Here are the Salem County boys and girls basketball stats leaders for the 2025-26 season; minimum 50 percent of team games, stats contingent on accuracy of reports to state service
Schalick girls have goal to win their TCC Tournament bracket, take first step with win over Pitman, get Salem next in semifinal showdown, includes South Jersey Group I girls tournament pairings
GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Delsea at Gloucester Catholic Clearview 54, Timber Creek 28 Glassboro 44, Kingsway 30 Wildwood 44, Washington Twp. 38 Consolation game Woodstown 45, Triton 36 Postseason Bracket Schalick 43, Pitman 32 Salem 34, Williamstown 27 Clayton 52, GCIT 50 Deptford 61, Penns Grove 25
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — If there’s a bracket to be played there’s a bracket to be won, doesn’t matter if it’s Championship, Postseason or the 3-on-3 tournament down at the local rec.
Knowing there’s a title to claim at the end of the week, Schalick played what coach John Whelan called one of its better overall games of the year, jumped on Pitman early and rolled to a 43-32 win in the quarterfinals of the Tri-County Conference Tournament Postseason Bracket. The bracket’s No. 1 seed now hosts Salam in Thursday’s semifinals.
“We definitely have our goal set on winning,” Whelam said. “We played probably, I would say, the best team ball that we’ve played all year. We moved the basketball really well, we made the extra passes, (got) better quality shots.
“It’s starting to click a little more. You’ve seen it the last handful of games where we’ve been moving the ball better. Our offense has looked so much better, and then we continue to stay tough on the defensive end.”
The Cougars held their visitors to single digits points in every quarter, while opening quarter leads of 17-6, 27-15 and 37-24. leads of 17-6 and 27-15 in the first half.
Nevaeh Robinson “had a rhythm going” early for the Cougars and scored all 17 of her points in the first half. When the Panthers recognized the havoc she was causing and switched to a box-and-one on her, Willow Davis kept the offense clicking. Davis scored eight points in the third quarter and 11 of her 14 in the second half.
“We were moving the ball well enough to where we didn’t feel like we needed to really change our offense regardless of the box-and-one,” Whelan said. “Willow stepped up in the second half and hit a lot of shots.”
Robinson also had 11 rebounds, Cali Fisler and Ava Scurry each had 10, and Liv Vanacker had nine. Vanacker also had five assists and Scurry blocked four shots.
SALEM 34, WILLIAMSTOWN 27: The Rams stretched an eight-point halftime lead to double digits, withstood a second-half rally by the Braves that got it to a one-point game and then pulled away to set up a semifinal showdown with Schalick.
“That’s a big win,” Salem coach Kemp Carr said. “It’s a Group 4 school, it’s a big team and it’s a postseason bracket, so we see it as a big deal for us. We’re excited for tonight.”
The Rams (9-9) played bang-up defense in the first half, holding the Braves (5-17) to only one field goal and five points in the first half. They stretched their halftime lead to 10 in the third quarter, but the Braves went on a run that cut it to one, 28-27, with about three minutes left before the Rams changed defenses and retook control.
“We showed some resiliency, something that we’ve really been working on, to not let that bother us, to keep playing through the clock,” Carr said. “We used a timeout to settle the girls down and we came out and got a basket that next possession.”
Dyaira Anderson led the Rams with a game-high 17 points and 18 rebounds. Carlysia Pierce had eight points, six rebounds and nine steals.
Salem and Schalick played once during the regular season with the Cougars taking a 37-33 win on the road.
3-point goals: Williamstown 1 (Waters). Total fouls: Salem 14, Williamstown 17.
DEPTFORD 61, PENNS GROVE 25: The Spartans brought the Red Devils back to earth behind double-doubles from Chaylin Marine and Kendall Evans. Marine had 21 points and 12 rebounds (plus five steals), while Evans had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Red Devils reached the quarterfinals of the Postseason Bracket with a victory over Overbrook in the opening round.
CONSOLATION GAME WOODSTOWN 45, TRITON 36: Kyia Leyman and Kendall Young both enjoyed double-doubles as the Wolverines bounced back from their Championship Bracket opening-round loss to Kingsway. Leyman scored a career-high 18 points to lead all scorers and grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Young had 10 points and 12 rebounds with three assists and five steals.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT Feb. 25 Games Paulsboro at Haddon Twp. Burlington City at Woodbury New Egypt at Palmyra Cape May Tech at Glassboro Salem at Audubon Woodstown at Pennsville Schalick at Gateway Clayton at Wildwood Feb. 27 Games (Game at higher seed) Paulsboro-Haddon Twp. vs. Burlington City-Woodbury New Egypt-Palmyra vs. Cape May Tech-Glassboro Salem-Audubon vs. Woodstown-Pennsville Schalick-Gateway vs. Clayton-Wildwood
Salem loses a 16-point early third-quarter lead, falls to Group 4 Williamstown in TCC Championship Bracket quarterfinals; no county teams left in main draw of either boys bracket; includes the South Jersey Group I boys tournament pairings BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Kingsway 66, Timber Creek 57 Overbrook 66, Deptford 55 Cumberland 52, Delsea 47 Williamstown 50, Salem 40 Consolation game Penns Grove 67, Woodstown 55 Postseason Bracket GCIT 85, Clayton 76 Pitman 56, Wildwood 52 Washington Twp. 63, Highland 44
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Anthony Farmer has seen this movie before. He didn’t want to see it – or have to see it – again on this particular night.
