After winning its first two games on the road, the Salem CC men’s basketball team has risen to No. 2 in the JUCO Division III poll

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green knew his Salem CC basketball team was going to be playing with a target on its back this season. Well, that target just got a lot bigger.

After winning their first two games on this road last week, the Mighty Oaks have moved to No. 2 in the NJCAA Division III poll that was released Monday. It’s their highest ranking ever. They were No. 5 in the preseason poll.

The Mighty Oaks collected 98 poll points from the voters, seven ahead of No. 3 Riverland. Defending national champion Mohawk Valley (1-0) remains No. 1, picking up all nine first-place votes.

“It’s cool,” Green said. “That looks good for today and it looks good if anybody’s been following from what I’ve been saying at the beginning, when I really first got here, like you want to make it a powerhouse.

“Still got to give credit to that last year’s team. This team has that target on their back. It’s great publicity for Salem, great publicity for everybody involved, but it comes with a certain dedication and a certain swagger you gotta have about it.”

The Mighty Oaks’ first game as the No. 2 team in the country is their home opener Thursday, when they’ll raise the banner for their district championship and fifth-place finish at the national tournament.

“This is a proud moment for our college and community,” athletics director Bob Hughes said. “Being recognized nationally while honoring last year’s championships is a testament to the foundation we’re building here at Salem.”

The Mighty Oaks will see but not play No. 11 Sandhills CC at this weekend’s Penn Highlands Turkey Classic and have three other currently ranked teams on the schedule (Union, Northampton, Montgomery County).

“We’re hunted now,” Green said. “We’ll see how we deal with it.”

JUCO Division III Rankings

TEAM (REGION)	REC	PTS	PV
Mohawk Valley (3) (9 1st-place votes)	1-0	105	1
Salem CC (19)	2-0	98	5
Riverland (13)	2-0	91	7
Northern Essex (21)	4-1	84	8
Minnesota State C&T (13)	1-0	77	4
Dallas Richland (5)	1-3	70	3
Union (NJ) (19)	1-0	63	9
Duchess (15)	3-0	56	10
Herkimer (3)	0-1	49	2
Northampton (19)	3-0	42	12
Sandhills (10)	1-2	34	6
Dallas Mountain View (5)	3-1	23	13
Dallas North Lake (5)	3-0	13	NR
Joliet (4)	2-1	10	NR
Montgomery County (Pa.) (19)	0-0	5	15

Receiving votes: Bunker Hill, North Country, Owens, Hostos, Dallas Eastfield, Ridgewater.

Little, Lee, Rines spark second-half surge that sends No. 5 Salem CC to opening-night win over Atlantic Cape

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

MAYS LANDING – As the reigning fifth-place and preseason fifth-ranked team in the country, Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green knows his team has a target somewhat unfairly on its back this season and will get the best effort from every opponent every game.

The Mighty Oaks, with virtually an entire new team from the one that finished fifth at the nationals a year ago (which makes the target reference unfair), got the best Atlantic Cape had to offer in their season opener Thursday night and they didn’t handle it very well early. One of the players called it the worst half of basketball they’ve played.

But they found the difference between being the high schoolers many of them were at this time last year and the college game during the break, came out a different team in the second half and sank the Buccaneers 80-73.

“We have a lot of freshmen,” said one of them, forward Idris Rines. “We have one returning guy from last year (Stefan Phillips), so that was like our first big test. I think we adjusted well in the second half. We were mentally still in high school (in the first half), but in the second half we were ready for the comeback. We prepared, we stayed together, fought adversity and trusted each other.”

The Mighty Oaks trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and by nine at halftime in large part because they were terribly out rebounded. The Buccaneers had more offensive rebounds (14) than Salem had boards (12) and scored 11 second-chance points off them.

Nasseem Wright and Zyaire Gibson kept them in the half. Wright had 11 points and five rebounds, while Gibson hit three 3-pointers. Wright finished with 15 points, eight boards and eight blocks.

Luckily, the Mighty Oaks were hitting their free throws. They were 14-of-16 from the line in the first half, 28-of-32 in the game. They were 69.9 percent foul shooters as a team last year.

“We struggled with it through the whole jamborees and exhibitions,” Green said. “It’s good to see the work we put in in practice is worth something.”

Their second-half surge was led by Rines, leading scorer Saaid Lee and Jarrell Little. Lee and Little combined for 29 points in the half. Rines scored nine points in the half, including two huge 3-pointers during the comeback.

They also closed the rebounding gap. They were still outrebounded in the half 20-17, but they gave up only five second-chance points.

“We just had to adjust to the game and be more physical with them,” Lee said. “They started off punching us in our face so we had to punch them right back and be physical.”

Little scored all 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes after being held scoreless in the first half. Green getting on him during the break provided the proper incentive.

“Mentally I was out of it,” he said. “This is my first game out of high school so I was struggling at the beginning but I just let the game come to me. I wasn’t ready for the physicality. In high school I used to get fouled a lot, but our here it’s more like a grown men’s game. Every game you’ve gotta play hard.”

