Salem shuts down Delaware visitors’ dynamic duo, wins eighth straight; includes results and details from the action on Wednesday night’s Salem County sports schedule

BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem 74, DuPont (Del.) 62
Penns Grove 65, Pennsville 17
Pitman 54, Salem Tech 31
Woodstown 67, Schalick 27
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville 55, Penns Grove 46
Woodstown 52, Schalick 27
Salem Tech at Pitman

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM — The Salem Rams didn’t know a whole lot about the A.I. duPont team they brought across the bridge to play Wednesday night, but they did know which Tigers to pay attention to.

The short film session the Rams had in the run up to the game made it pretty clear they had to keep an eye on Amir Robinson and Gi’lyl Conrad. Both were averaging nearly 20 points a game, but Xavier McGriff and Neziah Spence kept them both well below that on their way to a 74-62 border war win.

It was the Rams’ eighth win in a row, their longest winning streak since a 15-gamer in 2021-22.

“We definitely knew they were their guys,” said Spence, who drew the assignment on Conrad. “We watched a little bit of film so we knew what they could do. We knew if we took them away it would make it difficult for them to score.”

As it turned out, Robertson had 15 points and Conrad was held to 11. Seven of Robertson’s points came from the free throw line. Nine of Conrad’s came from outside the 3-point arc.

“They did a great job,” Deshaan Williams said of his teammates’ defensive effort.

Rams coach Anthony Farmer called the defensive showing “one of the better efforts we’ve had putting it all together.”

“We’re trying to put it together for four quarters regardless of what we’re in,” Farmer said. “We’re just trying to be smart about what we’re doing and have an identity and understand the game plan and execute the game plan. We’re getting close.”

In the second quarter they came out in tough man-to-man defense, generally holding the Tigers to one shot, and outscoring them 17-9 to take a 31-22 halftime lead.

Spence showed out at the start of the third quarter. He opened the half with two straight steals, one he got to Williams for a bucket and the other he took for a three-point play. He almost got a third the next time down the court, but got the rebound on the Tigers’ missed shot and fed Williams for another layup to give the Rams their biggest lead.

“We knew what we had to do,” Spence said. “We had to stretch the lead. The second half I came out energetic and feel like I set the tone and got it popping.”

Spence was good on the offensive end, too, going for a game-high 21 points. Tymear Lecator had 19 and Deshaan Williams had his fourth double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds).

But the Tigers (7-2) wouldn’t go away. The 22nd-ranked team in Delaware (MaxPreps) chipped away the rest of the quarter and got back within 3. It was still a three-point game early in the fourth quarter when the Rams (10-1) went on an 11-2 run that expanded to 17-5 to move back comfortably ahead.

Farmer called it being resilient and making adjustments. In trying to keep up, the Tigers had four players foul out.

Rams senior Fatah Paige was most familiar with the Tigers. He played them one time last year when he was at McKean (Del.) High School and said they were “developed way more” than the team he beat handily last year.

Paige is progressing, too. He had seven points, four rebounds and an assist in his fourth game with the Rams since satisfying his transfer requirements. It came on the heels of a massive double-double against Clayton.

“I feel like I was just locked in,” he said of his big game. “I’m still getting warmed up to everything. I feel like as the games go on I’ll get more productive.”

SALEM 74, DUPONT 62
DUPONT (7-2): Tevin Cannon 2 5-6, Tko Jones 3 2-2 9, Amir Robertson 4 7-7 15, Gilyl Conrad 4 0-0 11, Tyaire Herring 1 3-4 5, Arcevis Flowers 0 0-0 0, JaMael Bishop 0 0-0 0, Kaisan Hale 6 0-2 12. Totals 20 17-21 62.
SALEM (10-1): Xavier McGriff 1 4-6 7, Neziah Spence 4 11-13 21, Tymear Lecator 6 6-10 19, Fatah Paige 2 3-4 7, Kyaire Parsons 0 0-0 0, Deshaan Williams 5 4-4 14, BJ Robbins 1 2-2 4, Cole Sayers 0 0-0 0, Marshall Stephens 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 30-39 74.