There have been times when Farmer’s Salem basketball team have been sharp start to finish. There also have been times they’ve built a seemingly safe lead against a strong opponent early in the game only to have it ripped out from under it at the final horn.
It happened again Tuesday when the Rams lost a 16-point third-quarter lead and wound up losing to Group 4 Williamstown 50-40 in the quarterfinals of the Tri-County Conference Championship Bracket.
The Rams (19-5), the No. 2 seed, led 30-14 a minute into the third quarter and 32-21 with 3:50 left in the quarter when it all went south. They didn’t make another field goal the rest of the game, going 0-for-9 from the floor and committing 10 turnovers.
“They played 16 minutes of basketball, you know you’ve got to play a full 32,” Farmer said. “We played a half of basketball and now that’s the result.
“We played a really good 16 the first half and scored 11 points I think in the second half with 10 turnovers, so you almost had as many turnovers as you had points in the second half. Obviously, that’s an issue.
“We just have to have a feel for the game. Slow down, move the basketball, get reversals, make plays and play a good brand of basketball, which we just didn’t do. It was just a horrible second half.”
While all the misses hurt, especially with the Braves connecting on the other end, the most gut-wrenching may have been Marshall Stephens’ in-and-out after a nice spin move in the lane that Jameer Gordon turned into a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Braves (16-9) the lead for good.
While the Rams were having their troubles, the Braves were picking up the tempo and coming back. From the time they were down 16 in the third quarter to the end of the game the Braves were 8-of-19 from the field and 16-of-19 from the free throw line. They had only seven field goals in the first 17 minutes.
Gordon, a transfer from St. Joe (Hammonton), hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter and the Braves finally got Clinton Suggs into the flow. The Rams held Suggs scoreless in the first half, but the Paul VI transfer scored 14 points in the second 10 in the third quarter. The Braves are 14-2 since Gordon and Suggs became eligible.
Suggs scored five straight points as the Braves trimmed the 16-point deficit to nine with 4:04 left in the third quarter. It was 10 with 3:15 left and the Rams scored only six more free throws the rest of the way. The Braves, meanwhile, scored nine free throws in the last 2:10 of the game alone to slam the door.
“These kids, since I’ve taken over, two years, have just shown fight and grit and fight and grit, so for us there was no panic on our end — at all,” Williamstown coach Adam Dandrea said as his players celebrated loudly in the locker room behind him. “I knew the kids would respond. That was all them right there. That was all them.”
The Braves now travel to Cumberland for Thursday’s semifinals. The Rams can play Delsea in a consolation game if they’re so inclined.
3-point goals: Williamstown 4 (Gordon, Suggs, Forman 2); Salem 5 (McGriff, Spence, Lecator). Rebounds: Salem 30 (Williams 6, Marshall 5). Fouled out: Stephens. Total fouls: Williamstown 14, Salem 23.
PENNS GROVE 67, WOODSTOWN 55: The Red Devils ran out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and held onto it to win the rubber game between rivals created by a TCC Championship Bracket consolation game.
Roman Gipson and Geonni Conrad led Penns Grove with 18 points apiece. Four other players scored at least six.
“Just a total team effort like always,” Red Devils coach Damian Ware said of the start. “Guys made shots and the defense was stellar.”
The Wolverines put four scorers in double figures, with Elijah Caesar, Blake Bialecki and Alejandro Vazquez scored 12 points apiece. Andrew White added 10. Bialecki hit three 3-pointers, giving him 202 for his career.
They took advantage of Penns Grove’s second-quarter foul trouble to climb back into it, but the Red Devils stemmed the tide.
WOODSTOWN (15-11): Elijah Caesar 5-2-12, Blake Bialecki 4-1-12, Alejandro Vazquez 5-0-12, Josh King 2-3-7, Andrew White 4-2-10, Frank Hoerst 0-2-2. Totals 20-10-55. PENNS GROVE (16-10): Roman Gipson 6-5-18, Geonni Conrad 8-0-18, Haneef Frisby 3-1-7, Will Roy 2-0-6, Mishawn Brantley 0-0-0, Luis Colon 2-3-7, Carson Pearsall 3-0-7, Jameel Horace 2-0-4, Ahkeen Edwards 0-0-0. Totals 26-9-67.
Woodstown
11
17
14
13-
55
Penns Grove
22
10
17
18-
67
3-point goals: Woodstown 5 (Bialecki 3, Vazquez 2); Penns Grove 6 (Gipson, Gonrad 2, Roy 2, Pearsall).
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT Feb. 25 Games Riverside at Salem Paulsboro at Woodstown Glassboro at Burlington City Wildwood at KIPP New Egypt at Haddon Twp. Pitman at Penns Grove Audubon at Woodbury Gateway at Palmyra Feb. 27 Games (Games at higher seed) Riverside-Salem vs. Paulsboro-Woodstown Glassboro-Burlington City vs. Wildwood-KIPP New Egypt-Haddon Twp. vs. Pitman-Penns Grove Audubon-Woodbury vs. Gateway-Palmyra
Woodstown boys win 4×400 relay in record time, but it left them one point short of winning the South Jersey Group I indoor sectionals; the difference was Glassboro’s third-place finish by 0.10 seconds
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
TOMS RIVER – Blink your eyes. That’s how close it was to determining the South Jersey Group I boys indoor track sectionals champion Sunday.
