Shaping Up
There have been many highly competitive races in South Jersey high school boys’ basketball. Some conference champions have yet to be crowned. Yet the competitive races have eluded the Tri-County Conference.
There are four divisions in the Trico, and three have been clinched convincingly. The fourth, has a 7-0 Timber Creek having clinched at least a tie for the Tri-County Liberty with three games left.
Here are how the divisions shape up through games played Sunday Feb. 9.
Tri-County Classic
Pitman has clinched with a 9-0 record and one conference game left. The second-place team is Salem (7-2). To Salem’s credit, the Rams have given Pitman a real run for its money. Both Pitman wins have been by a combined total of nine points.
It’s very possible that these two teams could meet in the South Jersey Group 1 playoffs, where Pitman is the defending champion.
Led by high scoring senior guard Elijah Crispin (29.3 ppg.) Pitman will again be a difficult team to contend with when the Group 1 playoffs begin later this month.
Tri-County Diamond
Overbrook has clinched the division with a 9-0 record. Penns Grove (6-3) is holding second place with one division game remaining for both teams. It must be noted that Overbrook played a competitive game in an opening 66-58 loss to Pitman.
As far as the division goes, Overbrook has won most of the games in convincing fashion. All but two were won by double-digits.
The Rams have a good one-two combo in junior Lamar Little (18.0 ppg.) and senior Zair Green (16.9 ppg.).
In the playoffs, Overbrook will be competing in South Jersey Group 2, one of the deepest in the area, led by defending state champion Camden.
Tri-County Liberty
As mentioned, Timber Creek has clinched at least a tie for the title with three games left. The Chargers began the week 7-0 while second place Delsea was 6-3. The key to Timber Creek’s success has been two wins over Delsea, 54-50 on the road and 51-40 at home.
This is a very balanced scoring team, led by senior guard Asa Wharton (12.4 ppg.).
The Chargers compete in South Jersey Group 3, which is very much up for grabs and they should be a major threat.
Tri-County Royal
Kingsway is the runaway champion. The Dragons were 7-0 to begin the week with one division game remaining. Clearview (4-4) was holding second place. One of the more impressive wins came out of the division, a 54-53 victory over aforementioned Timber Creek.
Like Timber Creek, this is a very balanced scoring team (that plays tenacious defense). In the state tournament, Kingsway competes in highly competitive South Jersey Group 4. To demonstrate the depth in Group 4, Kingsway began the week with the six highest power rating in SJ Group 4.
Photo: Overbrook after clinching the division title / Courtesy of Overbrook Basketball X/Twitter
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Author: Marc Narducci
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