Soggy start

Salem CC softball swept by Lackawanna in its season-opening doubleheader, bounced back from rainy rout to play a one-run game in the nightcap

SALEM CC SOFTBALL
Lackawanna 21-7, Salem CC 0-6

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — The word of the week through all of Salem CC’s softball practices this week was adversity and the Mighty Oaks had plenty of it in their season opener.

How they learn to overcome it going forward will say a lot about the season they hope to enjoy.

The Mighty Oaks opened their season Tuesday getting swept by Region XIX rival Lackawanna 21-0 and 7-6 at Watson Field. Between playing in the first-game rain that kept their freshman pitcher from gripping the ball in her first college start to having to regroup from a blowout, losing a lead in the nightcap, tying it, falling behind again and trying to rally in the seventh, there was plenty of adversity to go around.

“We were hit with some adversity and that’s kind of been our word of the past week,” coach Angel Rodriguez said. “Just understand we’ve got to be able to battle through some changes and when we’re down it’s never over. You’ve got to look forward to the next best thing that you’re going to do and that’s been our motto.

“You don’t know when adversity is going to hit you in life and how long it’s going to last around, but it’s not something you can wake up and hope it’s gone. I felt they did a really good job of bouncing back after that first game and battling in the second game together. That’s something that didn’t leave them the whole time, which is good, so we can take that away.

“You’ve got to be able to play through it. You’re as good as your next at bat or fielding play. I think they did a good job of that and there’s a lot of stuff there that I think we’re going to take as we keep going forward.”

Not much could’ve been more adverse than the opener. The game started in a cold mist that grew progressively harder as the game went on. At the weather’s worst, in the third inning, Mighty Oaks starting pitcher Jordyn Busch had trouble gripping the ball and her cleats clogged with mud. She walked six and hit a batter in the inning and was charged with 11 of the 12 runs the Falcons scored in it although Reagan Wilson gave up a grand slam to Haleigh Mazol on her first pitch of the season immediately after replacing Busch.

Mazol had a two-run single earlier in the inning and eight RBIs in the game. She drove in what proved to be the winning run in the nightcap on a soft pop in the sixth that landed a couple feet up the third base line and plopped into the soft dirt, coming to rest just inches from rolling foul. It allowed Laniah Tasker to race home from third for a 7-4 lead.

The umpires suspended play after the Might Oaks batted in the fourth inning down 20-0 — before reaching the five-inning run-rule threshold — and the game was delayed 30 minutes while Salem coaches and administrators worked in six bags of drying agent to fix the infield. There was a thought if the game had been suspended earlier, before the rain got heavier, they might not have brought it back at all. Rodriguez called it “a tough call for everyone.”

“I think they did the right call,” he said. “We took the little intermission and got the field prepped what we needed to do and the weather held out for the most part after that. It’s a tough call. We wanted to play. We were ready to still go, but it did surprise us there. That wasn’t on the radar at first, but that’s the weather. We said it earlier. If we’re going to wait for a perfect day in March on the East Coast we’re never going to play. Some of these things you’ve got to be able to battle through.”

Busch went back in the circle after the rain, started the second game. She kept the Falcons off the board in the first two innings and pitched into the fourth before being lifted following Ayahna Fleisher’s two-run homer that put the Falcons in front 4-3.

“It was definitely a way better adjustment (without the rain); I feel like I was actually able to get into a groove and find the strike zone,” she said. “In the first game finding the strike zone was hard. I couldn’t see because my glasses were covered in rain and my towel was soaked so I couldn’t dry my hand off and then my glove, the ball was getting soaked through it so I couldn’t grip it at all.

“It did definitely affect me. Not only I couldn’t grip the ball, but on the mental side because it was my first college game. The rain was just something added to struggle with. I definitely didn’t mind it at first, it was definitely not that bad, but when it started picking up it was very unpleasant.”

The day wasn’t all bad for the Mighty Oaks (0-2). J.J. Aguirre hit two homers in the nightcap. Her three-run blast in the first gave them a 3-0 lead and her two-run shot in the seventh gave them hope. The freshman from Midland, Texas, also had their only hit in the opener against Fleisher, a two-out double in the second.

“The first home run I was just trying to keep it simple and let mechanics take over,” she said. “The second home run I was a little nervous because it was bottom (of the seventh) but I didn’t let it get to me. I just kept it simple: See the ball, hit the ball. I think I was just ready to get another chance with no rain and I was excited and ready to go and just play.”

