Category: BASKETBALL

Bialecki hits 1,000

Woodstown senior reaches milestone on 2 FTs with 2.4 seconds left in Wolverines’ win; plus scores and details from Tuesday night’s Salem County sports calendar

BOYS BASKETBALL
Woodstown 45, Cherry Hill West 40
Salem 73, Pitman 35
Glassboro 69, Schalick 23
Overbrook 52, Penns Grove 39
Clayton 80, Salem Tech 60
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 47, Woodstown 33
Penns Grove 60, Overbrook 39
Clayton 42, Salem Tech 26
Salem 67, Pitman 51
Glassboro 52, Schalick 8
BOYS BOWLING
Salem Tech 4, ACIT 0
Lindenwold 3, Salem 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News


CHERRY HILL — Blake Bialecki became the latest member of the Salem County 1,000-Point Club Tuesday and he took the bid all the way down to the wire.

The Woodstown senior needed 14 points to become the 11th boys player to join the list. He got a game-high 15. He reached the milestone on two free throws with 2.4 seconds to play to seal the Wolverines’ 45-40 bounce back win at Cherry Hill West.

“They were actually really important free throws,” he said. “It was, I needed to ice the game and get my 1,000 points at the same time.

“I wasn’t worried about it. I just wanted to get the win. They face-guarded me. They definitely didn’t want me to get it against them. I didn’t get many shots off today, but when I did I made it.”

For the longest time it looked like he might to extend the celebration to another day. The Lions (6-13) face-guarded him in such a manner “they definitely didn’t want me to get it against them” and limited his touches.

He had eight points with 4:30 to play and the game tied at 34. His 3-pointer from the right side with 3:15 left gave the Wolverines (12-7) a 39-34 lead. He hit two free throws with 1:01 left to make it 41-36, then hit the milestone after being fouled on an inbounds play in the backcourt.

“There are a lot of emotions,” he said. “Me and my parents have worked so hard for it and it’s been a goal of mine since middle school. There’s been countless hours in the gym with my dad. I’m just super excited and happy.

“Over COVID I really fell in love with training and getting better at basketball and I really fell in love with the sport. I set a lot of goals and one of them was 1,000 points.”

The fourth-quarter 3 was his third of the game and equally historic. It tied him with 1,600-point girls scorer Talia Battavio for Woodstown’s all-time 3-pointer record (186), a mark he covets as much as the 1,000-point mark.

“It’s definitely important to me because I define myself as a shooter and I work really hard on shooting 3s,” he said. “I train shooting 3s like a ton. Most of my workouts are focused on 3-point shooting. I still work on other stuff, but it’s mostly based around shooting. I want to be known as a shooter.”

He is the 68th player to make the Salem County boys 1,000-point list. He made sure to credit his coaches and teammates to reaching the milestone, calling it “our award, our 1,000 points and not just mine.”

WOODSTOWN 45, CHERRY HILL WEST 40
WOODSTOWN (12-7): Elijah Caesar 3 4-6 11, Jalen Markward 2 2-2 6, Blake Bialecki 3 6-6 15, Alejandro Vazquez 2 0-0 5, Josh Kiing 4 0-0 8, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 12-16 45.
CHERRY HILL WEST (6-13): Jordan Wise-Jones 1 2-2 4, Andre Blalock 3 0-0 7, Korey Morton 3 0-0 8, Hayden Boyle 3 2-2 8, Rasheed Braxton 5 3-4 13. Totals 15 7-8 40.

Woodstown1113615-45
Cherry Hill West791113-40
3-point goals: Woodstown 5 (Caesar, Bialecki 3, Vazquez); Cherry Hill West 3 (Blalock, Morton 2).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTAL
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15 vs. Cherry Hill West1001
Tymear Lecator, Salem26 vs. Pitman931

SALEM 73, PITMAN 35: The Rams’ Tymear Lecator connected on six 3-pointers and scored 28 points to move closer to becoming the 69th player on the Salem County boys 1,000-point list. The junior was 10-for-18 from the field, 6-of-12 from 3-point range. He also had six rebounds and five assists. He’s gone for at least 25 in four of his last six games. Twelve players scored for the Rams in the game.

GLASSBORO 69, SCHALICK 23: Xavier Sabb went for 30 points as the Bulldogs beat a Salem County opponent for the second day in a row. The Bulldogs started the year 2-9 but have won four of their last seven.

“We’re just trying to put it all together at the right time,” Bulldogs coach Lynell Payne said after his team dispatched Woodstown Monday. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but I will say we’re understanding what needs to be done. We will be the most dangerous 16 seed in the tournament.”

OVERBROOK 52, PENNS GROVE 39: Lamar Little filled the boxscore with 13 points, two rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals as the Rams clinched the Tri-County Diamond Division title. Bilal Robinson (11) and Gavin Cajuste (10) also scored in double figures. Penns Grove got balanced scoring, but didn’t have a scorer in double figures.

CLAYTON 80, SALEM TECH 60: Aiden Bobo scored a career-high 22 points, but the Chargers couldn’t overcome 12 Clippers hitting the scoring column with half of them going for at least eight points. James Fritz led the winners with 15 points.

Girls games

PENNSVILLE — Robin Efelis didn’t really know what to expect. She was just hoping for the best.

In the 24 hours prior to Tuesday night’s game with Woodstown, Efelis has gone from assistant coach to head coach and had to prepare for her team’s biggest basketball rival.

The new head coach and her Pennsville girls came through it well, taking down the Wolverines for the second time this season, 47-33 to remain on pace to share the Tri-County Diamond Division crown with Glassboro. Both teams are 7-1 in the six-team division and split their series during the season.

Efelis landed in the position after Eagles head coach Steve Merritt abruptly resigned after practice Monday night.

The teams battled it out in the first half with Pennsville going into the break with a 16-13 lead, but the Eagles dominated the second half, outscoring the Wolverines 31-20. They took control with a 12-4 third quarter.

Addie Johnston led the Eagles (11-6) with 20 points, just missing her career high. Taylor Bass had 13 points and Marley Wood had eight. Kendall Young led Woodstown with 11 points.

Among Merritt’s parting words to the team Monday was they had a good chance to win the game if they played like a five-man unit and protected the ball.

“The girls played extremely well tonight,” Efelis said.

PENNSVILLE 47, WOODSTOWN 33
WOODSTOWN (8-12): Lauren Hengel 4 0-2 8, Kyia Leyman 2 0-0 4, Emma Perry 3 0-0 6, Kendall Young 4 2-2 11, Talia Guardascione 1 3-4 6, Totals 14 5-8 33.
PENNSVILLE (11-6): Taylor Bass 5 1-2 13, Marley Wood 2 2-2 8, Addie Johnston 8 2-2 20, Izzy Saulin 2 0-0 4, Jaida Burns 1 0-0 2, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-6 47.

Woodstown76416-33
Pennsville971219-47
3-point goals: Woodstown 2 (Young, Guardascione); Pennsville 4 (Bass 2, Johnston 2).

SALEM 67, PITMAN 51: The Rams got a combined 56 points from their big three — Carlysia Pierce, Dyaira Anderson and Maddie Dixon — produced a pair of double-doubles and outscored Pitman in the fourth quarter 21-6 to pull away. Pierce had a team-high 19 points, 14 rebounds and six steals. Anderson delivered 18 points and 17 boards, and Dixon scored 16 points (with five rebounds and four steals).

GLASSBORO 52, SCHALICK 8: The Bulldogs did to Schalick wahat the Cougars usually do to their opponents: D them up. The Bulldogs held their visitors to one points in the first quarter and shut them out in the third to snap their seven-game winning streak. Kezia Brackett led their offense with 27 points. Sianna Wedderburn and Lily Czubas both grabbed 11 rebounds and Sanaa Thomas dealt 10 assists.

CLAYTON 42, SALEM TECH 26: India Bryant led Clayton with 14 points. Shelby Drummond led the Chargers with seven.

PENNS GROVE 60, OVERBROOK 39: The Red Devils collected their second win of the season and snapped a nine-game losing streak. Their other win came over the Rams in early January.



Abrupt ending

Pennsville girls basketball coach Merritt resigns after two winning seasons with the team, Efelis promoted to head coach

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – On rhe day of one of its biggest games of the season the Pennsville girls find themselves a team in transition following the abrupt resignation of head coach Steve Merritt.

The long-time county coach, in his second year with the Eagles after coming out of retirement, stepped down after practice Monday night. 

Assistant coach Robin Efelis immediately was promoted to head coach. The Eagles host county rival Woodstown tonight in a game that has some bearing on the Tri-County Diamond Division race.

Neither Merritt nor Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas would comment on the elements of what led to the resignation.

“It was a very, very, very difficult decision to make,” Merritt said. “In part, for my health, both mental and physical, it’s just not a good idea to continue.”

Merritt, 73, was 28-16 in his two seasons at Pennsville. He came out retirement last year and directed the team to an 18-10 record and the quarterfinals of the South Jersey Group I tournament. He helped produce three 1,000-point scorers – Nora Ausland, Marley Wood and, this year, Taylor Bass.

His all-time record as a basketball coach, including 19 years at Salem, is 285-246. He was inducted into the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

This year’s team is 10-6 and currently tied with Glassboro for first place in the TCC Diamond Division. It beat Woodstown 47-46 in their first meeting in January, ending the Wolverines’ 39-game winning streak against in-county competition.

“I was under the impression the kids had learned some things,” Merritt said of his time with the team. “This freshmen group that came in, the six players who came in, they made some significant improvements over the skills that I saw when they first started, and I’m not going to say it was solely because of me. But they learned some things and I did my best to teach them some things. Hopefully in the future that will carry on, but who’s to say.

“Beyond that, the numbers speak for themselves. We were successful. They have a genuine shot at winning today and if they take care of business against Penns Grove and Schalick then they can share the title with Glassboro. I told them yesterday at the start of practice they needed to do two things – play as a five-person group, not a four, not a three, but as a five-person group, and they needed to take care of the ball.”

Efelis, meanwhile, has been with the program for the last five years, through the tenures of former coach Sam Trapp and Merritt. Thomas said in a statement “the administration is confident that Coach Efelis is the perfect person to help lead us through this transition.”

The Eagles made Efelis’ coaching debut a success, overcoming the turmoil to win the game 47-33.

Top photo: Steve Merritt makes a point during a timeout in one of his first games as coach of the Pennsville girls basketball team.

Monday sports report

Glassboro denies Bialecki bid for 1000, Salem takes control of division, Schalick girls set up Willoughby for special Senior Night experience and more

BOYS BASKETBALL
Gateway 64, Salem Tech 31
Glassboro 71, Woodstown 49
Salem 55, Wildwood 43
Schalick 54, Cape May Tech 40
West Deptford 58, Pennsville 15
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Millville 46, Woodstown 39
Penns Grove at Paulsboro
Overbrook 55, Salem Tech 35
Schalick 34, Cape May Tech 16
WRESTLING
Schalick 65, Salem 12

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLASSBORO — The banner had been prepared and was folded neatly in the car. The plan was to bring it in sometime during the second half if Blake Bialecki was getting close to the milestone.

The Woodstown senior has been closing in on the 1,000-point barrier, but Glassboro — and Mekhi Parker — were determined not to have it happen on their watch. 

The Bulldogs played what their coach, Lynell Payne, called “one of our better” defensive games of the season. They held Bialecki to nine points and stuffed the “sleepwalking” Wolverines, 71-49.

