UPDATED: Salem CC baseball facing final prep for Monday’s season opener without ever having gotten out on the field
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – John Holt was talking with Bryant & Stratton coach Paul Bottigliero the other day about their Opening Day doubleheader in balmy (compared to here) Virginia Beach when the conversation turned to the most pressing issue of the preseason.
Holt was lamenting “without a doubt the worst” preseason weather woes he’s seen in 30 years of coaching when the Bobcats’ coach dropped the biggest truth bomb.
“He said it’s just God reminding us that baseball needs to be played during baseball season,” Holt said.
The winter has been particularly harsh on Holt’s Salem CC ballclub. The Mighty Oaks open their season Monday before jumping right into demanding Region 19 play 10 days later with the real possibility of playing their first game without having gotten outside to practice. The Bobcats, meanwhile, will have 11 games in by the time they play Salem.
All you have to do is look out the window to see the problem. The remnants of the biggest snowstorm in a decade two weeks ago are still covering the ground. The roads are clear, but grassy surfaces remain blanketed by the white stuff.
“It’s gonna be tough to get on a baseball field somewhere,” Holt said. “If anything I think we’re gonna look maybe to at least get some work outside in a parking lot or something along those lines.”
They tried to get outside Monday, renting space at the artificial-turfed MSI Sports Complex in Upper Chichester – where they moved last year’s season opener – but work crews hadn’t finished plowing the grounds and the Mighty Oaks had to cancel the session. They’ve even set up a full field behind the snack stand at the Carneys Point Rec Complex where they play, and it dries well back Holt says, but it still has to.
“The last couple years we’ve been fortunate enough to run into 40-, 50-degree days in January and we were able to get outside on those,” Holt said. “In 30 years of doing this, this is without a doubt the worst weather ever to where it’s snowed two weeks ago and we still have that snow on the ground. It’s not supposed to happen.”
They’ve been doing live drills in the fieldhouse with pitchers and hitters, but it’s the fielders who suffer the most. No ground balls on the infield or timing on double plays and no fly-ball reads for the outfielders.
“I’ve talked to the guys and they’re stressing pretty hard about it,” Holt said. “They’ve caught a thousand ground balls and a thousand fly balls in their lifetime and all I’m looking for is them to just keep routine routine.
“We do kind of preach that throughout the entire year, but if we can just keep the routine plays routine … I’m going to expect mistakes and we’re going to expect our defense to maybe be where I think it should be, but I do think as a whole we’re a better defensive team than what we were last year so I’m not worried, but then against doing walk-throughs in the gym doesn’t exactly give you what you need for outside.”
First baseman-pitcher Tyler Hacker said the biggest hurdle to playing without being outside is “getting the feel again.”
“We have our fall season, it’s all outside, and when we come back for spring we expect to be playing outside and get true hops and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s difficult to kind of feel that you’re playing your sport outside free, so it’s definitely more of a mind game than a physical thing and I’d say we’ve adjusted well. We’ve done everything we can do to be inside and we learned how to adapt, as we should.
“There’s obviously going to be some roughs, as there is for every first game, just a different kind. We’ve done live ABs, but we haven’t fielded the live ABs in a while, so I think it’ll be a little rough through there, but it shouldn’t take long.”
For one of the newest Mighty Oaks players, this snow business is a play out of left field. Outfielder Cliff Wysinger is a redshirt freshman from McDonough, Ga., who transferred from Auburn-Montgomery and said what the Mighty Oaks are experiencing is “very different” for him. He said his biggest adjustment to not having been outside is gauging whatever wind they’ll encounter on the trip.
“It’s definitely a concern, but I do think we are ready to play,” he said. “I really don’t have any concern. Coach Holt made a good statement saying we’ve done it a thousand times before, what’s one more time. I think we’re prepared as a team. I think we’ll put up some really good runs as an offense. As a defense, we’ll have our mistakes or whatever, but as long as it’s not big mistakes I think we’ll be good.
“It’s definitely a first time for me. We’re usually on the field by now. It’s very different not being outside and I’m hearing this is like one of the worst winters. It’s definitely different for everybody, but we all played the game. We just got to go out there and compete.”
The weather woes aside, it’s still a little early for Holt to commit to an Opening Day lineup and a pitching rotation for the doubleheader is still “up in the air.” Fortunately, he has a lot of options in both areas.
“I’ve got a lot of good problems this year and one of the main purposes of the Bryant & Stratton series is to give those guys the opportunity to prove who’s going to be that nine,” Holt said. “For me it’s let’s see what we get in these two games and give guys opportunities.
“I would have liked to have had a couple more non-conference (games) before we jump into Ocean, a must-win situation, but I think they’ll have enough opportunity with Bryant Stratton to kind of reassure me what I’m thinking, but I’m going to use (the doubleheader) to figure out who those nine are going to be.”
Category: SALEM CC
Updated: Season suspended
Salem CC women end their basketball season following the arrest of four players in Pennsville over the weekend
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College women’s basketball program has suspended the remainder of its 2025-26 season following the weekend arrest of four players that athletics department officials say will prevent it from fielding a competitive team.
The players – Raynesecia Q. King, 19; Paula E. Wilson, 19; Tanijya M. Shaw, 18; and Jayda L. Hunter, 19 – were arrested at the Pennsville Walmart Feb. 6 and all charged with concealing merchandise from the store without intent to pay. All listed a Pennsville address as their place of residence although all have out-of-state hometowns on the team roster.
All four had a bail hearing in the Carneys Point/Pennsville Joint Municipal Court and were released on summons.
School officials confirmed the decision to suspend the season after informing all the remaining teams on the schedule. The Mighty Oaks had three games remaining after postponing Tuesday’s game with Morris Club.
Initially, SCC athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed Saturday’s postponement with Middlesex, the first game after the incident, citing only “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give details, and Tuesday’s game was removed from the team’s athletic department website.
“I can tell you officially that Salem has decided to discontinue the rest of our women’s basketball season,” Hughes said Monday. “We do not have enough players to field a competitive team at this time.”
Hughes continued to decline comment on the particulars of the weekend issue, citing student privacy concerns. Pennsville police provided the arrest records in response to an Open Public Records request by Riverview Sports News.
Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said Saturday the program was working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest. A despondent sounding Marsh Monday deferred any comment on the season suspension to Hughes.
The Salem women are 3-17 in a season filled with drama and had three games left at the time of the suspension. They had eight healthy players available and are rostered for nine.
”We could not have fielded a competitive team,” Hughes said.
All four players were starters. Shaw, a freshman guard from Arlington, Texas, was their best player statistically, averaging a team-leading 17.6 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 steals. Hunter, a freshman post who lists Allentown, Pa., as her hometown on the team webpage, was their second-leading rebounder (7.7) while averaging 3.6 ppg. Wilson, a freshman forward from El Paso, averaged 5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg and had a team-leading 17 blocked shots. King, a sophomore guard from Dallas who also played softball last spring, averaged 5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.2 steals.