DuPont	13	9	24	16-	62
Salem	14	17	18	25-	74

PENNS GROVE 64, PENNSVILLE 17: The Red Devils came out smoking, outscoring Pennsville 34-4 in the first quarter. Ten players scored for them in the game, led by Will Roy’s 16 and Carson Pearsall’s 11.

PENNSVILLE (1-11): Jake Layfield 2-0-5, Jacob Farina 1-0-3, Gavin Spears 1-3-5, Aidan Clark 2-0-4. Only players reported. Totals 6-3-17.
PENNS GROVE (7-4): Zane Thomas 3-0-6, Roman Gipson 3-1-7, Will Roy 7-0-16, Mishawn Bradley 1-0-2, Geonni Conrad 1-3-5, Eli Pearsall 0-0-0, Carson Pearsall 5-1-11, Luis Colon 2-2-6, Jeremy Costacamps 2-2-6, Jerry Wooten 1-0-3, Ahkeen Edwards 0-0-0, Messiah Allah 1-0-2. Totals 26-9-64.

Pennsville	4	3	8	2-	17
Penns Grove	34	12	9	9-	64

WOODSTOWN 67, SCHALICK 25: The Wolverines got back on the winning track after losing the battle for the Diamond Division lead in its previous game, pulling away with a big second quarter and closing it out by allowing only one point in the fourth.

Josh King led the Wolverines with a career-high 17 points. He had double-doubles in each of their first two games, but hadn’t scored in double figures single. He had scored only 16 points in his previous four games combined.

SCHALICK (5-5): Orion Baldwin 0 1-4 1, Julian Dickerson 1 1-2 3, Kade Macom 3 0-0 6, Sherrod Jones 2 1-2 5, Dylan Sheehan 4 0-0 8, Cooper Willoughby 1 0-2 2, Jacob Schalick 0 0-0 0, Will Sieminski 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 3-10 25.
WOODSTOWN (8-4): Elijah Caesar 1 0-0 3, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 6 0-1 13, Trey Markward 1 0-0 3, Lucas Fulmer 1 0-0 3, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 3 0-0 8, Frank Hoerst 3 0-0 6, Connor Miller 2 0-0 5, Alejandro Vazquez 1 1-2 3, Josh King 8 1-2 17, John Hood-McGinley 2 0-0 6. Totals 28 2-5 67.

Schalick	6	6	12	1-	25
Woodstown	10	18	24	15-	67

PITMAN 54, SALEM TECH 31: Joey Zubert made his bones keeping shots out of Pitman’s net on the soccer pitch and he doesn’t do a bad job of it on the basketball floor, either. Zubert blocked a pair of shots to go with his 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. He’s been credited with six blocks this season. Parker DeChristopher led all scorers with 17 points.

PITMAN (6-7): Lucas Razze 1 0-0 3, Parker DeChristopher 5 5-8 17, Jake Bowen-Ashwin 3 0-0 6, Joey Zubert 4 4-6 12, Jay Craig 2 1-4 5, Nolan Russell 1 0-0 3, Keaton Libby 0 0-0 0, Michael Aubrey 0 0-0 0, Liam Etter 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-22 54.
SALEM TECH (1-8): Chase Pompper 2 1-6 5, Ayden Myers 4 0-0 9, Aiden Bobo 2 1-3 6, Luke Kroll 2 0-0 6, Raphael Busch 2 0-0 4, Micah Cavanaugh 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 3-11 31.

Pitman	14	17	15	8-	54
Salem Tech	6	6	6	13-	31

1000-Point Watch

PLAYER	TODAY	TOTAL
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown	8 vs. Schalick	872
Tymear Lecator, Salem	18 vs. DuPont (Del.)	774

Girls games

PENNSVILLE 55, PENNS GROVE 46: Taylor Bass and Addie Johnston had 23 and 18 points, respectively, picking up for injured 1,000-point scorer Marley Wood and the Eagles held off their rivals despite two near career-highs by Penns Grove’s JaNiyah Cummings and Keziah Patterson.

