Pennsville’s Lussi win his first career tournament title at Overbrook; Schalick/Cumberland wins Clipper Classic, Penns Grove’s Brown voted Most Oustanding Wrestler
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PINE HILL – Elias Lussi’s rise from a tagalong who knew next to nothing about the sport when he first walked into the wrestling room to becoming the face of a program moved to another level Thursday when he won his weight division in an in-season tournament for the first time.
The Pennsville senior added “tournament champion” next to his name when he took a 7-2 decision from Timber Creek’s Amir Reason-Dallas, an aggressive returning regional qualifier, to win at 190 in the Overbrook Holiday Tournament.
He’s the first Pennsville wrestler to win an in-season tournament title since Mikey Lapalomento took the 138 title in last year’s Gateway holiday tournament. He also had a bye and two pins on the road to his crown.
“I’m proud; I’m pumped, man,” Lussi said. “This is something I was looking forward to, especially after the Howdy Duncan tournament (in Delaware) where I got sixth. I wanted to bounce back after some tough losses. This was my opportunity to make some noise and prove myself.”
Lussi arrived in the Pennsville wrestling room three years ago at the urging of one of his friends knowing absolutely nothing about the sport and has evolved into a leader in that room and captain of the team.
“It’s all a testament to the time he put in during the season, in the offseason, after practice,” Pennsville coach John Starcevich said. “There have been times he’s stayed after practice and asked me to drill extra. That’s like music to any coach’s ear. I’ll leave the light on for anyone who wants to work.”
Lussi was one of four Eagles to place in the tournament. Travis Hagan finished third at 138. Lucas Thomas (106) and Robbie McDade (157) finished fourth in their weight classes. The Eagles finished seventh as a team. Timber Creek won it.
“Actually, it was a pretty tough day,” Starcevich said. “There were a lot of Region 8 teams there we’ll see come the post-season.
“We’re in the grind of the season here. We are entering January. We have been tested in some sense and we have guys who are really figuring out what it means to be competitive. We need to continue to work hard in the room and get after it.”
OVERBROOK HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT TEAM SCORES: Timber Creek 169, Hammonton 146, Burlington Twp. 133, Barnegat 119, Mainland 83, Deptford 77, Pennsville 67, Millville 61, Cherry Hill East 56, Winslow 56, Overbrook 44, St. Joe’s 17.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES 106: Ryan Pancoast, Timber Creek dec. Tyler Police, Hammonton, 6-4 113: Eoin Curran, Deptford pinned Matthew Steele, Timber Creek, 5:54 120: Gavin Morris, Hammonton pinned Devin Karge, Timber Creek, 4:04 126: Ethan Christmas, Deptford dec. Patrick Tull, Millville, 6-5 132: Anthony Cook, Burlington Twp. pinned Michael Rosano, Overbrook, 0:34 138: Trey DeMeo, Barnegat dec. Jaylen Huertas, Deptford, 7-2 144: Aiden O’Halloran, Barnegat dec. Nicholas Davis, Burlington Twp., 10-3 150: Logan Kahrs, Burlington Twp. pinned Ryan Kuriger, Timber Creek, 2:55 157: Gavin Bates, Timber Creek dec. Vincent Palermo, Hammonton, 5-3 (OT) 165: Nakeem Powell, Winslow pinned Gary Williams, Mainland, 2:46 175: Chase Hoag, Mainland dec. Jacob Davis, Burlington Twp., 5-3 190: Elias Lussi, Pennsville, def. Amir Reason-Dallas, Timber Creek, 7-2 215: Mark Hartley, Hammonton maj. dec. over Raymere Mahadeo, Barnegat, 16-5 285: Jayson Ross, Timber Creek pinned Camryn Broadnax, Hammonton, 1:54
Penns Grove wrestlers Anthony Brown (L) and Devine Arce show off their brackets after winning their weight classes in the Clipper Classic. Brown also was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler, the Red Devils’ first since 2019.
Dan Allen Clipper Classic
CLAYTON – The Schalick/Cumberland cooperative won the first team title in the recent memory of either school and Penns Grove’s Anthony Brown was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler as Salem County wrestlers dominated the day.
Schalick/Cumberland won the 10-team event with 158 points. They had 13 wrestlers place, including five weight-division winners and two runner-ups.
Caleb Jenkins (106), Luke Silva (126), Ricky Watt (157) Jake Magonagle (175) and Ronald Piernikoski (215) all won their weight classes.
Brown was one of two Red Devil champions at the tournament. He won the 150 class title that got away from him last year with a dramatic 11-10 double-overtime victory over Eduardo Oliveira of Riverside. He is 7-0 this season. He’s the Red Devils’ first MOW since Tyreke Brown (220) in the 2019 Region 8 Tournament.
Devine Arce pinned his way to his second title of the season, with both coming in less than 30 seconds. He is 8-0 this year at 120.
Bayonne Holiday Classic Consolation: Salem 60, West Orange 56 Championship: Charlestown (Mass.) 74, Bayonne 50
By Riverview Sports News
BAYONNE – Salem basketball coach Anthony Farmer knew his team’s holiday tournament trip to North Jersey would be good for a lot of reasons.
It didn’t necessarily start out in the best of ways, but the Rams learned a lot about themselves and dealing with adversity. They even got a win out of it, holding off West Orange 60-56 in the consolation game of the Bayonne Holiday Tournament to snap a three-game losing streak.
