Rams win second straight after taking hit from the state, beat Gloucester Catholic to spoil Mustaro’s milestone night; Penns Grove, Woodstown also win

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Salem 72, Gloucester Catholic 47
Penns Grove 81, Pennsville 44
Pitman 95, Salem Tech 32
Woodstown 58, Schalick 44

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – Anthony Farmer knew the night would have a celebratory tone for the guys sitting on the bench across the way, but the Salem coach didn’t want the party getting too out of hand.

Jack Mustaro became Gloucester Catholic’s all-time leading scorer with his first basket Wednesday, but Farmer and the Salem Rams muted the celebration by taking the biggest prize of the night – a 72-47 win to continue their climb up the South Jersey Group I power points standings after an administrative setback earlier in the week.

“Jack is a hell of a player, I have the utmost respect for Jack,” Farmer said. “A competitor. Just a hell of an athlete all-around, so kudos to him for breaking the record, but for us, it was about us.

“We really just needed to kind of slow down a really good player, be disciplined and follow the game plan and I thought tonight we were disciplined and followed the game plan. That’s what we’re trying to get to, to play four quarters and really put a good, solid win together, and I thought tonight we did that.”

Mustaro, a senior multi-sport start for GC, needed three points to become his school’s all-time leading scorer – a record that stood for 56 years. It took him five shots to get it, but he finally broke through with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:29 left in the first quarter to break the mark of 1,507 set by Dom Carrera, who graduated in 1969.

“It’s an honor,” Mustaro said. “Obviously, we wanted a better outcome than that, but it’s an honor to be only player to score this many points in Gloucester Catholic history. I’ve been working so hard for this and I’m so glad it came.

“Coming into the game I knew I wanted it early. I might have forced a couple quick ones there, but it finally came to me. Once I settled down and let it come to me, it came and I got it.”

After hitting the milestone basket, he ran to the far side of the court, tossed the record-setting basketball up to his mom for safe keeping and sat for a couple pictures with his brother and cousins before getting back into the flow of the game.

“I had to give the ball to my mom,” he said. “She’s the one who made all that happen out there.”

It was a tight game through the first quarter, but Salem took control in the second with its physicality and athleticism.

Mustaro opened the second quarter with a four-point play to give his team the lead, then Salem ran off the next nine points and never trailed again. The record-setter scored all of GC’s points in the quarter, but the Rams outscored him 21-10 to take a 33-19 halftime lead and they continued to pull away in the second half.

Mustaro wasn’t there for the finish. He fouled out with 1:34 left in the third quarter and spent the rest of the game tied to the bench. He finished with 17 points, giving him 1,522 for his career.

“We knew (the record) was coming for a bit,” GC coach Brandon Dougherty said. “You don’t want it coming in a game like this, but when you step back, it’s just a testament to his whole career and well he’s played. 

“It took a minutes for it to happen – he had a couple clean looks; I don’t know if he’s a little tight or adrenaline pumped up – but once he got that monkey off his back I thought we got a chance to kind of compete. That’s a really big physical team and we’re a little inexperienced and I think that’s the difference tonight.”

DeShaan Williams was big for the Rams in the pull-away second quarter. At one point in the quarter he scored seven straight points for them and had 11 of his 13 in the first half.

Sophomore Tymear Lecator once again led Salem’s offense with 23 points; he now has 507 career points in a season and a half. He also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Williams had seven rebounds to go with his points and Nyziah Spence had 10 points.

“I was laughing with the coaches, teams have been known to play us zone, but we haven’t had a high post presence,” Farmer said. “DeShaan is a legitimate high post presence. He catches it, makes the right read out of there, he can drive it both ways, so he’s a legitimate high post threat with the zone, which is a great pleasure to have.”

The win moved Salem from 13th to 10th in the SJ Group I power points standings. The Rams fell all the way to 17th after the NJSIAA ruled Monday they had used an ineligible player and had to forfeit their four wins in which the player participated.