The Falcons (3-2) broke a 4-4 tie in the nightcap with three runs in the sixth. Aguirre’s second homer made it 7-6. Bella Rappa kept the rally alive with a single and was moved into scoring position by Megan Koski. Sawyer Simmons then lofted a ball into the fog in right field that was caught for the final out.

GAME ONE

Lackawanna	03(12)	51-	21	13	0
Salem CC	000	00-	0	1	3

WP: Ayahna Fleisher (1-1). LP: Jordyn Busch (0-1). 2B: Ayahna Fleisher (L), Mia Scalese (L), Mackenzie Adolfson (L), Kyleah Edwards (L); J.J. Aguirre (S). HR: Haleigh Mazol (L)

GAME TWO

Lackawanna	002	203	0-	7	9	2
Salem CC	300	010	2-	6	10	3

WP: Mia Scalese (2-0). LP: Emme Witter (0-1). 2B: Laniah Tasker (L); Jalyn Rambally (S). HR: Ayahna Fleisher (L); J.J. Aguirre 2 (S)

Salem CC adds 4

Mighty Oaks bring in new, familiar faces to join their coaching staffs as assistants

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Salem CC cross country coach Ashley Johnson remembers sharing a bus with Tom Mason when their Pennsville and Penns Grove high school teams competed in the same faraway championship meets. Now, they’re back on the bus together as coaching colleagues.

Mason, longtime Salem County track and cross country coach, has been approved as Johnson’s assistant coach for the coming season.

Call it a double full-circle moment because Mason started the Salem CC cross country program when “I had hair” during the college’s first run sponsoring athletics.

“It is full circle,” he said. “It’s bringing me back, the circle’s complete, but the main I took the job was Ashley, because what a fantastic person she is and what a great experience I had coaching against her. It’s going to be fun to get back to it.”

Mason’s 44-year high school coaching career (126 seasons) includes nearly 400 wins, four state team titles, six South Jersey sectional titles, 15 Salem County crowns and nearly 70 individual and relay state champions. He was inducted into the Salem County Sports (2011) and New Jersey Scholastic Coaches (2016) hall of fames. He also once served on the Salem CC board of trustees and is currently a member of the Pennsville School Board.

On Wednesday, he confirmed his acceptance of the Woodstown High School spring track coaching job, which won’t conflict with the Salem CC post. It’ll give him a chance to impart his wisdom on the Wolverines’ dominant middle distance runners and resume the run for 400 wins (he needs four).

“Coaching in Salem County was one of the best coaching memories I’ve had and the coaching world in Salem County seemed like family,” Johnson said. “Working with the best — Geoff Shute, John Maniglia and Justin Simmons — at Pennsville turned into becoming friendly with Tom … All the coaches I’ve coached with and against became family.

“The best part is when I left I remained in touch with those coaches and seeing them months or even years later we picked up where we left off. Before I took over Salem CC the first person that came to mind was Tom Mason. He started this program, he’s a Salem County and New Jersey legend, and I had to reach out. I am beyond excited to be work with him. We click, he’s got a ton of energy and a very impressive resume.”

And he’s always been there at her biggest moments.

“Tom came to Pennsville when one of our runners was signing to run for him at SCC (in 2019),” Johnson recalled. “I’ll never forget that day because immediately after the signing Geoff Shute and athletic director Adam Slusher drove me home because a few hours later I gave birth to my daughter, Scarlett.”

Mason was one of four new assistants the Salem CC board of trustees approved at its Feb. 19 meeting.

Courtney Gallo and Mike Kerns will join Andrea Bartlett’s volleyball staff. Gallo is a former Chestnut Hill player and Kerns is the swim coach at Camden Academy Charter.

Angel Velez is back with the baseball team after two seasons as a player. The catcher-DH was the Mighty Oaks’ hottest hitter in the second half of last season.

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of March 2-7

MONDAY MARCH 2
BOYS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Woodstown at Salem, 5 p.m.
Glassboro at KIPP, 6 p.m.
New Egypt at Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m.
Audubon at Palmyra, 6 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Woodbury at Haddon Twp., 5:30 p.m.
Palmyra at Glassboro, 4 p.m.
Woodstown at Audubon, 4 p.m.
Gateway at Wildwood, 5 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 3
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Delaware Tech, 3 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Lackawanna at Salem CC, 1 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
BOYS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Semifinals
Woodstown-Salem vs. Glassboro-KIPP
New Egypt at Penns Grove vs. Audubon-Palmyra
GIRLS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Semifinals
Woodbury-Haddon Twp. vs. Palmyra-Glassboro
Woodstown-Audubon vs. Gateway-Wildwood
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NJCAA Division III Selection Show, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester (2), 3 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6
WRESTLING
Region Tournament
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Brookdale, 3:30 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Sussex at Salem CC (2), 1 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7
BOYS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Championship
GIRLS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Championship
WRESTLING
Region Tournament
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Brookdale at Salem CC (2), noon
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Monroe-Bronx at Salem CC (2), noon