The nine points left Bialecki with 986 for his career. His nine points came on three 3-pointers – one in each of the last three quarters – and moved him within four of breaking the school’s all-time record for 3s, currently held by Talia Battavio (186).

“We made it a point,” Payne said. “He was sitting at 977 and I told the guys we don’t let anybody get that 1,000th point on us, so they collectively took it upon themselves and said OK we’re going to have some pride. We’re playing at home, we’ve been up and down all year ,so today we’re going to have some pride and definitely stop him because he torched us last time.”

Bialecki went for 25 when the teams played right before Christmas. He needed almost that many Monday to reach the milestone, but was held to single digits for just the fifth time this season and the first time in six games.

“When you look at our games people have been scoring on us,” Payne continued. “The LEAP guy (Gabriel Shoultz) had 30. Last week, the guy from Camden County Tech (Charles Barbour) had like 25. So, we’ve got to take some pride on defense and not let anybody score on us and I think tonight we actually locked in and did that.”

Actually, they’ve had an opposing player go for at least 25 in three of their previous four games.

The assignment to keep Bialecki in check fell to Parker. The 6-foot-4 sophomore never let his man get more than arm’s length away and held him to 3-for-16 shooting.

“When I said we cannot let this guy go off on us, he said, ‘Coach, I got him,’” Payne said of Parker “That’s what I look for. I can assign any of you, but whoever’s comfortable and you don’t want to let your brothers down, you guard him. And then he said ‘I got him’ and we all trusted him.”

“They definitely played very good defense on me today,” Bialecki said. “They did a really good job. My shot was rushed, took away my confidence kind of.”

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs dictated the pace. Xavier Sabb led all scorers with 19 points. Parker had 16 and Will Boggans 10. Alejandro Vazquez was the only Woodstown scorer in double figures. He hit three 3s and finished with 14.

The Wolverines held a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, then starting going the other way. They were outscored 13-5 in the second quarter and 46-30 in the second half. Sabb, Parker and Maurice Davis combined for 33 points in the second half.

“Sleepwalking,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “We were sleepwalking. They played tougher. They played stronger. That’s what it came down to. (His team) didn’t play tough tonight.”

Bialecki’s next shot at the milestone is Tuesday, when the Wolverines — and the banner — travel to Cherry Hill West. He’s not pushing it.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to help us win,” he said. “If that comes, it comes.”

WOODSTOWN (11-7): Eli Caesar 1 0-0 2, Jalen Markward 1 2-4 4, Blake Bialecki 3 0-0 9, Alejandro Vazquez 5 1-3 14, John Hood-McGinley 0 0-0 0, Josh King 1 0-0 2, Andrew White 2 2-2 7, Trey Markward 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 2, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0, Frankie Hoerst 0 0-2 0, Connor Miller 3 2-2 9, Brian Booker 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-13 49
GLASSBORO (5-12): Xavier Sabb 7 5-8 19, Mehki Parker 7 0-2 16, Will Boggans 5 0-0 10, Riley Brown-Dispensa 1 4-4 6, Marley Crowl 3 2-2 8, Maurice Davis 3 3-4 10, Wolfgang Donoway 0 0-0 0, Cam Parker-Akins 0 1-2 1, David Gillis 0 0-0 0, Lorenzo Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 15-22 71.

Woodstown1451416-49
Glassboro12132323-71
3-point goals: Woodstown 8 (Bialecki 3, Vazquez 3, White, Miller); Glassboro 2 (Parker 2). Rebounds: Woodstown 22 (White 7); Glassboro 29 (Sabb 5, Parker 6, Brown Dispensa 6). Total fouls: Woodstown 17, Glassboro 12).

Top photo: Glassboro’s Mekhi Parker (5) keeps a close eye on Woodstown’s Blake Bialecki during Monday’s game.

SALEM 55, WILDWOOD 43: The Rams solidified their hold on the Tri-County Classic Division lead by completing their season sweep of the Warriors.

The game was tight throughout, but the Rams carried a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, never lost it and closed it out with six straight Tymear Lecator free throws in the final minute. Lecator was 8-for-8 from the line in the game — all in the fourth quarter — and finished with 28 points.

“I believe we’re starting to become a more disciplined team down the stretch,” Rams coach Anthony Farmer said. “That has helped us come out on the other side of some really tough games. I’m proud of my guys.”

The Rams, still No. 2 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings, are the only undefeated team in the Classic with three divisions games to play. They hold a two-game lead in the loss column over Wildwood, which has one division game left, and a three-game lead in the loss column over Clayton, which has three division games left.

SALEM (14-3): Tymear Lecator 8 8-8 28, Deshaan Williams 3 2-7 8, Neziah Spence 2 0-0 6, Marshall Stephens 2 0-0 4, Xavier McGriff 1 0-2 2, Donnie Weathers 2 1-3 5, Darrelle Johnson 0 2-2 2, BJ Robbins 0 0-0 0, Harlem Parsons 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-22 55.
WILDWOOD (7-11): Owen Bannon 7, Gianni Troiano 1, Jordan Dozier 4, Trevor Troiano 14, Nolan Mawhinney 12, Michael Sciarra 3, Vinny Sweeney 2.

Salem169822-55
Wildwood1312414-43
3-point goals: Salem 6 (Lecator 4, Spence 2). Rebounds: Salem 41 (Williams 8, Stephens 8, Johnson 7). Technical fouls: Farmer.

GATEWAY 64, SALEM TECH 31: Evan Haase hit five of the Gators’ 11 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points.

SALEM TECH (2-13): Chase Pompper 3 2-4 9, Ayden Myers 4 0-0 9, Luke Kroll 2 0-2 4, Brody Kroll 1 0-0 3, Raphael Busch 1 0-0 2, Micah Cavanaugh 1 0-0 2, Sterling 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 2-6 31.
GATEWAY (8-9): Evan Haase 5 0-0 15, DJ Bink 4 3-4 13, Eddie Coryell 3 0-0 8, Naqwon Langston 3 0-0 7, Ben Runner 3 0-0 6, Ben Cook 2 0-0 4, Devin Forman 2 0-0 5, Tamil James 3 0-0 6, Pierce Kaeferie 0 0-0 0, Max Hohl 0 0-0 0, JaQuahn Smith-Carney 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 3-4 64.

Salem Tech84613-31
Gateway17161813-64
3-point goals: Salem Tech 3 (Pompper, Myers, B. Kroll); Gateway 11 (Haase 5, Bink 2, Coryell 2, Langston, Forman). Rebounds: Salem Tech 23 (Cusch 8, Lewis 5, Myers 5); Gateway 36 (Runner 8, Cook 7).

WEST DEPTFORD 58, PENNSVILLE 15: Michael Joseph scored 13 points and West Deptford got points from 11 players. West Deptford opened a 24-3 lead in the first quarter.

PENNSVILLE (3-15): Danny Knight 2 1-2 5, Shamir Watkins 1 0-0 2, Gavin Spears 1 0-0 3, Colt Willis 1 1-3 3, Aidan Clark 1 0-2 2. Totals 6 2-7 15.
WEST DEPTFORD (6-12): Curtis Pearson 3 0-2 6, Kyree Eason 2 0-0 4, Thomas Cross 2 2-2 7, Carter Watson 2 0-0 5, Yasmine Abdel-Hamid 1 0-0 2, Anthony Martello 2 1-2 5, Michael Garcia 1 0-0 2, Michael Joseph 6 1-3 13, Zamir Davis 1 0-2 2, Talib Bogar 1 3-4 5, Cole Stanish 3 1-1 7. Totals 24 8-16 58.

Pennsville3543-15
West Deptford2411194-58
3-point goals: Pennsville 1 (Spears); West Deptford 2 (Cross, Watson).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTALNEXT
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown9 vs. Glassboro986at CHW, Tues.
Tymear Lecator, Salem28 vs. Wildwood905vs. Pitman, Tues

Girls games: Special moment

PITTSGROVE — Schalick recognized its seniors Monday night and orchestrated a special moment for one of them.

Abby Willoughby hasn’t been able to play this basketball season while recovering from an injury during the soccer season, but the but the Cougars gave her a chance to score one more time in their 34-16 win over Cape May Tech.

It came right out of the gate. They positioned Willoughby under the basket, Ava Scurry directed the opening tip to Vicky Basich, who then passed to Willoughby for a layup.

“It was a special moment for her as I know she has missed being on the court,” Cougars coach John Whelan said. “Abby has been a big part of this program the last four years and she without a doubt earned this moment. I’m glad she was able to celebrate it with her teammates and family.”

After the bucket the Cougars subbed her out and allowed CMT to get the points back.

“Cape May Tech showed great sportsmanship and we truly appreciate their understanding,” Whelan said.

She played in 65 of 69 games over her first three years and wraps her high school career with 158 points, 242 rebounds and 138 steals.

The game was tight in the first half, but the Cougars (12-3) pulled away in the second for their seventh straight win. They outscored their visitors 22-5 in the second half.

Olivia Vanacker scored seven of her team-high nine points in the second half. Scurry had six of her eight and Cali Fisler five of her seven in the half.

CAPE MAY TECH (6-11): Sam Cabral 0 0-0 0, Bobbi Fashaw 2 0-2 4, Camryn James 2 0-0 4, Sofia Alegre 0 0-0 0, Bella Culican 0 0-0 0, Hayli Estes 1 0-0 2, Kiley Dicta 0 0-0 0, Aryanna Crawley 0 0-0 0, Emma Oravits 2 0-0 6, Olivia Kiser 0 0-0 0, Riley Puvilla 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 0-2 16.
SCHALICK (12-3): Abby Willoughby 1 0-0 2, Cali Fisler 1 5-10 7, Ava Scurry 4 0-0 8, Vicky Basich 2 0-0 4, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Robinson 1 0-0 2, Willow Davis 0 0-0 0, Emmalyn Weir 1 0-0 2, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Olivia Vanacker 4 0-2 9. Totals 14 5-12 34.

Cape May Tech7432-16
Schalick841210-34
3-point goals: Cape May Tech 2 (Oravitss 2); Schalick 1 (Vanacker). Total foul: Cape May Tech 11, Schalick 5.

MILLVILLE 46, WOODSTOWN 39: The Wolverines had everything going on early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead, then the game completely changed. Millville’s Naomi Burkhart scored a game-high 20 points. Lauren Hengel and Kendall Young led Woodstown with 10 points each.

WOODSTOWN 8-11): Lauren Hengel 5 0-0 10, Kyia Leyman 3 3-8 9, Kendall Young 5 0-0 10, Talia Guardascione 3 2-5 8, Jaelyn McDonald 1 0-4 2. Totals 17 5-17 39.
MILLVILLE (7-10): Kamya Smith 1 1-2 3, Rahnasia Casper 3 5-7 11, Naomi Burkhart 6 7-8 20, Angeliya Cephas 2 1-3 5, Aphrea Robinson 0 0-0 0, Brielle Rivera 2 2-4 7, Anya Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 16-24 46.

Woodstown1061013-39
Millville2131615-46
3-point goals: Millville 2 (Burkhart, Rivera).

OVERBROOK 54, SALEM TECH 37: Gianna Simon had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rams. She also had five assists and four steals.