SALEM 72, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 47
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (5-7): Carlos Mendez 3 2-2 10, Jack Mustaro 6 3-4 17, Jack Pund 2 1-4 7, Danny Zellner 1 0-0 2, Ben Cook 1 1-2 3, Gary Connelly 0 1-2 1, Jordan Mendez 1 0-0 3, Kimani Pyram 0 2-2 2, Andrew Ginipro 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 10-16 47.
SALEM (5-7): Donovan Weathers 0 0-0 0, Xavier McGriff 2 0-0 4, Neziah Spence 5 0-0 10, Tymear Lecator 9 1-2 23, Kyaire Parsons 0 0-0 0, Deshaan Williams 5 3-3 13, Antwuan Rogers 3 0-0 6, Harlem Parsons 0 0-0 0, Joe Tunis 3 0-0 6, Azhone Burden 2 2-2 6, Cole Sayers 1 0-0 2, Giovani Talavera 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 6-7 72.

PENNS GROVE 81, PENNSVILLE 44: Penns Grove coach Damian Ware really feels for the struggles coaching pal and teaching colleague Joe Mecholsky is having at Pennsville this season, but the Red Devils were in need of a win, too.

Pennsville had won only once this year and lost six straight coming into the game. Penns Grove wasn’t ripping it up, either, winning only twice and coming in with a four-game losing streak, albeit against a demanding schedule that has elevated them to ninth in the power points standings.

Something had to give.

“We definitely needed to get a win,” Ware said. “It’s unfortunate it’s at their expense, but at the same time you’ve got to play the game no matter what. No matter who the opponent is, you’ve got to play the same way.”

The Eagles (1-9) came out ready to hunt, hitting three 3s in the first quarter to keep it interesting. But Ware substituted in the second quarter to introduce a quicker tempo to the game and the Red Devils pulled away.

Will Roy was one of the strategic subs and he responded by hitting three 3-pointers in the first half, scoring 10 points in the second quarter and finishing with a career-high 15. Roy, a sophomore, had scored only 23 points and one other 3-pointer his entire career before Wednesday night and never had more than five points in any game.

But he had the hot hand in the second quarter when the Red Devils outscored the Eagles 26-7 to open a 25-point halftime lead.

“He’s been playing back and forth between varsity and JV,” Ware said. “We’re giving him a little more time because in the beginning of the season he wasn’t playing much varsity. He’s coming into his own now. He’s getting more confident and he’s playing a lot better.

“He started a couple games for us. Today he didn’t start, but he was like the first sub off the bench and he came in and gave us a big spark and that’s kind of what led to us pulling away.”

Penns Grove’s Karon Ceaser led all scorers with 19 points; he scored a career-high 20 in the first meeting with Pennsville last year. Jovanni Rios led Pennsville with a career-high tying 15.

Interestingly, earlier in the day the two teams rode together to the Al Carino Basketball Club’s Captain’s Day Luncheon in Cherry Hill. The party included Ware, Mecholsky, five players from Penns Grove and two from Pennsville. There was friendly banter all the way up and back.

A few hours later it got serious.

PENNS GROVE 81, PENNSVILLE 44
PENNS GROVE (3-7): Brandin Robbins 2 0-0 4, Roman Gipson 3 0-0 7, Karon Ceaser 8 1-1 19, Antoine Robinson 3 0-0 8, Haneef Frisbee 2 1-2 5, Geonni Conrad 2 1-2 5, Jameel Horace 1 0-1 2, William Roy 6 0-0 15, Luis Colon 1 0-0 2, Caleb Fowler 3 0-0 8, Davine Banks 1 0-0 2, Jeremy Costacamps 2 0-0 4. Totals 34 3-6 81.
PENNSVILLE (1-9): Jovanni Rios 6 2-4 15, Cole Johnston 3 0-0 7, Shiloh Jefferson 2 1-4 6, Logan Hitt 3 0-0 9, Charles McDevitt 2 1-2 5, Arthurs Frantzy 1 0-0 2, Danny Knight 0 0-0 0, Perry Meranti 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 4-10 44.

WOODSTOWN 58, SCHALICK 44: Blake Bialecki hit four 3-pointers and led all scorers with 18 points as Woodstown snapped a two-game losing streak and ended Schalick’s three-game winning streak in the process. Alejandro Vazquez and Rocco String both chipped in 11 for the Wolverines.

Sherrod Jones hit a career-high four 3-pointers and tied his career high with 14 points to lead Schalick. Jase Volovar tied his career high of three 3-pointers in scoring 11 for the Cougars.

