Woodstown boys fall to Haddon Twp. in South Jersey Group I semifinals; got within 1 three times in second half, but couldn’t get the lead

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
Tuesday’s boys semifinals
Haddon Twp. 57, Woodstown 49
Woodbury 60, Pitman 50
Friday’s championship game
(5) Woodbury (16-14) at (3) Haddon Twp. (21-9), 7:30 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WESTMONT – M.J. Hall stood in a vacant part of a quiet Woodstown locker room, leaned back against the lockers and pinched his fingers into his eyes to dab away the tears. This one hurt.

There might not have been a lot of people who expected the Wolverines to get this far in the South Jersey Group I basketball playoffs, but there they were Tuesday night, into the game to the end before ultimately falling to third-seeded Haddon Twp., 57-49.

And then it hit him. Not only did it hurt they came up short, it also was the end of his high school career.

“Just knowing you’ll never be able to play with the same boys again that you’ve grown up with is just something you never want to imagine,” Hall said. “I played with everything I had, not just for me and the other seniors, but (for) the coaching staff and all the rest of the boys.”

In another part of the dressing room Eli Caesar was feeling the same sense of loss. He and Hall were the Wolverines’ leading scorers with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

“We worked really hard all season,” Caesar said. “Nobody expected us to make this this far, but we did. To come up short in the semifinals, it sucks.”

The Wolverines went into the season with a first-year head coach and without the benefit of a summer program, but they put together one of their winningest seasons in years that included the program’s first playoff win since 2020. They knocked off the No. 2 seed on the road in the quarterfinals and were oh-so-close to taking down another upper seed on this night.

They were down by eight midway through the third quarter, but Hall hit six straight points to get them back within two with two minutes left in the period. The continued to fight back and actually took a one-point lead with 5:23 to play after an odd six-point play.

While Eli Caesar was hitting a 3-pointer out on the perimeter, Haddon Twp. was called for a foul away from the ball. The Wolverines got the bucket and the ball and Garrett Leyman promptly hit a 3-pointer to put them up 44-43.

But whenever the Hawks needed a basket, Jaden Haltiwanger seemed to always be there to deliver. He made a nice move in the lane and dropped in a layup that put the Hawks back on top for good.

Haltiwanger led the Hawks with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He had seven points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines’ comeback was fueled by their ability to attack inside, but they lost that edge late in the game when both big men, Leyman and first-team Diamond Division pick Rocco String, fouled out.

They did get within one on Caesar’s 3-pointer with 1:50 to go, but Nate Keating snuck behind the Woodstown defense while Haddon Twp. worked the clock for a layup and then hit two free throws to make it a five-point game with a minute to play.

A basket by Hall with 50 seconds left made it 52-49, but he missed the and-one and the Wolverines never got closer. The Hawks then closed it out at the free throw line.

“You hate losing more than you love winning,” Wolverines coach Ramon Roots said. “It’s about getting better. It’s a process, a journey. We came a long way since that Salem game (season opener) and just got better and better and better.

“They played hard tonight, we just left a couple plays out there. We fought and fought and we just needed to make that one play to take it over the top. We just didn’t make that one extra play.”

HADDON TWP. 57, WOODSTOWN 49
WOODSTOWN (17-10): Elijah Caesar 7 1-1 17, Blake Bialecki 1 0-0 3, Alejandro Vazquez 1 2-2 5, M.J. Hall 6 2-3 16, Garrett Leyman 1 0-0 3, Rocco String 2 1-2 5, Jalen Markward 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-8 49.
HADDON TWP. (21-9): Jaden Haltiwanger 7 4-7 18, Axel Mohr 0 3-6 3, Sean Crawford 1 2-2 5, Peter Black 1 1-1 3, Nate Keating 5 4-4 16, Collin Feeley 3 0-0 6, Eamonn Sheehan 2 0-0 5, Cavan McGovern 0 1-2 1, Joseph Sheehan 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-22 57.

Woodstown girls fall at Haddon Twp. in South Jersey Group I basketball semifinals

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
Tuesday’s Girls Semifinals
Haddon Twp. 46, Woodstown 44
Wildwood 54, Clayton 38
SJ Group I Championship
Friday’s Game
(3) Wildwood (22-7) at (1) Haddon Twp. (27-3)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WESTMONT – The Woodstown girls basketball team has been using the last three seconds of last year’s South Jersey Group I championship game as nuclear fuel for this entire season. You know, the kind of fuel that runs hot and never runs out.

That’s about how close they came to getting another crack at what they missed out on last March.

The Wolverines needed to get past top-seeded Haddon Twp. Tuesday night to set up a finals rematch with Wildwood. They were in it all the way to the end, too, but just came up short, 46-44.

“We played our heart out and I’m going to miss playing with all these girls,” Wolverines senior Talia Battavio said. “We made some really good memories.

“We thought we had it just like anyone else would, but it wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”

The Wolverines (19-7) had their chances. They led by seven at halftime and were up by five with 3:40 to play and just couldn’t close the deal.