Salem Tech (2-11)95185-37
Overbrook (4-13)8141517-54

Wrestling

SCHALICK 65, SALEM 12
106: Victor Fenske (SC) won by forfeit
113: Nicholas Latona (SC) won by forfeit
120: E’Shion Underwood (SC) pinned Adrien Morales, 0:30
126: Caleb Jenkins (SC) tech fall over Zachary Tortella, 17-2 (2:30)
132: Guilherme Quintanilha (S) dec. Jacob Potts, 11-6
138: Aiden Piernikowski (SC) pinned Brodie Parker, 0:23
144: Michael Baisch (SC) pinned Joseph Goetaski, 1:30
150: Ziyon Moore (S) pinned Gabriel McFeeley, 3:30
157: Mason Hollywood (SC) won by forfeit
165: Anthony Deaver (SC) pinned Jordan Brown, 3:30
175: Ricky Watt (SC) pinned Josthen Jimenez, 1:16
190: Gerardo Felipe (SC) pinned Kaleb Ewald, 0:56
215: James Cook (SC) won by forfeit
285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) dec. Jeff Edmonds, 7-0

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 1-7

SUNDAY, FEB. 1
INDOOR TRACK
Woodstown 4×800 in Millrose Games, 2:37 p.m.

MONDAY, FEB. 2
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at West Deptford, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Gateway, 5:30 p.m.
Schalick at Cape May Tech, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Glassboro, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Wildwood, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Paulsboro, 4 p.m.
Cape May Tech at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Salem Tech at Overbrook, 4:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Millville, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Schalick at Salem, 5 p.m.
BOWLING
Salem Tech vs. Collingswood, Westbrook Lanes, 3:45 p.m.
INDOOR TRACK
Penns Grove, Salem at Ott Center, Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3
BOYS BASKETBALL
Woodstown at Cherry Hill West, 4 p.m.
Glassboro at Schalick, 5:30 p.m.
Penns Grove at Overbrook, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Clayton, 5:30 p.m.
Pitman at Salem, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Overbrook at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Pitman, 5:30 p.m.
Schalick at Glassboro, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
BOWLING
Salem Tech vs. ACIT, Wood Lanes, 3:45 p.m.
Salem vs. Washington Twp., Wood Lanes, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Montgomery at Salem CC, 7 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Union at Salem CC, 5 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4
WRESTLING
Woodstown at Overbrook, 5 p.m.
Gloucester Catholic at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m.
Pennsville at Clayton, 6:30 p.m.
BOWLING
TCC Showcase, Lucky Strikes, 4 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 5
BOYS BASKETBALL
Glassboro at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Clayton, 5:30 p.m.
Schalick at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Overbrook, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Buena, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Glassboro, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Salem, 5:30 p.m.
Overbrook at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m.
Pennsville at Schalick, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Salem, Oakcrest at Hammonton, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Harrisburg Area at Salem CC, 6 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Delaware Tech at Salem CC, TBA

FRIDAY, FEB. 6
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Millville at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Bridgeton, 5:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Deptford, 11:30 a.m.
Pennsville at Woodstown, noon
Battle by the Bay, Atlantic City
Salem vs. Cherry Hill East, 4 p.m.
WRESTLING
Lindenwold, Vineland, Winslow at Penns Grove, 9 a.m.
Clearview, Egg Harbor, Haddon Twp. at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Salem, Oakcrest, Sterling, Timber Creek at Mays Landing, 10 a.m.
Woodstown, Lacey at Williamstown, 10:30 a.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Philadelphia at Salem CC, noon
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Salem CC at Middlesex, noon

Saturday sports report

Here are the scores and details from Saturday’s Salem County sports calendar; Schalick, Woodstown get boys basketball wins; wrestling results

BOYS BASKETBALL
Schalick 70, Collingswood 64
Woodstown 60, Washington Twp. 55

By Riverview Sports News

MANTUA — Woodstown put four scorers in double figures and made just enough plays in the fourth quarter to outlast Washington Twp., 60-55 Saturday. The teams were knotted at halftime and the end of the third quarter, but the Wolverines outscored their hosts 25-20 in the fourth quarter to win get their third straight win.

Alejandro Vazquez hit four 3-pointers and led the Wolverines with 17 points. Andrew White had 15, Blake Bialecki 13 and Eli Caesar 12.

Bialecki moved with 23 points of becoming the Wolverines’ 11th boys 1,000-point scorer and first since Billy McMackin in 2003. He also hit three 3-pointers in the game, leaving his seven shy of tying Talia Battavio’s all-time school record.

His next attempt to break both barriers is Monday at Glassboro. He had 25 points and six 3-pointers when the team played in late December and sat out the majority of the fourth quarter.

“I’m very excited about it, but I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself,” Bialecki said. “I’m just out there playing and enjoying it, having fun and trying to win, and just let whatever happens happen.”

WOODSTOWN 60, WASHINGTON TWP. 55
WOODSTOWN (11-6): Eli Caesar 4 2-2 12, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 4 2-4 13, Alejandro Vazquez 5 3-4 17, John Hood-McGinley 0 0-0 0, Josh King 1 1-2 3, Andrew White 5 5-7 15, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-0 0, Connor Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-19 60.
WASHINGTON TWP. (6-12): Jahsir Sansbury 7 1-1 18, Dominic Aqilino 4 2-3 13, Justin Federici 1 0-0 2, Dom DeNobile 3 0-0 6, Anfernee Arias 1 0-0 3, Jackson Chudzinski 0 2-2 2, Julian Robinson 2 0-0 6, Andrew Verchiarelli 2 0-0 5, Brayden Mumbower 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-6 55.

Woodstown7131525-60
Washington Twp.1371520-55
3-point goals: Woodstown 9 (Caesar 2, Bialecki 3, Vazquez 4); Washington Twp. 10 (Samsbiru 3. Aquilino 3, Arias. Robinson 2, Verchiarelli). Total fouls: Woodstown 8, Washington Twp. 19.

SCHALICK 70, COLLINGSWOOD 64: Dylan Sheehan came back to the basketball court this season after a year away and has been a presence for the Cougars. On Saturday, the senior scored a career-high 22 to points to help them turn back a serious threat from the winless Panthers.

Sheehan’s previous career high was 20 in a three-point loss to Glassboro on Jan. 6. He scored 11 in a loss to Penns Grove Friday night.

The Cougars fought off a barrage of 11 3-pointers from the Panthers. Leading scorers Aaron Young (20) and Croix Kelly (14) both hit four.

COLLINGSWOOD (0-19): Courtney Bunch 4 2-2 11, Croix Kelly 5 0-0 14, Zack Washington 4 1-2 9, Aaron Young 8 0-0 20, Landon Forero 1 0-0 3, Jayden Diaz 1 0-0 2, Messiah Norman 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 3-4 64.
SCHALICK (7-8): Sherrod Jones 3 3-7 9, Jase Volovar 3 0-0 7, Justin Iacona 2 0-0 6, Dylan Sheehan 8 6-10 22, Cooper Willoughby 2 1-2 5, Kade Macom 2 2-3 6, Julian Dickerson 2 8-9 13, Orion Baldwin 1 0-1 2. Totals 23 20-32 70.

Collingswood18111718-64
Schalick21111622-70
3-point goals: Collingswood 11 (Bunch, Kelly 4, Young 4, Forero, Norman); Schalick 4 (Volovar, Iacona, Dickerson).
1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTALNEXT
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown13 vs. Washington Twp.977at Glassboro, Monday
Tymear Lecator, SalemDNP877at Wildwood, Monday

Wrestling

SCHALICK TRI-MEET
HADDONFIELD 48, SCHALICK 24
106: Victor Fenske (S) pinned Michael Scocca, 1:47
113: Cole Spence (H) pinned Nicholas Latona, 0:29
120: Harrison Carroll (H) pinned E’Shion Underwood, 0:29
126: Alexandar Frey (H) maj. dec. Caleb Jenkins, 11-0
132: Michael Lamb (H) pinned Jacob Potts, 1:20
138: Pierce Hoffman (H) pinned Colin Bittle, 1:59
144: Michael Baisch (S) pinned Charlie Falco, 1:04
150: William Dietz (H) pinned Mason Hollywood, 3:58
157: Ayden Jenkins (S) maj. dec. William Barker, 17-7
165: Hutch Rhyne (H) tech fall over Anthony Deaver, 15-0 (3:45)
175: Ricky Watt (S) tech fall over Thomas Reilly, 16-1 (5:22)
190: Parker Bawidamann (H) dęć. Gerardo Felipe, 6-2
215: James Cook (S) dec. Logan Rhea, 11-8
285: Michael Grant-Hines (H) pinned Jeff Edmonds, 1:59

WILLIAMSTOWN QUAD
PENNSVILLE 46, CEDAR CREEK 28
120: Earl Wynn (P) pinned Luke Senn, 0:45
126: Hector Villarrubia-Torres (CC) pinned Mehki Dicks, 0:29
132: Chase Baker (P) maj. dec. Gavin Marcasciano, 14-2
138: Nathaniel Mason (P) pinned Cameron Reid, 5:00
144: Masen Cruz (CC) pinned Vincent Grether, 3:20
150: Travis hagan (P) pinned Jakob Dase, 0:40
157: Gabe Supernavage (P) won by forfeit
165: Robbie McDade (P) pinned Cole Burton, 0:55
175: Carlos Villarrubia (CC) pinned Cristian Blyler, 5:36
190: Giovanni Carnes (CC) maj. dec. Stephen Pangle, 15-6
215: Hunter Coulbourn (P) won by forfeit
285: Jacob Hand (P) over Slayton D’Amico, UTB 3-2
106: Sincere Wilcox (CC) pinned Brett Land, 4:41
113: Erick Davalos (P) maj. dec. Charles Cordery, 16-4
*-Pennsville had team point deduction at 106

WILLIAMSTOWN 36, PENNSVILLE 35
106: Brett Land (P) won by forfeit
113: Erick Davalos (P) pinned Ayden Danley, 1:38
120: Maddox Slotnick (WI) tech fall over Earl Wynn, 17-1 (4:00)
126: Freedom Neff (WI) pinned Mehki Dicks, 1:55
132: Chase Baker (P) tech fall over Joseph Lascala, 15-0 (5:13)
138: Jayden Hennessy (WI) dec. Nathaniel Mason, 4-0
144: Ahmed Valverde (WI) pinned Vincent Grether, 3:22
150: Gabe Supernavage (P) pinned Wayne Farmer 0:59
157: Travis Hagan (P) pinned Jack Masterson, 1:12
165: Robbie McDade (P) dec. Erick Garcia, 6-2
175: Aiden Garcia (WI) tech fall over Cristian Blyler, 18-1 (3:02)
190: Karlens Borgart (WI) tech fall over Stephen Pangle, 21-6 (5:29)
215: Bernardo DeJesus (WI) pinned Hunter Coulbourn, 1:57
285: Jacob Hand (P) dec. Logan Kennedy, 6-2

WOODSTOWN QUAD
WOODSTOWN 41, BURLINGTON TWP. 36
106: Leo Poblete (B) pinned TJ Conto, 0:28
113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) pinned Connor Falkenstein, 0:54
120: Carson Bradway (WO) pinned Xavier Thomas, 0:13
126: Walker Battavio (WO) pinned Enzo Caldara, 0:50
132: Barry Coverly (WO) maj. dec. Tyler Littlewood-Fine, 11-2
138: Brayden Casella (B) pinned Jacob Tocco, 2:09
144: Xavier Moy (B) pinned Nehemiah Carter, 0:41
150: Jacob Palentchar (B) pinned Josh Woronicak, 3:12
157: Brody Tellefsen (B) pinned Tyrell West, 4:20
165: Nicholas Davis (B) pinned Ricky Watts, 2:31
175: Greyson Hyland (WO) pinned Gurpreet Singh, 0:46
190: Asher Fitzpatrick (WO) dec. Andrew Schätzer, 8-3
215: Bradley Snitcher (WO) maj. dec. Kaleb Fisher, 13-2
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Aiden Straeter, 0:39