WOODSTOWN (6-3): Elijah Caesar 1 0-0 2, Garrett Leyman 2 0-3 4, Blake Bialecki 7 0-2 18, Rocco String 5 1-2 11, M.J. Hall 1 0-4 4, Braydon Hall 2 2-4 6, Alejandro Vazquez 4 2-2 11. Totals 22 9-17 58.
SCHALICK (4-8): Reggie Allen 2 1-1 6, Nylan Sutton 1 0-0 2, Jase Volovar 4 0-0 11, Sherrod Jones 4 2-2 14, Jamari Whitley 2 2-3 6, Justin Iacona 1 0-0 3, Zaeshawn Mills 1 0-0 2, Sean Kelly 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-6 44.

PITMAN 95, SALEM TECH 32: Elijah Crispin filled the box scored with 31 points, 10 assists and nine steals as the Panthers kept the Chargers winless. Michael Fisicaro (16) and Aidan Stranahan (11) also scored in double figures for Pitman. Joseph Hayes led Salem Tech with 10.
PITMAN (8-1): Hudson Rue 2 2-3 7, Elijah Crispin 14 1-1 31, Greg Peterson 3 2-2 8, Michael Fisicaro 6 3-4 16, Aidan Stranahan 5 0-0 11, Dane Collum 2 1-2 5, Oliver Spier 1 0-0 2, Lucas Razze 1 0-0 3, Jake Bowen-Ashwin 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Thompson 1 0-0 3, Ethan Kubat 0 0-0 0, Parker DeChristopher 1 0-0 2, Joey Zubert 2 0-2 5, Jaron Scull 0 0-0 0. Totals 39 9-14 95.
SALEM TECH (0-11): Chase Pompper 2, Joseph Hayes 10, Luke Kroll 3, Larry Pompper 6, Logan Pace 1, Alex Thomas 2, Chase Ayars 8.

Donelson mccracks down on McCracken, Leyman big in the post and Woodstown beats Wildwood in OT; includes all of Thursday’s Salem County basketball action

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN — How many times does it happen? You have a game with some of the most dynamic scorers in South Jersey and of course it’s defense that determines the outcome.

Woodstown’s Megan Donelson cracked down on Macie McCracken and the Wolverines gained a bit of satisfaction for last year’s last-second loss in the sectional final, beating Wildwood in overtime 49-46 Thursday night to give first-year coach Matt Smart an early signature win.

“It always comes down to defense,” Smart said. “It’s about boxing out, rebounding, defense. McCracken’s an incredible player. She’s going to get her points no matter what defense you throw on her. It’s about limiting her opportunities, playing nice good hard defense and then boxing her out and making her only get one shot instead of two or three and Megan was phenomenal. She was up to the challenge.

“That’s kind of what we always preach, play unselfish basketball. And defense, you have to be unselfish. She did a great job. Other girls did a great job switching, hedging, all the little things to try to limit her. She still played amazing. She’s an incredible basketball player and our girls just kind of took it as a personal challenge.”

Donelson was on McCracken from the time the Warriors got off the bus. She held the senior on the verge of 2,000 career points to one field goal and four points in the first half, no points in overtime and 14 points total. Meanwhile, she scored 13 points to go over the 1,300-point career mark.

“My goal was just to shut her down because I know she’s a good shooter; yeah, lock down,” Donelson said. “When coach gives me a player to man up on I just follow what he says and give it my all on that one player.”

But she wasn’t the only one who came up big in a big game. Kyia Leyman, who had been limited the last two seasons because of knee injuries, gave the Wolverines a huge game in the post, scoring 11 points and grabbing 19 rebounds — both career highs — and blocking two shots.

She had four points and eight rebounds in the first half and back-to-back three-point play opportunities in the third quarter to help the Wolverines open a nine-point lead.

“I think my mindset was just to do it for the team,” Leyman said. “It was definitely a team effort and I wanted to be there for them. I didn’t want to let them down, so I think I just tried my best — and I wanted to come back and beat a really good team. I think this was the best I’ve played, the most calm, collected I’ve played (since coming back).”

Donelson’s layup with 42 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 41. Both teams had shots in the closing seconds to win it. Donelson stole an entry pass but lost her footing driving to the basket. Gianna Maiorini collected the loose ball on the baseline but her shot was blocked by Sara Djellal. The Warriors raced back up the floor for the final shot, but McCracken’s 3 from the left side hit off the far iron and Leyman grabbed the rebound as the horn sounded.

