Most teams were happy to be back after the holidays, but Pennsville coach Samantha Trapp had to wait a few weeks before she got her best present.
When the Eagles face Glassboro on Jan. 29, Buena will bring sophomores Marley Wood, Taylor Bass and Izzy Saulin, junior Nora Ausland and senior Bella Farina onto the court for the first time since the holiday meet. Tournament game December 27 against Pemberton.
“I think we can show what we can do with five guys on the field,” Bass said. “Maybe we’ll show it in the next two weeks.”
The Eagles lost that rematch against Glassboro 47-41, but bounced back to win five of their last seven games to improve to 11-12 heading into this week's Tri-County Conference tournament. It was their best stretch of the season, with one of their two losses coming to South Jersey Group 1 champion Woodstown, 66-57.
“We came together at the right time and were fortunately able to recover from all the injuries,” said Trapp in his third season as head coach. “We have had a lot of injuries this season and it has been challenging. We haven't had an easy schedule this season, so it was good for the girls to come back and win some good games. The girls play together as a team now, which is great.
Their rematch against Glassborough last Tuesday was perhaps the most impressive win of the season. The Eagles took a 26-14 halftime lead, fueled by Osland's hot shooting and Farina's strong play throughout the game. But the Bulldogs rallied in the third quarter behind freshman Keziah Brackett, who scored 14 of her game-high 17 points to give her team a 32-30 lead heading into the final quarter.
While the Glassboro crowd cheered, Pennsville managed to stay calm and find a path to victory. Wood scored his 10th 16 points in the second half, Bass made his only basket with less than a minute left and Saulin made the final play to keep the game alive. 40:38 victory.
The Eagles defeated Division 4 Millville 52-36 on Friday to carry their momentum into Monday's Tri-Co Tourney Flight B game against Delsea. - 20 defeats. . .
So what's the difference?
For Australia, who average less than 15 points per game, the answer is simple.
“I think we’re all back now, we’re starting to get going and we’re ready to go.”
Osland spent his first two years at Salem and was the Rams' leading scorer and leading scorer with 462 points. She transferred to Pennsville for her sister Callie, who came off the bench for the Eagles and gave the team a consistent scoring opportunity.
He has scored double figures in 14 games this season.
“I thought it was going to be harder than it was,” Osland said of the move to Pennsville. “I don't want people to think I'm trying to take over civilization, but I come here and they accept me, understand my skills and know how I want to help them and save myself, so come here. I feel good."
“He’s a great shooter, number one,” Trapp said. “It’s great to create a goal threat on the pitch. With him and (Wood) both out, it's hard to decide who to guard because they're both incredible scorers. He also brings additional size to our team. I have three great defenders, and that is a great strength.”
Wood, a guard, is the younger sister of former Eagles Ryan and Kali Wood. Ryan joined Pennsville's 1,000-point club before graduating in 2022, and Marley is about to join.
He averaged 14 points per game, including a career-high 27 points in a Jan. 8 loss at Woodstown.
“Honestly, he has the potential to be better than Ryan,” Trapp said. “I’ve been saying that since freshman year. Ryan is a very experienced player, but Marley has a strong body. He has IQ, pursuit of excellence, leadership and discipline. He's a great, great player.
Wood was a starter at Pennsville and has played in 23 games so far. Osland missed three games with an ankle injury and Farina missed the start of the season with a concussion.
Buses are very unlucky with injuries.
Bass, a soccer star who scored 20 goals as a freshman at Pennsville, missed his sophomore season after fracturing his left spine during the team's first practice. He still attended every practice and game and hoped to return, but was not medically cleared to play.
Although he was released before the start of the basketball season, Buena played a few games before breaking his finger in a game against Pemberton. He played eight games.
Buena also surprisingly suffered a soccer injury.
“Maybe I’ll be on the bench for this game,” Bass joked, referring to Buena’s future games.
But the Eagles were clearly better with Bass on the court, as evidenced by his clutch baskets in the win over Glassboro.
“He’s one of the toughest kids you’d ever want to meet,” said Trapp, the Pennsville head coach. “He was determined to get back on the field and get back on the field. He loves football so much that it's a shame he's not involved. It's his passion. But he's such an athlete, and it's not hard for other kids to get him back.
The second season begins Monday with the Tri-Co tournament, and the Eagles are hoping for a good performance in South Jersey Group 1 next week for a Cinderella appearance. The field includes strong teams like Woodstown, Wildwood and Woodbury.
“The more you play, the more you learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Trapp said. “Right now they are playing unselfish basketball and moving the ball well, which is good for us.”
“It's unfortunate because if we had the whole team we could have beaten him, but we didn't and that's a shame,” Osland said. “When we work as a team, other teams have a hard time figuring out what to do with us.”
Good 50
Gateway senior Angie Zagon surpassed the 1,600-point mark in her outstanding career, scoring another career-high 50 points in Thursday's 76-52 win over Paulsboro. Zagon set a school record for points scored in last season's win over Lindenwold, surpassing his own record of 48. He made nine 3-pointers in the game, another school single-game record.
Interestingly, Paulsboro senior Brooklyn Graham, who recently scored her 1,000th career point, nearly matched Yagon with 45 points in the win.
Yagon then stood on a piece of paper with the number 50, similar to a photo of basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain holding a piece of paper with the word 100 written on it after the Philadelphia Warriors' 100-point game in Hershey in 1962. . , Pa. Sixers star Joel Embiid did the same after his last 70-point game.
Critical stage madness:
Congratulations to Washington City coach Jennifer Natal on two big wins last week. Natal, a former All-Star and 1,000-point scorer at her alma mater, earned her 300th career win when the Minutemen defeated Kingsway 70-38 last Tuesday. With this score, he tied his predecessor at Township, Donna Costa, for the most wins in program history.
In 18 seasons, Township has outscored Cumberland 42-9 and improved its record to 301-169 when Costa called Friday. Costa is now a volunteer assistant at Maids.
Natal ranks third among Gloucester County girls coaches, behind only former Kingsway coach Karen Pickard (335-184 in 20 seasons) and former Williamstown coach Karen Dilmore (304-133 in 21 seasons). He will have a chance to catch Dilmore and move up to second place by the end of the season.
Township went 12-8 in its Tri-County Conference tournament opener Monday in Wildwood.
Other local players reached 1,000 career points last week.
Glassboro junior Tamia Smith scored 19 points in a 60-33 loss at Woodstown. He has scored double-digit points in 53 of his 54 career games with the Bulldogs and now has 1,034 points.
With a season to go, Smith could move to the top of Glassboro's all-time scoring list. Sekera Young led with 1,621 points while Kalyssa Davis was second with 1,577 points, but Nancy Boyd, who was third with 1,367 points, will be there for Smith next season. Boyd, who set the record in 1950, became the first player in Glassboro history to reach 1,000.
Smith became the first Bulldog to do so since Glassboro sophomore Alexis Davis in 2021. Davis completed his final two years at Woodbury and became the all-time leading scorer in Gloucester County history.
Our Lady of Mercy Academy senior Savannah Prescott reached 1,000 in Monday's 59-49 loss to Shawn. OLMA entered the season with just two players in the 1,000-point club, but Prescott joined teammate Maddie Bernhard in doubling Bernhard's mark earlier this season.
The Villagers (20-5) ended a three-game losing streak with a 63-37 win over Ocean City last Wednesday, but lost four games overall, including a 62-56 loss to Holy Spirit in the Cape quarterfinals. Atlantic League tournament. Friday