As these meets always seem to do lately, it came down to the final race between Woodstown and Glassboro in the 4×400 relay.
Woodstown had to win it and have Glassboro finish fourth or worse – or some other combination of a six-point swing – to win it all at the Bubble.
The Wolverines did what they needed to do, winning the race in a PR meet record (3:30.30), but Glassboro raced to third (3:37.78), a scant 0.10 seconds ahead of fourth-place Gateway, to grab just enough points to win the team title by one point.
Glassboro scored 54.60 points overall to Woodstown’s 53.60.
The Wolverines relay team of Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Kyle Reitz and Josh Crawford obliterated the old 4×400 record of 3:32.09, set by Woodbury last year. Salem finished second in the race.
“We knew going into the 4×4 that we needed two things to happen,” Chew said. “We needed to win and Glassboro couldn’t get third or better. Unfortunately, only one of those things was in the cards for us.
“Everyone ran a great race and we all did the best we could with what we could control. Now it just comes down to regaining our confidence and going into states with a good mentality.”
Through five events both teams were lagging behind leader Haddon Twp., but after the completion of the high jump and 800, the Wolverines had pulled in front, bringing Glassboro with them. The margin was seven points..
Glassboro made a big move in the 3200, the next-to-last event in the meet. Top-seeded Bulldog Joseph Saicic won the race and Jaeden Wesley, the 18th-seeded runner, finished fourth. Jacob Marino gave Woodstown its only points in the race, finishing sixth.
Salem County produced three individual champions. Crawford won the 400 (51.13) and 800 (1:59.87, going 1-2 with Chew), and Woodstown’s Kami Casiano won the girls high jump (5-0). In addition, there were four other runner-ups — Penns Grove’s Kylee Goodson (400), Woodstown’s Aiden Taulane (shot put), Woodstown’s Lia Covely (girls 55 hurdles) and Pennsville Kallie Morrison (girls high jump).
In all, Salem County qualified 28 individuals and three relays to the state group championships back here on Feb. 22.
This is the second major win for Casiano this year. She won the Tri-County Showcase with a jump of 5-2. She started the new year with a third-place finish in Penn’s Ott Center on Jan. 3 (4-10) and finished fourth in a batch meet here on Jan. 10 (5-0).
“I’m so happy about winning sectionals today,” Casiano said. “A big goal I had for myself this season was consistency. I’m getting past my nerves and giving it my all.”
Here are the event winners and Salem County qualifiers to the state group championships. The top six in each event score points and qualify for state.
This story will be updated.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SECTIONALS BOYS TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 54.60, WOODSTOWN 53.60, Haddon Twp. 36, Camden 32.60; SALEM 29.60, Gateway 22, PENNS GROVE 20, Audubon 17, Woodbury 14, Burlington City 12, Palmyra 8.60, SCHALICK 6, West Deptford 2, Buena 2. 400: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 51.13; 2. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 52.07; 4. Timothy Gregory, Salem 52.41. 1600: 1. Joseph Saicic, Glassboro 4:33.47; 4. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:36.50; 6. David Farrell, Woodstown 4:42.96 55 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 7.83; 4. Timothy Gregory, Salem 8.42; 5. Gradin Buzby, Salem 8.64 55 Dash: 1. Donte Davis, Burlington City 6.55; 3. Jelani Beverly, Salem 6.70; 6. Kyle Reitz, Woodstown 6.81 800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:59.87; 2. Karson Chew, Woodstown 2:00.56 3200: 1. Joseph Saicic, Glassboro 9:52.30; 6. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 10:14.36 4×400: 1. Woodstown (Kyle Reitz, Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford) 3:30.30 (meet record, old record 3:32.09, Woodbury 2025); 2. Salem (Quimere Bergen, Gradin Buzby, RaShar Stevenson, Jerry Seals) 3:37.61 High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-2; 3. Tommy White, Penns Grove 5-6; T5. Jerry Seals, Salem 5-2; T5. Anthony Costello, Woodstown 5-2 Pole Vault: 1. Bobby McIlvaine, Haddon Twp. 12-0; 3. Salvatore Longo, Schalick 11-0; 4. Gradin Buzby, Salem 11-0 Shot Put: 1. Kyle Stephens, Haddon Twp. 47-9; 2. Aiden Taulane, Woodstown 46-2.5; 3. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 45-7; 6. Jailon Fletcher-Wilson, Salem 43-2
GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Audubon 90, Glassboro 47, Haddon Twp. 46, West Deptford 32, WOODSTOWN 31, Buena 20, Woodbury 12, PENNSVILLE 8, Lower Cape May 8, SALEM 5, PENNS GROVE 4, Palmyra 2, Burlington City 2, Gateway 2 400: 1. Kayla Romanoski, West Deptford 1:00.72 1600: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 5:08.61; 4. Abby Marino, Woodstown 5:29.58 55 Hurdles: 1. Casey Birdwell, Haddon Twp. 8.83; 2. Lia Covely, Woodstown 9.40 55 Dash: 1. Kathryn McGuire, Audubon 7.60 800: 1. Kayla Romanoski, West Deptford 2:19.05 3200: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 11:20.98; 3. Abby Marino, Woodstown 11:58.23 4×400: 1. Audubon 4:18.72; 4. Salem (Dynastie Tucker, Brooklynn Jackson, Amaia Massengill, Alysha Williams) 4:24.47; 6. Woodstown (Maria Holmes, Angelina Lindenmuth, Abby Marino, Lia Covely) 4:38.23 High Jump: 1. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-0; 2. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10 Pole Vault: 1. Morganna Makuszewski, Audubon 9-0 Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 37-6.75; 4. Zoey Caesar, Penns Grove 30-11.25; 5. Sara Lodge, Woodstown 30-5.75; 6. Ava Rodgers, Salem 29-10.5
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 15-22
SUNDAY, FEB. 15 INDOOR TRACK South Jersey Group I Sectionals at Bennett Complex, 9 a.m.