SUNDAY, MARCH 8
INDOOR TRACK
Meet of Championship, Ocean Breeze, Staten Island
WRESTLING
Girls Region Tournament

District downer

Top-ranked Salem CC upset in North Atlantic District finals, still confident of at-large bid; selection show Wednesday

JUCO D-III DISTRICT FINALS
Saturday’s Games for AQ berths
North Atlantic A
Montgomery (21-4) 58, Salem CC 55
North Atlantic B
Northampton (27-4) 96, Brookdale 86
South Central
Dallas North Lake (22-10) 101, Dallas Brookhaven 79

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It was supposed to be the crowning moment of a dominant Region XIX basketball season. It turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments.

Just how big of one is a matter for a bunch of basketball guys zoomed together from some far-flung places deciding who gets the four coveted at-large bids to the national tournament.

Top-ranked Salem CC came to Northampton as the favorite in the Region XIX/North Atlantic District A finals Saturday, but overlooked a Montgomery County team playing with a chip on their shoulder and a lot to prove.

The Mighty Oaks played their poorest game of the season, maybe the poorest in Mike Green’s 2 1/2-year tenure as head coach, and were stunned by the Mustangs 58-55.

The win sends the eighth-ranked Mustangs (21-4) to the JUCO Division III national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y., March 11-14 as an automatic qualifier.

The Mighty Oaks (30-2) were hoping to be going back to better their fifth-place showing of a year ago but now must wait for the selection show Wednesday at 6 p.m. to see if a return trip becomes a reality.

“I got a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a tough L,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “I feel like we didn’t come to play our Salem basketball today. We had a lot of turnovers. I hope we can get in the national tournament and play them again, but I just got a bad taste in my mouth. A bad loss.”

**ONE ON ONE: Salem CC’s Jarrell Little moves in to defend against Montgomery’s Matthew Williams (1).**

It wasn’t one of the Mighty Oaks’ best or even average games. They seemed out of it from the start, although they did wake up from it midway through the second half to get back in it and even take a couple small leads.

But it was all a fight for survival. They couldn’t get it inside and they couldn’t hit from the outside against the Mustangs’ zone.

They shot 7-for-27 from the field in each half, ended up with 18 turnovers, just six assists and were outrebounded by 14. They had just 13 offensive boards and nine second-chance points. Where they normally put four or more scorers in double figures, Little was the only one (17 points). The bench, one of the keys to their success all year, was outscored 18-9.

“They out-toughed us,” Green said. “They were the tougher team … We didn’t execute. We were terrible executing. We practiced. We do things certain things and then we went out and did what we wanted to do and we lost.”

Montco had something different for them than first time they played and both Little and Nasseem Wright suggested the Mighty Oaks may have overlooked them because of it despite Green’s warnings to the contrary.

The Mustangs were being coached by assistant Jerome Monroe because their head coach and point guard were suspended for the game after being ejected from their semifinal win over Camden. Ironically, Monroe accepted Koran Prince’s Region XIX Coach of the Year award along with the rest of the winners’ hardware after the game.

Monroe was on Green’s Salem staff last year. He said he didn’t use any of the secrets he picked up with the way the Mighty Oaks did things on their way to the national tournament last year because that would be too easy and he knew Green would be ready for that.

“I did not try to do that because Mike, as a ballplayer — we played back in the day when we were kids — he was always a crafty player and I knew he would be a crafty coach, so I didn’t even try to plan for it,” he said. “I just tried to plan to get my guys ready to take this home.

“I was going to switch the defneses up a lot and get up on them and make them work like they make teams work all season. I watched a bunch of film and I felt like we’ve got to make them work and it worked out.”

Salem point guard Saaid Lee said the Mustangs looked different than when the teams played the first time. They knew to be ready for it, but it still caught them off guard.

“I did expect it to be different but I didn’t expect it to be like that,” Lee said. “They had a better coach coaching them so they threw a lot of stuff at us; we just weren’t as prepared.”

For all the shortcomings, the Mighty Oaks did rally from 11 down with 12:12 to play and took a 41-40 lead on Little’s 3 from the left corner with 9:13 to go. Saaid Lee put two free throws behind it to make it a three-point lead.