LACEY TWP, 52, WOODSTOWN 6
106: Christopher Hingston (L) pinned TJ Conto
113: Luke Miller (L) maj. dec. Jadon Middlemiss, 12-4
120: Brandon Lefebvre (L) won by forfeit
126: Aidan Flynn (L) pinned Carson Bradway, 3:46
132: Ryan Leonard (L) tech fall over Walker Battavio, 15-0 (3:34)
138: Isaiah Heilala (L) maj. dec. Barry Coverly, 10-0
144: James Facciolli (L) dec. Nehemiah Carter, 14-13
150: Jacob Pelenski (L) maj. dec. Josh Woronicak, 16-6
157: Chase Meredith (L) dec. Tyrell West, 9-5
165: Noises Ricart (L) dec. Ricky Watts, 7-3
175: Michael Colon (L) dec. Greyson Hyland, 4-3
190: Jake Mott (L) tech fall over Asher Fitzpatrick, 16-1 (4:13)
215: Double forfeit
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Colton Taps

A.L. JOHNSON QUAD
NUTLEY 62, SALEM 17
113: Luke Finkelstein (N) won by forfeit
120: Elizaiah Perez (N) pinned Zachary Tortella, 0:45
126: Adam Youssef (N) tech fall over Adrien Morales, 19-3 (2:05)
132: Guylherme Quintanilha (S) pinned Evan Seborowski, 3:39
138: Patrick Chell (N) pinned Brodie Parker, 1:28
144: Michael Koster (N) pinned Joseph Goetaski, 0:31
150: Jesse Quinn (N) over Christian VanTonder, inj.
157: Ziyon Moore (S) pinned Owen Marsala, 3:13
165: Antonio Maiden (N) pinned Jordan Brown, 4:13
175: Jaivion Sydnor (S) tech fall over Nicolas Rivera, 19-2 (3:23)
190: Russell Van de Zilver (N) pinned Josthen Jimenez Barreto, 1:17
215: Sean Vilchez (N) pinned Abdur Jenkins, 2:59
285: Nolan Brewer (N) dec. Abdullah Jenkins, 3-2
106: Valen Delaney (N) won by forfeit

ARTHUR JOHNSON 72, SALEM 12
106: Gerad Alvarez (J) won by forfeit
113: Philopatear Boules (J) won by forfeit
120: Matty Ortega (J) pinned Zachary Tortella
126: Jeff Lordi (J) pinned Adrien Morales
132: Keegan Parkhill (J) pinned Guylherme Quintanilha
138: Charles Wilkinson (J) pinned Brodie Parker
144: Nick Cilento (J) pinned Joseph Goetaski
150: Giovanni Donofrio (J) pinned Christian VanTonder
157: Aiden Rogers (J) pinned Ziyon Moore
165: Sam Wilkinson (J) pinned Jordan Brown
175: Raphael DaRocha (J) pinned Jaivion Sydnor
190: Frank Mentzel (J) pinned Josthen Jimenez Barreto
215: Abdur Jenkins (S) pinned Joaquin Nikolic
285: Abdullah Jenkins (S) pinned T.J. Kershaw

Back on track

Top-ranked Salem CC returns to winning ways after suffering first loss of the season, retakes sole possession of first place in region; women’s team struggles in home loss to Raritan Valley

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

NANTICOKE, Pa. – The Salem CC men’s basketball team got back to their old selves and back on the winning track in its first game since its first loss of the season, making Luzerne CC the unfortunate victim of circumstances 106-68 in its final road game of the regular season.

It may not have been as sharp in some areas as they would have liked, but the top-ranked Mighty Oaks (23-1) did plenty of good things to control a game they should have had no trouble winning and it’s a win.

And, with Union taking down Northampton elsewhere in Region 19 Saturday, the Mighty Oaks retook sole possession of first place in the region Division III standings.

They had been cruising along at 22-0 before running into Brookdale Thursday night. In a crisis of focus, they fell behind by 17 with nine minutes to play. They did rally to make it a three-point game with 3:33 left, but then went cold again and the Jersey Blues stretched the lead into the final minute.

This time they placed six scorers in double figures, got scoring from 10 of the 11 players who got in the game and had eight players with at least one assist. Nasseem Wright led the offense with 24 points (with nine rebounds and five assists). Nayeem Johnson had 16 points and five assists. Stefan Phillips had 13 points, Jarrell Little and Jahseir Sayles had 12 each, and Saaid Lee had 10 (with five assists). For Phillips and Sayles they were career highs.

“Every time we play the way we practice and play the way that we’re playing it works well; it has worked well all year,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “We ran into a team that’s better on that given night, so it’s just about being back to our principles and being the best team we can be.”

It’s all about ball movement, wearing teams down and playing good defense. They turned the Trailblazers (4-18) over 20 times, thanks in part to 10 steals, and were credited with 30 assists on their 41 baskets.

Perhaps the only thing disappointing about Saturday’ was the continuation of their shooting slump from 3-point range. The Mighty Oaks were only 7-for-32 (22 percent) against Luzerne and are 13-for-49 over the last two games, dropping their shooting percentage from behind the arc 60 points to .337.

Green doesn’t seen concerned about it right now, but he’d certainly like to see it turn around.

“We’ve got enough guys hitting enough, it’s just the looks we’ve been getting,” he said. “Normally they’ve been knocking them down, so we just have to get in that rhythm.

“I’m a real believer in the law of averages, man, so somebody’s gonna get it, the parade of 3s. It’s boiling up.”

It took the Mighty Oaks a little while to get going, but once they got cranking they were hard to stop. The game was tied at 18, then Salem went on an 11-0 run to finally take control and steadily pulled away. They hit the 100 mark for the tenth time this season.

“You really don’t need to rile them up, they’re already that,” Green said. “Except for one game I believe this whole year they’ve always been riled up. There’s nothing that I need to do. They take it among themselves.

“I never thought we would lay down. Those guys responded and came out and scored 106 points, which should have been 130, but you’ve got to make shots.”

They have six regular season games remaining and they’re all at home, starting Tuesday night against No. 8 Montgomery County, a game they probably need to win to stay in contention for at-large bid to the national tournament if they don’t win the district tournament. No. 10 Union and testy Camden are also in the gauntlet.

“I think it’s great, as long as we don’t get too complacent,” Green said. “I think it’s great because we’ve had our fair share on the road. We haven’t been shooting it well these last two games and ironically both those games were on the road, so hopefully those guys are back in form and ready to knock it down.”

The game will be a particularly special one for at least two people directly involved. Mustangs assistant coach Jerome Monroe was on Green’s national tournament staff last year and Mighty Oaks’ guard Johnson played at Montco last year, scoring 15 off the bench against Salem in the regular-season game almost a year ago to the day.

“That’s the tough part,” Green said. “I’m sure there are a lot of emotions on his behalf. You just try to help him channel it and use it whatever it is for the best of Salem.”

SALEM CC 106, LUZERNE 68
SALEM CC (23-1): Nasseem Wright 9-14 6-6 24, Nayeem Johnson 7-13 2-4 16, Stefan Phillips 5-6 1-1 13, Jarrell Little 4-8 2-4 12, Jahseir Sayles 5-10 1-2 12, Saaid Lee 4-6 2-2 10, Qua Smith 3-7 1-1 7, Idris Rines 1-5 2-2 5
J Wright 2-3 0-2 4, Zyaire Gibson 1-8 0-0 3. Totals 41-81 17-24 106.
LUZERNE (4-18): Jacob Patterson 8-16 8-11 24, Jaidyn Johnson 1-7 1-1 3, Jayden Austin 2-7 1-2 7, Amare Ellis 2-14 6-8 11, Jonathan Mateo 3-8 0-0 7, Tyler Collins 1-3 0-0 2, Christopher Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Melvin Egbeto 1-3 0-1 2, Time Welcome 0-4 0-0 0, Kobe Jacobs 1-3 0-0 2, Bryan Ferreira 2-3 4-4 10. Totals 21-68 20-27 68.

Salem CC5254-106
Luzerne3335-68
3-point goals: Salem CC 7-32 (Johnson 0-5, Phillips 2-3, Little 2-5, Sayles 1-5, Lee 0-1, Smith 0-1 Rines 1-5, Gibson 1-7); Luzerne 6-25 (Patterson 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Austin 2-5, Ellis 1-6, Mateo 1-4, Egbeto 0-1, Welcome 0-2, Jacobs 0-2, Ferreira 2-2).
Rebounds: Salem CC 45 (N. Wright 9, Phillips 6); Luzerne 35 (Ellis 11, Johnson 7). Fouled out: Patterson. Total fouls: Salem CC 19, Luzerne 19.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
SALEM CC (1)10-123-117-1
Union (10)15-219-513-2
Brookdale13-216-611-4
Northampton (5)11-219-3
Montgomery (8)9-213-3
Camden8-313-88-7
Ocean10-513-89-6
Bergen11-712-115-10
Atlantic Cape8-89-117-9
Thaddeus Stevens4-88-11
RCSJ-Cumberland4-87-146-11
Harrisburg Area4-85-14
RCSJ-Gloucester5-117-161-12
Sussex4-127-164-11
Philadelphia3-109-10
Passaic3-144-183-11
Delaware County2-113-17
Luzerne1-114-18

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 106, Luzerne 68
Brookdale 78, Ocean 77
Harrisburg Area 87, Passaic 68
Montgomery at Thaddeus Stevens
Delaware County at Williamson Trades
Morris 90, Westchester CC 64
Philadelphia 76, RCSJ-Cumberland 73
Mercer 103, Essex 95
Atlantic Cape at RCSJ-Gloucester
Camden 102, Bergen 87
Union 67, Northampton 57
Harcum 87, Delaware Tech 65
Lackawanna 86, Middlesex 59

Women’s game

CARNEYS POINT — No matter how difficult things had gotten during the season, Salem CC women’s coach Brian Marsh would never question the effort his undermanned team gave on the court.

He couldn’t say that Saturday.

Coming off one of their biggest losses of the season, the Mighty Oaks just seemed in a fog and lost to Raritan Valley 72-35.

‘There’ve been games where we played hard,” Marsh said. “We just went into Lackawanna on the road and beat Lackawanna. We come home and … I just don’t think the effort was there today.

“We shot horrendous. We did not shoot well and I was telling them if your ball’s not going into the basket then you have to play good defense, you have to rebound, you have to dive on the floor and win those 50-50 balls and we just didn’t want to do that. I don’t know what happened. A lot of our players’ heads were just not in this game today.”

There was a lot that didn’t go right. The Mighty Oaks (3-14) shot 23 percent from the floor for the game, hit just one of 20 3-point attempt – TJ Shaw in the second quarter – were charged with 29 turnovers and scored just 15 points in the second half. They gave up one-sided 20-point quarters on the front and back end of the game.

They’ve lost their last two games by a total of 106 points. That’s the way they were losing games two years ago when they brought the program back.

It seemed to bottom out in the fourth quarter when they shot 2-for-17 from the floor and scored only six points. It didn’t help that Shaw, their only player doing any consistent scoring, went out with a leg injury with 3:41 to play.

“I think this is the worst game we played this year,” Marsh said. “Now, have I seen it before in stretches, of course; but lately, really since the Cecil game right before Christmas I thought we played hard.