At 6-6 one might think Rines would be more comfortable inside than out, but the 3-ball is a big part of his game and Green actually encourages to shoot. He was 2-of-6 behind the arc and also had five rebounds and three blocks.

“My high school coach, Coach (Derek) Brooks, my tenth-grade year (at Upper Dublin), he stepped in – it was his first year – and he really worked with me and my 3-pointers,” Rines said. “I was always a talented 3-point shooter growing up, but once I got into high school I really developed it. I hit over 50 3s my senior year.

“I always have confidence in my 3s, but I think teams probably don’t think so and people think I’m probably an inside post. That’s like a big advantage. People just go in the corner and are like oh he can’t shoot and we just light ‘em up from 3.”

After trailing virtually the whole game, the Mighty Oaks finally got it tied at 53 on a pair of Wright free throws with 11:17 to play. Little gave them their first lead since 2-0 on a layup with 9:48 left.

The teams either traded the lead or had it tied nine times over the next six minutes until Lee gave the Mighty Oaks the lead for good with 3:30 to play. on a layup with 3:01 left. The Buccaneers never got closer than four the rest of the way.

“I recruit toughness, high character kids,” Green said. “They got down and I challenged them at halftime and they responded.

“They’re really high school kids so they’re used to getting on somebody lesser and just taking the ball from them. You’re not going to do that at this level. I think they got the message at halftime and they adapted.”

Salem CC 80, Atlantic Cape 73

SALEM CC (1-0) – Saaid Lee 6 7-8 19, Jarrell Little 5 4-4 14, Nasseem Wright 4 7-8 15, Stefan Phillips 0 2-2 2, Zyaire Gibson 3 0-0 9, Quadeair Smith 0 1-2 1, Lenar Anderson 2 0-0 5, Idris Rines 3 5-6 13, Jaiayre Wright 0 2-2 2. Totals 23-56 28-32 80.
ATLANTIC CAPE (0-1) – John Andalora 1 0-0 2, Quinn Baumann 1 0-0 2, Jaleel Clark 0 0-0 0, Amin Hines 2 4-7 8, Rashad Jalloh 2 0-0 4, Sahmir Jones 1 0-0 2, Olyn Knox 5 6-6 16, Jayden Lopez 0 0-0 0, Justin Moore 1 0-0 2, Carlos Rodriguez 8 4-6 24, Logan Sparks 4 3-7 11, Corey Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 17-26 73

Salem CC	36	44-	80
Atlantic Cape	45	28-	73

3-point goals: Salem CC 6-20 (Little 0-2, Gibson 3-7, Anderson 1-1, Rines 2-6, Phillips 0-3, Smith 0-1); Atlantic Cape 4 (Rodriguez 4). Fouled out: Jones. Total fouls: Salem CC 19, Atlantic Cape 25.

Mighty Oaks women have a lot to work on after one-point scrimmage loss at home to Penn State-Brandywine; visitors won it on FT with five seconds left

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT — Scrimmages are supposed to teach a team things they just can’t get in a regular practice. And in the case of the Salem CC women, it’s a practice with a limited number of players.

One of the things the Mighty Oaks learned in their first scrimmage of the season Thursday is they have to be prepared to take a team’s best punch at the start of the second half.

The Mighty Oaks took an eight-point lead into halftime, but they were outscored 13-1 in the first three minutes of the third quarter to lose that lead. They did get back on their feet and actually regained the lead, but eventually fell to Penn State-Brandywine 45-44 on a free throw with five seconds to play.

They only had seven regulars available and on some days have to send their assistant coaches into action just to have enough to practice.

“We’re a young team, we’ve been coming off a lot of injuries, we’re just finally getting healthy,” coach Brian Marsh said. “They haven’t seen (a) a 5-on-5 and (b) a team that plays this hard, this scrappy. It’s really hard to run an offense against a team like this.

“Even though that defense is trying to speed you up and speed you up, that’s when you have to calm down and run some things. That’s exactly why we’re doing these scrimmages. We’re just trying to get this thing straightened out.”

Salem took a 20-12 lead into halftime, but the Lions came out of the break with energy, turned the Mighty Oaks over at an alarming rate and had as many points in those opening three minutes of the third quarter as they’d scored the entire first half.

At one point in the second half, Salem had as many turnovers in the game as Brandywine had points (35) and finished with 43 for the game. Their final turnover led to the game-winning free throw.

“They gave us a lot of problems, but our guards have to do a better job and our coaches have to do a better job,” Marsh said. “Unfortunately, with so many injuries, we weren’t able to put that kind of pressure on our point guards. They don’t see it until today, so it’s kind of hard to know what you’re going to go up against if you haven’t gone up against it yet.”

The run actually became 18-2 and the Mighty Oaks fell behind 30-22. They didn’t hit a field goal in the first seven minutes of the half.

But they were never too far back to make a comeback. They moved their defense up closer to half-court, got the game tied on Raynescia King’s steal and layup with 4:07 to play and actually regained the lead on Tanijya Shaw[s layup off Justine Cardona’s steal with 2:24 left.