Woodstown (6-2) jumped out front in overtime and never lost the lead. Donelson drove around the lane for the first basket and Talia Battavio, who struggled with her shot most of the game, squared up on the left elbow and buried at 3 to give the Wolverines a five-point lead. Battavio had 12 points in the game.

“That was pretty big,” Battavio said of her 3. “I feel like it got us motivated, fired up a little bit, got me fired up.”

Wildwood (6-1) had the ball for a last shot in overtime. The Warriors had it on the sideline near the scorer’s table with 1.1 seconds left and needed what seemed like a miracle 3 to tie. They had trouble pulling the trigger on the inbounds and when they did get it in the pass landed in the hands of Woodstown’s Lauren Hengel as the clock expired.

The Warriors beat Woodstown in last year’s South Jersey Group I final in a controversial finish after the home crowd rushed the floor in reaction to Wildwood’s go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds. While the game was on everyone’s mind, Smart said revenge wasn’t the motivating factor in this regular-season game.

“We’re a different team than the team last year, they’re a different team than they were last year,” Smart said. “Our message to the girls this week was this isn’t professional wrestling. We don’t beat them today and get the belt back. There’s still a lot of work to do. This is just a first step.”

But it was satisfying nonetheless.

“Leading up to this game we talked about three things in the team — being confident, being relaxed and having fun — and I think we did those three things as a program today,” Smart said. “It was a fun game.”

WOODSTOWN 49, WILDWOOD 46 (OT)
WILDWOOD (6-1) — Macie McCracken 4 4-4 14, Angela Wilber 3 3-4 10, Rebecca Benichou 3 0-0 9, Cydnee Kilian 0 0-0 0, Sarah Djellal 4 1-2 9, Addison Troiano 2 0-0 4, Lily Atkinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-10 46.
WOODSTOWN (6-2) — Talia Battavio 5-27 0-2 12, Megan Donelson 5-14 2-3 13, Gianna Maiorini 2-3 2-4 6, Lauren Hengel 2-12 2-4 7, Kyia Leyman 5-14 1-2 11, Kendall Young 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Perry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-70 7-15 49.

PENNSVILLE 58, TRITON 49: The Eagles fought through illness and the absence of leading scorer Nora Ausland to rally for their fourth in a row. They were down 10 at one point in the second quarter, but rallied to get the deficit to one at halftime. Pennsville’s Taylor Bass led all scorers with a season-high 21 points. Addison Johnston had a career-high 19 points and Marley Wood had 12.

TRITON (4-3) — Melannie Noel 7 2-6 17, Kaidan Henry 5 0-0 15, Gianna Loftis 4 1-2 10, Riley Mikiewicz 2 0-0 5, Gianna Endt 1 0-0 2, Kimora Dobson 0 0-0 0, Akeera Reid-Streater 0 0-0 0. 19 3-8 49.
PENNSVILLE (5-2) — Taylor Bass 9 2-4 21, Marley Wood 4 2-4 12, Addison Johnston 6 4-7 19, Jaida Burns 1 0-0 2, Izzy Saulin 2 0-0 4, Ashlyn Fredo 0 0-0 0, Sofia Belitsas 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 8-15 58.

SCHALICK 36, SALEM TECH 26
SCHALICK (2-4) — Carly Vicente 2 0-0 4, Olivia Lunemann 0 0-0 0, Emily Miller 0 0-0 0, Willow Davis 1 1-2 3, Olivia Vanacker 2 0-0 4, Ava Scurry 2 1-2 5, Naveah Robinson 2 2-3 6, Cali Fisler 1 1-2 3, Abby Willoughby 4 1-2 11. Totals 14 6-11 36.
SALEM TECH (2-5) — Hannah Dewitt 0 1-2 1, Shelby Drummond 3 0-2 7, Kaylin Beardsley 1 0-0 2, Demajae White 4 2-2 10, Shelby Liber 2 0-0 6, Rylee Doerr 0 0-0 0, Evening Amedee 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 3-6 26.