Zyaire Gibson hit a 3 to put Salem up 51-50 with 3:08 left, and later hit three free throws to give them a 55-52 lead with 1:38 to go.

Montco led 56-55 with 20 seconds left. The Mighty Oaks were working to retake the lead, but Lee had the ball knocked away by Qudire Bennett in lane traffic with nine seconds to go. Idris Rines fouled Bennett immediately and he hit two free throws to bring the final margin.

“I was trying to corner kick it but I ended up turning it over,” Lee said. “I was just trying to make whatever the right play was, but they all collapsed on me and I wasn’t strong with it.”

It was a tough day for the usually steady point guard. He was 0-for-8 from the field, scoring all nine of his points from the free throw line, and was charged with six turnovers. It was that kind of day for the Mighty Oaks.

**GAME OVER: Montgomery County CC comes up with the steal that seals No. 1 Salem CC’s loss in district championship game.**

MONTGOMERY 58, SALEM CC 55
MONTGOMERY (21-4): Brandon Bush 1-4 2-3 4, Qudire Bennett 5-9 2-2 13, Tariq Jennings 3-7 6-7 13, Issac Cole 4-14 2-5 10, Julius Marshall 0-1 0-0 0, Matthew Williams 1-5 0-2 2, Steven Hill 4-7 0-0 9, Kevin Addison 3-11 1-2 7, Ryan Holmburg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 13-21 58.
SALEM CC (30-2): Jarrell Little 6-17 2-3 17, Saaid Lee 0-8 9-10 9, Zyaire Gibson 2-7 3-3 9, Nasseem Wright 1-9 2-2 4, Stefan Phillips 2-4 3-5 2, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0, Qua Smith 0-1 1-2 1, Nayeem Johnson 1-3 1-3 3, Idris Rines 2-4 1-3 5. Totals 14-54 22-31 55.

Montgomery	26	32-	58
Salem CC	22	33-	55

3-point goals: Montgomery 3-14 (Bush 0-2, Bennett 1-1, Jennings 1-2, Cole 0-3, Marshall 0-1, Hill 1-2, Addison 0-2, Homburg 0-1); Salem CC 5-30 (Little 3-10, Lee 0-3, Gibson 2-7, Wright 0-6, Phillips 0-1, Sayles 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Rines 0-1). Rebounds: Montgomery 50 (Cole 9, Jennings 8); Salem CC 36 (Phillips 8). Fouled out: Williams. Total fouls: Montgomery 23, Salem CC 23.

A year ago Jerome Monroe was on Mike Green’s staff helping Salem CC reach the JUCO national tournament. After changing jobs in the offseason and through a crazy set of circumstances this week, he was coaching Montgomery County to an upset of the Mighty Oaks Saturday for a berth in the nationals.

Highway to Herkimer

Here are the district tournaments that will earn automatic bids to the NJCAA Division III national tournament March 11-14 in Herkimer, N.Y.; four at-large teams also will be selected

JUCO DIVISION III RANKINGS
1. SALEM CC (29-1), 2. Northern Essex (27-3), 3. Dallas-Eastfield (20-8), 4. Dallas-Richland (20-8), 5. Riverland (26-2), 6. Dallas-North Lake (19-10), 7. Dutchess (23-4), 8. Montgomery County (19-4), 9. Northampton (24-4), 10. Ridgewater (20-5), 11. Virginia Peninsula (21-6), 12. North Country (24-3), 13. Genesee (20-7), 14. Union (22-8), 15. Herkimer (18-6).

DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS

North Atlantic A (Feb. 26-28)
Salem CC 80, Ocean 60
Montgomery 85, Camden 65
Saturday’s game at Northampton
No. 1 Salem CC vs. No. 8 Montgomery, 3 p.m.

North Atlantic B (Feb. 26-28)
Brookdale 73, No. 14 Union 62
Northampton 72, Bergen 64
Saturday’s game at Northampton
Brookdale vs. No. 9 Northampton, 6 p.m.

East (Feb. 26-March 2)
No. 2 Northern Essex 94, Bristol 67
Quincy 85, Springfield Tech 65
Roxbury 80, Massasoit 70
Friday’s games
Northern Essex 101, MassBay CC 74
Quincy vs. Roxbury
Sunday’s game
Northern Essex vs. Quincy-Roxbury

Mid-Atlantic (Feb. 27-28)
Joliet 88, Penn Highlands 67
No. 11 Virginia Peninsula 98, Allegheny County 56
Sunday’s game
Joliet vs. Va. Peninsula, 12:30 p.m.