Brandywine retied it at 44 with less than a minute to play. The Mighty Oaks called time with 18.2 seconds left to set up their end game. They put the ball in play from in front of their bench, but lost it on the baseline. The Lions got it to midcourt where King collided with Tejanae Ballin with five seconds left.

Ballin, a freshman, hit her first free throw to break the tie, but missed the second. Salem’s Paula Wilson corralled the rebound and got it out to Jayda Hunter, who got it to Shaw, but Shaw got turned around on the left side of the 3-point line and couldn’t get off a shot before the horn sounded.

Shaw led the Mighty Oaks with 24 points and was their only scorer in double figures. Kasey Oliver was their top rebounder with 15, but Dani Gustin, Wilson and Shaw each had five.

“Give our girls credit, we played really hard,” Marsh said. “I said I thought our effort was great, our execution needs a lot of work. We have five scrimmages to get this thing straight for (the season opener) Nov. 4.

“I think the girls did an excellent job of not giving up. They didn’t hang their head and they just kept fighting and fighting. That’s what this program is going to be built upon, the toughness and the never-say-die attitude.”

The Salem CC men’s team, preseason ranked No. 5 in JUCO Division III, went to Alvernia for a scrimmage and “got handled.” Jarrell Little led the Mighty Oaks with 16 points. Lamar Anderson had 12.

PSU-Brandywine	7	5	23	10-	45
Salem CC	8	12	9	15-	44

Salem scoring: Jayda Hunter 0 0-2 0, Tanijya Shaw 9 5-10 24, Dani Gustin 2 0-0 4, Kasey Oliver 0 5-8 5, Raynescia King 2 1-2 5, Paula Wilson 1 0-0 2, Imara James 0 1-2 1, Justine Cardona 0 3-4 3.

Salem rebounding: Jayda Hunter 3, Tinijya Shaw 5, Dani Gustin 5, Kasey Oliver 13, Raynescia King 4, Paula Wilson 5, Imara James 1, Justine Cardona 1.

Free throws: Salem CC 15-28, PSU-Brandywine 8-24.

Turnovers: Salem CC 43, PSU-Brandywine 32.

Top photo: Salem CC women’s basketball coach Brian Marsh makes a point to guards Raynescia King (00) and Justine Cardona during the first quarter of their scrimmage with Penn State-Brandywine.

Pennsville’s Cooksey back on soccer field after year-long medical ordeal that led to a ‘season of loss’

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – From now on, every time Karsen Cooksey looks at the calendar the first day of August will forever be known as her “Day of Victory.”

It may be just another day on other calendars, but it should be a national holiday in the Cooksey household for that was the day the Pennsville soccer player left her temporary North Carolina home for good, released from a 12-month medical ordeal that threatened to prematurely end her high school sports career and change her life forever.

Cooksey suffered a debilitating knee injury during a pre-training camp exercise at the start of her sophomore year – right before Casey Slusher’s first preseason practice as the Eagles’ new head coach – but the complications that followed her surgery moved her life into a desperate search for answers and ultimately what she refers to as a “season of loss.”

The surgery went wrong and left the family searching for a miracle. That arrived in the form of four months of Olympic-level therapy at a clinic in Cary, N.C., 6 1/2 hours and 400 miles away from home and friends.

Sure, she lost her sophomore soccer season, but she also missed out getting ready for her oldest sister’s wedding with the girls because of an appointment with the surgeon, the prom and hanging out with her friends, and all the other things that come with being an active teen.

Pretty scary stuff for a 15-year-old who aspired to follow her cousin as a 100-goal scorer for the Eagles, but through a world-renowned doctor and support from her family, teammates and community she avoided a third surgery, got well and is happily back on the field playing the sport she loves.

“It’s a miracle,” says Karsen’s mom Michelle, who doesn’t use the term lightly as Children’s Ministries Coordinator for Lifehouse Church in Townsend, Del.

A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs and it certainly applies as the Cookseys were definitely at a financial and emotional wits end as they fretted over their youngest daughter’s circumstances.

‘Knew’ something was wrong

It all started in a summer team camp before the start of official varsity practice when Karsen, the Eagles’ top goal-scorer as a freshman, hyperextended her knee during a simple passing drill. It was the same knee she initially hurt in a basketball game at Clayton that February.

She spent five weeks doing rehab before her doctor decided on surgery. The first surgery was performed in Delaware Oct. 23, an arthroscopic procedure designed to repair the injury, and it didn’t take long for the family to realize something was wrong.

“People usually get up and start walking after meniscus (surgery), but the pain was like crazy,” Karsen said. “I couldn’t put my toes on the ground. A week went by and it was awful. 

“I couldn’t do the normal things like straighten it, move it, put pressure on it. It was just all messed up.”

Four days after the operation she was back in the hospital. X-rays and ultrasounds were inconclusive, but an MRI revealed something disturbing. The pictures the family saw showed a nerve attached to the repaired meniscus. 

A second surgery was performed in Delaware Dec. 3 to “decompress the nerve.” All seemed well two days after the operation, but a few days later Karsen’s leg began shaking and then shaking violently and she was back in the hospital for another week. She was in a wheelchair from December to February, but at least she was home for Christmas and didn’t miss the Eagles winning the Super Bowl – on her birthday.