GLASSBORO 64, SALEM 20
GLASSBORO (4-4) — Sanaa Thomas 1 0-0 2, Tamia Smith 5 4-8 14, Grace Moore 4 1-1 9, NiJha Norzon Clark 1 0-0 3, Brackett 7 1-4 19, Kimora Miles 1 3-6 5, Sianna Wedderburn 3 2-2 8, Lily Czubas 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 11-21 64.
SALEM (0-7) — Carlysia Pierce 1 2-3 4, Nevaeh Hickman 4 2-3 12, Dakirah Gray 1 0-0 2, Amariah Frye 1 0-0 2. Totals 7 4-6 20.

Boys Games

WOODSTOWN 66, WILDWOOD 47: Rocco String came within two blocked shots of his elusive triple-double and led the Wolverines to their fourth straight victory. String had 18 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots in his fourth straight double-double and fifth of the season. The Wolverines had three other scorers in double figures — M.J. Hall (season-high 16), Alejandro Vazquez (10) and Blake Bialecki (12) — and Garrett Leyman grabbed 11 rebounds.

WOODSTOWN (4-2) — Elijah Caesar 4 1-2 9, John Hood-McGinley 1 0-0 3, Blake Bialecki 6 0-0 12, Alejandro Vazquez 4 0-0 10, M.J. Hall 6 0-0 16, Garrett Leyman 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bokolas 0 0-0 0, Andrew White 0 0-0 0, Rocco String 9 0-0 18. Totals 30 1-2 66.
WILDWOOD (2-6) — Eric Jordan 1 0-0 2, Nolan Mawhinney 2 0-0 5, Trevor Troiano 3 0-0 9, R.J. Blanda 0 0-0 0, Vinny Sweeney 0 2-2 2, Jordan Dozier 0 0-0 0, Brian Cunniff 10 6-7 27, Sammy Santiago 1 0-0 2, Jack Fullertonn 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-9 47.

GLASSBORO 76, SALEM 62
SALEM (6-3) — Xavier McGriff 2 0-0 5, Tymear Lecator 7 4-5 15, Deshaan Williams 2 7-13 13, Darrelle Johnson 4 0-0 9, Joe Tunis 2 2-2 8, Ashore Burden 5 1-1 11, Donovan Weathers 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-21 62.
GLASSBORO (3-5) — Xavier Sabb 14, Kenny Smith 28, Davon Barr 6, Maurice Davis 10, Tashean Thomas 3, Alex Adeleye 2, Aiden Harris 11, Marley Crowl 2.

SCHALICK 79, SALEM TECH 22: Reggie Allen scored 18 points, Nylan Sutton added 14 and Sherrod Jones 10 as the Cougars snapped a seven-game losing streak and kept the Chargers winless. Eleven players scored for Schalick.

SALEM TECH (0-9) — Joseph Hayes 2 1-3 6, Larry Pompper 0 1-3 1, Keidyn Robinson 1 0-0 2, Logan Pace 0 2-2 2, Krolle 1 0-0 2, Ayars 2 1-6 5, Ayden Myers 1 1-2 4. Totals 7 6-16 22.
SCHALICK (2-7) — Reggie Allen Jr. 8 1-2 18, Nylan Sutton 7 0-2 14, Jase Volovar 3 1-2 9, Sherrod Jones 5 0-0 10, Justin Iacona 1 0-0 3, Zaeshawn Mills 3 0-0 8, Jamari Whitley 1 2-4 4, Sean Kelly 2 0-0 4, Jacob Schalick 1 4-5 7, Ryan Horner 1 0-0 3, Gauge Craner 0 1-2 1. Totals 32 9-17 79.

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 61, PENNSVILLE 40
PENNSVILLE (1-6) — Jovanni Rios 6 1-3 13, Mason O’Brien 2 0-0 5, Shiloh Jefferson 1 0-0 2, Logan Hitt 1 0-0 3, Perry Meranti 1 0-0 2, Daniel Knight 1 0-0 2, C.J. McDevitt 3 1-2 8, Jacob Miller 1 0-0 2, Jacob Farina 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 2-5 40.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (4-5) — Carlos Mendez 6 2-5 15, Jack Mustaro 8 2-3 20, Jack Pund 2 0-0 4, Danny Zellner 1 2-2 4, Ben Cook 2 0-0 4, Kybron Ricks 1 0-0 3, Zack Payne 3 0-0 7, Gary Connelly 0 0-0 0, Jordan Mendez 0 0-0 0, Kimani Pyram 1 0-0 2, C.J. Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Anthony Polidoro 0 0-0 0, Andrew Ginipro 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 6-10 61.

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