MONDAY, FEB. 16 WRESTLING Cedar Creek at Salem, 10 a.m. NJSIAA Team Tournament At Paulsboro Buena vs. Paulsboro, 5:30 p.m. Pennsville vs. Schalick, 5:30 p.m. Winners to follow At Audubon Haddon Twp. vs. Woodstown, 5 p.m. Maple Shade vs. Audubon, 5 p.m. Winners to follow COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Bryant & Stratton (Va.)
TUESDAY, FEB. 17 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Timber Creek at Kingsway Deptford at Overbrook Cumberland at Delsea Williamstown at Salem, 5 p.m. Consolation game Woodstown at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m. Postseason Bracket Clayton at GCIT Glassboro at Triton Wildwood at Pitman Highland at Washington Twp. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Delsea at Gloucester Catholic Clearview at Timber Creek Kingsway at Glassboro Washington Twp. at Wildwood Consolation game Woodstown at Triton, 5:30 p.m. Postseason Bracket Pitman at Schalick Salem at Williamstown Clayton at GCIT Penns Grove at Deptford
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 WRESTLING Pennsville at Pennsauken, 6 p.m. Team Sectional Finals BOYS BOWLING South Jersey Group I Tournament Salem vs. Doane Academy, Wood Lanes, 3 p.m. Asbury Park at Camden Catholic
THURSDAY, FEB. 19 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Timber Creek-Kingsway vs. Deptford-Overbrook Cumberland-Delsea vs. Williamstown-Salem Postseason Bracket Clayton-GCIT vs. Glassboro-Triton Wildwood-Pitman vs. Highland/Washington Twp. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Tournament Championship Bracket Delsea-Gloucester Catholic vs. Clearview-Timber Creek Kingsway-Glassboro vs. Washington Twp.-Wildwood Postseason Bracket Pitman-Schalick vs. Salem-Williamstown Clayton-GCIT vs. Penns Grove-Deptford Consolation game Cumberland at Pennsville, 4 p.m. WRESTLING Salem at New Egypt, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEB. 20 BOYS BASKETBALL Camden County Tech at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Medford Tech at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. WRESTLING St. Joseph (Hamm.) at Salem, 5 p.m. Penns Grove at Cherry Hill West, 6 p.m. State Team Semifinals
SATURDAY, FEB. 21 BOYS BASKETBALL TCC Championship, Washington Twp., 11 a.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL TCC Championship, Washington Twp., 1 p.m. BOYS BOWLING South Jersey Group I Championship WRESTLING Pennsville, Ewing at Pt. Pleasant Beach, 10 a.m.
SUNDAY, FEB. 22 TRACK NJSIAA Group Championships, Bennett Center, 9 a.m.
Friday the 13th was a bad day for the Salem County boys basketball teams, all 4 teams on the day’s Tri-County Tournament slate lost; Salem only one left and makes tourney debut Tuesday TCC BOYS TOURNAMENT Championship Bracket Timber Creek 75, Clearview 63 Deptford 71, Gloucester Catholic 44 Cumberland 54, Woodstown 32 Williamstown 57, Penns Grove 36 Postseason Bracket Clayton 94, Schalick 79 Wildwood 68, Salem Tech 31 (Thurs.) Highland 74, Pennsville 18 TUESDAY’S GAMES Championship Bracket Timber Creek at Kingsway Deptford at Overbrook Cumberland at Delsea Williamstown at Salem Postseason Bracket Clayton at GCIT Glassboro at Triton Wildwood at Pitman Highland at Washington Twp.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
BRIDGETON — Ramon Roots has seen teams play aggressive defense against his Woodstown basketball team in the past, but Friday may have been one of the most energetic he could remember. It only looked better because of the trouble his team didn’t handle it.
The Colts were all over the Wolverines all game and were particularly effective in the fourth quarter while pulling away to a 54-32 win in the opening round of the Tri-County Tournament Championship Bracket.
“They played tough, they play hard on defense,” Roots agreed. “We’ve seen a 1-2-2 before, it was nothing new, we just didn’t execute what we were supposed to do. They play hard, they play relentless, they really wanted to win. Their energy level was up there with some of the best teams. We just kept making mistakes.”