To complicate matters, all the medicine she was taking in an effort to quiet the nerve was starting to attack her system. There was talk of removing organs. She was back in the hospital in March. 

“So many things were going wrong, I guess we just didn’t even really know,” Karsen said.

The family started looking for other options, among them a trip to Baltimore for a second opinion at Johns Hopkins. 

“I had a lot of people throwing a lot of things our way and they were some big, big, big scary things and I never had a peace about any of them,” Michelle said. “I was just like, ‘Lord, please close doors that we should not walk through and open ones that are for us.’”

Finally, eldest sister Taylor, a medical professional, found Dr. David Pascal in part through a series of social media videos and testimonials from the world-class athletes he has treated in the past.

He could fix this, not through surgery or drugs but his technique of “quantum neurology.” But it would require the family pulling up stakes and moving to North Carolina.

According to his bio on the Institute website, Pascal, a chiropractor, specializes in severe neurologic injury, focusing on identifying the root causes of health issues and developing personalized treatment plans that promise long-term healing. He has treated track Olympians, world-class gymnasts, pro golfers and pro volleyball players.

On March 11, Michelle’s birthday, they were driving back from the hospital when the call came from the Pascal Health Institute that they’d see her. “The best birthday present ever,” Michelle said.

They left for North Carolina April 21.

Outpouring of support

The treatment wasn’t cheap and not covered by insurance, but the family had a lot of help to make ends meet. Dad Kirk quickly sold the family boat, a retirement gift to himself after a long career in local law enforcement, to get the financial ball rolling. It sold two hours after the listing drew multiple buyers. “Right then and there we knew something was headed in the right direction,” Kirk said.

Friends quietly set up a GoFundMe page that raised more than $41,000 in two days. Trinity United Methodist Church in Pennsville offered to take care of the apartment the family would have to live in while Karsen was undergoing treatment.

“It was one miracle after another that my little mind still can’t even fathom,” Michelle said.

The treatments were twice-a-day, two hours a day. It was an exhausting schedule, but there were some diversions.

Their apartment was next to the WakeMed Soccer Park, home of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. Karsen visited often and received encouragement from several players from the Courage and Orlando Pride during her treatment and recovery, and remains friends with several of them. She went to watch the Pride play in Washington, D.C., Saturday.

One of the milestone days was July 8, the day they took her crutches away. But she still had three more weeks of therapy. 

She was released from the Institute Aug. 1, the Day of Victory, and came back home with the doctor’s caution of maybe returning to the field next year. But all her fears were finally behind her and she was looking forward to future.

“I think I was probably more worried about walking again than whether I’d play soccer,” Karsen said. “I think if I never found Dr. Pascal I’d probably still be in a wheelchair.”

She returned to normal activities almost as soon as she got home, and that included lightly practicing with her Pennsville teammates.

Back in the game

The year before Cooksey got hurt, she was the Eagles’ leading scorer with 14 goals. The team scored only 30 goals in the year she missed – 13 of them in two games – and no one scored more than nine. This year, they are 8-6 and go into this week looking to solidify the program’s first winning season in 2022 and a prime position in the South Jersey Group I tournament

She was back in the game for the first time in 23 months on Sept. 29 as the last-minute starting goalie in a predictively low-impact game against Buena and even made two saves in an easy shutout. She was back at it the next day against Salem Tech and, after texting her reluctant mom during the game for permission to play in the field, scored the team’s fifth goal in a 9-0 rout.

It was her first goal since she scored a hat trick Oct. 23, 2023 – against Salem Tech – but it meant so much more than any goal she’s ever scored in her life.

“I was excited,” Karsen said.

“That one goal this year means more to us than the 100 because it’s victory,” Michelle said. “The 100 aren’t important because the one means she’s walking. The 100 doesn’t mean anything if there’s not true victory behind it, and that one is victory. 

“It means there’s no wheelchair. It means we’ve persevered, we’ve had joy. That one is the win.”

Mom admitted the ordeal had them all reorienting their perspective on sports, but Karsen is thinking about her future. She probably won’t play basketball again, but is thinking about playing softball. She was a catcher, but that constant crouching puts a strain, so that’s probably out; plus, the Eagles have a pretty good one already. They did graduate two outfielders, so there’s an opening.

That’s really all she needs.

The Tri-Cape All-Stars survive triple-digit temperatures, two one-run games to win their second Carpenter Cup softball title in three years

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – While they were warming up, even before the first pitch of the first game, the Tri-Cape Softball All-Stars made a pact.

It was going to be all or nothing. They went for the all.

The Tri-Capers won three games do-or-die games in Monday’s bracket round to sweep their way to a second Carpenter Cup softball title in three years. They beat Delaware South in the title game 3-2 after taking down Jersey Shore 9-0 and Delaware County 2-1 on a walk-off passed ball.

“Before we even played any games (Monday), when we were warming up, we said ‘All or nothing,’” Pennsville infielder Graillyn Weber said. “If we lose the first game we’d be done or win the first game and win the whole thing. That’s pretty much what it was.”