North (Feb. 27-March 1)
No. 13 Genesee 88, Tompkins Cortland 71
Mohawk Valley 76, No. 15 Herkimer 75 (OT)
No. 12 North Country 77, Hudson Valley 73
Onondaga 80, Adirondack 77
Saturday’s games
Genesee vs. Mohawk Valley
North Country vs. Onondaga

Northeast (Feb. 25-March 1)
No. 7 Dutchess 93, LaGuardia 75
Hostos 80, Nassau 71
Sullivan 65, Queensborough 61
Monroe Bronx 64, Borough of Manhattan 53
Saturday at Suffolk County CC
Dutchess vs. Hostos, 5 p.m.
Sullivan vs. Monroe Bronx, 7:30 p.m.

North Plains (Feb. 26-March 1)
Central Lakes Brainerd 82, St. Cloud T&C 79
No. 10 Ridgewater 108, Minn North Rainy River 84
No. 5 Riverland 108, Minn. North Mesabi Range 56
Anoka-Ramsey 81, Northland T&C 71
Friday’s games
Ridgewater 105, Central Lakes-Brainerd 97
Riverland 85, Anoka-Ramsey 75
Sunday’s game
Ridgewater vs. Riverland

South Central (Feb. 25-28)
No. 6 Dallas North Lake 84, Dallas Mountain View 76
Dallas Brookhaven 85, Dallas Cedar Valley 75
Friday’s games
Dallas Brookhaven 51, No. 4 Dallas Richland 50
Dallas North Lake 82, No. 3 Dallas Eastfield 78
Saturday’s game
Brookhaven vs. North Lake, 4 p.m.

First in the fold

UPDATED: Salem CC’s startup volleyball program lands its first csignee, a local product from Salem Tech, and awaits approval of two assistants

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Andrea Bartlett has spent the last three months building the new Salem CC volleyball program from scratch. Going places, seeing people, molding the program to her vision.

Now that she has a player in the fold, it finally feels like she has a team.

The Mighty Oaks’ newest women’s program and their coach landed their first official signee and she’s coming from a lot closer than originally anticipated.

Their first player is Tiara Bazemore, an all-conference setter from Salem Tech.

“It’s super exciting to have a local athlete here at Salem,” Bartlett said. “Volleyball’s not a sport that’s hugely popular in South Jersey, so I’m super excited to find a home for those local athletes to come play at the next level.”

Bazemore is excited about being the program’s first signee, too.

“I think it’s a surreal feeling,” she said. “When you’re in high school you’re always thinking about playing to the next level and now that I have the opportunity it feels nerve-wracking but exciting. I can’t wait to play at the next level with SCC and I believe we’re going to have a first good season.”

It was anticipated the Mighty Oaks’ first signee would be a right-side setter from South Florida, but Bazemore’s paperwork beat her to the punch. The Mighty Oaks are still in on that player and anticipate this initial signing will open the door to a lot more.

“Now that I’ve signed my first one, I’ve had so much built up, now it’s finally coming to fruition,” Bartlett said. “Now I’m starting to get more contacts from people finally following up with me. It’s all finally coming together it feels like.”

Similarly, the two assistants she’s bringing on, Courtney Gallo and Mike Kerns, are going through the hiring process. Gallo is former Chestnut Hill setter from Wilmington and Kerns is a swim coach at Camden Academy Charter.

When it comes to players, ideally Bartlett would like to have a minimum of 10 to 12 players for her first season in the fall – two for each position – but it won’t really feel complete until she gets enough for an initial starting seven and then, she said, “I can really start getting into the nitty gritty of it.”

Bartlett was hired in November and brings a wealth of experience and success on the Delaware high school and club circuit. Athletics director Bob Hughes called her “the perfect coach” to launch the program.

The team will compete in the four-team Region 19 Division II – with Delaware Tech (Bartlett’s JUCO alma mater), Harcum and Morris, effectively replacing Lackawanna, which is moving to NCAA Division II – and look to play a 20-match first-year schedule. Several of the region’s Division III teams in South Jersey already have expressed an interest in playing.

The idea of starting her first program is both exciting and scary.

“To start it from the beginning you’re able to set the standards and the culture,” she said. “When you go into a program with athletes who are already there they are used to old coaching styles or what the culture used to be or these rules we used to have and I get to start from scratch so I could think of what do I want to do, what kind of environment do I want to create to make these athletes want to come play here and then we can just build from that.

“I don’t have to worry about what was previously done. I get to start it from the beginning. It’s a lot of pressure on me because it’s my first program and making sure I do set those right standards, but along with them growing Ill also grow and learn, too, and we’ll figure out kind of together what works and what doesn’t and build the program together.”

