in person last Saturday, but he didn’t sweat it. He still had to send his guys out there against whomever was on the floor.

The Chargers fell behind 55-30 after three quarters, but they brought it back in the fourth against the Red Devils’ young reserves. Haneef Frisby led the charge with 13 of his game-high 21 points.

“He and Antoine Robinson go back and forth,” Riley said. “We just played Gloucester Catholic, Antoine was the guy that game (16 points). The game before we played GCIT, Haneef was the guy (14). We played Schalick for opening day, Antoine was the guy (19). So, those two just go back and forth.

“I need them both on the same level and once we get that it’s going to be special.”

PENNS GROVE 69, SALEM TECH 56
PENNS GROVE (2-2) – Willie Slocum 4 3-6 11, Mehki Ballard 2 1-4 5, Khiry Higgs 0 0-0 0, Jaden Sorrell 2 0-0 4, Giomar Conrad 8 2-3 19, Mr Peterson 1 0-0 2, Roman Gipson 4 2-3 10, KaRon Ceaser 2 0-2 4, Will Roy 0 0-0 0, Neziah Spence 1 0-0 3, Cameron Thompson 3 0-0 6, Brandon Robbins 2 0-0 5, Luis Colon 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 8-18 69.
SALEM TECH (0-4) – Chase Wills 2 0-4 4, Haneef Frisby 7 7-9 21, Joseph Hayes 2 1-2 6, Daviontae Russell 2 1-2 5, Josh Muntz 2 3-6 7, Tyler Zampino 1 1-1 3, Antoine Robinson 3 0-0 7, Gio Holmes 1 1-2 3, Chase Ayars 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 14-26 56.

Penns Grove	16	18	21	14 –	69
Salem Tech	9	7	14	26 –	56

3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Conrad, Spence, Robbins); Salem Tech 2 (Hayes, Robinson). Fouled out: Sorrell. Total fouls: Penns Grove 25, Salem Tech 17. Officials: Woody, McGough.

PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52: If you’re occupying a seat on the Pennsville varsbench you’re expected to contribute when your name is called.

Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky called upon Mason O’Brien for a very specific task in the fourth quarter and the freshman delivered in a veteran way.

It was O’Brien’s job to put a wrench in GCIT scoring machine Mark Hallman as the “one” in the rare box-and-one the Eagles threw out there when nothing else seemed to work. O’Brien held Hallman scoreless the entire quarter and it helped the Eagles rally from five points down to snap a two-game losing streak.

“We put freshman Mason O’Brien on him and we said, ‘Son, you’ve got one job – lock him down,’” Mecholsky said. “He held the kid scoreless in the fourth quarter, let us get our feet and then we came down and executed on offense.

“I went with him because he’s fast afoot, he knows the game of basketball. He’s a freshman by grade … but he’s a little bit older than a freshman (in game sense), but we made it very simple for him. We said stay between (Hallman) and the ball and he was awesome.”

Hallman, who went for 30 against Salem Tech on Monday and was averaging 19.5 coming into the game, had 14 points with four 3-pointers over the first three quarters, but he got nothing in the fourth. Pennsville, meanwhile, outscored GCIT in the quarter 26-12 to beat the Group IV Cheetahs and gain a lot of valuable power points.

“(Mecholsky) told me to do one thing and not allow him to score a point,” O’Brien said. “I tried my best and I exactly did what he asked me to do.

“I just had to stay really close to him, had to follow him around. I tried my best not to let him get the ball. He didn’t do anything against me.”

O’Brien didn’t get a lot of playing time in the first half, but the Eagles were getting players in foul trouble and needed a fresh body. With Chase Burchfield out with a separated shoulder, O’Brien was the next man up.

“It felt great because I’m a freshman and people don’t think I’m that good or anything and I cone through and helped my team get a big win in the early-season going to Christmas break,” he said. “It felt amazing helping my team and my teammates out today.”

O’Brien’s older brother, Peyton, had a three-point play in the rally that extended the Eagles’ lead to five. They were his only points for the game, but he ripped down 14 rebounds. Jayden Thomas led the Eagles with a career-high 17 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter.

Pennsville had been mired in a shooting slump during its two-game losing streak, but broke out in this one. The Eagles were 18-for-42 from the field (2-of-12 from 3-point range) and 23-for-31 from the foul line, a product of their attacking the rim.

PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52
GCIT (2-3) – Trent Phillips 4 3-4 11, Michael Stanwood 8 0-0 17, Mark Hallman 5 0-0 14, Charles Donaldson 1 0-2 2, Patrick Monaghan 1 0-0 2, Carl Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Ian Malgapo 2 0-0 6, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 3-6 52
PENNSVILLE (2-2) – Luke Wood 5-5-15, Cohen Petrutz 1-3-5, Peyton O’Brien 1-1-3, Daniel Saulin 2-3-7, Jayden Thomas 6-13-17, Malik Rehmer 1-7-9, Mason O’Brien 2-1-5. Totals 18 23-31 61.

GCIT	9	15	16	12 –	52
Pennsville	16	10	9	26 –	61

3-point goals: GCIT 7 (Hallman 4, Stanwood, Malgapo 2); Pennsville 2 (Thomas 2). Fouled out: Monaghan. Total fouls: GCIT 21, Pennsville 11.

WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24: Rocco String started fast, scoring eight in the first quarter and 10 in the first half, as the Wolverines built a 15-point halftime lead and added to it.

String, a 6-6 junior, was among three Wolverines to score in double figures and had his second double-double in as many games with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Bialecki had 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals and Max Webb had 10 points, seven boards and five assists.

WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24
WOODSTOWN (2-0) – Manny Ortega 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 6 0-0 14, Alejandro Vasquez 1 0-0 2, M.J. Hall 3 0-0 9, Garrett Leyman 3 0-0 6, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 3, Max Webb 4 0-0 10, Rocco String 5 3-6 13, Zyaire Caesar 0 0-0 0, Elijah Caesar 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-6 59.
CUMBERLAND (0-2) – Kaleb Green 3 2-2 9, D.J. Mosley 3 0-0 6, Stephen Wilchensky 1 2-2 4, Jalen Stewart 0 0-0 0, Marcus Fortune 0 0-0 0, Deshaan Williams 0 2-2 2, Dumajze Cartwright 0 0-0 0, James Guaciaro 0 0-0 0, Khalif Dawkins 1 0-0 3, Kevin Fiorani 0 0-0 0, Kam Fiorani 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 6-6 24.

Woodstown	19	9	13	18 –	59
Cumberland	6	7	4	7 –	24

3-point goals: Woodstown 8 (Bialecki 2, Hall 3, Fulmer, Webb 2); Cumberland 2 (Green, Dawkins). Rebounds: Woodstown 48 (String 10, Leyman 8); Cumberland 28 (Stewart 7). Total fouls: Woodstown 12, Cumberland 11.

**Woodstown’s Garrett Leyman (10) puts up a shot in the lane against the pressure of two GCIT defenders. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)**

LEAP 52, SCHALICK 44: LEAP Academy hasn’t won many games in recent years, so any victory is reason to celebrate.

The Lancers won only two games last season, but they won their second game this season with their come-from-behind victory over the Cougars.

Schalick had an early lead in the game, but LEAP rallied and seized control in the second quarter. Xavion Ayala led LEAP with 22 points. Nylan and Nasir Simmons led Schalick with 12 points apiece.

LEAP 52, SCHALICK 44
LEAP (2-3) – Xavion Ayala 9 4-7 22, Gregory Shoultz 4 0-0 10, Angel Mieses 2 2-4 7, Jalen Thomas 1 0-0 2, Benjamin Noel 1 0-0 2, Terrell Hurst 4 1-1 9. Totals 21 7-12 52.
SCHALICK (1-2) – Reggie Allen 3 0-0 7, Daniel Lis 1 0-0 2, Nylan Sutton 4 4-10 12, Nasir Sutton 5 2-3 12, Ryan Johnson 1 2-4 4, Jordan Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jase Volovar 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 8-17 44.

LEAP	10	15	11	16 –	52
Schalick	11	9	13	11 –	44

3-point goals: LEAP 3 (Shoultz 2, Mieses); Schalick 2 (Allen, Volovar).

Cover photo: Salem Tech’s Haneef Frisby (2) guards Jaden Sorrell, the latest new starter in Penns Grove’s evolving starting five.