The Red Devils enjoyed their season-high in points. Cummings had her season high, 19 points. Patterson had her second 20-point game of the season (20). Cummings had 14 in the second half.

Bass (15) and Johnston combined for 28 of the Eagles’ 33 first-half points in a 33-21 halftime lead. .

PENNS GROVE (1-10): Keziah Patterson 9 0-0 20, JaNiyah Cummings 8 2-5 19, Mikayla Washington 2 0-2 4, Yeichelyn Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, NyAsia Numan 1 0-0 2, Armahni Blackston 0 0-0 0, Domari Torres 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 2-7 46.
PENNSVILLE (7-3): Taylor Bass 10 1-2 23, Izzy Saulin 0 0-0 0, Addie Johnston 7 1-1 18, Jaiden Wilson 3 3-5 9, Kylie Harris 0 0-2 0, Jaida Burns 2 1-2 5. Totals 22 6-12 55.

Penns Grove	11	10	13	12-	46
Pennsville	20	13	10	12-	55

Woodstown	12	14	14	12-	52
Schalick	7	1	12	7-	27

Here are the results and highlights from Monday night’s Salem County sports calendar

BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem 77, Clayton 64
Overbrook 66, Woodstown 51
Schalick 84, Pennsville 30
Penns Grove 65, Glassboro 50
Wildwood 66, Salem Tech 29
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Glassboro 64, Penns Grove 30
Clayton 63, Salem at Clayton 50
Pennsville 57, Schalick 35
Wildwood 53, Salem Tech 22
Woodstown 55, Overbrook 27
SWIMMING
At YMCA of Vineland
Millville 91, Schalick 79

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The Woodstown junior varsity came back from way downtown in the fourth quarter to win the undercard Monday night. It was the kind of rally that would have electrified the building, but the magic didn’t carry over into the main event for the home team.

The junior Wolverines thrilled the home crowd by coming from 23 down in the fourth to win at the buzzer, but in the main event it was all Overbrook. The Rams led wire-to-wire and although the Wolverines did make a run late left town with a 66-51 win to take the upper hand in the Tri-County Diamond Division.

Both teams were undefeated in the division coming into the game.

“They made things hard for us tonight,” Woodstown coach Ramon Roots said. “Seeing that was incredible by the JV and we had the energy in the locker room when we came out. It came down to great players make big-time plays and we just missed shots. It wasn’t our night.”

Overbrook established its dominance with runs at the start of each half. The Rams (9-2) jumped out 12-3 to start the game and then had the first nine points of the third quarter to set the stage for its 21st straight Diamond Division win.

“I just challenged our kids,” Rams coach Donny Lang said. “It’s a long bus ride, these kids from Woodstown they play hard and I challenged our kids to make sure we matched their energy or came out with more. They did that from the opening tip. They came out with the passion. it’s a division game, we want to win our conference and I credit my kids for coming out with that kind of energy.

“It’s funny. In this game we always say until there’s zeroes on the clock it’s never over. (Woodstown’s Alejandro Vazquez) hit a buzzer beater to cut it to 8 (at halftime). That was a big shot. We knew that kind of gave them some momentum coming into the second half so it was kind of like let’s start over and let’s make sure we win the second half, we’ll win the game.”

Lamar Little and Bilal Robinson, as usual, inflicted the most damage, going for 21 and 20 points, respectively, but the Rams got contributions from throughout the lineup. JR Stanley had nine points and five rebounds, Gavin Cajuste had seven rebounds and Jaden St. John had eight boards off the bench.

Little and Robinson had all but one of the Rams’ points in the 17-point first quarter.

“I’m very fortunate to get coach both of them,” Lang said. “Lamar’s a senior; he’s taken a big step for us. He’s kind of mentored Bilal and Bilal’s grown up fast from his freshman year. He started for us, but his role has changed now. He’s one of our main guys.”

Andrew White and Vazquez led the Wolverines (7-4) with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The game stayed in the 12- to 15-point range after Overbrook’s opening salvo of the third quarter. The Wolverines really went cold to open the fourth quarter and the Rams were able to stretch the lead.

