Mighty Oaks score first win of new season with balanced effort
CARNEYS POINT — Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green rarely does this, but he gave his players a homework assignment after the Mighty Oaks lost their season opener in Toms River.
As painful as it was going to be – maybe that was the point – Green told all the players he wanted each one to rewatch the game and identify two specific things they did poorly to influence the loss.
Green collected the answers, but didn’t talk about them in the run up to Saturday’s home opener against Sussex. Still, it did prove a valuable lesson in self-evaluation. By all accounts the exercise served its purpose. The Mighty Oaks bounced back to get their first win of the season, 87-70.
They had 21 assists as a team in this one, scored 22 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Skylanders by a 49-39 margin. At Ocean, they 14 assists, 38 rebounds and were outrebounded by one.
Five players scored in double figures and all but one player scored. Dior (like the brand) Legore led the offense with 18 points. Waddy Johnson had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
“I guess (it served its purpose),” Green said. “You want to hold everybody accountable. It was good to see what they thought they did. I never told them what I thought. You know, if you have 15 (things) I have another 15 for them, so it was letting them police themselves.”
Green only wanted two examples from each player, but Legore took the exercise to heart and sent the coach four. His biggest takeaway was finishing on the glass. He had six points on offensive rebounds and played with full confidence as evidenced by his five rebounds, three assists and five steals. He had a double-double in the opener, but fouled out with seven and a half minutes left
Sahin Rodriguez said the coach’s homework “helped me look at the game different.” He took notice of bad shots, end-of-game turnovers that he said “kind of cost us the game,” and aggressiveness on the floor. He had 10 points, four rebounds and five steals.
“I carried that to the next game and said I wasn’t going to do that and do everything the opposite (of what happened at Ocean),” he said. “It helped me change for this game by doing the right thing I didn’t do last time.
“Like coming off the screen. I know somebody’s trailing me wide open. Last time I was taking the shot instead of passing, so this time I would get him the ball, get everybody involved.”
It took the Mighty Oaks some time to get going against the Skylanders. They trailed by six five minutes into the game, but quickly turned it around and wound up leading by 17 at halftime. Jahseir Sayles scored all 11 of his points in the first half. They led by 20 with just under eight minutes to play.
“Toughness, physicality, that was the biggest difference (between the two games),” Green said. “We were tough. We were more physical. We were the aggressor for the most part. Last game we probably were the aggressor for 15 minutes, this time it was 30. We’ve just got to be the tougher team all the time. We were that for the most part this game, that’s why we won.”
SALEM CC 87, SUSSEX 70
SUSSEX (1-4): Thomas Okusimba 8-12 5-10 22, Isaiah Bivens 1-8 12-12 15, Daniel Bryant 3-8 0-0 6, Jeric Hutto 4-11 2-4 11, Ashton Goodwin 1-7 0-0 2, DaMarion Morris 1-5 6-6 9, Johnathan Woolens 0-0 0-0 0, Liam DeLorenzi 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 20-56 25-32 70.
SALEM CC (1-1): Jahseir Sayles 4-12 1-1 11, Dior Legore 8-16 2-2 18, Waddy Johnson 4-6 4-4 12, Sahin Rodriguez 4-9 2-2 10, Don Jones 2-6 0-0 5, Tyrone Washam 1-4 0-0 3, Asekia Gilyard 0-2 3-3 3, Shoghi Taylor 2-8 1-2 7, Josh Huffman 5-11 0-0 12, Omari Spencer 1-1 0-0 2, Dan Zellner 0-0 0-0 0, Jahsir Dean 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 33-77 13-14 87.
| Sussex | 35 | 35- | 70 |
| Salem CC | 52 | 35- | 87 |
3-point goals: Sussex 5-25 (Okusimba 1-3, Bivens 1-4, Bryant 0-1, Hutto 1-2, Goodwin 0-6, Morris 1-5, DeLorenzi 1-4); Salem CC 8-35 (Sayles 2-8, Legore 0-5, Rodriguez 0-1, Jones 1-1, Washam 1-4, Gilyard 0-1, Taylor 2-7, Huffman 2-8). Rebounds: Sussex 39 (Bivens 8, Okusimba 7); Salem CC 49 (Johnson 13, Dean 9), Assists: Sussex 8 (Bivens 5); Salem CC 21 (Legore 5). Total fouls: Sussex 14, Salem CC 22.
Region XIX standings
| DIVISION III | REG. | ALL |
| Montgomery | 2-0 | 3-1 |
| Camden | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Union | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Brookdale | 1-0 | 6-2 |
| Northampton | 1-0 | 3-2 |
| SALEM CC | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Bergen | 0-0 | 3-1 |
| Ocean | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Philadelphia | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Delaware Co. | 0-0 | 1-3 |
| Atlantic Cape | 0-0 | 0-5 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 0-1 | 3-1 |
| Luzerne | 0-1 | 1-4 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 0-1 | 0-2 |
| Sussex | 0-2 | 1-4 |
| Passaic | 0-2 | 0-5 |
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Salem CC 87, Sussex 70
Frederick CC 82, Delaware Co. 48
Montgomery 84, RCSJ-Cumberland 78
Luzerne 75, Thaddeus Stevens 69
Bergen 70, Atlantic Cape 60
Union 54, Baltimore City 51
Rockland 88, Mercer 59
Northampton 90, Delaware Tech 74
Brookdale 75, RCSJ-Gloucester 74
Cecil 80, Morris 79
Monroe 105, Harcum 60
Raritan Valley 106, So. Maryland 98
Prince George’s 64, Middlesex 56
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Delaware Co. at Camp CC
Morris vs. So. Maryland
Erie CC vs. Harcum
Raritan Valley at Cecil
CCBC Catonsville at Middlesex
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Bergen
Union at Ocean
Delaware Tech at Harcum
RCSJ-Gloucester at Camden
Prince George’s at Delaware Co.
Essex at Raritan Valley
Morris at Mercer
Montgomery at Northampton
Passaic at RCSJ-Cumberland
Middlesex at Sussex