“Obviously there’s been times when we’ve been overmatched against some highly ranked teams, but they still played hard and they still finished hard. Today I don’t think they played hard. We just didn’t have it today. I just felt like the team kind of took their butt-kickin’ and were OK with it. That’s not normally Salem basketball.”

Shaw finished with 20 points. Kasey Oliver had 10, but nobody else scored more than three and two starters didn’t score at all. Shaw was 8-for-26 from the floor, 1-for-3 from 3-point range, but the other six players were 7-for-40 and 0-for-17 from 3. Raritan Valley, meanwhile, hit 10 3-pointers, had two 20-point scorers, three scorers in double figures and two double-doubles.

“It was just one of those things where we weren’t here today,” Marsh said. “I don’t think a couple of our players, their heads weren’t in the game; they didn’t want to be here.

“I just told them you have seven games left, how do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered as a team that fought through adversity with injuries and illness and all that or do you just want to give up? That’s where they have to do it.”

RARITAN VALLEY 72, SALEM CC 35
RARITAN VALLEY (7-14): Julia Sole Pons 2-5 0-0 5, Maria Eguizabal Ruales 11-22 0-0 27, Paula Aguilera Ortega 1-3 0-0 2, Elizabeth May 8-17 2-2 21, Saionni Patrick 1-6 2-2 5, Aviva Palms 4-7 3-4 11, Jayla McNeil 0-2 0-0 0, Telma Comba 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 27-65 8-10 72.
SALEM CC (3-14): RayNescia King 1-10 1-2 3, TJ Shaw 8-26 3-5 20, Kasey Oliver 5-11 0-2 10, Paula Wilson 0-10 0-0 0, Jayda Hunter 0-6 0-0 0, Dani Gustin 1-3 0-12, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-66 4-10 35.

Raritan Valley20161224-72
Salem CC81296-35

3-point goals: Raritan Valley 10-23 (Pons 1-2, Eguizabal Ruales 5-12, May 3-8, Patrick 1-1); Salem CC 1-20 (King 0-6, Shaw 1-3, Wilson 0-8, Hunter 0-3). Rebounds: Raritan Valley 44 (May 11, Palms 11); Salem CC 43 (Gustin 12, Shaw 9, Oliver 9). Fouled out: Gustin. Total fouls: Raritan Valley 12, Salem CC 10.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION IIR19ALLGSAC
Harcum (3)11-020-1
Union (13)9-218-36-0
Mercer (14)8-216-34-1
Essex6-414-54-3
Delaware Tech3-77-14
Raritan Valley3-77-143-4
Middlesex3-79-140-4
SALEM CC2-83-140-4
Lackawanna1-94-13
Morris0-00-70-0

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Raritan Valley 72, Salem CC 35
Passaic 69, Northampton 59
Camden 73, Bergen 49
Harcum 99, Delaware Tech 30
Mercer 82, Essex 64
Philadelphia 103, RCSJ-Cumberland 35
Atlantic Cape 89, RCSJ-Gloucester 69
Middlesex 82, Lackawanna 47
Ocean 58, Brookdale 53


Rams bop Burl Twp

Friday’s sports report: Salem edges Falcons in showcase on Stephens’ buzzer-beating layup, Schalick girls find a way to rally past Penns Grove, Pennsville’s Wood takes unique place in family history, and more

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Schalick 48, Penns Grove 42
Pennsville 54, Overbrook 18
Collingswood 49, Salem 32
Glassboro 53, Woodstown 36
BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem 47, Burlington Twp. 46
Penns Grove 38, Schalick 38
Lindenwold 43, Salem Tech 30
Overbrook 80, Pennsville 25
WRESTLING
Collingswood 57, Schalick 18


By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

DELRAN – Marshall Stephens isn’t the kind of player who gets all caught up in his points. The Salem senior is all about rebounding and blocking shots and he figures if he gets a bunch of those he’s had a pretty good game.

Now don’t think he’ll turn down a bucket when he gets the chance to score the ball, and the Rams certainly were glad to see him score Friday night.

Stephens hit a layup right before the horn sounded to lift the Rams over Burlington Twp. 47-46 in the Holy Cross Prep Showcase. 

He raced down the floor in anticipation of Tymear Lecator being double-teamed on the inbounds after the Falcons (7-8) took a 46-45 lead on the second of two free throws with 5.8 seconds left.

Lecator got the ball with about three seconds left and then got it to Stephens for the easy winning layup. Stephens put it up with 1.9 on the clock and before he knew it the horn went off and his teammates erupted off the bench to mob him under the basket.

“The relief I felt was like nothing I felt before,” Stephens said. “He passed the ball to me and my instinct was like lay the ball up. Something told me lay the ball up. Coach’s words were just playing in my head, ‘take the ball up, go up strong, backboard, backboard’ and I did that and ended up scoring.

“It was one of those I kept saying I just can’t miss it, I just can’t miss it. I didn’t think in my whole 17 years of living I would ever get a game-winner.”

Stephens finished with six points, but he also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. Lecator had a team-high 14 points, four rebounds and six assists one day after impressing against Rutgers Prep in the Metro Classic. Deshaan Williams had 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

“This win was all because of Tymear,” Stephens said. “It’s not because of me, it was all because of him. If it wasn’t for that pass right there we would have never won.

“It takes certain amount of guards and certain people with certain IQ to just pass the ball. He saw what was going on and passed the ball to me. I jumped the highest I could to get it. I didn’t know how much time there was, I just put it up and scored the bucket and the game was over.”

The Rams (13-3) are now within one win of matching last year’s official wins total. They are currently No. 2 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings and have the best winning percentage in the section.

PENNS GROVE 65, SCHALICK 38: Roman Gipson led three players in double figures and 10 players scored in total as the Red Devils won their fifth in a row. It’s also another win in the second game on consecutive nights.

Gipson had 13 points, Carson Pearsall 12 and Geonni Conrad 10. Three other players scored at least six points. Sherrod Jones led Schalick with 14 points.

SCHALICK (6-8): Sherrod Jones 6-1-14, Jase Volovar 1-0-3, Dylan Sheehan 4-3-11, Kade Macom 1-0-2, Julian Dickerson 1-2-4, Orion Baldwin 2-0-4. Totals 15-6-38.
PENNS GROVE (12-6): Roman Gipson 6-1-13, Carson Pearsall 5-1-12, Haneef Frisby 0-0-0, Will Roy 3-0-7, Mishawn Brantley 2-2-6, Geonni Conrad 5-0-10, Luis Colon 3-0-7, Jameel Horace 1-0-2, Jeremy Costacamps 2-0-4, Ahkeen Edwards 1-0-2, Messiah Allah 1-0-2, James Minor 0-0-0. Totals 29-4-65.

Schalick481313-38
Penns Grove16172111-65
3-point goals: Schalick 2 (Jones, Volovar); Penns Grove 3 (Pearsall, Roy, Colon)

Girls games

SCHALICK 49, PENNS GROVE 42; The Cougars just continue to find ways to win.

They trailed one-win Penns Grove by 12 in the third quarter, cut the deficit in half by the end of the quarter and won the game with a big fourth quarter.

It was their sixth win in a row, their longest winning streak since 2019 and one that matched their entire win total of a year ago.

“The six-game winning streak is great for the program, especially after only having six total wins last season,” Cougars coach John Whelan said. “It’s a testament to how much work these girls have put in throughout the offseason and season.”

They won this one in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Red Devils 17-5. Olivia Vanacker scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, including three key free throws down the stretch, and Nevaeh Robinson (14) and Willow Davis (9) each hit a 3-pointer.

But this comeback was fueled by the defense the Cougars have been hanging their hat on all season. The Cougars recorded 17 steals in the game, with Cali Fisler and Davis each snaring four, and Ava Scurry had five blocked shots to go with 13 rebounds.

Penns Grove’s Janiyah Cummings led all scorers with 22 points, but she had only two in the fourth quarter. Whelan said Jaelynn Jarmon was a “big piece” that sparked the defense.

“We ran our press well and with aggression throughout the entire fourth quarter, creating and capitalizing on turnovers,” Whelan explained. “Penns Grove is tough and they played a great game. But for the third straight game we were able to grind it out and find a way to win.”

SCHALICK (11-3): Cali Fisler 3 0-2 6, Ava Scurry 2 0-2 4, Nevaeh Robinson 6 1-4 14, Willow Davis 3 2-5 8, Olivia Vanacker 3 5-16 11, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Vicky Basich 0 0-0 0, Jaelynn Jarmon 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 8-29 48.
PENNS GROVE (1-14): Keziah Patterson 4 4-6 14, Mikayla Washington 1 2-6 4, Janiyah Cummings 9 4-8 22, Yeichelynn Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Domari Torres 0 0-0 0, Arrmahni Blackston 0 0-0 0, Jamila Colon 0 0-0 0, Yasmin Cruz 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-20 42.

Schalick157917-48
Penns Grove1214115-42
3-point goals: Schalick 2 (Robinson, Davis); Penns Grove 2 (Patterson 2). Rebounds: Schalick 33 (Scurry 13, Robinson 7); Penns Grove 46 (Washington 21, Cummings 13). Fouled out: Patterson, Washington. Total fouls: Schalick 16, Penns Grove 20

PENNSVILLE 54, OVERBROOK 18: Marley Wood came within an assist of a triple-double and jumped over her sister Ryane into 19th place on the Salem County girls 1,000-point list and fourth on the Eagles’ all-time girls list.

Wood scored her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds and is now the highest scoring sibling in her family (1231 points). Ryane finished her Pennsville career with 1224 and brother Luke had 1198.

Teammate Taylor Bass led all scorers with 14 points. She also had four rebounds and three assists.

The Eagles held their hosts scoreless in the first quarter and soared to a 41-5 halftime lead.

PENNSVILLE (10-6): Taylor Bass 7 0-0 14, Marley Wood 5 1-1 13, Addie Johnston 3 0-0 7, Jaida Burns 2 0-0 4, Kylie 1 0-0 2, Reagan Sipps 0 1-2 1, Makayla Griffith 1 2-2 4, Addison Hitt 1 0-0 2, Polina Wright 0 0-0 0, Angelina Wagner 0 0-0 0, Tatianna DePina 1 0-0 2, Kylie Wiest 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Wilson 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 4-5 54.
OVERBROOK (3-13): Leslies Rosario 0 0-0 0, Gianna Simon 4 1-3 10, Heaven Williams 0 0-0 0, Jamiyah Nolton 0 0-0 0, Leigha Muff 2 0-0 6, Kiya Townsend 0 0-0 0, Alexis Washington 0 0-0 0, Annalise Bosco 0 0-0 0, Talia Wiggins 0 2-2 2, Lailoni Hamilton 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 3-5 18.
Pennsville192285-54
Overbrook0558-18
3-point goals: Pennsville 4 (Wood 2, Johnston, Wilson); Overbrook 3 (Simon, Muff 2). Rebounds: Pennsville 35 (Wood 11, Burns 7).

COLLINGSWOOD 49, SALEM 32: Junior Tatum Hinson scored 28 points and went the 1,000-point plateau in the process to lead the Panthers. She reached the milestone on a put-back with 7:18 left in the third second quarter that gave the Panthers an 18-12 lead. She now has 1,015 career points.

The Rams didn’t have a scorer in double figures, but Carlysia Pierce and Timmiyah Simmons each had seven points.