The Hawks (27-3) came out of a timeout in the fourth quarter and scored the next 10 points – the last seven by Kiersten Callahan – to flip the script. Battavia and Lauren Hengel brought the Wolverines back with buckets to make it a one-point game with 10 seconds to go. Callahan made the second of two free throws with five-tenths of a second left to make it 46-44.

As long as there was time on the clock the Wolverines still had a chance. They were going to have to get something quick, but never got a shot. Their inbounds pass for Battavio was too long and Battavio never got a hand on it. 

“They’re a very tough and talented team that we knew wasn’t going to give up til the end,” Woodstown coach Matt Smart said. “I’m just very proud of our girls as well for not giving up. There were shots that were missed, there were things that’s could have changed, but that’s the game of basketball and that’s the game of life.

“I’m super proud of everything we’ve accomplished this year. It sucks that it ends like this, but when we look back, hopefully we look back on this year with fond memories.”

The loss closes the book on the careers of two of the most prolific scorers in Salem County history.

Battavio, with 1,620 career points, and Megan Donelson, with 1,588, leave as the top two scorers in Woodstown girls basketball history and fifth and sixth, respectively, on the Salem County all-time girls list. They are ninth and 11th on the county scoring list regardless of gender.

The Wolverines were 81-28 in their four years with the program (11-4 in the playoffs) and reached as least the South Jersey semifinals all four years. They won the South Jersey Group I title as sophomores in 2023 and played in the final last year.

“It’s been a lot of memories,” Battavio said. “It was very … great.”

“It was a blast from my freshman year up to now,” Donelson said. “I love my teammates. Especially having three different coaches; I had bonds with all of them. I had a blast.”

“They should be proud of everything that they’ve accomplished,” Smart said. “None of that comes without hard work.”

The Wolverines played off their two stars throughout the game, but circumstances separated their collective threat. Battavio was slow to start, but Donelson was there to pick up the slack and scored seven of her 12 points in the final three minutes of the first quarter. 

Donelson was on track for a big day, but got in foul trouble and when she came out after picking up her third with 3:35 to go in the second quarter it was Battavio’s turn to go to work. She scored seven of her team-high 17 in the final 2:43 of the second quarter to help the Wolverines open a 25-18 halftime lead.

“I had to do a lot more,” Battavio said. “Having Megan out there makes it a lot easier. She’s such a great player and it helps me be a better player and nice versa.”

Regardless who was doing their scoring, the Wolverines had their way with the Hawks in the first half. They shot 10-of-25 from the floor in the half, compared to 7-of-27 by the Hawks, and outrebounded their hosts a whopping 22-8.

“They were killing us on the glass in the first half; that’s really what we talked about in the first half,” Hawks coach Mark Petito said. “We showed what we were all about (in the second half). “We’re all guts. We play tough. If you’re going to come in and play us it’s going to be very hard for you. 

“We didn’t defend real well first half, we didn’t rebound well, and that hurt us, but we got back to what we are and that’s a tough, defensive, gritty team.”

Donelson picked up her fourth 51 seconds into the third quarter and came out for the rest of the period. That’s when the Hawks got back into it, holding the Wolverines to three points in the quarter and forging a 28-all tie heading into the fourth.

“I don’t like being in foul trouble, no one likes being in foul trouble,” Donelson said. “It’s definitely hard to get out of my head to not foul. It was definitely a challenge for me. I love a challenge.”

She was back in the game to start the fourth quarter and the foul trouble didn’t stop her from playing her usual aggressive style. In one particular stretch she hit a free throw, missed the second, rebounded the miss and turned it into a layup to give the Wolverines a five-point lead. Then she dove for a loose ball on the floor, got possession and called time before the refs could call a jump ball.

“Whenever I’m out on that court I give it my all.,” Donelson said. “I do it for my teammates. I do it for myself. I do it for my coaches. I just five it my all. It doesn’t matter how many fouls I have.”

The Hawks called time with 2:48 to play. Abby Wiedeman came out of the break and immediately hit a 3-pointer. Callahan then pulled a loose ball out of a scrum and scored a layup to tie the game at 40. Then she hit a 3-ball from the left corner with 1:24 left and the Hawks never trailed again.

Callahan scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter when the Hawks needed her most.

“In the first half I wasn’t hitting my shots like I normally do, but I knew I had to keep my head up and stay confident and that’s what I did in the second half,” she said. 

HADDON TWP. 46, WOODSTOWN 44
WOODSTOWN (19-7): Talia Battavio 6 3-4 17, Megan Donelson 4 2-4 12, Lauren Hengel 2 1-2 5, Kyia Leyman 3 0-4 6, Gianna Maiorini 2 0-2 4, Ryann Foote 0 0-0 0, Emma Perry 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-16 44.
HADDON TWP. (27-3): Alli Kamulda 3 0-2 7, Abby Wiedeman 6 1-2 17, Kiersten Callahan 4 3-6 13
Madi Kamulda 2 3-4 7, Kaitlyn Martin 1 0-2 2, Sammy Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-16 46.