“I thought this holiday tournament we grew up,” Farmer said. “My young guys stepped up and we are looking to make a run in January.”
As much as the Rams (2-3) were looking forward to the program’s first overnight tournament trip, things started stacking up against them quickly.
They were on the bus three hours getting there and caught a flat along the way. Then they had to play a strong team out of Boston in the opening round and lost by 20. And then their best player, senior guard Anthony Farmer, rolled an ankle in the game and didn’t play in Thursday’s consolation game.
But the Rams got through it. They put three scorers in double figures and held on down the stretch after the Mountaineers (1-6) had cut an 11-point Salem halftime lead to four going into the fourth quarter.
Seniors Paul Weathers and Jabez Dejesus led the Rams with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Freshman Tymear Lecator had 12.
Dejesus went 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 9-of-10 for the game. Weathers had nine points in the fourth quarter.
“To win without one of your best players (is encouraging),” Farmer agreed. “The other guys had to step up and they did. That’s what we have been missing the last few games.”
Warriors Classic
WOODSTOWN 50, NEW EGYPT 46: The undefeated Wolverines got on top early, then spent the rest of the game trying to stay there before finally putting the hosts away in the Warriors Classic title game.
Garrett Leyman, who’s three-point play in the final 10 seconds gave the Wolverines the lead in the semifinals, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final, scored 15 points and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Max Webb also made the all-tournament team.
Rocco String was Woodstown’s leading scorer with 17 points.
The Wolverines carried a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, then stretched their lead to eight with 1:26 to play.
WOODSTOWN 50, NEW EGYPT 46 WOODSTOWN (4-0) – Blake Bialecki 3-0-7, M.J. Hall 0-2-2, Garrett Leyman 5-3-15, Max Webb 3-1-7, Rocco String 8-1-17, Zyaire Caesar 0-2-2. Totals 19-9-50. NEW EGYPT (2-4) – Nolan Arnold 8-3-20, Jack Burr 1-0-3, Connor Fischer 2-0-5, Tommy Merlucci 1-0-3, Clyde Ferris 5-0-11, Evan Goldberg 1-0-2, Ryan Reynolds 1-0-2. Totals 19-3-46.
PENNSVILLE 73, BUENA 43: The Eagles would like to have a little better record heading into the new year, but a 3-3 they’re really not complaining. They got back on the winning track after being routed in the tournament opener by taking control early, spreading the wealth and opening it up with a 27-point third quarter.
“As a program I’m just happy we can be disappointed at 3-3,” Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky said. “I wanted to be 5-1, 4-2, maybe yesterday’s game is one I’d liked back if we started a little bit fresher, but (we’re) 3-3 heading into the conference schedule, so … moving forward. Good win today. Three wins in another year may have been the whole season, so three before the new year is good.”
Eight players scored for the Eagles, three in double figures. Luke Wood led the Eagles with 24 points and is now 82 points shy of 1,000 for his career. He was 10-of-15 from the free throw line.
Daniel Saulin had his third double-double in six games — 16 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) and 11 rebounds – and blocked five shots. Cohen Petrutz scored 10 points and Jayden Thomas had eight points and six assists.
“That’s what everything was today – balanced,” Mecholsky said. “We were just looking to execute on offense, we didn’t care who scored. We knew if we put the ball in the basket then the score would turn out the way it did. Everybody was looking for the extra pass and it worked today.”
VINELAND 41, PENNS GROVE 27: When the horn sounded to end the third quarter it was like a switch that flipped the script.
The Red Devils carried a three-point lead into the fourth quarter of their Marty Derer Showcase at Delsea and held their opponent to less than 20 percent shooting from the floor.
But in the fourth quarter everything that could go wrong for the young Red Devils did. They hit only one of 10 shots from the floor, committed seven turnovers and were outscored 19-2.
It was more a change in chemistry than strategy that did in the Red Devils. They played mostly freshmen Karon Ceaser, Neziah Spence and Will Roy in the third quarter with Luis Colon and Mr Peterson alongside senior Willie Slocum and the group got them the lead.
They reinserted veterans Giomar Conrad and Mekhi Ballard in the fourth quarter and it fell apart.
“I should have kept the young guys in because they were making it happen,” coach Damian Ware said.
Karon Ceaser scored the Red Devils’ only basket of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Jack Baruffi and Ernie Bernhardt teamed up for 11 of their combined 16 points in the fourth quarter for Vineland.
It was Bernhardt’s bucket three minutes into the fourth quarter that gave Vineland the lead for good.
ATLANTIC TECH 67, SALEM TECH 44: The every-other-game pattern of Haneef Frisby and Antoine Robinson leading the Chargers in scoring was back in Frisby’s court Thursday.
Frisby scored 18 points in the consolation game of the tournament to led the Chargers in scoring. Curiously, he has been leading them in scoring in all the even-numbered games, while Antoine Robinson has led them in the odd-numbered games. When they come through together consistently, coach Bryan Riley knows he’ll have something special.
“They’re sophomores,” he said. “They’ll figure it out.”
The Chargers were in the game in the first half, trailing by only three at the break with Frisby scoring 14 points. But ACIT outscored them 20-7 in the third quarter and continued to pull away in the fourth.
Tyler Zampino scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for Salem Tech.