What it definitely was was hot. The games at FDR Park were played in temperatures that hovered around 100 degrees, but the Tri-Capers didn’t wilt – even under the intensity of a couple one-run games.

They beat Delaware County in the semifinals when courtesy runner Trinity Brown of Oakcrest raced home on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. They took the lead against Delaware South on Tori Jester’s two-out single in the sixth. 

Ocean City’s Jess Mooney set South down in order in the seventh with Woodstown’s Ellie Wygand squeezing the final out on a fly ball to left field touching off a big celebration. Weber turned a leaping double play in the top of the sixth to keep the game tied.

“When we first got the trophy we all jumped and held it up,” Weber said. “It was pretty cool. It was like one of those moments you see on TV when a team wins something and holds up the big trophy. That was a cool moment.”

Weber and Wygand both had a hit in the rout of Jersey Shore and Weber had a hit against Delaware South.

Tri-Cape never trailed in the championship game, but they never had it in hand until the sixth. Brooke Douglas’ RBI double gave them a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Adeline Lutz tied with an RBI single in the third. They regained the lead on Ava Snyder’s RBI single in the bottom of the third, but Delaware South tied it again in the fifth.

“I knew we were going to win it, honestly; I just knew it,” Weber said. “Because we had such a solid team. We had all the best players I felt like.”

“Loved getting to play on the field with so many elite and talented players,” Wygand wrote on her X feed. “What an honor! What a blast!”

Tri-Cape won the Cup in 2023 and 2014. Pennsville coach Beth Jackson has been on the staff for all three titles. Schalick coach Rick Higinbotham has been on the staff for the last two.

This year’s team went 6-0 in the tournament, winning three one-run games, and outscored their opponents 42-13.

“It’s always fun,” Jackson said. “It’s a new group of kids. Every year they’re a great group of kids and they always work together. We only have two practices and they come together and play for two days and they win. It’s always amazing.”

The team will be recognized along with the Carpenter Cup baseball champions in Citizens Bank Park prior to the Phillies’ Aug. 4 game against Baltimore. 

CARPENTER CUP PLAYOFFS
Monday’s Games
SOL/BAL 7, Lehigh Valley 1
Delaware South 4, Berks L/L 3
Tri-Cape 9, Jersey Shore 0
Delaware County 4, Delaware North 1
Delaware South 4, SOL/BAL 1
Tri-Cape 2, Delaware County 1
Tri-Cape 3, Delaware South 2

Assistant Kevin Leamy is on the agenda for board approval as Schalick’s next head football coach

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Schalick is a day away from naming its next head football coach.

Kevin Leamy, an assistant with big-picture focus already teaching in the district, is on the agenda to come before the board Thursday night and pending its approval will be the Cougars’ next football coach.

If approved, he will succeed Mike Wilson, who is leaving at the end of the school year to become the head coach at Clearview. Wilson guided the Cougars for five years, taking them from a program that didn’t win a game his first season to playing for a Group I sectional championship each of the last two years.

When approved, he will be the fourth new head football coach hired in Salem County within the past year. Pennsville’s Mike Healy is now the longest active head football coach at a county school.

Leamy, a special education teacher in the district, was an integral part of the Cougars’ staff. He coached various positions in his three years as an assistant, most recently as offensive line coach.

“He was a big help with some of the big picture stuff and you need that to run the program properly,” Wilson said. “It was very helpful to have him on the staff. As a head football coach you’re worrying about all that CEO stuff, so it’s nice to have a guy to help you out with the football stuff.

“He made some good adjustments, some really good calls. He was definitely an asset.”

Leamy played his high school football at Gateway and collegiately at Wesleyan University. He previously had coaching assignments at Gateway and Clearview. His background also includes spending a year and a half interning with the New York Jets game operations.

He declined comment Wednesday night.

On the cover: Schalick assistant Kevin Leamy (R), the Cougars’ recommendation for their next head football coach, stands with linebacker Riley Papiano after a game last season.

Girls roundup: Schalick freshman sets school record for boys or girls with 54 points against LEAP; Woodstown, Pennsville also post runaway wins

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Schalick 80, LEAP 12
Woodstown 53, Salem Tech 18
Pennsville 55, Pitman 22

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CENTERTON – At the beginning of the school year Schalick girls basketball coach John Whalen heard stories from the P.E. teachers about this freshman who looked in gym class like she could be some kind of player.

When he got Nevaeh Robinson in a scrimmage for the first time he saw what they were talking about. And Thursday night, he saw the player he’d been waiting for.

Robinson had one of the best scoring nights in Salem County history. She went for 54 points, breaking the all-time school record for points in a game – boys or girls – during the Cougars’ 80-12 rout of LEAP Academy.

“I think it’s good for me as a freshman, a blessing,” she said. “I didn’t even realize I had a lot of points until halftime. They were telling me we’re going to get you rolling to try to get the record.”

The Schalick school record for girls was 49 points by Tia Furbush in a 60-49 win over Overbrook in February 2021. The all-time school record was 52 points by Paul Gause, the county’s all-time leading scorer with more than 3,000 career points. 