In the second half alone the Colts (17-8) forced Woodstown into 15 turnovers and 5-for-22 shooting.
“They’re an aggressive team for sure,” point guard Alejandro Vazquez said. They were aggressive, hands all over, always playing the passing lanes. They were a very good defensive team. We’ve played against aggressive teams, all these teams that pressure, we just couldn’t handle the pressure today.”
The Wolverines (15-9) weren’t bad defensively either, early. They’d get stop after stop, but then they’d turn it over before they could capitalize. “You can’t win like that,” Roots said.
They finally cracked in the fourth. Blake Bialecki hit his 199th career 3-pointer with 6:47 to go in the game to bring the Wolverines within five, 34-29, but they didn’t score again until John Hood-McGinley’s 3-pointer with 1:40 left. By then, the Colts had opened a 21-point lead.
The Wolverines were 0-for-7 from the floor, with six turnovers and two missed free throws between the treys. All 15 of their points in the second half came on 3-pointers.
“One of the things we’ve focused on was finishing,” Colts coach Lamont Robinson said. “A year ago we played really well for 28, 29, 30 minutes, but our finishes weren’t great. Beginning of the year we got a couple early-season losses because of how we couldn’t finish. Even a week ago. So that’s something we focused on, being our best when it matters most, and tonight we were able to do that.
“We’ve progressed and improved our identity on the defensive end and tonight was a reflection of that growth. Our guys are bought in to the things it takes to win. If you want to win a championship you better be able to stop somebody and that’s what we’re trying to do – build a program that is willing to do the things that it takes to win and defense is a big part of that.”
Cumberland didn’t allow the Wolverines a scorer in double figures. Blake Bialecki was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all on 3-pointers. He should get his 200th career 3-pointer Saturday morning against Haddonfield in their last game before the power points cutoff.
The Colts, meanwhile, had three scorers in double figures — DJ Mosely (14), Pat Crawford (12) and Kaleb Green (11).Crawford had 10 in the fourth quarter.
They also held Vazquez, Woodstown’s other 3-point threat, to four points – all in the first quarter. Robinson said being aware of their location on the court was a big part of the Colts’ approach.
“Absolutely,” he said. “There are guys you don’t want beating you because that’s how teams beat you and those were those guys for them, so we came in wanting to neutralize those guys. I’m not sure what they ended up with, but for the most part I feel like we did really well.”
WOODSTOWN (15-9): Blake Bialecki 3 0-0 9, Elijah Ceasar 2 0-0 5, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 1 0-0 2, Alejandro Vazquez 1 1-3 4, Josh King 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-2 0, Frank Hoerst 2 2-2 6, Connor Miller 1 0-0 3, John Hood-McGinley 1 0-0 3, Trey Markward 0 0-0 0, Brian Booker 0 0-0 0, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 3-7 32. CUMBERLAND (17-8): DJ Mosely 6 0-0 14, Jay Davis 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Green 4 3-4 11, Major Martin Dunns 4 0-0 9, Pat Crawford 5 2-2 12, Mike Hollis 2 1-3 5, Khalif Dawkins 0 0-0 0, Duhmazje Cartwright 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 6-9 54.
WILLIAMSTOWN 57, PENNS GROVE 36: The Braves got off to a fast start, opened a seven-point halftime lead, then put together a big second half to earn a spot in the Championship Bracket semifinals. They will visit second-seeded Salem Tuesday. Teams that lose in the first round are allowed to play a second game if they choose. The Red Devils have already connected with Woodstown for a game Tuesday. PENNS GROVE (15-10): Roman Gipson 14, Geonni Conrad 8, Haneef Frisby 5, William Roy 2, Carson Pearsall 3, Jeremy Costacamps 2, Luis Colon 2. WILLIAMSTOWN (15-9): Jameer Gordon 13, Clinton Suggs 16, Tyson Forman 6, Kaysen Matthews 8, Dametri Walker 7, Elijah Batts 6, Ian Basillo 3.
Penns Grove
11
11
8
6-
36
Williamstown
23
6
14
14-
57
POSTSEASON BRACKET CLAYTON 94, SCHALICK 79: You know when you get in a game with the Clippers you’d better be ready for a track meet. Schalick placed five scorers in double figures, but was slow out of the gate compared to their hosts and was in catch-up mode the whole second half.
Jase Volovar led the Cougars with a season-high 18 points, two off his career high. Kade Macom had 16, matching his career-high for the second straight game. Julian Dickerson had 17 points while Orion Baldwin and Cooper Willoughby had 10 apiece. Virtually all of their points came from the field. They didn’t go to the line much and had only one free throw.
Clayton’s James Fritz led all scorers with 21 points. The Clippers had three other scorers in double figures and got scoring from seven others. Only two others scored for Schalick outside of its double-figure scorers.