While it wasn’t necessarily planned to land a setter as her first commitment, it was a fortuitous happenstance. Bazemore recorded 173 assists this past season with 23 kills and 43 aces. She had 262 assists over the past two seasons.

“It is nice to know that I have a setter,” Bartlett said. “Having a setter first and picking up at least a couple in the beginning because that’s who’s essentially running my offense. And knowing I have at least one on the list is important.”

Because the Mighty Oaks are a true start-up, the focus of Bartlett’s first year will be on team culture, which means teamwork, growth and resilience. It’s not dissimilar to the way she develops a new bunch of players for her 17U club team who likely haven’t played together before.

“It’s all about finding kids with character,” Barlett said. “I can teach you volleyball … but it’s really hard to teach character. I’m trying to find kids who are willing to buy in and be all in for the team and not just for their own personal goals and be willing to put in the hard work.”

Built to win

Top-ranked Mighty Oaks use a big second half to get past Ocean, will play for North Atlantic District title Saturday at Northampton

REGION XIX TOURNAMENT
North Atlantic District A
Salem CC 80, Ocean 60
Montgomery 85, Camden 65
North Atlantic District B
Brookdale 73, Union 62
Northampton 72, Bergen 64
Saturday’s district finals
At Northampton
Salem CC vs. Montgomery, 3 p.m.
Northampton vs. Brookdale, 6 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — In playoff basketball, a lot like in golf, they don’t ask you how, they just ask how many.

It really doesn’t matter what it looks like wire-to-wire at this time of year as long as you win and advance to the next round.

Salem CC wasn’t at its top-ranked sharpest for a good part of its Region XIX playoff game Thursday night, but the Mighty Oaks were playing like the winningest team in the country when it counted most and got past Ocean 80-60 to earn a spot in the North Atlantic District A title game Saturday and a shot at a guaranteed return trip to the JUCO Division III national tournament.

The Mighty Oaks (30-1) will play Montgomery County (20-4) for one of two district titles up for grabs at Northampton Saturday. A win in that game not only will get them a second straight district crown, but the likely No. 1 seed in the national tournament.

“It’s the way you build a team,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “We’ve got so many players that try to wear you down and bring the next group in.

“The first half I didn’t think our bench played well. The second half they did what they were supposed to, so we looked even better. That’s how we are by design. We want to have a lot of different weapons. First half, they (Ocean) did what they were supposed to. They’re a good team, very talented, so we expected their best shot. I know that team is good, but I also know my guys, too.”

Ocean (16-13), the No. 8 seed, gave Salem a battle for 27 minutes and for a time it seemed if the Mighty Oaks didn’t get it together they’d have be in for some anxious days awaiting the tournament selection committee’s four at-large bids to the nationals. But, just as they have many times this season, they flipped the switch and won the game going away.

They had put 100 on this team twice this season, but trailed 50-49 with 13:03 to go in the second half. Playing in front of the biggest home crowd of the year, they came out of a timeout there and ran out the Vikings 31-10 the rest of the game.

During that stretch, the Mighty Oaks held the visitors to 3-for-21 shooting and turned them over seven times.

Saaid Lee and Nayeem Johnson combined for five steals in the early part of the run, including one where Lee dove and stripped Ocean’s AJ Lemons at midcourt and got it to Jarrell Little for a layup-and-one that gave them a nine-point lead.

“That was a big energy play,” Lee said. “I feel like that changed the momentum of the game.”

“The first half we were kind of slow – we turned the ball over a little too much – but the second half we came out with the right energy and we got the job done. I just saw we needed intensity and my job as point guard is to pick the intensity up and make sure everybody’s at 100 percent, so I just tried to lead by example.”

“All week we were preaching defense,” freshman Idris Rines said. “Ocean’s the second-leading (scoring) team behind us, so we knew we just had to defense. We executed that end of it, we just kept turning the ball over.”

The Mighty Oaks foreshadowed the run late in the first half when they held the Vikings to seven straight empty possessions to fuel a 9-0 run that gave them a 31-23 lead 3:55 before halftime. But the Vikings collected themselves and answered with their own 9-0 run to retake a 32-31 lead with 1:33 left.

When Ocean flowed into the dressing room up 34-33, it marked only the second time since Jan. 1 the Mighty Oaks had trailed at the half. The other time was in their loss to Brookdale.

“Every team we play we’re going to get their best shot,” Rines said. “Everybody wants to beat the No. 1 team in the country, like who wouldn’t. Us losing to Brookdale was a big loss, but I don’t think we would be at this point if we didn’t get punched in our face like that. That was a big wake-up call for us. That’s what’s helping us right now.

