Woodstown junior hits a 3 to spark run that lifts Wolverines in SJIBT, hit her 100th 3-pointer earlier in game

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Talia Battavio and her Woodstown girls basketball teammates needed a spark. The junior guard was fighting through another Saturday shooting slump and the Wolverines were locked in a tight game that early on didn’t look like it would be. They both needed something to happen and they needed it quickly.

That’s when Battavio, as she’s done throughout her career, got the ball at the top of the key and smoothly drained another 3-pointer to break a tie that in the first quarter didn’t seem likely.

It touched off an 8-0 run that put Woodstown back on top and propelled it to a 46-33 victory over Eastern in the South Region of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament. The fourth-seeded Wolverines (8-2) now play at Camden Catholic (4-7) in the second round, likely Friday depending on next week’s weather. They have to get it done by January 27.

“Usually I don’t remember (particular shots), but that one I do,” Battavio said. “It got me really fired up and I was like, ‘We’re in this. I know what I have to do,’ and we put it away.” 

Woodstown coach Kara Straughn knew what Battavio’s go-ahead 3-pointer meant as soon as it slipped past the rim. When it went down, she turned to her dad and assistant coach Dave Wildermuth in the seat next to her and said, “That’s the game-winner; it’s done.”

It meant a lot more than that.

It got Battavio back on track as a shooter. She followed the tie-breaking 3 with a three-point play that extended the lead to six, then threw a sharp pass to running mate Megan Donelson for a layup that made it 32-24 and forced the Vikings to call time.

And she kept going. Battavio scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the second half and finished with 23 points. It was her third straight 20-point game of the week after a dreadful shooting Saturday against Our Lady of Mercy. In the second half alone against the Villagers she was 0-for-16, and that’s when she usually does her best work.

“After that OLMA game I got in the gym because that was worst shooting I’ve had in years,” she said. “I knew what I had to do and I got in the gym and I shot and I shot and I shot.”

It didn’t surprise Straughn, nor did the results.

“She works her butt off,” the coach said. “She’s the first one in the gym, she stays an hour after practice, so when you see her play like this in the second half and she does all those things you need her do against a great team, that’s why she’s as good as she is, because she’s the one who puts in all those extra hours and all that extra work.”

It look like she was headed for another bout of the Saturday blues in the first half against the Vikings. She was 2-for-12, missing her last eight shots, but the first basket she did make was the 100th 3-pointer of her career. It came with 5:14 left in the first quarter.

Donelson hit her 100th 3-pointer Thursday against Pennsville. She had 11 points against the Vikings, but was active all game, diving on the floor at least eight times for loose balls.

Of course, both are on track for an even bigger milestones. After Saturday’s win, Battavio now has 853 career points and Donelson is at 860.

“There’s nobody like the two of them, but there’s nobody like them individually either,” Straughn said. “She (Battavio) needed that. We’ve played some really good teams and the last time we played a great team (OLMA) she was a little hurt, upset with herself, so she needed this. She said it was her comeback.”

SOUTH JERSEY INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
WOODSTOWN 46, EASTERN 33
EASTERN (4-7) – Leah Schuenemann 1 0-0 2, Marlee Praesel 0 0-0 0, Araba Abanyie 0 4-4 4, Madison Stuart 10 0-2 20, Remi Cherkas 2 3-5 7, Aubrey Benfield 0 0-0 0, Ashley Stanz 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-11 33.
WOODSTOWN (8-2) – Talia Battavio 8 5-5 23, Megan Donelson 5 0-0 11, Gianna Mairoini 2 0-0 4, Alyssa Baber 0 0-0 0, Shannon Pierman 3 1-2 7, Lauren Hengel 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 7-9 46.

Eastern	8	10	8	7 –	33
Woodstown	16	6	11	13 –	46