The varsity Wolverines just didn’t have as much time to work with the deficit as the guys in the first game, but they did put together a nice run late to make it respectable. They made a 13-2 closing run that included a pair of 3s by Connor Miller and one by Jack Hood-McGinley, the hero of the JV win.

“They came in and played hard and made shots, that’s what basketball comes down to,” Roots said. “As coaches we’re going to re-evaluate everything. Guys might get a chance to get more opportunities. That’s the message I gave.”

OVERBROOK (9-2): Lamar Little 7 5-6 21, Bilal Robinson 8 0-0 20, JR Stanley 4 0-2 9, Gavin Cajuste 1 2-6 4, Jaden St. John 3 0-0 6, Rashon Jones 1 0-0 2, Damere Vennie 1 0-0 2, Jayden Wilkerson 1 0-0 2, Kyle Johns 0 0-0 0, Jason Boyd 0 0-0 0, Josh Lewis 0 0-0 0, Josh Schoeb 0 0-0 0
WOODSTOWN (7-4): Eli Caesar 1 4-5 6, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0, Blake Bialecki 2 1-2 6, Alejandro Vazquez 3 3-4 10, Jack Hood-McGinley 1 2-2 5, Josh King 1 2-2 4, Andrew White 4 2-4 12, Trey Markward 0 0-0 0, Lucas Fulmer 0 0-0 0, Bryce Ayars 0 0-0 0, Frankie Hoerst 1 0-2 2, Connor Miller 2 0-0 6. Totals 15 14-21 51.

Overbrook	17	16	18	15-	66
Woodstown	7	18	11	15-	51

SALEM 77, CLAYTON 64: Fatah Paige has only been with the Salem basketball team a short time, but he made his biggest impact to date in helping the Rams to their seventh straight win.

The McLean (Del.) transfer, after scoring a combined 16 points in his first two games with the Rams, went off for 18 points and 14 rebounds, with four thunderous dunks that brought the crowd to its feet.

Xavier McGriff (11) and Neziah Spence (12) also scored in double figures. Deshaan Williams had eight points and 13 rebounds. Marshall Stephens had eight points and seven boards. And BJ Robbins had six points, seven rebounds and eight assists, picking up the slack without floor general Tymear Lecator in the game.

PENNS GROVE 65, GLASSBORO 50: Roman Gipson went for a team-high 18 points and Carson Pearsall went for a career-high 10 in his first varsity scoring of the season, but all five of the Red Devils’ other scorers had seven to nine points. Pearsall’s previous career-high was nine, last year against Kingsway.

PENNS GROVE (6-4): Roman Gipson 18, Carson Pearsall 10, Haneef Frisby 7, Will Roy 9, Geonni Conrad 7, Zane Thomas 7, Luis Colon 7.
GLASSBORO (2-8): Alex Adeleye 10, William Boggins 18, Cam Parker-Akins 8, Aiden Harris 4, Maurice Davis 10.

Penns Grove	14	15	19	17-	65
Glassboro	12	7	14	17-	50

SCHALICK 84, PENNSVILLE 30: Freshmen Julian Dickerson led Orion Baldwin led five Schalick scorers in double figures with 20 and 18, respectively, as the Cougars won their third straight to get over .500 for the first time this season. For Baldwin, it tied his career high.

Kade Macom, Sherrod Jones and Dylan Sheehan all scored 11 apiece. Mason O’Brien fought through a sore ankle to led Pennsville with 10 points.

PENNSVILLE (1-10): Jake Layfield 1 0-0 2, Gavin Spears 0 0-2 0, Shamir Watkins 1 0-0 3, Mason O’Brien 4 0-0 10, Colt Willis 4 0-0 9, Trey Clevenger 1 0-0 3, Chanler Lindenmuth 1 1-1 3. Totals 12 1-4 30.
SCHALICK (5-4): Orion Baldwin 6 3-5 18, Julian Dickerson 8 0-0 20, Kade Macom 5 0-0 11, Sherrod Jones 3 4-6 11, Dylan Sheehan 5 1-1 11, Cooper Willoughby 1 0-0 2, Jacob Schalick 1 0-0 2, Eian Cirino 2 0-0 5, Braden Iwano 1 0-0 2, Mason Sanchez 1 0-0 2. Totals 44 8-12 84.