“We’re good at facing adversity. Once a team start sgetting up on us we don’t rush and fold and stuff like that. We keep our heads and we have a lot of trust in each other. That’s why we like this team.”

Nasseem Wright led the Mighty Oaks with 18 points and 10 rebounds despite missing a big chunk of the turnaround with foul trouble. Little had a team-high 19 points, plus eight rebounds and six assists. Stefan Phillips, playing his final home game with the program, had 11 points and Lee had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Johnson scored all seven of his points in the second half. Rines finished with eight points and seven boards

SALEM CC 80, OCEAN 60
OCEAN (16-13):.Myles Marabuto 5-10 4-4 16, Jamari Smith 5-22 6-9 16, Kai Barckley 0-3 0-0 0, Aiden Sosinov 4-13 3-6 11, James Gibbons 2-4 1-2 6, AJ Lemons 2-5 0-0 4, Omar Hadid 0-1 0-0 0, Aiden Falduto 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Grospe 0-3 0-0 0, Mattox Watson 1-1 0-0 3, Mason Krey 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 21-67 14-21 60.
SALEM CC (30-1): Jerrell Little 7-14 1-5 19, Saaid Lee 3-8 4-5 10, Zyaire Gibson 2-5 0-0 5, Nasseem Wright 8-10 1-3 18, Stefan Phillips 4-5 2-6 11, Jahseir Sayles 0-2 0-0 0, Qua Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Nayeem Johnson 2-7 3-4 7, Idris Rines 2-4 4-4 8, Mike Goodwin 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 29-56 15-29 80.

Ocean	34	26-	60
Salem CC	33	47-	80

3-point goals: Ocean 4-23 (Marabuto 2-6, Smith 0-1, Barckley 0-3, Sosinov 0-2, Gibbons 1-2, Lemons 0-3, Hadid 0-1, Grospe 0-2, Watson 1-1, Krey 0-2); Salem CC 7-21 (Little 4-9, Lee 0-2, Gibson 1-4, Wright 1-1, Phillips 1-1, Sayles 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Rines 0-2). Rebounds: Ocean 33 (Smith 10, Sosinov 10); Salem CC 43 (Wright 10, Rines 7, Little 8). Total fouls: Ocean 19, Salem CC 19.

Salem’s Jarrell Little reaches in to pick the pocket of Ocean guard Jamari Smith in the second half of Thursday night’s Region XIX/North Atlantic District playoff game. Top photo: Zyaire Gibson comes out to disrupt the shot of Ocean’s Myles Marabuto.

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Fev. 23-28; all events subject to the weather; first-round South Jersey Group I basketball tournament games now on Friday

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Region XIX/North Atlantic District A Tournament
Ocean at Salem CC

THURSDAY, FEB. 26
BOWLING
NJSIAA Top 100, Lucky Strikes, North Brunswick

FRIDAY, FEB. 27
BOYS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Riverside at Salem, 5 p.m.
Paulsboro at Woodstown, 5 p.m.
Glassboro at Burlington City, 6:30 p.m.
Wildwood at KIPP, 6 p.m.
New Egypt at Haddon Twp., 7:30 p.m.
Pitman at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Audubon at Woodbury, 5:30 p.m.
Gateway at Palmyra, 6 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Paulsboro at Haddon Twp.
Burlington City at Woodbury
New Egypt at Palmyra
Cape May Tech at Glassboro
Salem at Audubon, 5 p.m.
Woodstown at Pennsville, 5 p.m.
Schalick at Gateway, 5 p.m.
Clayton at Wildwood
BOWLING
Group I Championship
At Lucky Strikes, North Brunswick
Salem vs. Kinnelon, 9 a.m.
Middlesex vs. Rutherford, 9 a.m.
Title match to follow
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Ocean at Salem CC, 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 28
INDOOR TRACK
NJSIAA Group I Championship, Toms River
WRESTLING
NJSIAA District Tournament
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Region XIX/North Atlantic District A&B finals, Northampton CC
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Ocean (2), noon

Back to No. 1

After finishing its regular season with the best record in the country, Salem CC returns to No. 1 in JUCO Division III basketball rankings

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The Salem CC men’s basketball team heads into postseason play back as the No. 1 team in the country.

The Mighty Oaks were returned to the top spot in the JUCO Division III rankings after completing their regular season with the best record in the country (29-1).

They jumped Dallas College Richland (now No. 4) and Riverland CC (now No. 5).