Battavio, Donelson never far apart in the box score, combine for 57 as Woodstown opens its tournament with easy win; Pennsville bounces back in Buena and more
THURSDAY’S GIRLS BASKETBALL SCORES Battle at Buena Pennsville 49, Camden Academy 33
Boardwalk Classic Wildwood Convention Center St. Dominic 53, Penns Grove 51
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson are two of the most dynamic scorers on any one team in any type of geography you want to name – county, conference, section, state.
Woodstown coach Kara Straughn would put them up against anyone anywhere. And when she does, they usually dominate the box score.
When they’re are on – and often when they’re not – they’re capable of outscoring any team they play by themselves. They came thisclose to scoring 30 points in the same game for the first time in their career Thursday, but settled for 28 and 29, respectively, and it was plenty as the Wolverines routed winless Bridgeton 75-41 in the opening round of the Wolverine Holiday Tournament.
They had plenty of time to get it, but they were lifted to play another day with 2:20 left in the game and the win safely tucked away.
“Mainland I believe has a set of twins this year that are seniors who are very good, Megan and Talia caliber, but I don’t know of anybody in Tri-County or maybe South Jersey,” Woodstown coach Kara Straughn said. “Gloucester Catholic has a couple, but they’re not Megan and Talia.
“The big thing is there’s no competition (between them). You have some teams who have two really great players, but it’s a constant competition. But with those two, they’re feeding each other. Together, the two of them, I don’t think there are anybody (like them).”
Battavio agreed the combination gives the Wolverines “something different.”
Donelson said “it’s like a power move for us. We just work really well together because we’ve been playing with each other a lot time. We’re like just locked in together.”
The two juniors are a lot closer than what you see in the scoring column. Sure, it might look like they’re locked in some friendly competition to see who gets scoring honors for the night, but they’re close friends that extend beyond the high school basketball court and genuinely want to see the other succeed.
In the 59 games Woodstown has played during their varsity careers, Battavio has been the higher scorer of the two 27 times, Donelson has had the better of it 26 times and they’ve wound up even six times. Their final line has been within three points of each other 32 times and only three times in the last 26 games has the difference between them been more than six points.
While they were so close to going for 30 in the same game for the first time Thursday, they’ve both gone for 20 in the same game five times and in four of the last eight games going back to last season, including the last two. Their previous best combined effort before Thursday was a 56-point night against Penns Grove (Donelson went for 31) in last year’s South Jersey Group I semifinals.
“I think we share a chemistry over the three years and also being really good friends helps,” Battavio said. “We like to push the ball and get it up to each other and I think we’re both not selfish about it. I’m willing to give up the ball to get her a layup any day. If she has 20 and I have 10, if we win, it’s a win. We’re heavy on that.”
Of course, the biggest beneficiary of it all is the team and the program.
“I think it sets the tone for not just now but the future as well,” Straughn said. “I have a lot of sophomores who are looking to those two and saying, ‘OK, I want to be the Megan and Talia in two years when I’m a junior and senior and they’re gone.’ So they’ve set a great example and a great tone for the young girls and the program overall.
“We have youth programs coming out to watch both of them. And they’re both involved in the youth program, they both help out. So, I think it doesn’t just help on the court, it helps the future of Woodstown basketball as well.”
They played a big part in the Wolverines putting this one away early. Bridgeton stayed with them early, even leading 9-8, but then the avalanche came. The Wolverines went on a 15-3 run to the end of the quarter that turned into a 27-5 spree before the Bulldogs called time with 4:21 left in the first half.
The Dynamic Duo had 25 of the Wolverines’ first 35 points and 29 points in the first half. Donelson had 11 in the first quarter.
While there is no pact for making it happen, everyone involve – Battavio, Donelson and Straughn – all agree it would be “really cool” if they both hit their 1,000th career point on the same night.
After Thursday, Donelson stands are 753 career points and Battavio is at 741. They’re projected to be the 10th and 11th members of the school’s girls 1,000-Point Club sometime around the Tri-County Tournament.
“I think that would really be the icing on the cake,” Straughn said. “I can’t even imagine that celebration.” WOODSTOWN 75, BRIDGETON 41 BRIDGETON (0-6) – Adelina Wilks 10 3-7 25, Ayianna Ridgeway 0 0-0 0, Diara McGriff 1 0-0 2, Imara James 4 0-0 8, Jayla Bowman 2 0-2 4, Sarena Parker 1 0-0 2, Kahmya Johnson 0 0-0 0, Karina Perez 0 0-0 0, TaMiyah Russell 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 3-9 41. WOODSTOWN (3-1) – Talia Battavio 11 4-8 28, Megan Donelson 13 0-0 29, Alyssa Baber 1 1-1 4, Gianna Maiorini 0 0-0 0, Shannon Pierman 4 2-2 10, Lauren Hengel 1 0-0 2, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Jala Thomas 0 0-0 0, Lizzy Daly 0 0-0 0, Brae DiGregorio 0 0-0 0, Kendall Young 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 7-11 75.
Cover photo: Megan Donelson (20) and Talia Battavio lead the Woodstown girls basketball team out of timeout Thursday just as they usually do in the scoring column. (Photo by Collin Groom)
Battle at Buena
PENNSVILLE 49, CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 33: After having what coach Sam Trapp called “a big honest conversation” about how their opening-round loss to Pemberton went down, the Eagles got back on the winning road in the consolation game, but an even bigger issue emerged.