It wasn’t immediately known if the Mighty Oaks would absorb forfeit for the three remaining games or simply end the year 3-17.
The team has had problems this year. Injuries forced them to reschedule three games earlier this season and sources have said there have been other incidents off the floor.As much a team officials have maintained during the adversity they were committed to playing out the season, this situation was one that was too severe to survive.
”I feel sorry for taking away opportunity for competition from any student-athlete,” Hughes said.
Answering the bell
Down 2 starters, third-ranked Salem CC weathers storm, beats No. 13 Union, surpasses last year’s win total
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — All year long Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green has been saying his team has a scorebook full of players who not only could start for every other team in Region 19 but be a big piece in their plans. The Mighty Oaks put that theory to the test Tuesday night and delivered on it in a big way.
Down two starters, including their recognized energy guy, the Mighty Oaks weathered the storm and beat No. 13 Union for the second time this season, 96-75.
It was their 27th win of the season, giving them more wins than they had in last year’s historic national tournament season. At 14-1 in Region 19, they hold a one-game lead in the loss column atop the region’s Division III standings and a two-game lead in the loss column on presumably one of the two No. 1 seeds in the region/district tournament.
The Mighty Oaks (27-1) went into what shaped up as one of their sternest tests of the late season without injured sophomore post Stef Phillips (knee) and freshman vocal leader Nasseem Wright (suspended by region rule for picking up a third technical foul in the last game). But their replacements, Idris Rines and Qua Smith, combined for 25 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.
Smith, making his first college start, didn’t give the Mighty Oaks the scoring they would have gotten from Wright, but he did all the other things. He grabbed 16 rebounds, dealt four assists, blocked three shots and caught the eye of the NCAA Division II scouts in attendance. Rines, making his second straight start, had 18 points and six rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes.
“We just had to pick the energy up (without Wright) because he’s a real big energy guy, so everybody else just had to give a little more than they usually give,” point guard Saaid Lee said. “I think everybody stepped up. Our team is built for the next man to be up, so I think everybody just did their job and did what we had to do.”
Green had some options for Wright’s spot, but went with Smith because of matchups. Besides, if he started Nayeem Johnson, the presumptive pick for the spot based on what he’s been provided in a sixth- or seventh-man role, the Mighty Oaks would have lost the game-changing firepower the Montco transfer provides off the bench.
The game was tight in the first half until the Mighty Oaks plugged in the full-court press with a very specific lineup. Usually they have Wright at the top of it, but with him not available, Green wanted Jahsier Sayles, Smith and Johnson with any other guard. They went into it with 6:11 left in the half, right after Jarrell Little’s two free throws got them within 23-21 and went on a defense-fueled 14-6 run that gave them the lead.
“It was a great pressure group that we went with,” Green said.
The Owls rallied to tie it at 35 with 1:17 left in the half, but the Mighty Oaks outscored them 7-1 to the horn to take a 43-36 halftime lead. Rines capped it with a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left after Lee drained the final 22 seconds off the clock.
The Mighty Oaks came out of the break firing. They opened the half with a 17-3 in the first six minutes to take control. Smith was particularly active in the stretch, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, blocking a shot and snagging a steal. The steal led to a 3-pointer by Rines, one of the rebounds set Zyaire Gibson on a runout layup and the blocked shot led to a give-and-go with Lee that he finished off with a layup.
“I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I can for the team; that’s really my role, for real,” Smith said. “I was just trying to play my role basically and step up. Definitely big responsibility because we’re playing the No. 13 team in the nation. You’ve got to step up, you’ve got to be ready, and I was ready today.”
“He’s just got to realize doing what we ask him to do is enough, that’s enough,” Green said. “That’s all we want all these guys to realize. Doing what we ask you to do is enough. You’re playing real basketball. You’re not playing JUCO basketball. You’re playing real basketball.”
Salem had only one scorer in double figures at halftime. Because of the way they picked it up after the break, they wound up with five when it was over.
Lee and Little both scored 10 in the second half and finished with 18 and 19, respectively. Little also had eight rebounds and nine assists. Gibson had 14 points and Sayles a career-tying 12. Union’s Nicolas Acosta led all scorers with 27 points (and 16 rebounds).
Phillips is expected to be out another week. Wright will be back for Thursday’s game with Camden. The reserves are expected to be ready all the time, because you never know when their number will be called.
SALEM CC 96, UNION 75
UNION (19-8): Tareak Williams 2-10 6-7 10, Anthony Hicks 5-11 1-1 11, Nicolas Acosta 6-18 15-18 27, Kanye Brown 0-4 3-4 3, Zahkey Jeter 6-13 0-1 12, Aljanai Best 0-3 0-0 0, Jasir Calloway 1-6 5-6 7, James Downing 2-4 0-0 5, Jake Zawacki 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-70 30-37 75.
SALEM CC (27-1): Jarrell Little 4-8 8-10 18, Saaid Lee 4-8 10-14 19, Qua Smith 3-7 1-3 7, Zyaire Gibson 6-12 1-2 14, Idris Rines 6-10 3-5 18, Jahseir Sayles 4-9 2-2 12, Nayeem Johnson 3-7 0-2 6, Mike Goodwin 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 31-63 25-39 96.