SALEM (6-8): Maddie Dixon 1 0-6 2, Carlysia Pierce 2 3-6 7, Timmiyah Simmons 2 1-2 7, Samiyah Moore 1 0-0 3, Jaryn Weathers 1 2-4 4, Dyaira Anderson 3 0-0 6, Kaliyah Taylor 1 1-4 3. Totals 11 7-22 32.
COLLINGSWOOD (13-6): Sophia Angelucci 2 0-0 4, Tatum Hinson 10 5-6 28, Norah Roseboro 3 4-8 11, Grace Eife 2 1-2 6, Autuym Diaz 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-16 49.

Salem108312-32
Collingswood1413175-49
3-point goals: Salem 2 (Simmons, Moore); Collingswood 5 (Hinson 3, Roseboro, Eife). Rebounds: Collingswood 34 (Angelucci 13, Hinson 7, Diaz 8).

GLASSBORO 53, WOODSTOWN 36: Kezia Brackett hit six 3-pointers and scored 31 points to keep the Bulldogs tied with Pennsville atop the TCC Diamond Division and put some separation between them and the Wolverines. The co-leaders now hold a two-game lead over the rest of the division with three division games to play.

Glassboro (12-5)14111612-53
Woodstown (8-10)104814-36

Wrestling

COLLINGSWOOD 57, SCHALICK 18
106: Robbie Penman (CO) pinned Victor Fenske, 0:47
113: James Jiles (CO) pinned Nicholas Latona, 0:55
120: Jake Eife (CO) pinned E’Shion Underwood, 0:45
126: Chase Wright (CO) pinned Caleb Jenkins, 1:11
132: Jacob Potts (S) dec. Sean Byrd, 10-7
138: Mason Musciano (CO) maj. dec. Colin Bittle, 11-2
144: Lino Bataloni (CO) pinned Michael Baisch, 0:51
150: Avante Santos (CO) tech fall over Mason Hollywood, 17-2 (3:30)
157: Ayden Jenkins (S) dec. Zachary Akers, 10-4
165: Caden Luby (CO) pinned Anthony Deaver, 4:40
175: Julian Jones (CO) pinned Ricky Watt, 1:24
190: Gerardo Felipe (S) pinned Josiah Evans, 3:43
215: James Cook (S) pinned Rocco Angelucci, 1:16
285: Tim Rambo (CO) pinned Jeff Edmonds, 2:23


Future looks bright

Salem, Schalick girls battle in preview of county’s rising stars, Lecator shows out in Metro Classic, Salem Tech bowlers win school’s first-ever girls division title, and more

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 64, Salem Tech 20
Schalick 37, Salem 33
Woodstown 65, Clayton 52
BOYS BASKETBALL
Rutgers Prep 67, Salem 55
Woodstown 86, Clayton 63
Pennsville 43, Salem Tech 40
Penns Grove 57, Wildwood 47
BOWLING
Boys: Lindenwold 4, Salem Tech 0
Girls: Salem Tech 4, Lindenwold 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News


SALEM – In a battle of the two up-and-coming girls basketball teams in Salem County, the one with the most experience prevailed.

With the number of quality young players in prominent roles for both teams, Salem and Schalick appear to be the next big thing on the county girls basketball scene. 

Schalick has more veterans sharing the floor with its rising stars and the Cougars used that mix to their advantage Thursday in turning back the Rams for their fifth straight win, 37-33.

“In tight games like this it comes down to experience,” Schalick coach John Whelan said. “Experience and confidence. That’s the two main thing we relied on tonight. 

“We have our five starters who were all here last year. Our bench consists of very young players new to the program so they’re getting their experience at both the JV and varsity level. (Against) Paulsboro, we were forced to call on some them and they came up big. In this moment today, we just relied on our starters, so it kind of flip flops back and forth based on the game and how the game’s going.”

Usually, the Cougars (10-3) are driven by the play of sophomores Nevaeh Robinson and Willow Davis, but Salem did a good job of bottling them up, so they turned to senior starters Ava Scurry and Cali Fisler to see them through.

The Rams (6-7) held Robinson and Davis to a combined 15 points. Scurry scored only six points, but she was a force inside, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking six shots. Fisler scored 10 points, her season high.

“Ava all season has been our anchor defensively, for sure,” Whelan said. “Offensively, she helped us out today early. We kind of spread the love around with the points today, as good basketball teams can.”

The Rams’ fortunes, meanwhile, run through Dyaira Anderson and juniors Maddie Dixon and Carlysia Pierce. Dixon scored only three points, but she does so much more. Anderson had 10 points, eight in the fourth quarter. Pierce was their leading scorer with 11 points. 

While some on their roster have varsity experience, they’re all learning to play a different way under coach Kemp Carr.

“We played so hard, I’m proud to be these girls’ coach,” Carr said. “I’m just super proud of the identity (they’re forming) and how we are getting better. You can see it in spurts, we just need to put a 32-minute game together that we haven’t done yet.“But where they are from the beginning of the year to now … those things are happening, so eventually your experience will start catching up with those things . I think the future’s very bright for this program.”

“The future for both these programs is bright,” Whelan concurred.

Salem broke out a new defense for the first time – a 1-3-1 zone – in hope of handling Robinson and Davis and Carr thought it was “pretty efficient.”

They first rolled it out right after scoring their first points of the game midway through the first quarter. Scurry got behind it to score right away, but after that the Rams held to Cougars to one point and forced seven turnovers the rest of the quarter to grab a 9-7 lead.

Robinson finally got loose in the second half. She scored eight of her 10 points after halftime, with six of those coming on two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that kept giving the Cougars separation.

“You have to hand it to Salem,” Whelan said. “They fought to the very end. They never gave in. They gave us a really good basketball game. Our girls, they withstood all the pressure. Salem was relentless. We handled that pretty well.”

SCHALICK 37, SALEM 33
SCHALICK (10-3): Nevaeh Robinson 4 0-4 10, Willow Davis 1 2-2 5, Jaelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Ava Scurry 3 0-0 6, Cali Fisler 4 2-3 10, Emmalyn Weir 0 0-0 0, Olivia Vanacker 1 4-8 6. Totals 13 8-17 37.
SALEM (6-7): Carlysia Pierce 4 3-4 11, Timmiyah Simmons 0 0-0 0, Samiyah Moore 0 0-0 0, Kaliyah Taylor 2 0-0 4, Triscia Wilson 0 0-0 0, Jaryn Weathers 2 1-2 5, Dyaira Anderson 5 0-2 10, Maddie Dixon 1 0-2 3. Totals 14 4-10 33.

Schalick78616-37
Salem92913-33
3-point goals: Schalick 3 (Robinson 2, Davis); Salem 1 (Dixon). Rebounds: Schalick 26 (Scurry 10, Robinson 6); Salem 32 (Anderson 10, Dixon 8, Pierce 6). Total fouls: Schalick 11, Salem 10. Officials: Bock, Heard, Fowlkes.
Schalick’s Willow Davis (2) and Olivia Vanacker (12) move in to trap Salem’s Maddie Dixon in the corner during Thursday’s game. Top photo, Schalick’s Ava Scurry (R) challenges Dyaira Anderson at midcourt.

PENNSVILLE 64, SALEM TECH 20: Sophomore Addie Johnston led all scorers with 16 points and Marley Wood filled the box score with six points, six rebounds and 10 assists as the Eagles completed a sweep of their first wave through the other five Salem County teams. Taylor Bass contributed 12 points and eight assists to the win. Izzy Saulin had 10 points and seven boards. Shelby Drummond led the Chargers with 13 points.

PENNSVILLE (9-6): Taylor Bass 5 1-1 12, Marley Wood 2 1-2 6, Jaiden Wilson 3 0-0 8, Addie Johnston 7 0-0 16, Izzy Saulin 4 2-4 10, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Jada Burns 4 0-0 8, Reagan Sipps 0 0-0 0, Makayla Griffith 0 0-0 0, Addison Hill 2 0-0 4, Polina Wright 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-7 64.
SALEM TECH (2-10): Shelby Liber 1 0-0 3, Amora Delaine 2 0-2 4, Shelby Drummond 5 0-0 13, Rachel Reed 0 0-0 0, Tiara Bazemore 0 0-0 0, Evening Amedee 0 0-0 0, Olivia Lydon 0 0-0 0, Carmen Mott 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 0-2 20.

Pennsville2413198-64
Salem Tech5348-20
3-point goals: Pennsville 6 (Bass, Wood, Wilson 2, Johnston 2). Rebounds: Pennsville 23 (Saulin 7, Wood 6); Salem Tech 21 (Delaine 6, Mott 5).

WOODSTOWN 65, CLAYTON 52: The Wolverines jumped out to a big lead, let the Clippers back into it at halftime, then steadily pulled away in the second half. Kendall Young and Emma Perry led four Woodstown scorers in double figures with career-highs 19 and 18, respectively. Lauren Hengel and Kyia Leyman added 12 points apiece.

Young also had six rebounds, four assists and six steals. Hengel had nine rebounds and three steals. Leyman blocked six shots. Talia Guardascione had six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

CLAYTON (5-9): Deondria Simon 4 3-4 11, Janice Blair 1 0-0 2, India Bryant 4 5-7 13, India Williams 2 0-0 5, Isabella Wiseburn 0 0-0 0, Alivia Howey 0 0-0 0, Gabrielle Searle 2 2-2 7, LaNaya Carr-Archie 3 2-2 10, Kennedy Eaddy 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 14-17 52.
WOODSTOWN (8-9): Lauren Hengel 5 2-4 12, Kyia Leyman 6 0-2 12, Emma Perry 7 4-6 18, Kendall Young 19, Talia Guardascione 0 2-4 2, Kailyn Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Gina Murray 0 0-0 0, Autumn Paleschic 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 8-18 65.

Clayton9191311-52
Woodstown2351720-65
3-point goals: Clayton 4 (Williams, Searle, Carr-Archie 2); Woodstown 1 (Young). Rebounds: Woodstown 33 (Hengel 9, Young 6, Guardascione 6).

Boys games

1000-POINT WATCHTODAYTOTAL
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown25 vs. Clayton964
Tymear Lecator, Salem31 vs. Rutgers Prep863

PENNSVILLE 43, SALEM TECH 40: The Eagles have their first winning streak of the season as they won their second straight behind 16 points from Mason O’Brien and a team 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Danny Knight and Jake Layfield added 10 points apiece. It’s the first time Pennsville has won back to back games since Jan. 29-30, 2024.

Salem Tech’s Luke Kroll led all scorers with 18 points and Raphael Busch had a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds). Aiden Bobo had eight points and eight boards.

SALEM TECH (2-11): Chase Pompper 1 1-2 3, Brody Kroll 0 0-0 0, Ayden Myers 0 0-0 0, Aiden Bobo 3 1-3 8, Luke Kroll 6 2-5 18, Raphael Busch 5 0-2 10, Sterling Lewis 0 1-2 1. Totals 15 5-14 40
PENNSVILLE (3-13): jake Layfield 2 5-5 10, Jacob Farina 1 2-2 4, Gavin Spears 0 0-0 0, Danny Knight 3 1-2 10, Aidan Clark 1 0-0 3, Mason O’Brien 4 6-7 16. Totals 11 14-16 43.

Salem Tech166117-40
Pennsville9111013-43
3-point goals: Salem Tech 5 (Bobo, L. Kroll 4); Pennsville 7 (Layfield, Clark, Knight 3, O’Brien 2). Rebounds: Salem Tech 30 (Busch 12, Bobo 8).