The Eagles played through two injured and endured another during the game.
Point guard Marley Wood played through an ankle injury she sustained the day before, Taylor Bass didn’t play because of a broken finger on her left hand and Annika Macalino suffered a knee injury during the game.
“It’s just so frustrating, it feels like a curse this year,” Trapp said. “I struggled with a lot of injuries with soccer and here we are with Round 2 in basketball. The best thing I can do is just keep coaching the other girls through it and working our team strength at this point and hoping the girls will be able to recover and get back on the court quickly.”
Even with all that going on, the Eagles had enough to get past the winless Cougars. They placed three scorers in double figures and led wire-to-wire, even with a hiccup in the third quarter. Nora Ausland led the offense with 17 points, Wood came through with 12 and Bella Farina had 11.
They built a 14-point halftime lead and never lost it, unlike the day before when Pemberton rallied in the second half. The third quarter was a little interesting, though, as they were outscored 16-14. The Eagles have been outscored in the third quarter in four of their five games this season.
“I was just very honest with the girls,” Trapp said. “I just told them we’ve got to take better care of the basketball. You have to step up when you’re playing in the game. You have to do your best when you’re on the court at all times.
“It’s taking accountability for their mistakes and what they can do better moving forward. Thankfully, the girls responded to what I said. We changed our gameplan a little bit with the injuries that we had, so it all ended up shaking out all right at the end.”
3-point goals: Camden Academy 7 (Y. DeLaRosa, Rodriguez 2, D. DeLaRosa 4); Pennsville 6 (N. Ausland 3, Macalino, Wood 2). Total fouls: Camden Academy 6, Pennsville 7.
Penns Grove’s Brianna Robbins (2) prepares to drive the line during Thursday’s Boardwalk Classic game against St. Dominic. (Tournament photo)
Boardwalk Classic
ST. DOMINIC 53, PENNS GROVE 51: The Red Devils staged a furious fourth-quarter rallying from double digits to tie the game, but just came up short. RaNiyah Wilson scored 15 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help Penns Grove come back from a nine-point deficit.
The Red Devils rallied from 12 down to tie the game, but St. Dominic went back ahead when leading scorer Alyssa Stridiron hit a pair of technical foul shots. In the final five seconds Brianna Robbins drove the length of the floor and got to the basket with contact, but didn’t get a call they thought was warranted.
Robbins, who tied the game twice in the fourth quarter, finished with 15 points.
Stridiron was 6-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and finished with 28 points.
3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Wilson 2, B. Robbins); St. Dominic 1 (Capers). Fouled out: Taylor, Wilson. Technical fouls: Wilson. Total fouls: Penns Grove 17, St. Dominic 13.
ACIT Holiday Tech Tournament
GCIT 51, SALEM TECH 15 SALEM TECH (0-4) – Demajae White 1-0-2, Hanna DeWitt 0-1-1, Morgan VanDover 3-0-7, Drummond 1-0-2, Amedee 1-0-2, Reed 0-1-1. Totals 6-2-15. GLOUCESTER TECH (4-3) – Sophia Molinari 1-0-3, Maggie Duer 4-0-12, Leanne Riddick 3-2-8, Ava Friel 1-0-2, Savanna Shute 2-0-4, Reis Hartman 3-0-6, Gina Sheehan 0-1-1, Averie Clement 3-0-8, Sofia McKay 1-0-2, Octavia Adkins 5-0-13. Totals 23-5-51.
Both Pennsville teams lost their Battle at Buena tournament openers, girls after blowing big lead, boys in a blowout
BATTLE AT BUENA Girls games Pemberton 50, Pennsville 47 Buena 48, Camden Academy Charter 20 Boys games Camden Academy Charter 98, Pennsville 58 LEAP 68, Buena 31
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
BUENA – The first game of the post-Christmas segment of their schedule couldn’t have started any better for the Pennsville girls basketball team Wednesday. It couldn’t have ended any worse.
Quimia Wilkins hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to give Pemberton a three-point lead, then made one of two with one second left to complete a second-half comeback that sent the Eagles to a 50-47 loss in the opening round of the Battle at Buena.
The Eagles led until the final 75 seconds of the game. They led by 15 in the second quarter (23-8) and 11 (35-24) after Nora Ausland’s 3-pointer with 3:57 left in the third quarter. Pemberton took the lead for the first time when Aniah Rodgers hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 1:15 to play and never lost it.
Foul trouble and turnovers were the biggest conspirators against the Eagles. Their starters were strapped to the bench the majority of the second half and the team was charged with 19 turnovers in the last quarter and a half.
“We don’t take care of the basketball; the turnovers are absolutely killing us,” Eagles coach Sam Trapp said. “People are afraid to be in tough positions. There are about two girls who are confident with the basketball when the game gets tough and I need more kids on the court who are ready for those tough situations.”
The Hornets struggled from the free throw line the first three quarters of the game, but found the range in the fourth. They were 6-of-17 from the line in the first three quarters, but went 9-of-12 in the fourth and at one point hit eight in a row.
Wilkins’ final free throw came after Marley Wood purposely missed the second of her two free throws with nine seconds left in an effort to get Pennsville a game-tying shot. Ausland corralled the rebound to give the Eagles a shot to tie, but Wilkins stepped in to steal the entry pass back into Wood and was fouled.