| Union | 36 | 39- | 75 |
| Salem CC | 43 | 53- | 96 |
Top photo, Qua Smith (4) and Idris Rines (24) were new starters for Salem CC Tuesday. Rines started last Saturday’s game, but Smith was making his first college start.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (3) | 14-1 | 27-1 | 19-1 |
| Northampton (8) | 14-2 | 22-3 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 14-3 | 18-8 | 12-5 |
| Montgomery (9) | 13-3 | 17-4 | |
| Camden | 12-3 | 17-9 | 12-8 |
| Union (13) | 12-5 | 19-8 | 11-4 |
| Bergen | 10-7 | 14-12 | 14-11 |
| Ocean | 9-7 | 14-11 | 10-9 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-8 | 12-13 | 9-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 6-9 | 9-16 | 7-12 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 6-9 | 10-18 | 4-15 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 5-10 | 10-14 | |
| Philadelphia | 5-10 | 12-11 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 5-10 | 6-16 | |
| Delaware County | 3-13 | 5-19 | |
| Sussex | 2-13 | 7-21 | 4-13 |
| Passaic | 2-14 | 4-22 | 3-15 |
| Luzerne | 1-14 | 4-21 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 96, Union 75
Harrisburg Area 76, Luzerne 60
Montgomery 88, Atlantic Cape 78
Philadelphia 72, Thaddeus Stevens 66
Mercer 89, Lackawanna 82
Camden 80, RCSJ-Cumberland 70
Bergen 76, Brookdale 73
Raritan Valley at Middlesex
Harcum 92, Essex 70
RCSJ-Gloucester70, Sussex 69
Hostos 100, Passaic 75
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Ulster at Sussex
Ocean at Northampton
Atlantic Cape at Brookdale
Passaic at Middlesex
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Camden at Salem CC
Misericordia at Harcum
Northampton at Montgomery
Delaware Tech at Frederick
Manhattan CC at Bergen
Ocean at Brookdale
Passaic at Union
Delaware County at Philadelphia
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
Atlantic Cape at Bergen
Harrisburg Area at Thaddeus Stevens
RCSJ-Gloucester at RCSJ-Cumberland
FRIDAY’S GAME
Delaware County at Luzerne
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Sussex at Salem CC
Passaic vs. Finger Lakes
Union at Brookdale
Atlantic Cape at Harrisburg Area
RCSJ-Cumberland at Thaddeus Stevens
Northampton at Camden
RCSJ-Gloucester at Montgomery
Ocean at Luzerne
Raritan Valley at Morris
Passaic at Roxbury
Lackawanna at Delaware Tech
Ulster at Middlesex
Philadelphia at Passaic
Harcum at Mercer
This week’s schedule
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 9-15
MONDAY, FEB. 9
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Salem at Paulsboro, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Pitman, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Schalick, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Pitman at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m.
Schalick at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m.
INDOOR TRACK
Pennsville, Salem at Ocean Breeze, 4:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 10
BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Salem, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Delsea girls at Schalick, 5 p.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 5 p.m.
Penns Grove at Palmyra, 5:30 p.m.
Cedar Creek at Schalick, 6 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Union at Salem CC, 5 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Salem CC at Morris, TBA
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Pitman, 5:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Salem Tech, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Oakcrest at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Pitman at Pennsville, 5:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Woodstown, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Pennsville, Salem at Overbrook Girls Jamboree, 5 p.m.
Salem at Willingboro, 5 p.m.
Pennsville at Haddon Heights, 6 p.m.
THURSDAY, FEB. 12
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wildwood at Salem, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Camden at Salem CC, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEB. 13
BOYS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Clearview at Timber Creek
Gloucester Catholic at Deptford
Woodstown at Cumberland
Penns Grove at Williamstown
Postseason Bracket
Schalick at Clayton
Salem Tech at Wildwood
Pennsville at Highland
GIRLS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Championship Bracket
Cumberland at Clearview
Woodstown at Kingsway
Triton at Washington Twp.
Postseason Bracket
Pitman at Highland
Salem Tech at Clayton
Penns Grove at Overbrook
WRESTLING
Schalick, Burlington Twp., Cherry Hill West at Maple Shade, 3:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEB. 14
BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem Tech at Salem, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Haddonfield, 11:30 a.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
TCC Tournament
Pennsville at Delsea
WRESTLING
Highland, Mainland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Woodstown, Allentown, Haddon Heights at Delran, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Sussex at Salem CC, 2 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Essex at Salem CC, noon
SUNDAY, FEB. 15
INDOOR TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals at Bennett Complex, 9 a.m.
Reaching the bar
Salem CC men match last year’s win total; women’s program dealing with serious personnel issue that postponed Saturday’s game
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The engine driving this year’s Salem CC basketball team is the desire to clear the lofty bar raised by last year’s national tournament team.
This year’s team can say it’s at least reached the bar after Saturday’s 100-67 win over CC of Philadelphia. By winning, the third-ranked Mighty Oaks (26-1) have matched last season’s win total — in seven fewer games.
“It just adds more fuel to the fire,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “I always compare us to the last year’s team because they set a real high bar. Coming into the situation I knew we would have to pick up right where they left off.
“They had some unfinished business. They won the regional, but they left nationals and the conference on the table, so this year I wanted to come and get all three. That’s still the goal.”
He’s not the only one who feels that way.
“I feel like we done better than them right now, but we’re not done until we win the national championship,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “Once we solidify the national championship, that’s when I feel like we did better than last year’s team.”
“It’s like bragging rights,” added freshman Idris Rines. “We always try to brag and say like we’re better than last year’s team, so just matching their win total with however many games left just means bragging rights.”
This year’s team is ahead of last year’s historic season in so many ways. They are currently statistically better in at least four major categories. Saturday was the 12th time this team has hit the 100-point mark (last year it was four). They are third in JUCO Division III in scoring (95.0), first in field goal percentage and second in assists.
But Mighty Oaks head coach Mike Green would throttle back the enthusiasm just a bit. He’s glad this year’s team has big goals of its own, but right now they’re talking about two different ballgames.
“26-1 don’t raise no banner; you got to win championships, you gotta win games,” he said. “This team is tough, they’re winning games. They’re doing everything they’re supposed to do, I don’t think it’s got nothing to do with last year’s team. Last year’s team was special in its own way. This year is another special year. It’s not complete so it’s hard to measure those two.”
Little and Wright did all they could to make Saturday happen. They both came within one assist of a triple-double. Little had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Wright had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
They would’ve gotten it, too, Green suggested, had the Mighty Oaks not gone through “a five- or six-minute stall” late in the second half. “Every minute counts,” the coach said.
Wright came close to getting his second triple-double of the season. He went on 2-on-1 break with Nayeem Johnson in the closing seconds, passed it over to Johnson for what would have been an easy layup, but instead of taking the shot, Johnson alley-ooped it to Wright for a game-ended slam.
“It definitely feels good to show my versatility on the floor,” Wright said. “Same thing with Jarrell. A lot of people fall in love with the fact he can score, but there is a bunch of other things he can do. That’s what I try to tell him every day. If you use yourself are way more aspects than just scoring that’s what’s going to elevate your game.”
Green said Thursday the team “got Little back” after his leading scorer’s shooting confidence seemed to return in their win over Harrisburg Area. He didn’t think he was even going to play after hurting his shoulder Thursday, but after going 9-for-14 from the floor Saturday – 7-of-9 for 15 points in the second half – Little proclaimed he was “fully back.”
“At halftime MG told me I had seven rebounds,” Little said. “I didn’t know how many assists I had (three) so I was just playing for the double-double. Once we got at the end of the game they told me you need one more assist. I was trying to get it, but it just didn’t happen. The crazy thing is I wasn’t supposed to play today.”
“That’s Jarrell, man,” Green said. “That’s the kid who early in the year was a player of the year candidate. He’s out of his funk it seems and he’s a weapon.”
Three other players scored in double figures. Idris Rines had a career-high 19 in his first college start, Zyaire Gibson had 14 and Johnson had 18 off the bench. Another interesting stat: They had 33 total assists (for 42 buckets) and only 11 turnovers.