PENNS GROVE 57, WILDWOOD 47: Penns Grove’s defense ruled the floor in the first half, then the offense took over in the second half.

The Red Devils held Wildwood to 10 points in a low-scoring first half, then their offense erupted for 22 points in each of the final two quarters to secure their fourth straight win.

Roman Gipson was the catalyst in the second half. In the third quarter, Geonni Conrad hit his two 3-pointers and Mishawn Brantley had two three-point plays.

Roman Gipson scored a team-high 12 points, Brantley had 11 and four other Red Devils scored at least seven points. Wildwood’s Nolan Mawhinney led all scorers with 24 points.

WILDWOOD (7-9): Owen Bannon 1-0-3, Gianni Troiano 1-1-3, Trevor Troiano 2-2-8, Nolan Mawhinney 10-4-24, Jeff Knight 2-2-6, Vinny Sweeney 0-3-3. Totals 16-12-47.
PENNS GROVE (11-6): Roman Gipson 4-3-12, Carson Pearsall 3-0-8, Haneef Frisby 2-3-7, Will Roy 4-1-9, Geonni Conrad 2-2-8, Luis Colon 0-0-0, Messiah Allah 0-0-0, Jameel Horace 1-0-2. Totals 20-12-57.

Wildwood461819-47
Penns Grove582222-57
3-point goals: Wildwood 3 (Bannon, T. Troiano 2); Penns Grove 5 (Gipson, Pearsall 2, Conrad 2).

RUTGERS PREP 67, SALEM 55: The Rams came out of the gate slow in the Metro Classic, but they came to life in the second half to make a game of it.

They got into the event at the last minute and trailed 36-14 at halftime. They made an impression in the second half, though, outscoring the Argonauts 41-33.

Tymear Lecator found the rims at Stockton University friendly. He hit six 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers. He also had five rebounds and five assists. Deshaan Williams had 11 points and five rebounds. Marshall Stephens grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.

SALEM (12-3): Deshaan Williams 11, Marshall Stephens 4, BJ Robbins 4, Neziah Spence 3, Tymear Lecator 31, Darelle Johnson 2. Totals 23-2-55.
RUTGERS PREP (13-6): Logan Franz 3 2-2 9, Nicolas Nsenkyire 3 0-0 6, Rocco Loomis 6 4-4 18, Bryce Williams 3 0-0 8, William Brunson 7 2-4 18, Julian Ceberio 1 0-0 3, Morgan Duncan 1 0-0 2, Oliver Cohen 1 0-0 3. Totals 25 8-10 67.

Salem862021-55
Rutgers Prep16201617-67
3-point goals: Salem 7 (Spence, Lecator 6); Rutgers Prep 9 (Franz, Loomis 2, Williams 2, Brunson 2, Ceberio, Cohen). Rebounds: Salem 25 (Stephens 12); Rutgers Prep 24 (Nsenkyire 11).

WOODSTOWN 86, CLAYTON 63: Blake Bialecki has been on a tear. On this night the Wolverines senior tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points. Over his last four games he has scored 85 points and hit 17 3-pointers. He is now 36 points away from 1,000 and 10 away from setting the Wolverines’ all-time records for 3s.

Andrew White had a career-high 19 points for the Wolverines. Twelve players scored for the Wolverines in all.

Bowling: First-time champs

SALEM TECH GIRLS 4, LINDENWOLD 0: Naomi Hess rolled the Chargers’ high game (146) and high series (446) as the Chargers clinched the TCC Classic Division title, the first girls team in Salem Tech history to win a division crown. Casey Zaluske rolled a 146 in Game 2 and Candyce Cooper rolled three consecutive 143s. The boys lost 4-0. Rosario Torres rolled their high game (190) and series (521).


Salem CC stunned

Brookdale hands No. 1 Mighty Oaks their first loss of the season, ending 24-game carryover winning streak; Salem CC women routed by No. 3 Harcum


By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

LINCROFT – As well as the Salem CC basketball team has played this season and the regularity with which the Mighty Oaks have dispatched their opponents, one would be inclined to think they wouldn’t lose until Hell froze over.

Well, the temperature in the most famous Hell in America — Hell, Michigan — was 4 above Thursday night. It was only slightly warmer in Hell, Norway, where it was 8. Both were well below freezing and the Mighty Oaks did indeed lose.

Top-ranked Salem suffered its first loss of the season, 89-83 at Brookdale. The Mighty Oaks (22-1) were the last undefeated team in the JUCO Division III rankings.

“All is not lost,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “We won 22 games straight. Our guys weathered the storm for 22 games straight. They just couldn’t do it for the 23rd.

“We just didn’t get it done. We played a really good team on their home court that was really good tonight.”

Brookdale (15-6) was particularly good at the start of the second half. It was a one-point game at halftime, but the Jersey Blues opened the second half by scoring on 13 of their first 14 possessions, highlighted by a 20-3 run in which all three Salem points came from the free throw line.

“We lost focus, man,” Green said. “We blew a lot of assignments on defense and when that happens you’ve got the tendency to try to go get it back on offense, so you just compound mistakes. We did that at least seven, eight times the second half … You’ve got to be better.”

The hellish cold crept into the Mighty Oaks’ shooting. While they’ve been hitting at 34 percent for the season, they were just 6-of-29 from 3-point range on this night (21 percent) – their second worst showing of the season. Jarrell Little, their leading scorer and a 38-percent shooter from behind the arc, was just 3-of-16 from the field and 0-for-9 from 3-point range. He had eight points, the first time he’d been held out of double figures this season.

Nasseem Wright was Salem’s leading scorer with 18 points (and 10 rebounds and five assists). Saaid Lee and Nayeem Johnson had 17 points apiece. Johnson also grabbed nine rebounds

The Mighty Oaks (22-1) trailed by 17 with nine minutes to play, but they finally came to life and cut their deficit to three with 3:33 left and had the ball. But they didn’t score again until Johnson’s driving layup with 1:08 to play. By then, the Jersey Blues had rebuilt their lead to 86-77.

“Their backs were against the wall,” Green said of the rally. “This is a resilient group. We had to blow some time outs that let them understand what’s at stake. Our pride was on the line so those guys responded, like they have all year.”

The back-and-forth first half came to a controversial close. Green was hit with a technical foul after the officials ruled Zyaire Gibson’s go-ahead 3-pointer didn’t beat the shot clock. The bucket would have given the Mighty Oaks a 45-42 lead with 33 seconds left in the half. Instead, the points came off the board and the Jersey Blues hit one of the two technical foul shots to take a 43-42 lead at the break.

But that wasn’t the factor that decided the game.

“We were getting our butts kicked,” Green said. “We gave up 40 points (each half).”

The loss ended their 24-game carryover winning streak, going back to their final two games in last year’s national tournament. They had been 14-0 in games away from DuPont Fieldhouse this season.

“You’ve got to live with it,” Green said. “The kids are a little distraught. They’re No. 1, none of these guys have ever been No. 1, never been the talk of the nation in some capacity. But hard work gets you right back in it. All ain’t lost. We’ve got seven more games I believe.”

The Mighty Oaks will look to start another streak Saturday at last-place Luzerne (4-17)


BROOKDALE 89, SALEM CC 83
SALEM CC (22-1): Nasseem Wright 6-12 6-8 18, Saaid Lee 7-11 1-1 17, Nayeem Johnson 6-11 5-8 17, Zyaire Gibson 3-8 0-0 9, Jarrell Little 3-16 2-3 8, Idris Rines 3-8 1-1 8, Stefan Phillips 2-3 2-4 6, Jahseir Sayles 0-2 0-0 0, Jaiayre Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 17-25 83.
BROOKDALE (15-6): Matt Slaby 4-8 0-3 9, Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk 11-18 4-4 28, Evan Weiner 5-9 4-6 15, Keith Allen 7-17 6-10 24, Ariel Perez 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Fulcher 3-4 0-0 6, Emmanuel Miller 1-4 0-0 2, Dream Aikins 0-0 0-0 0, Leonardo Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Kevin Hemans 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 33-64, 15-25 89.

Salem CC4241-83
Brookdale4346-89
3-point goals: Salem CC 6-29 (N. Wright 0-2, Lee 2-2, Johnson 0-1, Gibson 3-8, Little 0-9, Rines 1-6, Sayles 0-1); Brookdale 8-19 (Slaby 1-2, Hamlin-Woolfolk 2-3, Weiner 1-2, Allen 4-10, Miller 1-2). Rebounds: Salem CC 37 (N. Johnson 10, Johnson 9); Brookdale 23 (Weiner 6). Technical fouls: Green. Fouled out: Johnson. Total fouls: Salem 19, Brookdale 24.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION IIIR19ALLGSAC
Northampton (5)11-119-2
SALEM CC (1)9-122-117-1
Union (10)14-218-513-2
Brookdale12-215-610-4
Montgomery (8)9-213-3
Camden8-312-87-7
Ocean10-413-79-5
Bergen11-712-105-9
Atlantic Cape8-89-117-9
RCSJ-Cumberland4-77-136-10
Thaddeus Stevens4-88-11
RCSJ-Gloucester5-117-161-12
Harrisburg Area3-84-14
Sussex4-127-164-11
Passaic3-134-173-11
Philadelphia2-108-10
Delaware County2-113-17
Luzerne1-104-17

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Brookdale 89, Salem CC 83
Philadelphia 76, Luzerne 60
Raritan Valley 104, Rockland 102
Union 87, RCSJ-Gloucester 58
Atlantic Cape 79, Sussex 78
Essex 108, Bucks 87
Camden 71, Passaic 49
Ocean 81, RCSJ-Cumberland 79
Northampton 96, Mercer 86
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Luzerne
Brookdale at Ocean
Harrisburg Area at Passaic
Montgomery at Thaddeus Stevens
Delaware County at Williamson Trades
Morris at Westchester CC
Philadelphia at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Mercer
Atlantic Cape at RCSJ-Gloucester
Camden at Bergen
Union at Northampton
Harcum at Delaware Tech
Lackawanna at Middlesex

Women’s game

HARCUM 107, SALEM CC 38
HARCUM (19-1): Jaida Helm 2-6 0-0 5, Eternity Aiken 3-4 2-2 8, Alanah Barnhill 3-8 2-2 9, Sofia Vitucci 10-17 2-2 26, Tayla Barros 5-11 0-0 14, Senaya Parker 3-6 2-2 8, KeNiya White 2-3 0-0 4, Alaysia Fernandez 2-5 0-0 4, Kyndall Brewington 7-15 3-3 20, Nyoman Austin 4-11 1-2 9. Totals 41-86 12-13 107.
SALEM CC (3-13): Paula Wilson 3-9 0-2 9, RayNescia King 1-9 0-0 2, Tanijya Shaw 6-17 7-8 21, Kasey Oliver 1-5 2-2 4, Jayda Hunter 0-6 0-0 0, Dani Gustin 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 12-48 9-12 38.