As if the foul trouble wasn’t unnerving enough, the Eagles held their breath momentarily late in the first half when Wood collapsed under the basket with an apparent ankle. She made her way to the training table for treatment, but was back in the game after only 15 seconds elapsed from the game clock and played until the final seconds.
Wood led the Eagles with 12 points.
“That kid is just built different; she’s tough as nails,” Trapp said. “She’s just got that competitive nature in her. She knew her team needed her and she hobbled right back out there. She knew how bad her foot was hurting and she played through it.
“You could see she couldn’t drive to the basket anymore, but to continue to get out there and fight and lead your team, tells you a lot about her.”
One of the biggest plays of the game turned out to be the reversal of a Wood jumper with 3:19 left in the game. The shot, which came right after Pemberton tied the game at 42, initially was ruled a 3, but after an officials’ huddle was changed to a 2. That point and not having to miss the free throw on purpose with nine seconds left could have sent the game to overtime.
The Eagles played strong defense at the outset to open their big early lead. At the point of their 23-8 lead in the second quarter, they held the Hornets to 3-of-15 shooting and created 10 turnovers.
“My bigs were dominant that first half and then in the second half there was just no presence there anymore,” Trapp said. “They beat us up. The kids kept getting fouls called on them and they were afraid to work. It was a shame the foul count forces the kids to be afraid to keep working for the rebounds.”
Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien (15) pulls a rebound away from Camden Academy Charter’s Julius Dominquez in the second quarter of their Battle at Buena tournament game Wednesday.
Boys
CAMDEN ACADEMY CHARTER 98, PENNSVILLE 58: At least the Eagles didn’t get 100 hung on them, and that might be the best thing to come out of it for them.
The Cougars had every chance to break the scoreboard. They had 98 points with 95 seconds to play, but put up four bad 3-pointers and had a last chance to do it with two seconds left but missed a pair of free throws. It would have been the first time an opponent put 100 or more on the Eagles since Clayton and Wildwood did it in back-to-back games in February 2021.
“We talked about that in each of the last three timeouts; that was our main thing in the fourth quarter,” Pennsville coach Joe Mecholsky said. “That’s what we said. Boys, they’ve got 85. You’ve got to keep it to under 100. You’ve got to play with a little pride out there today.
“A hundred is the magic number. It’s bad enough to lose by 40 and then have that other taboo of having 100 on us … It just shows we didn’t compete today. We didn’t have any answer defensively.”
Turnovers, transition – “the killer T’s” – and rebounding all conspired to do in the Eagles. They led 8-5 after back-to-back baskets by Daniel Saulin, then the Cougars got rolling. They went on a 26-3 run to take control of the game. Pennsville had 33 rebounds and 21 turnovers in the game. Camden Academy Charter had 23 offensive rebounds.
“You’ve got to be a little bit more competitive,” Mecholsky said. “We got killed on the boards, by far. Too many second-chance points. We just didn’t take care of the ball and they turned it into transition points and that was it. We lost to a better team today.”
The drama in the game was saved for how long it would take Cougars senior Julius Dominguez to hit the 1,000-point plateau. He needed 13 points and reached the milestone on a hard drive to the basket 3:27 before halftime after five wild attempts to make it happen earlier in the quarter. He finished with 17 points and now has 1,004 for his career.
Daniel Casasola led the Cougars with a career-high 32 points.
Pennsville’s Luke Wood moved 16 points closer to the 1,000-point plateau. He now has 894.
3-point goals: Pemberton 0; Pennsville 2 (Wood, N. Ausland). Fouled out: Farina, Wood. Total fouls: Pemberton 10, Pennsville 19.
BOYS GAME Camden Academy Charter 98, Pennsville 48 CAMDEN ACADEMY (4-1) – Michael Morton 6 1-1 14, Kamar Goodhall 5 0-0 12, Julius Dominquez 6 5-6 17, Omar Quinones 2 0-0 5, Aaron Figueroa 2 0-0 6, Joseph Devine 2 0-0 5, Zyare Roberts 0 0-2 0, Yasir Logan 0 0-0 0, Marcus Smith 0 0-0 0, Kensworth Clarke 0 2-2 2, Daniel Casasola 13 6-6 32, Jenar Carmichael 2 0-2 5. Totals 38 14-19 98. PENNSVILLE (2-3) – Luke Wood 6 3-6 16, Peyton O’Brien 5 0-2 10, Daniel Saulin 6 0-2 12, Jayden Thomas 6 2-3 15, Malik Rehmer 0 0-0 0, Cohen Petrutz 0 1-2 1, Mason O’Brien 1 0-0 2, Conner Starn 0 0-0 0, Logan Hitt 0 0-0 0, Carlo Merindino 0 0-0 0, Cole Johnston 1 0-0 2, Totals 25 6-15 58.
Camden Academy
20
22
31
25 –
98
Pennsville
11
11
26
10 –
58
3-point goals: Camden Academy 8 (Morton, Goodhall 2, Quinones, Figueroa 2, Devine, Carmichael); Pennsville 2 (Wood, Thomas). Technical fouls: Camden Academy (admin), Wood, Rehmer. Total fouls: Camden Academy 12, Pennsville 17.
Cover photo: Pennsville’s Marley Wood (4) and Kylie Harris apply pressure to Pemberton’s Eniola Oluwagbemi in the final minute in hopes of giving the Eagles another shot to regain the lead.
Thursday’s schedule Girls games Consolation: Pennsville vs. Camden Academy Charter, 11 a.m. Championship: Pemberton vs. Buena, 3 p.m. Boys games Consolation: Pennsville vs. Buena, 1 p.m. Championship: Camden Academy Charter vs. LEAP, 5 p.m.
Holiday tournaments highlight the schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Dec. 25-30
DEC. 26 BASKETBALL Girls Battle of the Boards Wildwood Convention Center Salem vs. Millville, 1 p.m.
DEC. 27 BASKETBALL Girls Battle at Buena Pennsville vs. Pemberton, 11 a.m.
Battle of the Boards Wildwood Convention Center Salem vs. Oakcrest, 11:30 a.m.
ACIT Tournament Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 10 a.m. GCIT vs. ACIT, 1 p.m.
Boys Battle at Buena Pennsville vs. Camden Academy Charter, 1 p.m.
ACIT Tournament Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 11:30 a.m. GCIT vs. ACIT, 3:30 p.m.
Bayonne Tournament Salem vs. Charlestown, 4 p.m. West Orange at Bayonne, 5:30 p.m.
Warrior Classic, New Egypt Pinelands at New Egypt, 3:30 p.m. Woodstown vs. Steinert, 5:30 p.m. WRESTLING Audubon, Northern Burlington at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
INDOOR TRACK Woodstown at Ocean Breeze Complex, Staten Island, N.Y.
DEC. 28 BASKETBALL Girls Battle at Buena Pemberton vs. Buena Pennsville vs. Camden Academy
ACIT Tournament Consolation: Salem Tech vs. GCIT, 10 a.m. Championship: Camden Tech vs. ACIT, 1 p.m.
Wolverine Holiday Tournament at Woodstown Highland vs. Paulsboro, 10 a.m. Bridgeton vs. Woodstown, noon
Boardwalk Classic Wildwood Convention Center Penns Grove vs. St. Dominic, 5:45 p.m.
Boys Penns Grove vs. Vineland at Delsea, 4 p.m. Battle at Buena Pennsville vs. Buena Camden Academy vs. LEAP
Warrior Classic, New Egypt Pinelands vs. Steinert Woodstown vs. New Egypt
ACIT Tournament Consolation: Salem Tech vs. ACIT, 11:30 a.m. Championship: Camden Tech vs. GCIT, 3:30 p.m.
Salem in Bayonne Tournament Consolation: Salem vs. West Orange, 2 p.m. Championship: Charlestown (Mass.) vs. Bayonne, 3:30 p.m. WRESTLING Pennsville in Overbrook Tournament Schalick in Clayton Classic
DEC. 29 BASKETBALL Girls Wolverine Holiday Tournament at Woodstown Consolation game, 10 a.m. Championship game, noon WRESTLING Pennsville vs. Barnegat
DEC. 30 BASKETBALL Girls Boardwalk Classic Wildwood Convention Center Penns Grove vs. Ocean City, 2:30 p.m. Boys Boardwalk Classic Wildwood Convention Center Penns Grove vs. Lower Cape May, 5:45 p.m.
Girls roundup: Sophomore-laden Schalick uses big second half to take down LEAP; Woodstown, Pennsville, Penns Grove all win with big second halves or fourth quarters
THURSDAY GIRLS SCORES Salem County Schalick 51, LEAP 28 Penns Grove 52, Cloucester Co. Christian 36 Pennsville 47, GCIT 35 Woodstown 57, Clearview 54
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – John Whalen saw the future of Schalick girls basketball in the second half of Thursday night’s game and he had to admit it looked pretty good.
The Cougars have a young team, but they played like veterans on this night. They already led by five at halftime, but outscored LEAP Academy 33-15 in the second half to earn their first win of the season 51-28.
“That showed the potential this group has,” Whalen said. “They pretty much are all sophomores. They’re very young so I think that highlights the potential this team can have.”
Their 33 second-half points were more than the Cougars (1-2) had scored in their first two games of the season combined.
“The talk at halftime was just picking up some aggression and communication on defense and looking to get the ball inside on offense,” Whalen said. “We came out the second half and the girls did an excellent job jumping passing lanes, getting a lot of steals, some fast-break layups. We started to transition a lot more, get the ball up the floor, and find Ava (Scurry) and Cianna (Gaines) inside for some layups.”
Scully and Cali Fisler shared team scoring honors with 14 points each. Scully scored 10 of her points in the second half and Fisler had nine. Carly Vicente had 13.
“The future is bright,” Whalen said. “I think if the girls stick with it … the next couple years down the road could be where we are back to our competitive years where we have been in the past.”
WOODSTOWN 57, CLEARVIEW 54: Talia Battavio hit two free throws with less than five seconds left on the clock to seal the Wolverines’ second straight victory in a game that had more ups and downs than an elevator.
The Wolverines trailed by 10 at halftime, but opened the third quarter with a 16-0 run and took a nine-point lead into the fourth. The Pioneers rallied to tie the game at 50, but the Wolverines made the last push.
Leading scorers Battavio (26 points) and Megan Donelson (20) both hit field goals to move the Red Devils out front and then they hit three of four free throws to lock it down.
Shannon Pierman kept the ball alive with an offensive rebound on the missed free throw with five seconds left and the Wolverines up by a point. The ball got to Battavio, who was fouled and went to the line for the free throws that sealed the game.
PENNS GROVE 52, GLOUCESTER CHRISTIAN 36: The teams were locked in a tight battle for three quarters, but the Red Devils pulled away by outscoring the Conquerors 21-2 in the fourth quarter for their fourth straight win to remain undefeated.
The Red Devils got 45 points from their three big weapons. RaNiyah Wilson led the way with 17 points, Brianna Robbins had 16 and Meely Horace had 12 (all in the second half). They combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter.
3-point goals: GCC 2 (Karamisakis 2); Penns Grove (Wilson 2, Robbins). Total fouls: GCC 9, Penns Grove 8
PENNSVILLE 47, GCIT 35: The Eagles got off to a fast start, then survived a scare in the third quarter before pulling away.
Nora Ausland led three Pennsville scorers in double figures with 17 points. Marley Wood had 15 and Bella Farina, scoring for the first time this season, had 10. Ausland had eight of her points in the fourth quarter.
Penns Grove has been shuffling lineups all season in hopes of finding the right combination; freshman’s defense sparks Pennsville’s fourth-quarter comeback, Woodstown wins, Schalick falls
THURSDAY’S BOYS SCORES LEAP 52. Schalick 44 Penns Grove 69, Salem Tech 56 Pennsville 61, GCIT 52 Woodstown 59, Cumberland 24
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Damian Ware is still trying to get a handle on his young Penns Grove basketball team and that usually means a plethora of starting lineups before hitting on the one that sticks for the rest of the year.
Ware rolled out his fourth different starting lineup in as many games Thursday night and it produced the Red Devils’ second win of the season, 69-56 over Salem Tech.
“We’re just tooling around with stuff early in the season, plus giving guys an opportunity to play who really haven’t played that many minutes yet,” Ware said. “I’m figuring guys out. I’m figuring out who can play well with who. I’m figuring out whether we should play with two bigs or one big.
“It’s all experimental at this point in the season. It’s really an extended preseason of sorts. I just want to see what all my guys got. I got 14 guys on the team, so I want to see what all of them got in extended minutes, so that’s what we were all about today.”
Up to now, Ware has been starting any combination of four guards with one big. One game he started all guards. The lineup against Thursday featured two bigs for the first time and it gave the Red Devils a defensive bent against their hosts. They held the Chargers to 16 points in the first half while building a 34-16 halftime lead.
The same group started the second half.
The new starter in this mix was Jaden Sorrell, a 6-4 senior who “did a decent job” playing the 5 alongside 6-3 senior Willie Slocum. Sorrell scored four points — all in the second half — grabbed a couple rebounds and blocked a couple shots before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Slocum scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
“It was good because I had more opportunities because I was the 4,” Slocum said. “Other games I was the 5, so it was nice.
“We’ve just got to find the five toughest guys. To me, if I’m not playing that way, the next man up. If somebody else is not playing that way, next man up. We’ve got to five tough guys.”
As that search continues, Ware said it was “very possible” the Red Devils will start even another combination when they host Cherokee Saturday afternoon.
Salem Tech coach Bryan Riley expected to see Roman Gipson among their starters as he was when Riley saw them in the all-guard lineup in person last Saturday, but he didn’t sweat it. He still had to send his guys out there against whomever was on the floor.
The Chargers fell behind 55-30 after three quarters, but they brought it back in the fourth against the Red Devils’ young reserves. Haneef Frisby led the charge with 13 of his game-high 21 points.
“He and Antoine Robinson go back and forth,” Riley said. “We just played Gloucester Catholic, Antoine was the guy that game (16 points). The game before we played GCIT, Haneef was the guy (14). We played Schalick for opening day, Antoine was the guy (19). So, those two just go back and forth.
“I need them both on the same level and once we get that it’s going to be special.”
3-point goals: Penns Grove 3 (Conrad, Spence, Robbins); Salem Tech 2 (Hayes, Robinson). Fouled out: Sorrell. Total fouls: Penns Grove 25, Salem Tech 17. Officials: Woody, McGough.
PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52: If you’re occupying a seat on the Pennsville varsbench you’re expected to contribute when your name is called.
Eagles coach Joe Mecholsky called upon Mason O’Brien for a very specific task in the fourth quarter and the freshman delivered in a veteran way.
It was O’Brien’s job to put a wrench in GCIT scoring machine Mark Hallman as the “one” in the rare box-and-one the Eagles threw out there when nothing else seemed to work. O’Brien held Hallman scoreless the entire quarter and it helped the Eagles rally from five points down to snap a two-game losing streak.
“We put freshman Mason O’Brien on him and we said, ‘Son, you’ve got one job – lock him down,’” Mecholsky said. “He held the kid scoreless in the fourth quarter, let us get our feet and then we came down and executed on offense.
“I went with him because he’s fast afoot, he knows the game of basketball. He’s a freshman by grade … but he’s a little bit older than a freshman (in game sense), but we made it very simple for him. We said stay between (Hallman) and the ball and he was awesome.”
Hallman, who went for 30 against Salem Tech on Monday and was averaging 19.5 coming into the game, had 14 points with four 3-pointers over the first three quarters, but he got nothing in the fourth. Pennsville, meanwhile, outscored GCIT in the quarter 26-12 to beat the Group IV Cheetahs and gain a lot of valuable power points.
“(Mecholsky) told me to do one thing and not allow him to score a point,” O’Brien said. “I tried my best and I exactly did what he asked me to do.
“I just had to stay really close to him, had to follow him around. I tried my best not to let him get the ball. He didn’t do anything against me.”
O’Brien didn’t get a lot of playing time in the first half, but the Eagles were getting players in foul trouble and needed a fresh body. With Chase Burchfield out with a separated shoulder, O’Brien was the next man up.
“It felt great because I’m a freshman and people don’t think I’m that good or anything and I cone through and helped my team get a big win in the early-season going to Christmas break,” he said. “It felt amazing helping my team and my teammates out today.”
O’Brien’s older brother, Peyton, had a three-point play in the rally that extended the Eagles’ lead to five. They were his only points for the game, but he ripped down 14 rebounds. Jayden Thomas led the Eagles with a career-high 17 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter.
Pennsville had been mired in a shooting slump during its two-game losing streak, but broke out in this one. The Eagles were 18-for-42 from the field (2-of-12 from 3-point range) and 23-for-31 from the foul line, a product of their attacking the rim.
PENNSVILLE 61, GCIT 52 GCIT (2-3) – Trent Phillips 4 3-4 11, Michael Stanwood 8 0-0 17, Mark Hallman 5 0-0 14, Charles Donaldson 1 0-2 2, Patrick Monaghan 1 0-0 2, Carl Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Ian Malgapo 2 0-0 6, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 3-6 52 PENNSVILLE (2-2) – Luke Wood 5-5-15, Cohen Petrutz 1-3-5, Peyton O’Brien 1-1-3, Daniel Saulin 2-3-7, Jayden Thomas 6-13-17, Malik Rehmer 1-7-9, Mason O’Brien 2-1-5. Totals 18 23-31 61.
WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24: Rocco String started fast, scoring eight in the first quarter and 10 in the first half, as the Wolverines built a 15-point halftime lead and added to it.
String, a 6-6 junior, was among three Wolverines to score in double figures and had his second double-double in as many games with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Bialecki had 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals and Max Webb had 10 points, seven boards and five assists.
WOODSTOWN 59, CUMBERLAND 24 WOODSTOWN (2-0) – Manny Ortega 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 6 0-0 14, Alejandro Vasquez 1 0-0 2, M.J. Hall 3 0-0 9, Garrett Leyman 3 0-0 6, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 3, Max Webb 4 0-0 10, Rocco String 5 3-6 13, Zyaire Caesar 0 0-0 0, Elijah Caesar 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-6 59. CUMBERLAND (0-2) – Kaleb Green 3 2-2 9, D.J. Mosley 3 0-0 6, Stephen Wilchensky 1 2-2 4, Jalen Stewart 0 0-0 0, Marcus Fortune 0 0-0 0, Deshaan Williams 0 2-2 2, Dumajze Cartwright 0 0-0 0, James Guaciaro 0 0-0 0, Khalif Dawkins 1 0-0 3, Kevin Fiorani 0 0-0 0, Kam Fiorani 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 6-6 24.
Woodstown’s Garrett Leyman (10) puts up a shot in the lane against the pressure of two GCIT defenders. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
LEAP 52, SCHALICK 44: LEAP Academy hasn’t won many games in recent years, so any victory is reason to celebrate.
The Lancers won only two games last season, but they won their second game this season with their come-from-behind victory over the Cougars.
Schalick had an early lead in the game, but LEAP rallied and seized control in the second quarter. Xavion Ayala led LEAP with 22 points. Nylan and Nasir Simmons led Schalick with 12 points apiece.
Pennsville swamps Salem, rallies twice to trim Egg Harbor Twp. in Wednesday wrestling
PENNSVILLE – Trevor Waddington’s pin over Marco Florian at 285 clinched Pennsville’s 39-36 victory over Egg Harbor Twp. Wednesday and set up the Eagles’ sweep of the night. They also swamped Salem 64-0.
The Eagles rallied from 15-0 and 24-21 deficits against EHT. Robbie McDade’s 18-second pin at 157 gave them the lead the first time, then after falling behind again they clinched the match with a forfeit victory (190) and pins by Elias Lussi (215) and Waddington (285).
Waddington also scored a pin in the Salem match.
PENNSVILLE 39, EGG HARBOR TWP. 36 120: Tyler Thomas (E) won by forfeit 126: Peter Steed (E) pinned Christopher Daniels, 4:40 132: Dugan Matthew (E) dec. Randy Hall, 7-5 138: Travis Hagan (P) won by forfeit 144: Joseph Maurer (P) pinned Tyler Schumacker, 1:29 150: Sky Eppes (P) dec. Clarence Mays, 5-3 157: Robbie McDade (P) pinned Logan Benson, 0:18 165: Calvin Johnson (E) dec. Cole Campbell, 5-0 175: Reed Orbach (E) won by forfeit 190: Connor Ayars (P) won by forfeit 215: Elias Lussi (_ pinned Kaiden Vakera, 0:40 285: Trevor Waddington (P) pinned Marco Florian, 3:20 106: Jayson Garcia (E) pinned Lucas Thomas, 3:18 113: Aidan Schlemo (E) won by forfeit