Penns Grove beats Overbrook for third time this season in Tri-County Post-Season Bracket opener; Woodstown, Salem Tech fall
TCC GIRLS TOURNAMENT Championship Bracket Clearview 59, Cumberland 36 Kingsway 39, Woodstown 24 Washington Twp. 54, Triton 33 Pennsville at Delsea (Sat.) Postseason Bracket Pitman at Highland Clayton 62, Salem Tech 15 Penns Grove 44, Overbrook 37 TUESDAY’S GAMES Championship Bracket Pennsville-Delsea at Gloucester Catholic Clearview at Timber Creek Kingsway at Glassboro Washington Twp. at Wildwood Postseason Bracket Pitman-Highland at Schalick Salem at Williamstown Clayton at GCIT Penns Grove at Deptford
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PINE HILL – Deja Cook had to be feeling pretty confident going into the opening round of this year’s Tri-County Conference Post-Season Bracket.
Her Penns Grove girls basketball team hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success during her first season as the head coach, but the success it did have came against the team it was playing in the first round.
The Red Devils made it three in a row over Overbrook Friday night, 44-37, advancing to the semifinals of their bracket. They visit second-seeded Deptford Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“We beat adversity and we showed that our will was stronger than the opposing team,” Cook said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times and we did.”
All three of the wins over the Rams pulled the Red Devils (3-18) out of the doldrums. The first one snapped a six-game losing streak and gave Cook her first win as a head coach. The second snapped a nine-game slide. Friday’s ended a three-game streak. They held the Rams to less than 40 points in every game.
They won this one with a good finish, outscoring the seventh-seeded Rams 14-6 in the fourth quarter to take the lead and win by seven.
Keziah Patterson and Janiyah Cummings led Penns Grove’s offense with 14 points each. Cummings completed the double-double with 18 rebounds and also had six blocked shots. Patterson had seven rebounds and six steals. Mikayla Washington had eight points and 17 rebounds.
“We were down numerous times during the game but the girls remained uplifted, kept fighting and were able to work together to get the win,” Cook said. “I’m proud of how far they came as a team and individuals. Looking forward to our next game.”
Gianna Simon led Overbrook (5-18) with 23 points. She hit six 3-pointers.
Penns Grove
12
8
10
14-
44
Overbrook
10
11
10
6-
37
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET KINGSWAY 39, WOODSTOWN 24:The Wolverines remembered how the last meeting with Kingsway went and didn’t want to repeat that again. They tightened up the things that got away from them in that 54-17 loss and gave the Lady Dragons a much better battle, but they just couldn’t get shots to fall.
They did score the first basket of the game, then Kingsway held them scoreless the rest of the quarter while opening an 11-2 lead. It was 28-8 in the third quarter, but they fought to stay in it.
“It was working on the things that we talk about working on all the time,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “We had an emphasis of doing things in practice this week and to see the girls implement it, that was positive for us.
“Shots didn’t fall. We missed a couple layups in the beginning that could have maybe changed the game, but we were taking those layups, we were being aggressive, so I was proud of that all day today.”
Lauren Hengel was Woodstown’s leading scorer with nine points, all of them coming in the second half. She also grabbed eight rebounds, five in the fourth quarter. Kyia Leyman had 12 rebounds, eight in the first half.
Penns Grove takes down Willingboro, Salem Tech falls in TCC bracket; Salem bowling reaches sectional semis
BOYS BASKETBALL
PENNS GROVE – The reason teams try to schedule games late in the cutoff week is to make a last-minute move up the power points standings.
Penns Grove gained a lot of power points in its hope to move into the South Jersey Group 1 top four and potentially two home playoff games Thursday with its 69-58 win over Willingboro.
The Red Devils (15-9) jumped out front early and stayed in control. Geonni Conrad and Roman Gipson led their usually balanced scoring attack with 16 and 14, respectively.
The Chimeras had three scorers in double figures, led by Yasin Hogue’s 25 points, but Penns Grove had eight players hit the scoring column, with half of them scoring at least seven points.
Wildwood 68, Salem Tech 31: Trevor Troiano hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Warriors in the first round of the Tri- County Postseason Bracket. Raphael Busch led the Chargers with 11. Wildwood now plays at Pitman in the quarterfinals.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wildwood 59, Salem 27: The Warriors (17-6) roared to a 23-4 first-quarter lead and cruised to a third straight victory. Wildwood’s Rebecca Benichou led all scorers with 23 points. Angela Wilber dished 10 assists. Dyaira Anderson led the Rams (8-9) with 16 points.
BOYS BOWLING SJ GROUP 1 QF Salem 2, Maple Shade 0: Troy Carey rolled two games of 266 for the day’s high series (532) and Jacob Puni rolled games of 242 and 228 to lead the second-seeded Rams (10-3) into the sectional semifinals. They’ll face sixth-seeded Doane Academy (8-10) Wednesday at Wood Lanes. The winner gets Camden Catholic or Asbury Park in the Feb. 21 finals.
SJ GROUP 2 QF Lindenwold 2, Salem Tech 1: Second-seeded Lindenwold (14-1-1) won the rubber game 842-789 to reach the sectional semifinals. Cooper Rappa bowled the high game (216) and high series (550) for the Chargers (6-8).
GIRLS BOWLING SJ GROUP 1 QF Camden Catholic 2, Salem Tech 1: The fourth-seeded Irish (14-1) won the rubber game 686-614 to reach the semifinals. Naomi Hess rolled a high-game 181 in Game 3 for the Chargers (9-2-1), but the Irish had four games 145 or better. Hess also had the high series for the match (512).