Harcum35252225-107
Salem CC101477-38

3-point goals: Harcum 13-36 (Hełm 1-4, Barnhill 1-5, Vitucci 4-8, Barros 4-9, Parker 0-2, White 0-1, Brewington 3-7); Salem CC 5-21 (Wilson 3-8, King 0-3, Shaw 2-8, Oliver 0-1, Hunter 0-1). Rebounds: Harcum 50 (Austin 11); Salem CC 23 (Hunter 5). Total fouls: Harcum 13, Salem CC 11.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION IIR19ALLGSAC
Harcum (3)10-019-1
Union (13)9-218-36-0
Mercer (14)7-215-33-1
Essex6-314-44-2
Delaware Tech3-67-13
Raritan Valley2-76-142-4
Middlesex2-78-142-4
SALEM CC2-73-130-3
Lackawanna1-84-12
Morris0-00-70-0

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harcum 107, Salem CC 38
RCSJ-Gloucester 63, Montgomery 40
Philadelphia 57, Brookdale 48
Ocean 79, RCSJ-Cumberland 77
Camden 63, Passaic 52
Atlantic Cape 77, Sussex 48
Mercer 93, Northampton 54
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Raritan Valley at Salem CC
Passaic at Northampton
Camden at Bergen
Harcum at Delaware Tech
Essex at Mercer
Philadelphia at RCSJ-Cumberland
Atlantic Cape at RCSJ-Gloucester
Lackawanna at Middlesex
Brookdale at Ocean


Salem County leaders

Snow day provides a chance to check out the Salem County basketball statistical leaders; leaders based on statistics posted to state reporting service (must have played in 75 percent of team’s games)

Boys

SCORING (based on avg.)GPFGFTPTSAVG
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville12804022018.3
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15723321314.2
Tymear Lecator, Salem135817913.8
Deshaan Williams, Salem145518413.1
Julian Dickerson, Schalick13642116812.9
Eli Caesar, Woodstown14552315911.4
Neziah Spence, Salem133313310.2
Roman Gipson, Penns Grove16671016110.1
Will Roy, Penns Grove166371489.3
Danny Knight, Pennsville121089.0
Andrew White, Woodstown1343181118.5
Geonni Conrad, Penns Grove1647221318.2
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick134991078.2
Raphael Busch, Salem Tech92914738.1
Orion Baldwin, Schalick1339131048.0
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown1538161177.8
Sherrod Jones, Schalick10329777.7
Chase Pompper, Salem Tech113021847.6
Kade Macom, Schalick13394967.4
Xavier McGriff, Salem1326906.9
Josh King, Woodstown154213986.5
Aiden Bobo, Salem Tech112415696.3
BJ Robbins, Salem1324634.9
Marshall Stephens, Salem1334715.5
3-POINT GOALS (based on total)GPTOTALAVG
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15362.40
Julian Dickerson, Schalick13231.77
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown15231.53
Eli Caesar, Woodstown14211.50
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville12201.67
Tymear Lecator, Salem13171.30
Roman Gipson, Penns Grove16171.06
Geonni Conrad, Penns Grove16150.94
Neziah Spence, Salem13141.08
Kade Macom, Schalick13141.08
Will Roy, Penns Grove16130.80
Orion Baldwin, Schalick13131.00
Lucas Fulmer, Woodstown14120.88
NOTE: Larry Pompper, Salem Tech 9 in 6 games
FT SHOOTING (based on pct.)GPFTMFTAPCT
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown153339.850
Eli Caesar, Woodstown142330.770
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown151621.760
Julian Dickerson, Schalick132129.720
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville124059.680
Josh King, Woodstown151321.620
Raphael Busch, Salem Tech91423.610
Andrew Wrote. Wppdstpwm131830.600
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick13916.560
Ayden Myers, Salem Tech8510.500
Chase Pompper, Salem Tech112142.500
Orion Baldwin, Schalick131327.480
Aiden Bobo, Salem Tech111535.430
REBOUNDS (based on avg.)GPTOTAVG
Deshaan Williams, Salem141339.5
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick131229.4
Raphael Busch, Salem Tech9717.9
Marshall Stephens, Salem13987.5
Andrew White, Woodstown13806.1
Josh King, Woodstown15916.1
Mishawn Brantley, Penns Grove16865.4
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15724.8
Tymear Lecator, Salem13503.9
Sherrod Jones, Schalick10383.8
Eli Caesar, Woodstown14533.8
Cooper Willoughby, Schalick12453.8
Xavier McGriff, Salem13453.8
Julian Dickerson, Schalick13443.4
Roman Gipson, Penns Grove16493.3
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville12393.3
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown15483.2
Kade Macom, Schalick13423.2
Will Roy, Penns Grove16472.9
Luis Colon, Penns Grove16462.9
Geonni Conrad, Penns Grove16472.9
Aiden Bobo, Salem Tech11322.9
NOTE: Frank Hoerst, Woodstown had 66 in 10 games; Haneef Frisby, Penns Grove had 79 in 10 games
ASSISTS (based on total)GPTOTAVG
Tymear Lecator, Salem13685.23
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15543.60
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown15513.40
Roman Gipson, Penns Grove16493.06
BJ Robbins, Salem13483.69
Orion Baldwin, Schalick13443.38
Julian Dickerson, Schalick13362.77
Will Roy, Penns Grove16301.88
Eli Caesar, Woodstown14231.64
Geonni Conrad, Penns Grove16201.29
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick13191.46
Josh King, Woodstown15191.27
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville12181.50
Luis Colon, Penns Grove16171.06
Sherrod Jones, Schalick10151.50
Lucas Fulmer, Woodstown14141.00
Neziah Spence, Salem13141.08
NOTE: Kenny Bartee, Schalick, 44 in 5 games
STEALS (based on total)GPTOTAVG
Geonni Conrad, Penns Grove16422.63
Julian Dickerson, Schalick13352.69
Will Roy, Penns Grove16342.13
Josh King, Woodstown15312.07
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick13302.31
Roman Gipson, Penns Grove16281.75
Orion Baldwin, Schalick 13251.92
Alejandro Vazquez, Woodstown15241.60
Luis Colon, Penns Grove16241.50
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown15221.47
Eli Caesar, Woodstown14221.57
Neziah Spence, Salem13211.62
Sherrod Jones, Schalick10191.90
Mason O’Brien, Pennsville12181.50
Xavier McGriff, Salem13171.31
Andrew White, Woodstown13131.00
Mishawn Brantley, Penns Grove16131.06
NOTE: Kenny Bartee, Schalick, 24 in 5 games

BLOCKED SHOTS (Total)
26: Marshall Stephens, Salem
19: Mishawn Brantley, Penns Grove
15: Aiden Bobo, Salem Tech
10: Haneef Frisby, Penns Grove
9: Raphael Busch, Salem Tech
8: Sherrod Jones, Schalick
7: Andrew White, Woodstown; Dylan Sheehan, Schalick

Girls

SCORING (based on avg.)GPFGFTPTSAVG
Taylor Bass, Pennsville14872822215.9
Nevaeh Robinson, Schalick12731617214.3
Marley Wood, Pennsville12544116613.8
Dyaira Anderson, Salem10512312512.5
Keziah Patterson, Penns Grove11472113512.3
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown16671317510.9
JaNiyah Cummings, Penns Grove11481212010.9
/Madison Dixon, Salem9328889.8
Shelby Drummond, Salem Tech10353838.3
Addie Johnston, Pennsville144451228.1
Kendall Young, Woodstown1651161267.9
Kyia Leyman, Woodstown1549121197.9
Carlysia Pierce, Salem113612857.7
Shelby Liber, Salem Tech8216607.5
Mikayla Washington, Penns Grove111922787.1
Willow Davis, Schalick123115936.9
Amora Delaine, Salem Tech102513636.3
Rylee Doerr, Salem Tech9218505.6
Ava Scurry, Schalick10253535.3
Emma Perry, Woodstown15324704.7
Timmiyah Simmons, Salem9164414.6
Olivia Vanacker, Schalick11189474.3
Jaiden Wilson, Pennsville141811523.7
Jaryn Weathers, Salem9135323.6
Talia Guardascione, Woodstown141713493.5
3-POINT GOALS (based on total)GPTOTAVG
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown16291.81
Addie Johnston, Pennsville14271.93
Taylor Bass, Pennsville14201.43
Marley Wood, Pennsville12171.42
Willow Davis, Schalick12151.25
Madison Dixon, Salem9131.44
NOTE: Woodstown’s Mia Waterman has 22 3s in 11 games.
FT SHOOTING (based on pct.)GPFTMFTAPCT
Addie Johnston, Pennsville1456.830
Talia Guardascione, Woodstown141318.720
Keziah Patterson, Penns Grove112129.720
Jaiden Wilson, Pennsville14711.640
Taylor Bass, Pennsville142847.600
Kendall Young, Woodstown161628.570
Marley Wood, Pennsville124173.560
Shelby Liber, Salem Tech8611.550
Amora Delaine, Salem Tech101326.500
Izzy Saulin, Pennsville14510.500
Jaida Burns, Pennsville13510.500
Olivia Vanacker, Schalick11919.470
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown161328.460
Kyia Leyman, Woodstown151228.430
REBOUNDS (based on avg.)GPTOTAVG
Rylee Doerr, Salem Tech911412.7
Dyaira Anderson, Salem1012312.3
Amora Delaine, Salem Tech10929.2
Ava Scurry, Schalick10898.9
Nevaeh Robinson, Schalick121048.7
Marley Wood, Pennsville12877.3
Mikayla Washington, Penns Grove11676.1
Alysia Pierce, Salem11595.4
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown16865.4
Cali Fisler, Schalick11534.8
Taylor Bass, Pennsville14614.4
Madison Dixon, Salem9404.4
Jaida Burns, Pennsville13564.3
Triscia Wilson, Salem8344.3
Olivia Vanacker, Schalick11454.1
Kyia Leyman, Woodstown15593.9
Jaryn Weathers, Salem9343.8
Janiyah Cummings, Penns Grove11403.6
Shelby Drummond, Salem Tech10343.4
Izzy Saulin, Pennsville17453.2
ASSISTS (based on total)GPTOTAVG
Marley Wood, Pennsville12857.08
Olivia Vanacker, Schalick11393.55
Kendall Young, Woodstown16301.88
Carlysia Pierce, Salem11262.36
Addie Johnston, Pennsville14241.71
Taylor Bass, Pennsville14241.71
Madison Dixon, Salem9242.67
Cali Fisler, Schalick11232.09
Nevaeh Robinson, Schalick12211.75
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown16211.31
Shelby Liber, Salem Tech8192.38
Rylee Doerr, Salem Tech9182.00
Emma Perry, Woodstown15171.13
Jaida Burns, Pennsville13161.33
Shelby Drummond, Salem Tech10161.60
STEALS (based on total)GPTOTAVG
Taylor Bass, Pennsville14503.57
Willow Davis, Schalick12443.67
Cali Fisler, Schalick11403.64
Carlysia Pierce, Salem11403.64
Olivia Vanacker, Schalick11343.09
Emma Perry, Woodstown15332.20
Kendall Young, Woodstown16291.81
Ava Scurry, Schalick10282.80
Lauren Hengel, Woodstown16241.44
Addie Johnston, Pennsville14231.64
Marley Wood, Pennsville12242.00
Nevaeh Robinson, Schalick12231.92
Jaiden Wilson, Pennsville14221.57
Shelby Drummond, Salem Tech10191.90
Amora Delaine, Salem Tech10191.90
Izzy Saulin, Pennsville14171.21
Madison Dixon, Salem9161.78
Kaliyah Taylor, Salem8151.88
Shelby Liber, Salem Tech8141.75

BLOCKED SHOTS (Total)
32: Ava Scurry, Schalick
31: Rylee Doerr, Salem Tech
15: Amora Delaine, Salem Tech
14: Dyaira Anderson, Salem
11: Carlysia Pierce, Salem
10: Kyia Leyman, Woodstown; JaNiyah Cummings, Penns Grove; Marley Wood, Pennsville