“It’s definitely a great feat and the best part about it is the team kind of pushed for it at halftime,” Whalen said. “That made it a little extra special for me as a coach and her as a player.

“We haven’t really seen scoring like that since probably when we won the conference and we’re just hoping that can kind of allow her to take that next step in scoring and leading this team to where we need to go.”

Robinson’s previous career high was 18, which she hit twice (against Overbrook and Camden Tech). She had scored 153 points in her first 20 games.

She had 22 points in the first half against the winless Lions – half the Cougars’ team total – behind six 3-pointers. Her 32 with a running clock were all but four of her team’s points in the second half and came largely on fast-break layups in a conscience effort to get her the record.

“The first half, we just played basketball, honestly, and she hit shots early and it kind of put the idea in our mind,” Whaley said. “Then we got to halftime and as a whole we decided to kind of go for this record.

“Being that (the two records) were so close, if we’re going to go for it, we’re going to go for it. I think the goal was to get the girls record, but the overall record was right there in the back of the mind as well.”

SCHALICK 80, LEAP 12
LEAP (0-16): Harlam Taylor 4, Mahogany Gardner 8. Only players reported.
SCHALICK (5-16): Cali Fisler 0 3-4 3, Ava Scurry 4 0-1 9, Willow Davis 2 0-0 5, Navaeh Robinson 24 0-2 54, Olivia Lunemann 1 0-0 2, Carly Vicente 2 0-0 4, Victoria Basic 1 1-2 3, Emma O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Olivia Vanacker 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 4-9 80.

LEAP	4	0	0	8-	12
Schalick	28	16	21	15-	80

WOODSTOWN 53, SALEM TECH 18: Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson inched closer to becoming the Woodstown girls program’s all-time leading scorers and 10 different Wolverines hit the scoring column.

Battavio and Donelson each scored 11 points; you can find their career totals in the Salem County 1,000-point scorers list elsewhere on the website. Lauren Hengel had eight points, Kyia Leyman six and six other players had at least one basket. Demajae White led the Chargers with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

WOODSTOWN (16-5): Talia Battavio 5 0-0 11, Megan Donelson 4 0-0 11, Lauren Hengel 3 0-0 8, Kyia Leyman 3 0-0 6, Emma Perry 1 0-0 2, Ryann Foote 1 1-1 3, Kendall Young 2 0-0 4, Jala Thomas 1 0-0 2, Ava White 1 0-0 2, Brynley Egret 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 1-1 53.
SALEM TECH (2-18): Kaylin Beardsley 2 0-0 5, Hannah Dewitt 0 0-0 0, Demajae White 5 0-0 10, Rylee Doerr 0 0-0 0, Tiara Bazemore 1 0-0 3, Amora Elaine 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 0-0 18.

Woodstown	17	9	17	10-	53
Salem Tech	2	5	7	4-	18

PENNSVILLE 55, PITMAN 22: Taylor Bass has been scoring of late as if she wants to join Pennsville’s list of 1,000-point scorers before this season is over, too.

The junior has watched teammates Nora Ausland and Marley Wood reach the milestone earlier this season and she moved 23 points closer to it tonight. She has now has 820 career points.

It was her third 20-point effort in her last six games. She is averaging 21.3 over that span.

PENNSVILLE (17-7): Taylor Bass 8 6-8 23, Marley Wood 4 1-1 10, Nora Ausland 4 0-0 10, Izzy Saulin 2 4-5 8, Sofia Belitsas 1 0-0 2, Kylie Harris 1 0-0 2, Ashlyn Fredo 0 0-0 0, Calli Ausland 0 0-0 0, Kylie Weist 0 0-0 0, Tatianna DePina 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 11-14 55.
PITMAN (5-15): Colette Rollins 1 0-0 2, Kendall Bennett 0 0-0 0, Audrey Duffield 0 0-0 0, Bella Pramov 0 0-0 0, Jessica Bretz 5 0-0 13, Lauren Streck 0 0-0 0, Jane Conroe-Grobman 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn O’Brien 3 1-2 7. Totals 9 1-3 22.

Pennsville	10	20	17	8-	55
Pitman	3	7	2	10-	22

Pittsgrove’s Mike (Ike) Iaconelli has gone from outlier to one of the most popular figures in pro fishing, becomes first in his sport inducted into the All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey Hall of Fame

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BRIDGETON – The temperature on the car dash said it was 30 degrees outside; the wind made it feel more like 18. There was a fresh coating of snow covering the remnants of what fell on the area earlier in the week. The people in the room had shed their coats that protected them from the winter chill.

It was the kind of day that makes sports people appreciate more indoor pursuits like basketball and wrestling, but on this day the man standing in front of the room was talking about, of all things, fishing.

Not the kind where you pull out the lawn chair, throw out a line and suck back a couple cold ones while waiting for a tug on the other end. We’re talking about the highly competitive, big bass boat world of professional angling.

As anyone who knows him will tell you, any day is a good day for Mike Iaconelli to talk about the sport that has become his lifelong passion and, on this day, the newest member of the All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey Hall of Fame.