Crowd rushes the floor after Salem’s Tymear Lecator reaches 1,000-point plateau, Woodstown wrestling wins division title in coach’s final regular-season home match, also ncludes scores and highlights from Tuesday night’s Salem County sports calendar
BOYS BASKETBALL Salem 71, Penns Grove 52 WRESTLING Delsea girls 46, Schalick 21 Woodstown 58, Timber Creek 24 Penns Grove at Palmyra Schalick 45, Cedar Creek 33
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Tymear Lecator had known for a while what was going to happen if he scored his 1000th career point at home. When the milestone came, he just let it come to him.
The sellout crowd rushed the floor after the Salem junior guard hit the number Tuesday night on a free throw with 2:22 left in the Rams’ 71-52 win over rival Penns Grove.
When he swished the historic shot, they came out of the stands. They came from the other side of the floor. They came in waves. But instead of running away from crush of humanity, Lecator just let the love envelop him. He backed off the foul line, raised his arms in triumph and let the crowd carry him all the way to the far baseline.
“It’s been talked about in school since Monday,” he said. “I didn’t get away from it. I just stood them and let everybody just run into me. I knew they were coming so I just stood there.
“(Scoring 1000 points) has been on my mind since I was a freshman and I knew I had a high chance of getting it, especially in the role I’ve been playing on this team since my freshman year.
“It means a lot because not a lot of guys do it as a junior. Everybody usually gets it their senior year. It means everything because I know how much work I’ve put in over the years. I’m just proud I hit the milestone.”
Lecator is the 18th player in the boys program’s history to join the 1000-Point Club and the first since Anthony Farmer, the son of coach Anthony Farmer, did it in January 2024.
Ironically, they did it against the same team, on the same floor, under similar circumstances and from the same free throw line.
Farmer needed 35 on his night to reach the milestone; he scored 36. Lecator needed 22; he scored 23.
Farmer got it on a free throw in the fourth quarter. Lecator hit the mark on a free throw in the fourth quarter.
The crowd rushed the floor for Farmer. They did the same for Lecator.
“It brought back some good memories,” the elder Farmer said.
It took about 10 minutes to clear the floor after the celebration. And the player still had another free throw to make.
In some ways it was easier to nail that one down than the first one.
“Honestly, it was 10 times easier to make the second one than the first one,” he said. “The first one everybody was standing up getting ready to run on the court, so I was definitely real nervous. The second one was nothing compared to the first one.”
Needing 22 to reach the milestone wasn’t as big an ask as Farmer’s target number against Penns Grove, but it was lofty nonetheless. But Lecator wasn’t worried about getting it. He scored 20 or more 15 times in his career and six times each of the last two seasons, including Monday night at Paulsboro to get close.
“I’m used to scoring 20 … so I was like that ain’t that crazy. I could get that today,” he said. “I just made the right reads and I let the game come to me, and luckily I hit enough shots to score the 22.”
NOTES: Lecator also had eight rebounds and four assists. Deshaan Williams had his sixth double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds). Marshall Stephens and Fatah Paige also grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Penns Grove’s typical balanced scoring attack was led by Carson Pearsall’s 14 points … Salem remains the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group 1 power points standings by nearly two full points over Haddon Twp. Saturday is the cutoff date.
SALEM 71, PENNS GROVE 52 PENNS GROVE (14-9): Roman Gipson 3 2-4 9, Geonni Conrad 2 2-3 6, Naheef Frisby 2 0-0 5, Will Roy 2 0-0 4, Mishawn Brantley 1 0-4 2, Jameel Horace 2 0-0 4, Carson Pearsall 4 5-9 14, Zane Thomas 3 2-2 8. Totals 19 11-22 52. SALEM (18-4): Tymear Lecator 9-4-23, Marshall Stephens 3-0-6, Neziah Spence 3-1-8, Fatah Paige 2-0-4, Darrelle Johnson 2-0-4, Deshaan Williams 5-4-14, BJ Robbins 1-2-4, Xavier McGriff 2-1-6, Kyaire Parsons 1-0-2. Totals 28-12-71.
Penns Grove
10
18
11
13-
52
Salem
11
26
17
17-
71
3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Colson, Fritby, Pearsall); Salem 3 (Lecator, Spence, McGriff). Rebounds: Penns Grove 24 (Frisby 7, Thomas 7); Salem 55 (Stephens 10, Paige 10, Williams 1o).
Wrestling
BOYS SCHALICK 45, CEDAR CREEK 33 106: Sincere Wilcox (CC) pinned Victor Fenske, 0:46 113: Galel Solano-Lopez (CC) pinned Nicholas Latona, 1:35 120: E’Shion Underwood (S) pinned Luke Sess, 0:40 126: Hector Villarrubia-Torres (CC) pinned Caleb Jenkins, 1:39 132: Gavin Marcasciano (CC) maj. dec. over Jacon Potts, 14-3 138: Masen Cruz (CC) tech fall over Gabriel McFeeley, 15-0 (2:50) 144: Michael Baisch (S) pinned Kyle Smith 1:27 150: Mason Hollywood (S) pinned Jakob Dase, 1:16 157: Ayden Jenkins (S) tech fall over Jake Hardiman, 16-0 165: Anthony Deaver (S) pinned Cole Burton, 3:30 175: Ricky Watt (S) pinned Xavier Villarubia-Torres, 3:06 190: Gerardp Foe;o[e (S) maj. dec. Giovanni Carnes, 8-0 215: James Cook (S) won by forfeit 285: Slayton D’Amico (CC) pinned Jeff Edmonds, 1:08
WOODSTOWN 58, TIMBER CREEK 24 106: Jimmy Boone (TC) pinned TJ Conto, 0:19 113: Jadon Middlemiss (WO) won by forfeit 120: Carson Bradway (WO) pinned Dyllan Klotz, 2:43 126: Walker Battavio (WO) pinned Seth Redman, 1:12 132: Barry Coverly (WO) won by forfeit 138: Chase Icon (WO) won by forfeit 144: Nehemiah Carter (WO) won by forfeit 150: Mathyias Ellis (WO) won by forfeit 157: Matt Cordovz (TC) pinned Tyrell West, 4:24 165: Ricky Watts (WO) pinned Nathaniel Collazo, 3:25 175: Greyson Hyland (WO) maj. dec. Zyeir Green, 12-4 190: Elijah Green (TC) pinned Asher Fitzpatrick, 3:43 215: Julian McCray (TC) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 2:27 285: Mateo Vinciguerra (WO) pinned Roland Green, 0:52
GIRLS DELSEA 46, SCHLAICK 21 100: Isabella Gjini (D) won by forfeit 107: Karleigh Six (D) won by forfeit 114: Ava Baldino (D) won by forfeit 120: Nevaeha Chaney (S) won by forfeit 126: Olivia Guzman (D) pinned River Wojcik, 0:29 132: McKenna Thomas (D) won by forfeit 138: Angelia Deaver (S) dec. Ellie Fanz, 7-3 145: Elizabeth Ostoyic (D) maj. dec. Haley Batista, 11-0 152: McKayla Rutledge (D) won by forfeit 165: Ranae Scurry (S) pinned Kyleigh Dotzel, 0:42 185: Lydia Gilligan (S) pinned Samaiya Figueroa, 5:11 235: Jessica Fantini (S) won by forfeit
Lifelong Red Devil approved to become school’s head football coach, driven to bring the program back to former glory
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – Damian Ware has been through the highs and lows of the Penns Grove football program, both as a player and a coach. The Red Devils are in a downturn right now and he wants to bring them back and now he has that chance.
WARE
Ware was installed as the Red Devils’ new head football coach Monday night. He takes over for Marc Maccarone, who stepped down after the final game last season.
It’s an ambitious take for Ware, 48. He’s also the Red Devils’ boys basketball coach and will remain in that position in addition to the football job. Actually, he was coaching that team to a win at rival Pennsville while the board was meeting to approve him for the football job.
He also was an assistant track coach, but will give that up to oversee the strength and conditioning program. He’s hoping his players follow that lead and encourages them to become three-sport athletes.
“I’m a football guy too,” he said. “I’ve been coaching football for over 10 years at Penns Grove, I played football at Penns Grove. I was an all-star player back in the week a few times and a lot of people said I should have played football in college instead of basketball, but I love basketball more so I just played basketball in college. But I’m a football guy as well.”
What else he is is Penns Grove through and through. He played football and basketball there for Al Birch and Steve Kline before going on to play college basketball at FDU in the late 90s (and nearly beating UConn in the NCAA Tournament), and when he returned home served as an assistant for each of the Red Devils’ last three head football coaches – Kemp Carr, John Emel and Maccarone.
“One thing you know about Damian,” athletics director Anwar Golden said, “he is Penns Grove to the core. Nothing comes before the growth of Penns Grove. I’m really excited about working with him.”
The Red Devils had been championship contenders in Group I for years, but they missed the playoffs each of the last two years, bottoming out at 0-9 this past season, their first winless season in recent memory. In the most recent West Jersey Football League reshuffle, they was demoted to the Independence Division after playing in the dynamic Diamond Division since the league’s inception.
“We want to bring the pride back to Penns Grove football,” Ware said. “We were more of a football town than a basketball town and now it’s kind of flipped the other way. I want it to be both, football and basketball, because that’s what we’ve always been.
“We’ve always been a prevalent team in both sports. We’re looking to bring the culture back and bring the pride back to Penns Grove football. That’s part of the reason I wanted to take on the program, to try to bring it back,”
His approach to that will be a “homegrown way.” He said the two biggest factors in bringing them back are the commitment to a youth football program and restoring the culture surrounding the program.
“Without that feeder system it’s tough because kids come into high school without that background, knowledge of playing football or even knowing how to get into a three-point stance,” he said. “We want them to come into high school with some experience.
“We need to get our feeder system back first and foremost, and then change the culture. The pride in football has kind of been lackluster. A lot of guys went to different schools. We’d like to keep our talent here. That’s the No. 1 thing we need to do, keep our talent because we’ve always been one of the best programs because we have some of the best talent around.
“We need to bring the pride back to Penns Grove football, keep the kids here and continue to win like we always have.”
Top photo: Damian Ware (R) talks over a play with Penns Grove head coach Marc Maccarone during a preseason practice last summer. Ware was approved as the Red Devils’ new head coach Monday.
Riverview Sports News 