‘Ii’s a good selling point for recruits,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “We already had the target, it’s not really a bigger one because we’ve been that all year long. It’s just good. It looks good on paper. It looks good to these guys who worked all year for it.”

The Mighty Oaks held the top spot for six weeks before falling to No. 3 after suffering their only loss of the season at Brookdale, ironically a game whose prep was interrupted by a snowstorm.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Green said. “Even if we’ve got to go outside we’re going to practice. Snow, weather, we’ve got to do it.”

Since the loss, however, they have nailed down the overall No. 1 seed in the upcoming Region XIX tournament and will open postseason play Wednesday or Thursday with a home game against Ocean CC, a team they put 100 on twice during the season.

“I think they responded well, I think they responded well in that game as well,” Green said. “There were a couple games I didn’t think we looked as sharp, but I think the last two or three were like we’re probably supposed to look.”

A win over Ocean will send the Mighty Oaks to Northampton CC Saturday to play either Camden or No. 8 Montgomery for an automatic bid to the national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y.

The No. 1 ranking also will make it difficult to deny them one of four at-large bids to the nationals if they lose along the way.

“It gives people something to think about,” Green said. “That’s another thing that’s the beauty of ending the No. 1 team. It gives the committee something to think about regardless of what happens.

“It’s a tiny bit of security. It also allows you if you go ahead and win the championship you’ve gotta be pretty much the No. 1 overall seed.”

JUCO DIVISION III RANKINGS
1. SALEM CC (29-1), 2. Northern Essex (27-3), 3. Dallas-Eastfield (20-8), 4. Dallas-Richland (20-8), 5. Riverland (26-2), 6. Dallas-North Lake (19-10), 7. Dutchess (23-4), 8. Montgomery County (19-4), 9. Northampton (24-4), 10. Ridgewater (20-5), 11. Virginia Peninsula (21-6), 12. North Country (24-3), 13. Genesee (20-7), 14. Union (22-8), 15. Herkimer (18-6).

Also receiving votes: Brookdale, Anoka-Ramsey, Joilet.

Of course, No. 1

Salem CC pulls down overall No. 1 seed in region/district tournament, two wins away from auto bid to nationals

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Salem CC, as expected, pulled down the overall No. 1 seed and one of two top seeds in the Region 19 tournaments that will send teams to the JUCO Division III national tournament and will play one home game to get a shot at the trip.

The once-beaten, third-ranked Mighty Oaks (29-1) are the No. 1 seed in the North Atlantic A district tournament and will play either Ocean CC (15-12) or CC Philadelphia (14-12) in Dupont Fieldhouse in their tournament opener Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The winner advances to district championship game at Northampton CC Saturday to play either seventh-ranked Montgomery (19-4) or Camden (17-12) for the automatic berth to the national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y.

“I haven’t seen anything yet, but that’s the reward you get for handling business all year long,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “i kind of wish the No. 1 seed gets to host as well. I think that would be a good thing for the league; it makes it a lot more interesting through the regular season. But No. 1 seed is the work we put in, you get rewarded for it at the end, but you’ve still got to go out there and win games.”

By placing in the A District bracket, the Mighty Oaks avoid No. 10 Northampton, No. 14 Union and Brookdale, the team that handed them their only loss – all 20-win teams. Northampton, as the No.2 overall seeds, tops the North Atlantic B field.

Green isn’t selling anyone short.

“It doesn’t really matter,” he said. “I think the league is tough top to bottom. Like Ocean is a very dangerous team. Montgomery is a dangerous team. Bergen. All those teams that were flirting with .500 down there are really dangerous teams.”

If they lose somewhere along the way officials familiar with the selection process told Riverview Sports News they are still expected to receive an at-large bid to the nationals for their season’s body of work. They had the best overall regular-season record in Division III, were ranked No. 1 for six weeks before losing to Brookdale, won the GSAC by a wide margin and are among the highest scoring teams in the nation.

They lead the country in total points and shooting percentage, are second in assists per game and third in points per game. Five scorers average in double figures. Saaid Lee is ranked third individually in assists. Zyaire Gibson is second in 3-pointers.

REGION 19 BASKETBALL BRACKET
North Atlantic A
Saturday’s game
Philadelphia at Ocean
Tuesday’s games
Philadelphia-Ocean winner at Salem CC
Camden at Montgomery
Feb. 28
At Northampton CC
Championship game, 3 p.m.

North Atlantic B
Tuesday’s games
Union at Brookdale
Bergen at Northampton
Feb. 28
At Northampton
Championship game, 6 p.m.