“I love talking shop and engaging with people about the sport,” Iaconelli said after addressing what a museum official described as one of the largest crowds for their induction ceremony. “I’m very passionate about it. It’s been my profession for 30 years. It’s what I love. It’s the most natural thing I’ve done in my life. It just feels right that it’s what I love to do. It’s been a lot of work, but it doesn’t feel like that when you’re really into it.”

And he’s been really good at it, becoming an unlikely fan favorite in a sport where people embrace their sports heroes but haven’t always been welcoming to folks from his side of the lake.

Winning and an engaging personality helps a lot. He has won dozens of tournaments and series titles and is the only angler to ever win the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Angler of the Year and BASS Federation Nation Championship. Those are just the highlights.

With his induction last weekend he is the first fisherman to be enshrined in the Hall that recognizes the accomplishments of sports luminaries with ties to South Jersey. His inclusion brings to 22 the number of sports and related fields now represented in the museum.

Museum board member Anthony D’Agostino called it “very cool” to add a new sport to the fold and said in Iaconelli’s case “it’s something we probably should have done a long time ago.”

The trailblazing moment wasn’t lost on the newest member of the Hall.

“The fact fishing is now represented in the museum, I am as proud of that as I am of being from South Jersey,” Iaconelli said. “We are kind of a fringe sport. To be a part of getting that in the museum is a good feeling.

“A lot of people never really recognized it as a sport, especially in this part of the world. To be a part of bringing that awareness … I’m proud of that. If you combine it with the fact that I’m very, very proud I grew up here, still live here, it makes it even more special.”

Iaconelli grew up in Runnemead, went to Triton Regional High School and now lives on Palatine Lake in Pittsgrove. He had not been to the museum prior to learning of his induction into the Hall, but like everyone who tours the facility for the first time was “blown away” by the scope and volume of the items on display. The museum houses more than 15,000 items with some connection to the South Jersey sports scene.

While he was impressed by the likes of Willie Mays’ National League Gold Glove, Pete Rose baseball bats and all the famous players there, he was especially drawn to the local stories of which he was unaware, like those of Bernice Gera, the first female professional umpire, and John Borican, Bridgeton’s world-class runner whose Olympic dream was preempted by World War II.

“It’s one of those things that’s kind of hiding in plain sight,” Iaconelli said of the museum. “I’ve driven past that road thousands times in my life and didn’t know it existed, but we took a visit before the ceremony and it was awesome.

“I’m a bit of a history buff and also, of course, into the Philadelphia sports scene, so it was cool to see some of the history, the memorabilia and all that stuff. It was cool. It was eye opening.”

Traditionally, Hall of Fame inductees donate items from their personal collection to the museum to display in his exhibit. Iaconelli provided a treasure trove of memorabilia exceeding the cache he provided to the BASS Fishing Hall of Fame upon his induction there in 2023. “It was for sure more,” he said.

Among the items he was especially proud to donate included a jersey he wore during the season he won Angler of the Year (2006), a letterman-style jacket he was awarded that same year as an homage to his local roots with the Top Rod Bassmasters fishing club, and what he called “the smallest but probably the most important” piece of memorabilia, a custom Delta Special lure that helped him win the 2003 Bassmasters Classic in New Orleans “that kind of made my career.”

“I come from a family of people who don’t throw things away,” he said. “I wouldn’t call them horders, that might be the wrong word, but they like to keep stuff. I had this amazing selection of stuff that my mom had kept, my uncle had kept, and a couple things we had at the house and put it together. It was cool. I was so happy to have that donated to the museum.””

You might call Iaconelli an outlier in his sport, certainly atypical both when he started and when he went pro.

He played all the traditional stick-and-ball sports growing up and ice hockey was his favorite because, as a guy who never likes to sit still, he liked the pace of play. But as he got older whenever he got the chance he’d slip away to some nearby lake for a little quiet time with a rod and reel and the sounds of nature. And when you have success the pull gets stronger and the hook was set.

He started fishing competitively in 1993 and the next year he won a tournament on Lake Norman outside Charlotte that set him up with a $40,000 bass boat package and he was on his way. He was just a sophomore at Rowan.

“That was the win for me,” he said. “There was a level of confidence that win gave me, but the boat was the big one. I had access to get to the next level.”

Every step of the journey he was an outsider. In his suburban Philly schools he was one of five “outcasts” who enjoyed fishing but their passion became their lifelong bond. The four buddies – three childhood friends and one they met in high school – were all on hand at the induction.

“In middle school and high school, a couple hundred kids in our grade, very, very few fished,” Iaconelli said. “But somehow the four other guys who fished, we all found each other. It was the absolute best thing from a standpoint of friendship – these guys are still my friends 40 years later – but it also helped me elevate my level of fishing. We were helping each other and you would push each other.

“It’s almost like Little League, but we didn’t have a Little League at fishing, but we would push each other, we would elevate each other, we would help each other learn. In those years, sixth grade to my early 20s, those years of the camaraderie between us was unbelievable. As much as we were outcasts and strange and odd to a lot of people, we loved it and it was our passion. Take that away, I don’t think I get to the next level if that wasn’t there.”