Pennsville	5	11	7	7-	30
Schalick	18	21	28	17-	84

WILDWOOD 66, SALEM TECH 29: Chase Pompper led Salem Tech with 10 points. Aiden Bobo had nine.

Salem Tech (1-7)	12	7	6	4-	29
Wildwood (3-5)	17	17	23	9-	66

1000-Point Watch

PLAYER	TONIGHT	TOTAL
Blake Bialecki, Woodstown	6 vs. Overbrook	864
Tymear Lecator, Salem	DNP	755

Girls games

PENNSVILLE 57, SCHALICK 35: Sophomore Addie Johnston had the hottest hand of her career, hitting five 3-pointers and going for 22 points as the Eagles (6-3) remained undefeated in the TCC Diamond Division.

She hit four of her treys in the first half while scoring 16 points. She had 10 points in the second quarter as the Eagles erased a five-point deficit and took a 27-16 halftime lead.

“She was just hot in that first half,” Pennsville coach Steve Merritt said. “She missed four layups during the course of the game or could’ve been a really big game for her.”

Johnston hit four 3s twice last season (Haddon Twp. and Wildwood). Her previous career-high scoring was 21 points against Triton.

She had nine 3-pointers this season coming into the game and broke a three-game streak without one when she hit two against Delsea Saturday.

Marley Wood had 15 points, 14 after falling on her wrist in the first quarter. Taylor Bass added 12 points. Izzy Saulin scored eight points, all in the second half.

Willow Davis hit a career-high four 3-pointers for Schalick and matched her career high with 14 points. Neveah Robinson had 12 points.

SCHALICK (5-2): Ava Scurry 2 0-0 4, Neveah Robinson 6 0-0 12, Willow Davis 5 0-0 14, Olivia Vanacker 0 2-3 2, Juelynn Jarmon 0 0-0 0, Vicky Basich 1 1-1 3, Emmalynn Weir 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 3-4 35.
PENNSVILLE (6-3): Taylor Bass 4 3-4 12, Marley Wood 6 2-3 15, Addie Johnston 7 3-4 22, Jaiden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Kylie Harris 0 0-0 0, Izzy Saulin 4 0-0 8, Kylie Weist 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-11 57.

Schalick	12	4	15	4-	35
Pennsville	7	20	12	18-	57

Penns Grove	11	9	2	8-	30
Glassboro	21	21	16	6-	64

WILDWOOD 53, SALEM TECH 22: Angela Wilber (15) and Rebecca Benichou (12) combined for five 3-pointers while scoring in double figures for the Warriors. The Chargers didn’t hit a 3 in the game or have a scorer in double figures, but Rylee Doerr and Amora Delaine grabbed 15 and 12 rebounds, respectively. Doerr also was credited with four shots.

WILDWOOD (8-4): Angela Wilber 6 0-0 15, Rebecca Benichou 4 2-2 12, Addison Troiano 1 0-0 3, Joelle Murphy 1 2-3 4, Cydnee Kilian 2 0-0 4, Lily Atkinson 1 0-0 3, Julia Ennis 1 0-0 2, Emma Contreras 1 0-0 2, Ellasyn Morey 1 0-0 2, Sabrin Fathi 1 0-0 2, Laila Fathi 2 0-0 4, Antoinette Cooper 0 0-0 0, Sarah Djellal 0 0-0 0, Cara Millard 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-5 53.
SALEM TECH (2-6): Tiara Bazemore 1 0-0 2, Amora Delaine 3 0-3 6, Rylee Doerr 2 1-2 5, Shelby Liber 1 3-3 5, Shelby Drummond 2 0-0 4, Rachel Reed 0 0-0 0, Evening Amedee 0 0-0 0, Carmen Mott 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 4-8 22.

Wildwood	18	20	11	4-	53
Salem Tech	4	6	3	9-	22