Rines and Johnson have been making big contributions off the bench all year. Rines was the natural choice for the start after when Phillips tweaked his knee early in the HACC game and couldn’t go Saturday.
He looked a little uncomfortable early, but quickly settled into his rhythm. He also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“I started in high school so it wasn’t really anything big for me, but I think it just shows the trust MG (Green) has in me so that gave me a boost of confidence,” Rines said. “It meant a lot, starting any game, especially in college, because college nowadays it’s hard to start. It didn’t hit me until like two minutes in and then I’m like this is a regular basketball game.”
Johnson seemed to make a pitch to be the next second unit player to make a start, hitting three 3s in a row in the first half to help the Mighty Oaks take control of the game.
To Green, there’s no difference between the starters and the backups.
“People get caught up on starters and all that,” Green said. “Idris plays starters minutes, that’s what he should be doing with them. We’ve got nine guys who can start on any other team in this region and they know it.”
SALEM CC 100, PHILADELPHIA 67
PHILADELPHIA (11-11): Buster Fallah 6-18 11-18 23, Robert Perry 4-4 2-2 10, Amaury Hunter 1-5 2-2 4, Jaques Aurel Silue 2-5 2-4 7, Sekou Kamara 0-0 0-0 0, Christopher Jones 1-10 0-0 2, Jonathan Miller 7-15 3-4 18, Marques Robinson-Myricks 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 22-59 20-30 67.
SALEM CC (26-1): Jarrell Little 9-14 0-0 20, Saaid Lee 4-10 0-0 9, Zayire Gibson 5-12 1-1 14, Nasseem Wright 6-12 1-1 14, Idris Rines 8-11 2-3 19, Jahseir Sayles 1-4 0-0 2, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Nayeem Johnson 7-14 1-2 18, Mike Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 42-79 5-7 100.
| Philadelphia | 25 | 42- | 67 |
| Salem CC | 44 | 56- | 100 |
3-point goals: Philadelphia 3-17 (Fallah 0-4, Hunter 0-3, Aurel Silue 1-2, Jones 0-3, Miller 1-4, Robinson-Myricks 1-1); Salem CC 11-33 (Little 2-6, Lee 1-3, Gibson 3-10, Wright 1-3, Rines 1-3, Sayles 0-3, Johnson 3-5). Rebounds: Philadelphia 30 (Miller 8, Fallah 6); Salem CC 47 (Little 12, Wright 11). Technical fouls: Wright, Green. Fouled out: Lee. Total fouls: Philadelphia 13, Salem CC 23.
Top photo: Idris Rines (24), Jarrell Little (1) and Nasseem Wright all played big roles in Salem CC’s win over Philadelphia.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (3) | 13-1 | 26-1 | 18-1 |
| Northampton (10) | 14-2 | 22-3 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 14-3 | 18-7 | 12-4 |
| Montgomery (8) | 12-3 | 16-4 | |
| Camden | 11-3 | 16-9 | 11-8 |
| Union (9) | 12-4 | 19-7 | 11-3 |
| Bergen | 10-7 | 13-12 | 13-11 |
| Ocean | 8-7 | 13-11 | 9-9 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-7 | 12-12 | 9-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 6-8 | 9-15 | 7-11 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 6-9 | 9-18 | 3-15 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 5-9 | 10-12 | |
| Philadelphia | 4-10 | 11-11 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 4-10 | 5-16 | |
| Delaware County | 3-13 | 5-19 | |
| Sussex | 2-12 | 7-19 | 4-11 |
| Passaic | 2-14 | 4-21 | 3-15 |
| Luzerne | 1-13 | 4-20 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 100, Philadelphia 67
Camden 73, Union 68
Montgomery 70, Bergen 69
Brookdale 87, Luzerne 60
Delaware County 81, Sussex 76
Morris 80, Delaware Tech 77
RCSJ-Cumberland 82, Ocean 77
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester 94, Passaic 89 (OT)
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Harcum 101, Lackawanna 69
Northampton 75, Atlantic Cape 72 (OT)
Westchester 89, Middlesex 67
Women’s game postponed, issues
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s game at Middlesex Saturday was postponed and the remainder of the season in doubt following an incident in Pennsville over the weekend said to involve several players.
Athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed the game’s postponed, citing “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give additional details. Pennsville police officials were not immediately available.
Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said they were working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest.
The Salem women are 3-16 and have four games left. The Mighty Oaks don’t play another region game until Saturday, so another postponement is plausible. They are scheduled to play Morris Club on the road Tuesday.
“We don’t play another region game until next Saturday, so if we had to make a decision for Tuesday it would be an easy one just because it’s already a club game because Morris moved to club,” Hughes said. “That’s the most I can say about it. We will evaluate it on Monday.
“Right now we are day by day with this. We could not play the game today due to a personnel issue.”
The team only has eight players so any incident involving multiple players could leave it without enough players to either be competitive or continue altogether. Injuries forced them reschedule three games earlier this season so they would have enough players available to play.
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 12-0 | 21-1 | |
| Union (12) | 11-2 | 20-3 | 8-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 10-2 | 18-3 | 5-1 |
| Essex | 7-5 | 15-6 | 4-4 |
| Raritan Valley | 4-7 | 8-15 | 3-4 |
| Delaware Tech | 4-8 | 8-15 | |
| Middlesex | 3-9 | 9-16 | 0-6 |
| SALEM CC | 2-10 | 3-16 | 0-5 |
| Lackawanna | 1-11 | 4-15 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex, ppd.
Philadelphia 61, Camden 48
RCSJ-Gloucester 59, Passaic 49
Northampton 77, Atlantic Cape 62
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Harcum 106, Lackawanna 34
Right at right time
No. 3 Salem CC getting back to old form, routs HACC; women fall to Delaware Tech
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green looked over the box score after another one-sided Salem CC win and saw a lot of what he liked.
The Mighty Oaks had just crushed Harrisburg Area 110-72 Thursday night for its 25th win of the season and the tale of the tape on the table before him was filled with a lot of positive numbers.
Seven scorers in double figures, 14 3-pointers (the most since November), 24 assists, a plus-10 rebound margin, a limited number of turnovers (in the second half). That’s more like it.
“We’re getting back to us,” Green said after collecting the 60th win of his coaching career. “I told them before the game we’re trending down. I feel like we’re trending down. I challenged them. And I’ll challenge them again tomorrow.
“We’re not as scary as we were early on, I don’t believe. We’ve gotta turn this up.”
The Mighty Oaks are 25-1 and ranked third in the country, but truthfully they haven’t been quite the team that was mercilessly dismantling teams on their rise to No. 1. They were winning games, but there just seemed to be something missing. It came to a head when they finally lost a game, and carried on.
They’re not the first elite team to go through a rough patch during what’s developing into a special year. Green was reminded of that earlier in the day.
“I was watching the North Carolina special today,” he said. “I was laying down before the game (and) I could hear the North Carolina special, and it put it all in perspective.
“Those guys, the team with George Lynch that beat (Michigan’s) Fab 5 (for the 1992-93 national championship, the famous Chris Webber no-timeouts game). I watched that. They had a tough time in the ACC when they lost about three or four games, and some of the things those guys were saying put the team back together.
“You winning like that, sometimes you get burned out. Hopefully, it don’t cost us four games, but you’ve got to be at your best. They’re in college, man, they’ve got to be at their best.”
Even this one got off to a slow start. The Mighty Oaks trailed a team with a 5-15 record by nine with nine minutes gone in the game and they trailed the whole first 15 minutes.
The bench played a huge role in bringing them back. The non-starters got them back in the game in the first half, scoring just two points fewer than the starters, grabbing more rebounds and making fewer turnovers.
The bench scored 46 points in the game, shooting 17-for-26 from the field, 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and had 26 of their 46 rebounds.
At one point in the first half, right after Idris Rines finally gave them the lead on a 3-pointer with 4:54 left, Nayeem Johnson had nine straight Salem points that carried them to a 10-point halftime lead. Rines had seven points in the half and provided the Mighty Oaks steady play in the post after Stef Phillips left the game with knee injury after his three-point play six and a half minutes into the half.
“They did their job,” Green said. “A couple guys didn’t do their job early on, we had to bring them out. This ain’t a free opportunity. We don’t owe nobody nothing,. You get what you work for. Those (reserves) got an early opportunity and they did what they’re supposed to and then our guys, the ones who weren’t caught up, caught up.”
Johnson finished with 16 points. Rines had 13 points and seven rebounds. Qua Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes and Jahseir Sayles had seven points and three boards in 19 minutes.
Among the starters, Nasseem Wright had a team-high 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Zyaire Gibson had 14 points (four 3s) and nine rebounds, and Saaid Lee had 14 points and nine assists.
Rines played the most minutes of any Mighty Oaks player in the game – 30. It’s the most he’s played in a game since high school. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
“Me and MG talked yesterday and MG said just keep the energy up when you’re in, just play your minutes.,” Rines said. “I knew coming into Salem it was going to be a commitment going from starting (in high school) to making sacrifices.
“I think everybody makes sacrifices. We all played like 20 out of 32 minutes of high school, then coming here and splitting minutes with guys. I think we are connected with each other and our friendship makes it so we can make sacrifices and makes us a really unselfish team and that really helps us.”
Another thing that helps them is when Jarrell Little scores the ball, which he hasn’t done a lot of lately.
In his last three games the Mighty Oaks’ leading scorer has logged only 23 points on 8-for-28 shooting, 3-for 17 from 3-point range. He took only four shots in the win over Montco and 12 in the last two games.
“It’s not like a slump,” he said. “I feel like it was never gone, I just feel like I didn’t take enough shots.
“When we played Montco I didn’t shoot a lot of shots; it wasn’t me. I feel like the whole game I wasn’t myself. I didn’t shoot the ball at all. Four shots as the leading scorer is crazy and Mike Green got on me about that. It’s the second time this season I shot less shots in a big game.”
He was 4-for-10 from 3-point range against the Hawks, but 6-for-12 overall.
“He’s our leading scorer for a reason,” Green said. “Somewhere along the line he lost that and just started dribbling the ball. He’s better when he’s in attack mode.”
The Salem starters started looking more like themselves in the second half. They original four minus Phillips had 40 of the Mighty Oaks’ 64 points after halftime. Little and Wright had 13 apiece; Little had three 3s.
“As a team we always start off slow and pick it up at halftime,” Little said. “This time one of our coaches came in screaming at us. I feel like we just turned it on.”
SALEM CC 110, HARRISBURG AREA 72
HARRISBURG AREA (5-16): Zhamire Chaplin-Carter 0-1 0-1 0, Eli Vega 2-6 5-6 10, Jaiden Wiley 3-15 1-2 9, William Byrd 6-10 4-6 17, John McNeil 6-22 7-10 21, Dustin Littles 1-4 0-0 3, Ziveon Kyle 2-7 2-2 6, Kaden Folk 2-8 2-2 6, Duane Woodson 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Floyd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-74 21-29 72.
SALEM CC (25-1): Jarrell Little 6-12 0-0 16, Saaid Lee 6-10 2-2 14, Zyaire Gibson 5-13 0-0 14, Nasseem Wright 7-10 2-4 17, Stefan Phillips 1-3 1-1 3, Jahseir Sayles 2-6 2-2 7, Qua Smith 4-5 2-2 10, Nayeem Johnson 6-8 3-3 16, Idris Rines 5-6 0-0 13, Mike Goodwin 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 42-74 12-15 110.
| Harrisburg Area | 36 | 36- | 72 |
| Salem CC | 46 | 64- | 110 |
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (3) | 12-1 | 25-1 | 18-1 |
| Northampton (10) | 13-2 | 21-3 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 13-3 | 17-7 | 12-4 |
| Union (9) | 12-3 | 19-6 | 10-2 |
| Montgomery (8) | 11-3 | 15-4 | |
| Camden | 10-3 | 15-9 | 10-7 |
| Bergen | 10-6 | 13-11 | 13-10 |
| Ocean | 8-6 | 13-10 | 9-8 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-6 | 12-11 | 9-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 5-8 | 8-15 | 6-11 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 5-10 | 8-18 | 1-14 |
| Philadelphia | 4-9 | 11-10 | |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 4-9 | 9-12 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 4-10 | 5-16 | |
| Passaic | 3-13 | 4-20 | 3-14 |
| Sussex | 2-10 | 7-17 | 4-11 |
| Delaware County | 2-13 | 4-19 | |
| Luzerne | 1-12 | 4-19 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 110, Harrisburg Area 72
Compass Prep at Morris
Montgomery 97, Passaic 75
Essex at Monroe
RCSJ-Gloucester 79, Camden 76
Delaware County 75, RCSJ-Cumberland 72
Atlantic Cape 91, Ocean 82
Rockland 89, Lackawanna 86
Mercer 77, Middlesex 69
Northampton 73, Brookdale 67
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia at Salem CC
Union at Camden
Bergen at Montgomery
Brookdale at Luzerne
Delaware County at Sussex
Delaware Tech at Morris
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Lackawanna at Harcum
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Westchester at Middlesex
Women can’t shake slide
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem women lost their fourth in a row in a winnable game that came down to too many turnovers and too many fouls.
The Mighty Oaks were charged with 32 turnovers off which Delaware Tech scored 26 points. They were hit with 26 fouls, including a pair of technicals. Del Tech was 24-of-41 from the free throw line.
Salem recovered from a cold start to tie the game at 30 with 5:22 left in the third quarter. But Del Tech (8-15) scored the next nine points and never lost the lead again. The Mighty Oaks got within four several times, but couldn’t get closer.
TJ Shaw led Salem (3-16) with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Paula Wilson had 11 points and three of their four 3-pointers. Dani Gustin had 10 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.
Del Tech’s Kai Burnett led all scorers with 30 points. She was 10-of-24 from the field, 10-of-13 from the free throw line.
DELAWARE TECH 65, SALEM CC 56
DELAWARE TECH (8-15): Bria Harker-Brown 2-11 2-4 6, Kai Burnette 10-24 10-13 30, Laila Jacobs 1-3 0-0 2, Talaney Pierce 4-15 4-8 12, Maddie August 1-8 0-0 2, Sabrina Washington 0-1 0-0 0, Aaliyah Smith 2-8 6-14 11, Ciara Whittle 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 20-73 24-41 65.
SALEM CC (3-16): RayNescia King 0-7 1-2 1, TJ Shaw 3-19 10-12 16, Kasey Oliver 3-9 2-2 8, Paula Wilson 4-13 0-0 11, Jayda Hunter 1-5 1-2 3, Justine Cardona 3-7 0-0 7, Dani Gustin 2-4 6-8 10. Totals 16-64 20-26 56.
| Delaware Tech | 14 | 11 | 15 | 25- | 65 |
| Salem CC | 9 | 14 | 11 | 22- | 56 |
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 11-0 | 20-1 | |
| Union (12) | 11-2 | 20-3 | 8-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 10-2 | 18-3 | 5-1 |
| Essex | 7-5 | 15-6 | 4-4 |
| Raritan Valley | 4-7 | 8-15 | 3-4 |
| Delaware Tech | 4-8 | 8-15 | |
| Middlesex | 3-9 | 9-16 | 0-6 |
| SALEM CC | 2-10 | 3-16 | 0-5 |
| Lackawanna | 1-10 | 4-14 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech 65, Salem CC 56
RCSJ-Gloucester 70, Camden 55
Atlantic Cape 93, Ocean 67
Northampton 72, Bergen 28
Montgomery at Brookdale
Monroe 98, Raritan Valley 58
Philadelphia 70, Sussex 52
Mercer 103, Middlesex 29
Union 65, Essex 59
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex
Camden at Philadelphia
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Lackawanna at Harcum
Personal matters
No. 3 Mighty Oaks hold off Montco in Top 10 battle after dropping in the polls; women’s team loses to No. 12 Union
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – All of a sudden, a midweek game against the No. 8 team in the country became the most important game of the year for the Salem CC basketball team. But they handled it, just as they have all year, albeit with a little drama in the second half.
In a game that figured to carry a lot of post-season implications and even more personal connections throughout the roster, the now third-ranked Mighty Oaks enjoyed some early success and then held off No. 8 Montgomery County 77-71.
The game was important for a number of reasons. Chiefly, it was good to have another one Top 10 win in the bank for at-large bid consideration to the national tournament if they don’t win the region/district tournament.
“Won against another good team,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “Who else beats Top 10 teams other than us? We’re the only ones kicking Top 10 teams asses around here, so hopefully the committee will look at that when they see it.”
Then there was the issue of pride. The Mighty Oaks had been No. 1 in JUCO Division III since the Dec. 15 (Week 6) poll, but falling out of the top spot after just one loss — their only loss — didn’t sit well with the players.
“I can’t speak for everybody but I know it bothered me, for sure,” said sophomore Stefan Phillips, the only holdover from last year’s national tournament team. “I love saying we’re No. 1 in the country. Seeing we’re No. 3, it bothered me. I want to be ranked No. 1.”
“I was irked by that,” Nayeem Johnson said. “I was highly upset about that because we got one loss. There’s not a lot of teams in the country that got one loss and we dropped two slots in the poll.”
When told the new No. 1 team has six losses, more than the next three teams in the poll combined, he said, “that’s crazy.”
But on top of all that, the players said this one was personal.
“No. 8 team in the nation, they beat us in the summer; that stung,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “All our guys were freshmen and all of us never played with each other (at the time). They still won, but it was kind of personal. Those guys have been watching us all year. We knew it was going to be a war.”
“We’re all from Philly,” Phillips said. “I knew I took it personally. They didn’t recruit me out of high school, so every time I get a chance to beat a team from Philly that hadn’t recruited me, I;m gonna take personally.”
Curiously, the one player you’d think would take this game personally the most – Johnson, because he played for Montco last year and helped beat the Mighty Oaks in the regular-season meeting – just went about it as any other game. There was another emotion he felt afterwards, though.
“I don’t take any game personal; I don’t have no vendetta against anybody or no type of beef,” he said. “I will say everybody in the locker room is ecstatic. I’m ecstatic about the win. No. 1, we didn’t lose, and they came in talking a lot of trash so it definitely was satisfying to win the game.”
The win extended Salem’s home winning streak to 16 games over the last two seasons. All of their remaining regular season games are at home.
Expecting a war, the Mighty Oaks came out with gun blazing. They hit five of their first seven 3-point shots to open a 20-2 lead six minutes into the game and were up 20 at the break. The difference was their seven 3s in the half to none by the Mustangs.
Phillips, usually a force on the inside, hit the first one, followed in rapid succession by Zyaire Gibson and Jarrell Little, and had three in the half. He now has 21 treys on the year and is hitting at a 46.7 percent clip.
“Today, really, it started with me,” Phillips said. “Once they saw me hitting a shot early we were like ‘All right, Stef’s hot, we’re all hot.’ That’s how it starts really.”
As for stepping out and shooting the 3, the sophomore said, “it’s called player development, man. You gotta work on your game, all facets. You can’t just do one thing if you want to get to the highest level you can get to, so I work on everything, not just staying in the post.”
The lead swelled to 22 on Saaid Lee’s first bucket of the second half, but then the Mustangs (14-4) started attacking the rim and were rewarded with multiple and-ones while Mighty Oaks went cold and were dreadful at the free throw line (15-of-30 in the game, 7-of-19 in the second half). Montco ended up tying it at 71 on Issac Cole’s bucket with 1:58 to play.
“Just the way you want to start it,” Green said. “Move the ball, take open shots, run our stuff. When we did it, we looked good. When we didn’t, we looked like we were getting punched on just trying to survive.
“I try to tell them don’t get into the personal stuff, because it’s not personal, it’s you team winning the game. The second half it got personal and they pulled back in it. Everybody taking a chance doing their own stuff and you find yourself in a dogfight. That’s what scares me when my team plays against familiar faces. They get sidetracked. They start thinking about selfish things. Not selfish, but just bragging rights. They look for bragging right. Just win the game.”
That’s what they did down the stretch. Wright broke the tie on a flagrant foul free throw with 1:30 left and Gibson buried a 3 from the right corner on the accompanying possession to give the Mighty Oaks some breathing room.
“Saved the game,” Green said of Gibson’s 3. “Saved the game.”
The Mustangs missed two shots from underneath and two more shots on their next possession before Lee sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds to play.
Wright led the Mighty Oaks with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and six steals. Lee had 14 points and three assists, while Gibson knocked down three 3s on his way to 11 points. Phillips also had 11 points.
Despite hitting his first 3, Little continued to struggle with his shot, but he came up big in other ways, grabbing 10 rebounds and dealing six assists. Johnson had 10 points and six rebounds against his former team.
SALEM CC 77, MONTGOMERY 71
MONTGOMERY (14-4): Alantay Dawson 7-16 1-1 15, Quire Bennett 1-3 1-1 3, Tariq Jennings 2-5 3-5 7, Issac Cole 5-9 4-6 14, Julius Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Williams 3-8 3-4 9, Steven Hill 1-6 0-0 2, Brandon Bush 9-18 1-2 19, Ryan Homburg 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 29-70 13-19 71.
SALEM CC (24-1): Jarrell Little 1-4 0-4 3, Saaid Lee 5-10 4-4 14, Zyaire Gibson 4-8 0-1 11, Nasseem Wright 6-8 5-12 17, Stefan Phillips 4-5 0-0 11, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0, Qua Smith 2-4 0-0 5, Nayeem Johnson 3-13 2-5 10, Idris Rines 1-4 4-4 6. Totals 26-57 15-30 77.
| Montgomery | 29 | 42- | 71 |
| Salem CC | 49 | 28- | 77 |
3-point goals: Monaco 0-11 (Dawson 0-2, Cole 0-1, Williams 0-2, Hill 0-1, Bush 0-2, Homburg 0-3); Salem CC 10-23 (Little 1-3, Lee 0-2, Gibson 3-6, Phillips 3-3, Smith 1-2, Johnson 2-6, Rines 0-1). Rebounds: Montco 38 (Hill 7, Bush 7); Salem CC 40 (N. Wright 10, Little 10). Technical fouls: N. Wright. Fouled out: Cole. Total fouls: Montco 22, Salem CC 17.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (3) | 11-1 | 24-1 | 17-1 |
| Northampton (10) | 12-2 | 20-3 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 12-2 | 16-6 | 11-4 |
| Union (9) | 12-3 | 19-6 | 10-2 |
| Montgomery (8) | 10-3 | 14-4 | |
| Camden | 10-3 | 15-8 | 9-7 |
| Bergen | 12-7 | 13-11 | 10-6 |
| Ocean | 10-6 | 13-9 | 9-7 |
| Atlantic Cape | 10-6 | 11-11 | 8-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 5-8 | 8-14 | 6-11 |
| Philadelphia | 4-9 | 11-10 | |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 4-9 | 8-12 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 4-9 | 5-15 | |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 5-12 | 7-18 | 1-12 |
| Sussex | 4-12 | 7-17 | 4-11 |
| Passaic | 3-14 | 4-18 | 3-11 |
| Delaware County | 2-13 | 3-19 | |
| Luzerne | 1-12 | 4-19 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Montgomery at Salem CC
Atlantic Cape 99, Delaware County 67
Camden 91, Luzerne 65
Philadelphia 70, Union 67 (OT)
Lackawanna at Raritan Valley
Morris at Harcum
Mercer 78, Delaware Tech 68 (OT)
Middlesex 105, Essex 93
Thaddeus Stevens at Williamson Trades
Passaic at Brookdale
Northampton 93, RCSJ-Gloucester 37
Bergen 78, Ocean 76
RCSJ-Cumberland 81, Harrisburg Area 78
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harrisburg Area at Salem CC
Compass Prep at Morris
Montgomery at Passaic
Essex at Monroe
Camden at RCSJ-Gloucester
Delaware County at RCSJ-Cumberland
Atlantic Cape at Ocean
Rockland at Lackawanna
Middlesex at Mercer
Northampton at Brookdale
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia at Salem CC
Union at Camden
Bergen at Montgomery
Brookdale at Luzerne
Delaware County at Sussex
Delaware Tech at Morris
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Lackawanna at Harcum
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Westchester at Middlesex
| JUCO DIVISION III POLL (1st place votes) | REC | PTS |
| Dallas College Richland (9) | 15-6 | 105 |
| Riverland | 22-1 | 98 |
| SALEM CC | 23-1 | 91 |
| Northern Essex | 21-3 | 84 |
| Dutchess | 16-3 | 77 |
| Dallas College Eastfield | 14-7 | 70 |
| Dallas College North Lake | 13-8 | 63 |
| Montgomery County (Pa.) | 14-3 | 56 |
| Union (N.J.) | 19-5 | 49 |
| Northampton | 19-3 | 42 |
| North Country | 17-2 | 35 |
| Mohawk Valley | 11-4 | 28 |
| Sandhills | 16-8 | 21 |
| Herkimer | 14-4 | 7 |
| Monroe-Bronx | 17-5 | 3 |
Women’s game
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s basketball suffered another lopsided loss to a nationally ranked team, but there was something about the way it looked early that seemed different somehow.
The Mighty Oaks have getting boat-raced the last couple games, but in the first half Tuesday night at least they looked competitive. Sure, they were down 22 at the break, but coming off a practice sophomore forward Kasey Oliver called “probably better than a lot of our practices,” they came out with an enthusiasm for attacking the basket, battling for loose balls, grabbing rebounds and genuinely giving No. 12 Union a hard time.
The second half it just got away and the Owls went on to bury them 105-39.
“I thought we played hard,” coach Brian Marsh said. “When they were in a zone we did really well against it. We struggled when they went man.
“I thought our team played hard. We got worn down. Union is No. 12 in the country for a reason – they’re good and they come at you in waves. When we’re playing hard we can do a lot of damage. We were just a little overwhelmed today. If we can have that same effort (they showed in the first half) for the last six games I really like our chances in most of them.”
In spite of the Mighty Oaks’ best effort, they still trailed 46-24 at halftime.
The second half was all Union. The Mighty Oaks were outscored 59-15 in the half, 30-2 in the fourth quarter, with the only two points coming from the free throw line. They had more turnovers (45) in the game than points (39), off which the Owls scored 52 points.
Union put all five starters and six players total in double figures. Oliver was the Mighty Oaks’ leading scorer with 13 points.
It has been a tough stretch for the Mighty Oaks. They’ve lost their last three game since their last win by a combined 172 points
“We know we’re a good team,” Oliver said. “Given our record, we really want to prove that to a lot of people, but it’s just not working out. I guess we want to prove to (Marsh) we can work hard.”
UNION 105, SALEM CC 39
SALEM CC (3-15): RayNescia King 3-6 1-1 8, TJ Shaw 3-13 0-1 6, Kasey Oliver 5-10 3-4 13, Paul Wilson 0-3 0-0 0, Jayda Hunter 3-7 0-2 6, Justine Cardona 2-4 1-2 5, Dani Gustin 0-3 1-4 1, Breanne Ruhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 6-14 39.
UNION (19-3): Jasmin McKay 7-9 8-11 22, Zakiyyah Lindsey 5-17 3-4 14, Cianna Papineau 5-10 0-0 13, Darrian Jackson 4-6 0-1 10. Zanaya Parsons 11-18 2-3 24, Aaliyah Littles 1-4 1-1 3, Gracie Cruz 0-4 0-0 0, Kada Rodgers 4-8 3-4 13, Emani Resto 1-4 1-1 3, Maria Paula Urena Rojas 0-3 1-2 1, Brianna Patterson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 39-85 19-27 105.
| Salem CC | 13 | 11 | 13 | 2- | 39 |
| Union | 20 | 26 | 29 | 30- | 105 |
3-point goals: Salem CC 1-11 (King 1-2, Shaw 0-2, Wilson 0-3, Hunter 0-3, Cardona 0-1); Union 8-21 (Lindsey 1-4, Papineau 3-5, Jackson 2-4, Cruz 0-1, Rodgers 2-4, Urena Rojas 0-2, Patterson 0-1). Rebounds: Salem CC 34 (Hunter 8, Gustin 9); Union 45 (Parsons 12, Lindsey 9). Fouled out: King, Gustin. Total fouls: Salem CC 21, Union 14.
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 11-0 | 20-1 | |
| Union (12) | 10-2 | 19-3 | 7-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 9-2 | 17-3 | 4-1 |
| Essex | 7-4 | 15-5 | 4-3 |
| Raritan Valley | 3-7 | 7-14 | 3-4 |
| Middlesex | 3-8 | 9-15 | 0-5 |
| Delaware Tech | 3-8 | 7-15 | |
| SALEM CC | 2-9 | 3-15 | 0-5 |
| Lackawanna | 1-9 | 4-13 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Union 105, Salem CC 39
Passaic 68, Brookdale 62
Bergen 74, Ocean 52
Lackawanna at Raritan Valley
Northampton 72, RCSJ-Gloucester 59
Essex 67, Middlesex 62
Mercer 100, Delaware Tech 43
Camden 74, Sussex 49
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Tech at Salem CC
Camden at RCSJ-Gloucester
Atlantic Cape at Ocean
Bergen at Northampton
Montgomery at Brookdale
Monroe at Raritan Valley
Philadelphia at Sussex
Middlesex at Mercer
Union at Essex
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex
Camden at Philadelphia
RCSJ-Gloucester at Passaic
Northampton at Atlantic Cape
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Lackawanna at Harcum
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
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 CC | 52 | 54- | 106 |
| Luzerne | 33 | 35- | 68 |
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 III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (1) | 10-1 | 23-1 | 17-1 |
| Union (10) | 15-2 | 19-5 | 13-2 |
| Brookdale | 13-2 | 16-6 | 11-4 |
| Northampton (5) | 11-2 | 19-3 | |
| Montgomery (8) | 9-2 | 13-3 | |
| Camden | 8-3 | 13-8 | 8-7 |
| Ocean | 10-5 | 13-8 | 9-6 |
| Bergen | 11-7 | 12-11 | 5-10 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-8 | 9-11 | 7-9 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 4-8 | 8-11 | |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 4-8 | 7-14 | 6-11 |
| Harrisburg Area | 4-8 | 5-14 | |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 5-11 | 7-16 | 1-12 |
| Sussex | 4-12 | 7-16 | 4-11 |
| Philadelphia | 3-10 | 9-10 | |
| Passaic | 3-14 | 4-18 | 3-11 |
| Delaware County | 2-11 | 3-17 | |
| Luzerne | 1-11 | 4-18 |
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 Valley | 20 | 16 | 12 | 24- | 72 |
| Salem CC | 8 | 12 | 9 | 6- | 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 II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 11-0 | 20-1 | |
| Union (13) | 9-2 | 18-3 | 6-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 8-2 | 16-3 | 4-1 |
| Essex | 6-4 | 14-5 | 4-3 |
| Delaware Tech | 3-7 | 7-14 | |
| Raritan Valley | 3-7 | 7-14 | 3-4 |
| Middlesex | 3-7 | 9-14 | 0-4 |
| SALEM CC | 2-8 | 3-14 | 0-4 |
| Lackawanna | 1-9 | 4-13 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
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
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 CC | 42 | 41- | 83 |
| Brookdale | 43 | 46- | 89 |
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Northampton (5) | 11-1 | 19-2 | |
| SALEM CC (1) | 9-1 | 22-1 | 17-1 |
| Union (10) | 14-2 | 18-5 | 13-2 |
| Brookdale | 12-2 | 15-6 | 10-4 |
| Montgomery (8) | 9-2 | 13-3 | |
| Camden | 8-3 | 12-8 | 7-7 |
| Ocean | 10-4 | 13-7 | 9-5 |
| Bergen | 11-7 | 12-10 | 5-9 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-8 | 9-11 | 7-9 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 4-7 | 7-13 | 6-10 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 4-8 | 8-11 | |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 5-11 | 7-16 | 1-12 |
| Harrisburg Area | 3-8 | 4-14 | |
| Sussex | 4-12 | 7-16 | 4-11 |
| Passaic | 3-13 | 4-17 | 3-11 |
| Philadelphia | 2-10 | 8-10 | |
| Delaware County | 2-11 | 3-17 | |
| Luzerne | 1-10 | 4-17 |
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.
| Harcum | 35 | 25 | 22 | 25- | 107 |
| Salem CC | 10 | 14 | 7 | 7- | 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 II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 10-0 | 19-1 | |
| Union (13) | 9-2 | 18-3 | 6-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 7-2 | 15-3 | 3-1 |
| Essex | 6-3 | 14-4 | 4-2 |
| Delaware Tech | 3-6 | 7-13 | |
| Raritan Valley | 2-7 | 6-14 | 2-4 |
| Middlesex | 2-7 | 8-14 | 2-4 |
| SALEM CC | 2-7 | 3-13 | 0-3 |
| Lackawanna | 1-8 | 4-12 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
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
Riverview Sports News 