It took a while to find that kind of camaraderie when he went out on tour. Not only was he young, he was a danged yankee invading the domain of Southern, country men who knew SEC stood for the Southeastern Conference and not the Securities & Exchange Commission. The only thing South about Iaconelli was South Jersey.

“You’re definitely a bit of an outcast in a sport that was dominated by Southern guys,” he said. “That feeling wasn’t a mystical thing; it was real. I can remember being shunned and guys turning a shoulder. That was there.

“The other thing early on, too, is I was just always a bit different from the norm and it’s natural to be afraid or wary of change. Maybe at the beginning a lot of people didn’t know what to think, it was a different thing, but time does heal all that. After you’re doing it for a while and kind of, like, prove yourself and they realize you love what you’re doing and you have some success, then those things change. 

“I would say there were four or five years there where you have to battle through that and then you make a decision personally. You’ve got to keep going because you love it, you’ve got to deal with it and combat it or you run. I kept going. I loved it.”

And now he’s one of the most popular anglers on the tour. In addition to competing at the top level of his sport, he is driven to grow the sport with his entertainment, education and charitable interests. He has a popular podcast and hosts several television shows.

In about a month he’ll be off to start his 30th year as a professional angler. Internally, his team will be doing some limited edition merchandising and promotions related to the milestone year, beginning with the Ike Foundation College Scholarship Dinner Jan. 31 at The Grove in Centerton. And BASSMasters plan to have a film crew follow him throughout the season to document the year on its various digital platforms.

Yes, digital platforms. Iaconelli is really blown away how the sport has gone mainstream and he’s been proud to be a part of that growth.

“I remember when I was aspiring thinking if I could just make a living fishing tournaments this would be great,” he said. “Every day I come home I’m blown away about how big it’s gotten. And I’m proud of that because I feel like I was part of the growth.

“I was lucky that I was in the sport where I feel like was the golden era of growth, the late 90s to 2010-11. It was a tremendous point of growth for our sport because we had a lot of corporate money coming in, we had a lot of exposure, I was getting invited to late-night talk shows, GQ, ESPN the Magazine. It was like what the hell is going on here but I was involved in that.

“Now you look back and see how many people form the North, the West Coast, different ages, different backgrounds (getting involved); it’s really cool to see how big it’s getting. I do a lot of seminars and you’re at a show and you have a kid in his 20s come up and say ‘thank you, you inspired me, I was watching your stuff when I was 8 years old.’ It makes you feel old, but it makes you feel proud because you helped sort of get to a new place.”

And with each new place he visits it brings a whole new audience to talk fishing with.

The Hall’s next induction ceremony is February 15 when it will welcome former major-league pitcher and current Phillies broadcast analyst Ricky Bottalico into its ranks.

All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey welcomes first fisherman into ranks with induction of Pittsgrove’s Iaconelli into its Hall of Fame

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BRIDGETON – The All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey expanded its roster of sports and inductees Saturday with the induction of pro angler Mike Iaconelli into its Hall of Fame.

Iaconelli, a decorated pro with unconventional beginnings in the sport, is the first fisherman to be enshrined in the Hall that recognizes the accomplishments of sports luminaries with ties to South Jersey. His enshrinement brings to 22 the number of sports and related fields now represented in the museum.

“It’s very cool,” museum board member Anthony D’Agostino said of the landmark induction. “He’s a local guy, he’s right in our backyard, and it’s something we probably should have done a long time ago.

“He’s one of the most accomplished people if you really look at his professional career. His story is amazing. It’s a sport that’s traditionally Southern, country guys, and you’ve got this brash New Jersey guy listening to hip hop and he really wasn’t liked at first.

“But it’s his 30^th year as a professional fisherman and it’s finally kind of turned around for him where people are starting to really recognize what he’s done and what he’s accomplished and brought to the game there, so it means a lot to have him in our Hall.”

Iaconelli, who lives on Palatine Lake in Pittsgrove, is the only angler to ever win the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Angler of the Year and BASS Federation National Championship and before leaving Saturday’s ceremony donated a treasure trove of items to the museum commemorating those feats and more. He was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2003.

In addition to competing at the top level of his sport, Iaconelli is driven to grow the sport with his entertainment, education and charitable interests. He has a popular podcast and hosts several television shows.

His selection to the Hall proved quite popular as the ceremony drew one of the bigger crowds they’ve had for an enshrinement. Among those in attendance were his four buddies who were the only other anglers in his suburban high school and a youngster he remembered fishing with in a local event years ago.

The interaction, D’Agostino said, “was awesome.”

The Hall’s next induction ceremony is February when it will welcome former major-league pitcher and current Phillies broadcast analyst Ricky Bottalico into its ranks.

Look for more on Iaconelli’s passion for the sport and induction into the Hall of Fame Sunday at Riverview Sports News.

Top photo: All-Sports Hall of Fame inductee Mike Iaconelli is flanked by Museum and Hall chairman Dom Valella (L) and board member Anthony D’Agostino during Saturday’s induction ceremony. (Photo courtesy of All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey)