Author: haddonfieldtoday

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield.Today

It was a good week for the boys basketball team, as they won all three of their matches, two against conference rivals and one versus a nonleague opponent.

January 14, 2024: Haddonfield at Collingswood

My travel buddy and I were lamenting a bit before and after this game about how different the atmosphere in the Collingswood gym was compared to years past. No having to park in the park. No waiting in line to get in the door. Once inside, no scrambling to squeeze into the bleachers as they packed up. In fact, on Tuesday night, the bleachers were only open on one side of the gym and no one had trouble finding seats. And even during the game, sometimes it was so quiet, you could have heard a candy wrapper open (had there been any concessions being sold).

The first point of the night came from the Collingswood foul line at the 7:11 mark. The Dawgs’ firsts basket of the night by sophomore Ryan Guveiyian put Haddonfield up 2–1 about a minute later. Collingswood lost the ball out of bounds, and the next shot, a pretty move by senior Jake Dewedoff, did everything but drop. At the other end, Collingswood got its first field goal to go back up by 1, 3–2, and after another missed shot by the Dawgs, the Panthers hit a 3, pushing their lead to 4, 6–2, with 4:30 left in the quarter.

Junior Chris Beane, who cleans up under both baskets, got an offensive board and went up and in to cut that lead to 2, 6–4. Junior Mike Douglas got a steal and then an assist after he fed the ball to Guveiyian, who got his second basket of the quarter, tying the game at 6 all with 3:37 on the clock. That tie didn’t last long (about 20 seconds), as the Panthers got an easy basket to go back up by 2. Missed shots, out of bounds, traveling, and kicked balls kept either team from scoring again for more than a minute until Beane got another offensive board and another basket, knotting it up at 8 with 2:13 on the clock.

Collingswood turned the ball over, then knocked the ball out of bounds before Guveiyian got his third basket of the quarter and was also fouled. His shot from the line gave the Dawgs a 3-point, 11–8, edge with just less than 2 minutes to go in the quarter. Collingswood got another open look shot under the basket but luckily for Haddonfield, this one didn’t go in. A foul was called against Haddonfield to briefly keep the ball with the Panthers. I say “briefly” because a few seconds later, junior Chase Stadler stole the ball, passed it to Guveiyian, who gave it back to Stadler, who drove it home for 2. Just as quickly, Dewedoff picked off the ball and scored, and with 1:13 on the clock, the Dawgs were now ahead by 7, 15–8, which is how the quarter ended.

That 7-point lead enabled Haddonfield to build up more of an advantage in the second 8 minutes of the game. Even though Collingswood did start the second quarter with a basket, Dawg freshman Ethan Miller got those 2 points back with a field goal, and after Guveiyian blocked the Panthers’ shot and pulled down the defensive board at the other end, Douglas got his first basket of the half. If I could read what I scribbled after “HF gets rb” (Haddonfield gets rebound), I could tell you what exactly junior Mike Mooney did ahead of Douglas nailing a 3, which gave the Dawgs their first double-digit, 22–10, lead with 6:10 on the clock.

The Panthers’ 2-pointer made it 22-12, Miller followed with a 3, I believe his first on the varsity squad, but a 3 at the other end kept it a 10-point game, 25–15, with 4:45 until halftime. The Dawgs would get the next two baskets, the first on a nice reverse layup by Beane, the second on a shot by Dewedoff that hit the backboard and dropped in, to go up 29–15. The Panthers hit another 3 (they often seemed to have better luck shooting from outside than trying to go inside), but so did Stadler. After the Panther’s got a 2, Beane was fouled and made 1–2 from the line. When the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs headed to the locker room with a 13-point, 33–20, edge.

The Dawgs really dominated the third quarter both offensively and defensively, putting up 16 points while holding the Panthers to 4. Beane started it off making 2 from the foul line, and a 2-point drive by Guveiyian put the Dawgs on top by 17, 37–20, with about 40 seconds gone in the second half. Collingswood’s first 2 came from a wide open path in the paint. (At that point, someone in the Dawgs’ section—OK, it was me—lamented, “Oh, come on! Not again!”) Beane’s nice footwork under the Dawgs’ basket got them 2 more points, and a few plays later, Guveiyian added 2 from the line. With 4 and change left in the quarter, the Dawgs were pulling away, up by 19, 41–22.

Douglas got a defensive board and handed off the ball to Dewedoff, who went into the lane for 2. Douglas and Guveiyian combined for a steal, but Guveiyian was then called for a travel. (People in the stands who are related to Guveiyian could be heard protesting the ref’s call, saying, “He was pushed.”) Dewedoff got the ball back on a steal anyway, and Douglas got 2 off an offensive rebound. Now the Dawgs did not just have a double-digit lead, they had more than doubled the Panthers’ score and were up by 23, 45–22, with 2:42 on the clock.

Collingswood got its second and last bucket of the quarter, but the Dawgs got the last 4 points, 2 off a drive by Douglas and 2 at the line by Miller. Heading into the final quarter, the Dawgs were running circles around the Panthers, ahead by 26, 49–24.

Collingswood had its best offensive quarter in the 4th, scoring 13 points, but Haddonfield still outscored them, if only by 1 point. Beane got one more basket and one more from the foul line, and the rest of the points came from the non-starters. Mooney hit a 3 and a 2, Miller got his second 2 of the night, and twin brothers John and Nick Scipione each had a bucket. When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had soundly defeated the Panthers 63–37.

Chris Beane and Ryan Guveiyian led the Dawgs with 14 and 11, respectively. Nine players scored altogether for Haddonfield.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 15, Collingswood, 8

2nd: Haddonfield, 18, Collingswood, 12

Halftime: Haddonfield, 33, Collingswood, 20

3rd: Haddonfield, 16, Collingswood, 4

4th: Haddonfield, 14, Collingswood, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 63, Collingswood, 37

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 14

Ryan Guveiyian: 11

Mike Douglas: 9

Ethan Miller: 9

Chris Stadler: 5

Mike Mooney: 5

Jake Dewedoff: 4

John Scipione: 4

Nick Scipione: 2

January 16, 2025: Haddonfield at Haddon Heights

Even with snow starting to fall ahead of the varsity game, at least it was a bit more crowded at the Garnets’ gym two nights later. The Garnets’ student section was packed and apparently did not listen to the now very long announcement about spectator behavior that has to be read ahead of each game, which specifically includes not berating the refs, as whenever a call was made that the student fans didn’t like, they chanted, “Bull sh**! Bull sh**!” Perhaps the Heights AD had a talking with them at the half, as I didn’t hear that chant in the third and fourth quarters. But I digress …

Heights was unbeaten in the conference going into Thursday’s game, whereas the Dawgs had lost the week before to Woodbury. However, as my travel (although not to this game) buddy told me, Heights hadn’t played the same teams yet. The first 3-plus minutes of the contest had me wondering if that mattered, but now I’m getting ahead of myself.

The tipoff went Heights’ way and the Garnets immediately put 2 on the scoreboard. The Dawgs did not do the same at their end, and found themselves down 0–4 at the 7:20 mark after another Garnets basket. Haddonfield lost the ball on a bad pass that went out of bounds, Mike Douglas and Chris Beane combined to get a pickoff, but the Dawgs missed finding the net again. This time down the court, Heights swooshed in a 3, and with not even 90 seconds gone in the half, the Dawgs were trailing 0–7.

Chris Stadler finally got the Dawgs on the board, hitting 2 from the foul line, and good sideline “D” led to a travel violation called against Heights. (Cue the student chanting.) It looked like this was not going to help the Dawgs’ deficit, as the ball then went out of bounds off them, but Douglas got the ball back, and Beane went up and in for 2, getting the Dawgs a bit closer, 4–7, with 5:35 on the clock.

Heights got those 2 back to make it 4–9, but then the Dawgs went on an offensive rampage. It started with an offense board by Ryan Guveiyian and a basket by Jake Dewedoff. After the Garnets picked up another traveling violation, a nice bit of passing under the Dawgs’ basket resulted in 2 by Douglas, who was also fouled. His shot from the line tied the game at 9 with 4:04 showing on the clock.

Heights gave the ball back next on a backcourt, the Dawgs missed two shots, but Douglas got another steal and this time his basket put the Dawgs up for the first time in the game, 11–9, with 3:13 remaining in the quarter. Stadler got the defensive board at the other end, and Beane got another bucket. Now the Dawgs, who had been trailing 4–7 2 minutes beforehand, were up by 4, 13–9. After the Garnets lost the ball yet again due to traveling, Coach Wiedeman could be heard yelling “Denver, Denver!” I don’t think he was referencing John Denver, who did have a lot of top 20 songs about traveling back in his heyday, but whatever Wiedeman meant led to a 3-pointer by Stadler. A steal by Haddonfield and Douglas’ third field goal of the quarter capped off the Dawgs’ impressive 14-point run, and with 1:47 on the clock, the Dawgs had doubled the Garnets’ score and were up 18–9.  Neither team scored before the buzzer signaled the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw a bit more balance in the scoring, Neither team went on a run. In fact, only one team—Haddonfield—managed to get back-to-back baskets in the second quarter and only time. For most of the 8 minutes, the teams traded baskets, although Heights shot more from the foul line than Haddonfield did. Beane got 6 of the Dawgs’ 17 second quarter points. He was also involved in the most exciting basket of the game–and it was so exciting I forgot to note the time on the clock. My best estimate is that it occurred with just under 5 minutes until the half, and it came after a misfired pass looked destined to sail out of play. Instead, a hustling Guveiyian managed to deflect in the ball as it was sailing out of bounds and Beane corralled it, going up and in for 2. Guveiyian got his own 2, Stadler hit another 3 (he would finish with four), Douglas got a 3 and a foul shot, and John Scipione came in off the bench for his usual good minutes, collecting a bucket as well. At the half, the Dawgs were up by more points than the Garnets had garnered: 35–22.

Quarter number 3 saw the Dawgs match their first quarter numbers, putting 18 on the board to the Garnets’ 10. Bean, Stadler, and Guveiyian accounted for all the offense. Beane put up 7 on a trio of 2-pointers and a foul shot. Guveiyian got a pair of buckets and also knocked 1 in from the foul line. Stadler made the Dawg fans cheer with two more treys: One opened the third period scoring for the Dawgs, and, appropriately, the second finished it, putting the Dawgs up by 23, 53–30, as the period ended.

In the 4th, both teams added 10 points to their scores. Even though the game was well in hand, Coach Wiedeman still wanted his team to play smart, at one time calling out, “No one-handed passes!” after such an effort resulted in a Garnets’ steal and basket. The play that got the Dawgs bench on their feet (and by that time, the bench was full of starters) was the final basket of the night: John Scipione found his twin bro Nick open, passed him the ball, and Nick responded by knocking down a 3 with less than 30 seconds showing on the clock. When the final horn sounded, the Dawgs had taken care of the Garnets, beating them by a score of 63–40. Chris Beane, Chase Stadler, and Mike Douglas all reached double figures, contributing 18, 16, and 15, respectively.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 18, Haddon Heights, 9

2nd: Haddonfield, 17, Haddon Heights, 13

Halftime: Haddonfield, 35, Haddon Heights, 22

3rd: Haddonfield, 18, Haddon Heights, 8

4th: Haddonfield, 10, Haddon Heights, 10

Final: Haddonfield, 63, Haddon Heights, 40

January 18, 2025: Haddonfield vs. KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy at Paul VI Winter Classic

I was not able to get to the nonleague game on Saturday, but was happy to get the “we won” text from one of my Dawg buddies. For a nice write-up of the game by Kevin Minnick, which starts out, “Mike Douglas and Ryan Guveiyian scored 10 points apiece as part of a balanced offensive attack to lead Haddonfield past KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, 54-36, at the Paul VI Winter Classic on Saturday” (and you have a paid subscription to NJ.com), click on this link:

The win puts the Dawgs at 10–3 for the season and means Paul Wiedeman is 6 wins away from notching his 600th victory as Haddonfield’s head coach. Wiedeman, now in his 26th year at the helm for the Dawgs, started the season with a won/loss record of 584–139. (And yes, that’s incredibly good.) I will keep you posted on the countdown to 600, but try to keep your calendars open the next 10 days.

The Week Ahead

After a few away games this past week, the boys are back at home on Tuesday, 1/21 at 7:00 p.m. for a rematch against Paulsboro and will host Haddon Township on Thursday, 1/23 also at 7:00 p.m. Both of these games will stream on HUDL. Then on Saturday, 1/25. The Dawgs will take on Moorestown in the annual tournament at Rancocas Valley High School in Mt. Holly. That game is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. As mentioned, they go into the week with a 10–3 overall record and are 5–1 in conference play.

The Conference Breakdown

Speaking of the Dawgs’ conference record, you may recall that last week, I was trying to figure out how the 12 teams in the Colonial Conference are divvied up into the Liberty and Patriot divisions. Haddonfield AD Lefty Banos kindly provided the following info. Note that this will “stand” for this season and next:

Along with Haddonfield, these teams currently make up the Liberty division: Haddon Heights, Paulsboro, Sterling, West Deptford, and Woodbury. These six teams are in the Patriot division: Audubon, Gateway, Collingswood, Haddon Township, Gloucester City, and Lindenwold. Interestingly, while teams in the same division have to play each other twice during the regular season, it is optional for teams in opposite divisions to play each other. That’s why the Dawgs are playing the Wave of Audubon, the Lions of Gloucester City, and the Hawks of Haddon Township (having already defeated the Collingswood Panthers) once, but will not go up against the Gateway Gators or the Lindenwold Lions at all.

It is also interesting to note that for the girls basketball teams in the conference, the divisions are not quite the same. The Hawks are in the Liberty division and the Paulsboro Red Raiders are in the Patriot.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield.Today

The Dawgs boys basketball team was scheduled to play four games this past week. Considering how physically draining the games versus Sterling, Woodbury, and Delsea were, maybe it’s a good thing Mother Nature intervened on what would have been their first game of the week versus Audubon at home on Jan. 6, delivering enough snow to close schools, postponing that contest until Monday, Jan. 27 at 5:30.

January 8, 2025: Sterling at Haddonfield

So instead, the Dawgs’ first game of the week was at home versus their longtime nemesis Sterling. I don’t know if I missed a memo (I’m diligently trying to get an answer from our AD to resolve this), but apparently, the Silver Knights are now in the Patriot division of the Colonial Conference, not the Liberty. While I wouldn’t bet my house (maybe someone else’s), but I think last season, these two teams were still in the same division.

The fact that they won’t be battling each other for the division crown did not seem to dampen the intensity of their first matchup of the season. While the Dawgs took charge early, the Knights hung around the whole game and made it interesting.

The Dawgs’ first points of the game came from the foul line. After some nice passing attempting to set up junior Chris Beane, he was fouled going in for the bucket. He made both shots, but Sterling got a very easy field goal at their end when the basket was left unguarded, and after a Haddonfield turnover, Sterling scored again to go up 4–2 with 6:59 on the clock. Thanks to junior Chris Stadler, who drained a 3 the Dawgs’ next possession, that lead was short-lived. Neither team scored their next trips up and down the court, and Beane followed Stadler’s trey with one of his own at the 5:19 mark to put the Dawgs up by 4, 8–4.

A Dawgs’ pickoff set up the next basket by the team’s sole senior Jake Dewedoff, who had to do some fancy dribbling to keep possession of the ball before he went up and in. Down by 6, 10–4, Sterling called a timeout with just under 5 minutes to go in the first. Back in action, the Knights got a bucket to make it 10–6. The teams exchanged steals, but time ticked off the scoreboard for about a minute before junior Mike Douglas nailed a 3, pushing the Dawgs’ advantage up to 7, 13–6, with 3:50 on the clock.

Beane got a nice rebound and made a nifty cross-court pass to Stadler before Sterling was able to knock the ball out of bounds. This time, Beane drove hard into the paint for 2, After good defense along the bench sideline, Dewedoff stole the ball and was fouled trying to go in for a basket. He hit 1–2 from the line, giving the Dawgs a double-digit, 16–6, lead with 2:30 on the board. Nothing offensively happened for about 50 seconds until Beane grabbed an offensive board and put the ball into the net. That made it 18–6 with 1:10 remaining in the quarter.

Sterling committed a travel that was so obvious, I don’t think anyone in the stands missed it. Haddonfield couldn’t take advantage to score, and on their next possession, the Knights ended their offensive drought with a 2-point basket and then a foul shot, making it 18–9, Haddonfield with 28.2 on the clock. Beane got his second and the Dawgs’ fourth trey of the quarter off a feed from Dewedoff, and Sterling wasn’t able to score before the buzzer sounded, giving the Dawgs a 12-point, 21–9 edge after 8 minutes.

The scoring was much more evenly matched in the next 8 minutes. Douglas started the scoring by rebounding his own missed shot for 2, making it 23–9, Haddonfield with a little more than a minute gone in the second quarter. Sterling got the next two buckets to get back to within 10, 23–13, with 5:31 on the clock before sophomore Ryan Guveiyian got an offensive rebound and went up and in to make it 25–13. Sterling got that basket back quickly, then after a bad Dawgs’ pass, got the ball back and a non-shooting foul was called on Haddonfield. The Knights got a field goal and a trip to the foul line, closing their deficit to 7, 25–18, with 3:41 until halftime.

Sterling stole the ball back, but nice “D” by Guveiyian and Douglas kept the Knights from getting the ball in the net, and at the other end, Beane got his 5th field goal of the game, making it a 9-point Dawg lead, 27–18, with 2:15 on the clock. After a 30-second Haddonfield timeout, junior John Scipione, who had come in the game a few possessions before, stole the ball and went all the way into the paint, with a nice hesitation move that made the Sterling defender go up too soon. With a little less than 2 minutes left in the quarter, the Dawgs had gotten their double-digit lead back and were up 29–18.

Sterling did not cut into that lead its next possession, which meant Douglas’ 2 under the Haddonfield basket had the Dawgs up by 13, 31–18, with 1:21 on the clock. The Knights got an offensive board, which paid off, as they were able to score with :49 to go. The Dawgs kept passing the ball, aiming to go for the last shot. Beane did just that, and when the teams headed off the court at “intermission,” Sterling was trailing by 13, even though the Dawgs had only outscored them by 1 point, 12–11, in the second quarter.

I don’t usually write about the halftime shoot-out that benefits the Haddonfield booster club, but an unnamed Sterling high school student (the Knights were, as always, well-represented in the stands) decided to come down and take a chance. His ball didn’t go in, but it was close. That inspired him to fork up another $5 for another attempt. That also failed, but not by much. And then for the next few minutes, he kept going back to the halfcourt line, as his buddies in the Sterling student section kept feeding him $5. It was amazing how many shots he took and how many times the ball just would not drop. At one point, a Haddonfield (at least he was sitting in the Haddonfield section across from the Dawgs’ bench) came down and gave him $5. But to no avail. I asked Mike Guveiyian, Ryan’s dad, who is the parent down on the court at halftime, how many shots he thinks were taken by this determined fan. “I stopped counting after I got $25,” he admitted (as that would have covered the cost of a gift card had a shot dropped), but agreed with my assessment that it was at least 10 shots. When he finally left the court, he got applause from a lot of folks, even those rooting for the opposition, and he had earned it.

The Knights inbound to start the second half did not go as planned, as there was a pileup under the basket, and Sterling lost possession on a travel. The Dawgs’ first basket by Guveiyian was set up by a nice series of passes by his teammates, and made it 35–20, with about 30 seconds gone off the clock. Sterling failed to score, but got the ball back on a pilfer, this time getting the ball in the net. A few plays later, Sterling got another field goal, but with 5:25 on the clock, the Knights were still down by 13, 37–24. A little more than a minute ticked off the clock before the Dawgs got their second basket of the quarter on a drive in the paint by Douglas, making it 39–24 with 4:17 left in the quarter.

The Dawgs and the Knights exchanged steals, but even though Sterling’s resulted in a basket, the Knights were still behind by 13, 39–26, with 3 and change remaining in the third. Guveiyian’s 3 on a pass from Douglas put the Dawgs out in front by 16, 42–26 with 2:43 on the clock. After a blocked shot by Douglas, an offensive board by the Dawgs, and some nice passing, Guveiyian went in the paint for a 2, and at the 1:53 mark, the Dawgs seemed to be cruising, up 44–26. Sterling called a timeout, and when the game resumed, Guveiyian took an offensive charge, which psyched him and the crowd up.

But the Knights weren’t ready to call it a night. They hit a 3 with 1:13 to go, then got 2 from the foul line with 16.4 on the clock. That made it 44–31, Haddonfield. Dewedoff got those 2 back with a bucket, but Sterling nailed a 3 on the buzzer, with the Dawgs nevertheless still up by double-digits, 46–34. This quarter, the Knights surpassed the Dawgs by a point, 14–13.

In the final 8 minutes, the Knights would put 4 more points on the board than the Dawgs, who didn’t make it to double digits, scoring 9 off three baskets, including a 3 from Dewedoff, who also made a pair of foul shots. When the final buzzer sounded, the Dawgs, who had been ahead by double digits the first three quarters, ended up winning by 7, 55–47.

Chris Bean, with 16 first-half points, lead the scoring for Haddonfield with 20. Ryan Guveiyian had 11, and Jake Dewedoff finished with 10.

Quarter scoring:

1st: Haddonfield, 21, Sterling, 9

2nd: Haddonfield, 12, Sterling, 11

Halftime: Haddonfield, 33, Sterling, 20

3rd: Haddonfield, 46, Sterling, 34

4th Haddonfield, 9, Sterling, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 55, Sterling, 47

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 20

Ryan Guveiyian: 11

Jake Dewedoff: 10

Mike Douglas: 9

Chris Stadler: 3

John Scipione: 2

January 10, 2025: Haddonfield at Woodbury

I was not at this game, and as far as I can tell, Woodbury does not use any of the primary options (YouTube, HUDL, or NFHS) to stream home games. I also did not get any updates, other than a second-hand piece of info that there were some questionable (from the Haddonfield point of view) foul calls in the game. Suffice to say that the Herd stole some of the Dawgs’ thunder of defeating Sterling two “knights” before by slipping by them by 2, 55–53. It was the first time Woodbury had beaten Haddonfield since 2016, with the Dawgs having come out on top their previous seven meetings. I guess the Herd was due for a W.

January 11, 2025: Haddonfield at Delsea

Just what the Dawgs needed. A day game after a night game defeat. At least the game versus the Crusaders was at 1 p.m. instead of 11 a.m. And another piece of good news, at least from my perspective, was that I was able to watch it on HUDL.

This game in some ways was like the Sterling contest. Just when you thought the Dawgs were going to pull off an easy W, it got close. Real close.

The game started out with a quick bucket by Delsea. Then the Dawgs put up 11 unanswered points. Chase Stadler’s 3 put the Dawgs in front 3–2, and I had to laugh because the Delsea announcer, who did a nice job with the play-by-play all game, sounded downright despondent when he had to make that call. Stadler’s 3 was followed by a steal and 2 by Chris Beane. Jake Dewedoff’s 2 from the foul line made it 7–2, Dawgs. Another Haddonfield steal led to a 2 by Ryan Guveiyian, making it an 11–2 game with 4:09 on the clock.

A bad foul call (IMHO) on Dewedoff sent Delsea to the line, but neither shot dropped, and after a few bad plays by both teams, an offensive board by Stadler enabled Guveiyian to get another basket at the 2:11 mark. Delsea finally managed to get a basket, a trey, a minute later, but the Dawgs scored two more times in quick succession, with Guveiyian hitting a 3 with 51 seconds left and John Scipione getting a 2 with about 23 seconds on the clock. As the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs were looking good, up by 11, 16–5.

The second quarter, Delsea started making some more shots. In fact, the Crusaders went on their own run to start the quarter, scoring 9 unanswered points to get to within 2, 16–14, with 4:19 left in the half. Dewedoff got the Dawgs’ first basket of the quarter on a feed from Guveiyian to make it 18–14, Dawgs, with just under 4 on the clock. Delsea did not score,, then committed a non-shooting foul. Dewedoff got another 2, this time on a nice floater, to up the lead to 6, 20–14, with 3:12 to go.

Mike Douglas hit a 3, Delsea got a 2, and Douglas hit another 3, and with 1:35 on the scoreboard, the Dawgs had their double-digit lead back, at 26–16. A few plays after his back-to-back treys, Douglas went down hard at one end, and it took a little time before play came to a halt. He was helped up and was able to limp off the court, but it was hard to tell if he had been injured. The Crusaders picked up consecutive fouls to get the clock down to 7.9 and just ahead of the buzzer, John Scipione went in for 2. As the teams left the court, the Dawgs had a 12-point, 28–16, advantage.

The third quarter was the lowest-scoring of the game. Delsea actually put 2 more points on the board (9) to the Dawgs’ 7. Three of those 7 points came from the foul line, with Dewedoff making 2 and Scipione the other. Douglas, who came back on the court during halftime and ran back and forth (width wise) several times before reporting to the coaching staff that he was fine, got the Dawgs’ only two field goals of the third. Even so, with 8 minutes remaining, the Dawgs were still on top by 10, 35–25. Those last 8 minutes would prove to be very interesting, to say the least.

Haddonfield inbounded to start the 4th and missed two shot attempts. At the other end, Delsea sank a 3, and with 6:37 on the clock, it was a 7-point game, with the Dawgs ahead 35–28. A little more than a minute later, after the Dawgs failed to score, the Crusaders launched another 3, and with 5:29 left in the game, were only trailing by 4, 35–31. The Dawgs again could not put the ball in the net, then committed a foul at the other end that sent the Crusaders to the foul line, where 1 shot went in. The Dawgs’ 10-point halftime lead had now shrunk to 3, 35–32, with 5:12 on the clock.

An offensive rebound by Mike Mooney set up Douglas, and his field goal pushed the lead to 5, 37–32, with 5:01 to go. Good “D” by the Dawgs got the Crusaders to commit a travel. Off the inbound, Guveiyian would go cross-court to score in the paint, and with 4:32 left in the game, the Dawgs seemed to have swung the game back in their favor, up by 7, 39–32. More good defense by the Dawgs got a Crusader trapped and caused another travel with just under 4 minutes remaining.

If any Haddonfield fan had started breathing a sigh of relief, that quickly turned to gasping for air, as Delsea got the next two buckets of the game and with 1:56 on the clock, the Crusaders were back to within 3, 39–36. Guveiyian was fouled going in for a basket. He made 1–2 from the line, making it 40–36 with 1:37 on the clock. But Delsea scored and was fouled. The foul shot was good, and with 1:29 left in the game, the Dawgs were clinging to a 1-point, 40–39, edge.

Douglas got a huge offensive board and was fouled. He hit 1–2, making it 41–39, with 17.9 to go. Delsea called a timeout and was then fouled. After missing the first shot, the Crusader on the line purposely missed the second, but the ball was called out of bounds off Delsea, with 1.4 on the clock. Haddonfield was immediately fouled, and Dewedoff stepped to the line. He missed the first but came back to make the second and put the Dawgs up by 3, 42–39. Delsea made a desperation heave that did not get close to the basket. The buzzer sounded, and the Dawgs had escaped with a W, even though the Crusaders had outscored them in the second half 23–14.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 16, Delsea, 5

2nd: Haddonfield, 12, Delsea, 11

Halftime: Haddonfield, 28, Delsea, 16

3rd: Haddonfield, 7, Delsea, 9

4th: Haddonfield, 7, Delsea, 14

Final: Haddonfield, 42, Delsea, 39

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 13

Ryan Guveiyian: 10

Jake Dewedoff: 8

John Scipione: 6

Chase Stadler: 3

The Dawgs are now 7–3 overall and 3–1 in the Colonial Conference. And I’m guessing by the end of Saturday’s game, the Dawgs were pretty tired pups.

The Week Ahead

The Dawgs have three away games this week. Tuesday, 1/14, they go up Haddon Ave to Collingswood for a 5:30 game. Next, they go down White Horse Pike to Haddon Heights for a 7:00 p.m. game on Thursday, 1/16. They finish off the week with another morning game, heading up Hopkins Road to Paul VI for a 10:30 game versus Kipp Cooper Norcross Academy. If you can’t make either of the conference games, you can stream them on HUDL.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield.Today

After a pair of games played after Christmas as part of the Haddons Invitational, the Dawgs had a 6-day break until after 2025 checked in. I’ll have a more in-depth write-up of their Colonial Conference game played at home on Jan. 3 and a brief recap of their nonleague game the next day versus BCIT (Burlington County Institute of Technology)–Westampton.

January 3, 2025: West Deptford at Haddonfield

The Eagles are part of the Liberty division of the Colonial Conference, as are the Dawgs. I was expecting to watch the game in person, but due to an unexpected Christmas “gift,” aka COVID, I was instead sitting at my desk at home, waiting for the HUDL feed to begin. (If you haven’t registered—it’s free—for HUDL, check out the Haddonfield page, HERE. You don’t have to download anything: The box at the top of the page that says “Download” is an ad that you should ignore. Just choose the game and click the arrow to start. Any home game, and some away games, you can view the Dawgs’ play live or after the fact.)

Just when I was getting a bit fidgety because I’d gotten a message indicating there was either a delay to the start of the game or technical issues (it was the former), the stream began. I thought being at my home with the play-by-play right in front of me and my scorepad and notebook on the desk (instead of balanced precariously on my lap) would make this game a little easier to record. I wasn’t counting on the breakneck speed of the action or the points being put on the board, mostly by the Dawgs. I nearly got whiplash trying to keep up.

Early on in the season, the starting lineup for the Dawgs has remained constant: forwards Chris Beane (junior) and Ryan Guveiyian (sophomore) and guards Jake Dewedoff (senior) and juniors Chase Stadler and Mike Douglas. Douglas does the jump-ball to start the game, and although the Dawgs got the tip, their first shot attempt did not go in. Good “D” by Beane and Guveiyian led to a steal and a bucket by Beane. A steal by Stadler resulted in 2 by Douglas, giving the Dawgs a 4–0 lead at the 6:45 mark.

The Eagles got a basket to make it 4–2, Haddonfield, and Guveiyian pulled down an offensive board and scored, putting the Dawgs back on top by 4, 6–2, with 6:23 on the clock. Then the Dawgs were off to the races. Although there were some missed shots on their end, Haddonfield would score the next 7 points on a 3 by Stadler, a steal and a basket by Beane, and a basket by Douglas after two offensive rebounds. West Deptford managed to get another 2 with 4:52 left in the quarter to make it 13–4, Haddonfield and after the Dawgs didn’t score for a few possessions, the Eagles got a bucket at the 4:01 mark, making it a 7-point, 13–6 Dawg advantage. And then the Dawgs really went off to the races. (And my neck started hurting.)

Beane nailed a 3 on a pass from Douglas. Another Stadler steal set up a trey from Dewedoff. After a drive in the paint by Douglas, the Dawgs were up by 18, and there was still about 2:45 left in the quarter. Douglas followed that up with a 3 on a feed from Guveiyian. Dewedoff would get the next two buckets, the first on a nice floater, and the next, a drive in the paint, would put the Dawgs up by 26, 31–6, with a minute and change to go.

A steal by Douglas (the Eagles really had a rough time, especially in the first 8 minutes, handling the Dawgs’ pressure defense) made it 33–6, with 53 seconds on the clock. West Deptford got its 4th basket and 8th point of the game before Dewedoff drained another 3 off a pass from Guveiyian, and the quarter ended with the Dawgs really giving it to the Eagles, up by almost 30 points, 36–8.

To the credit of both the players and the West Deptford coaching staff, the Eagles did not come out to begin the second quarter with their wings beneath their legs. Instead, it was quite the opposite. After the Dawgs turned the ball over after inbounding it to begin the quarter, the Eagles turned the tables and scored 9 straight points with a trio of 2’s and one trey. In less than 2 minutes, they had cut their deficit to 36–17. I don’t think this was because the Dawgs came out in the second cocky. I suspect that perhaps they eased up on the throttle a bit, but that’s not taking any credit away from the Eagles’ refusing to give up.

Beane’s trey broke the Dawgs’ dry spell, and Stadler followed with his second 3 of the game off a pass from Douglas. After good D under the Eagles’ basket, Dewedoff drove 2, and the Dawgs had put their lead back up to 27, 44–17, with 3:25 left in the half. After a West Deptford timeout, the Eagles hit a 3. After Stadler got a 2, Guveiyian took an offensive charge at one end and went up and in at the other to make it 48–20, Dawgs, with 2:32 on the clock.

The Eagles hit another 3, Dewedoff made 1–2 from the foul line, and after another Dawgs’ steal, Stadler’s bucket put the Dawgs over the 50-point mark, 51–23, with just under 2 minutes until the half. The Eagles seemed to have better luck beyond the 3-point arc, notching another trey, and the Dawgs would finish out the half on steal and 2 points from junior John Scipione, putting the Dawgs up by 27, 53–26, as the teams headed off the court. It’s worth noting that the run by West Deptford to begin the second enabled them to outscore the Dawgs in the second 8 minutes by 1 point, 18–17.

After pounding 53 points into the net in the first half of the game, the Dawgs would “only” muster 49 in the second half, to the Eagles’ 22. Coach Wiedeman, as he’s done most games so far this season, put junior Mike Mooney in the second quarter along with John Scipione. Scipione also saw some action in the third, but it was the five starters who did all the scoring. In the third, Douglas got one more 3 and a pair of 2’s to total 21 points. Beane matched his first half 10 points by putting up 10 more in the third. Dewedoff, who knocked in 13 in the first half, added 4 more in the third. Stadler drove in 10 in the first half and added a 3 in the third. He, Bean, and Douglas each had a trio of treys in the game, and the Dawgs drained 13 altogether. In the third, Guveiyian added two from the foul line to finish with 6. As the third period buzzer sounded, the Dawgs were cruising, up by 44, 79–35.

That is why in the fourth quarter, the starters sat on the bench and cheered on their teammates, who showed the Dawg fans they could put up some points as well. Mooney got the offense going with a 3. Sophomore Bill Raus made it 84–35, before the Eagles hit from beyond the arc, making it 84–38.

Adding to those last 23 points were John Scipione, with a pair of buckets and a foul shot, and his twin Nick, who drained a 3. Freshman Ethan Miller drove in the paint for a pair of baskets, Raus would get another basket, and junior Griffin Breen also scored two baskets. The second Breen bucket, which netted the Dawgs point 102, came off a feed from junior Jude McFillin, and on my notepad, scribbled that Jude’s feed looked very much like those I was used to seeing last season from his bro Phil. While I’m talking about brothers, I want to apologize for an oversight from last week. I should have noted that Chris Beane’s brother Sean also was a senior on the 2021–2022 squad with Matt Guveiyian and Tom Mooney, older sibs of Ryan and Mike.

With all this offensive output—11 Dawgs scored 3 points or more—it’s not too surprising that Dawgs ended up defeating the Eagles by 54 points, besting them and then some, 102–48.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 36, West Deptford, 8

2nd: Haddonfield, 17, West Deptford, 18

Halftime: Haddonfield, 53, West Deptford, 26

3rd: Haddonfield, 26, West Deptford, 9

4th:  Haddonfield, 23, West Deptford, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 102, West Deptford, 48

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 21

Chris Beane: 20

Jake Dewedoff: 17

Chase Stadler: 13

John Scipione: 7

Ryan Guveiyian: 6

Griffin Breen: 4

Ethan Miller: 4

Ben Raus: 4

Mike Mooney: 3

Nick Scipione: 3

January 4, 2025: Haddonfield at BCIT–Westampton

I may not have gotten to this game even if I hadn’t been following COVID protocol. And since BCIT belongs to the NFHS network, which is a paid subscription streaming service, I had to rely on my travel buddy, who did make the trip, as well as another courtside reporter for the little information I have on this game. (If you want a bit more info about the game, including player stats, and have a paid subscription to NJ.com, you can go HERE.

Historically, Haddonfield boys teams do not fare well when playing morning games. That this contest followed a night game in which there was a high-end production of points probably did not help. Here’s what I can “pass” along about the game.

My travel buddy texted after the first quarter that the Dawgs were down 7–10 and were 0–8 from behind the arc. “They are BIG,” I was informed.

My courtside reporter had this to say: “The biggest thing that struck me was a slow start by our team and a lot of missed shots early in the game. Our shooting kind of went cold but even with not being able to hit a three and a bunch of missed layups, we were still only down by a couple at halftime.” (The score was 18–22.)

By the end of the 3rd, the Dawgs were trailing by 5, 29–35. My travel buddy sent this short update in the 4th: “It’s getting away now,” with BCIT up by double-digits, 48–36. The next text I got I figured would be the final score, but instead, I was told: “Wait … 49–54. 1:00 left.” Of course, then I was hoping the Dawgs would pull off one of their final-minute heroics only to get one last text: “Nope. It’s over now. 49–61 final.”

My courtside reporter elaborated more on the last 8 minutes of the game. “[The] team played really well in the fourth, but the other team was big, and it just didn’t work in our favor, as they made their free throws down the stretch when we started fouling them on purpose.” [The game] was closer than the score shows given this.”

When I asked if the timing of the previous game had any impact, I got this reply: “I do think the quick back-to-back scheduled worked against us.”

The Dawgs are now 5–2 overall, 2–0 in conference play.

The Week Ahead

There is a scheduled home game Monday, 1/6 at 7:00 versus Audubon, however, Mother Nature’s dropping of snow is likely to cause a postponement. Whenever you are in doubt or just want to get an updated schedule, the best place to go is to the boys basketball page of the high school website. Here is the direct LINK:

The boys also are scheduled to have a home game on Wednesday, 1/8 against Sterling, also at  7:00. Saturday is a road trip to Delsea for a 1 p.m. game. If you get signed up for HUDL, you can stream this game live or at your leisure.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield.Today

Last year, the boys basketball team was loaded with seniors. Their numbers totaled eight and seven of them either started or saw significant playing time most games. The fact that they had all played together since youth basketball helped them lead the Dawgs to a 27–3 overall record, as well as a 15­–0 record in the Colonial Conference (12–0 in the Liberty Division).

This is not the case for what has so far been this season’s starting lineup. It touts one senior, Jake Dewedoff, the sole 12th grader on the squad, who got into the end of a few varsity games last year, as did junior Chase Stadler. Junior Chris Beane and sophomore Ryan Guveiyian saw a bit more action last year, but neither was ever on the court at the game’s tipoff. Only junior Mike Douglas saw significant playing time, often being one of the first players Paul Wiedeman, now in his 26th season as head coach, brought in off the bench.

Another difference is the height of this year’s team. Last year, Zach Langan and Patrick Ryan were listed as 6-4, with Nate Rohlfing having 4 inches on them, at 6-8. This year, the tallest players are 6-3 and include Douglas and junior Mike Mooney. (Speaking of Mooney, it’s worth noting that his older brother Tom and Guveiyian’s older brother Matthew were teammates on the 2021–22 squad.)

After five games in the young season, this lack of experience or height has not come into play, so to speak. Here is a brief recap of these first games, all played before the calendar turned to 2025.

December 17, 2024: Willingboro at Haddonfield

The first half of this game versus the athletic-looking Chimeras made it look as if all four quarters would be close. Both teams started out a little tight, and it wasn’t until just under the 5-minute mark that either team scored. Jake Dewedoff got the Dawgs on the board with a drive under the basket. A few plays later, Willingboro got 1 off the foul line. After a few more trips up and down the court, a steal by Stadler led to 2 from Guveiyian, whose foul shot made it a 5–1 game at the 2:09 mark.

A 3 got the Chimeras to within 1, 5­–4 with just less than 2 minutes left in the quarter. Guveiyian’s bucket made it 7–4 with 1:05 on the clock, but the Chimeras answered with their own 2 and with 43 seconds left, it was 7–6, Dawgs. Douglas sank two from the foul line, but another Willingboro basket with about 19 seconds left made it a 1-point, 9–8, game, and that’s how the quarter ended.

It stayed tight in the second quarter, with the Dawgs maintaining a 2- to 3-point advantage through the first 4 minutes with a pair of foul shots by Guveiyian and a steal and a basket by junior John Scipione. In the last 4 minutes, Willingboro hit a 2 and a 3 between a foul shot by John Scipione (he’s got a twin brother, Nick, so I’ll always be ID’ing them using first and last names!) to go up by 1, 14–13, with 1:09 to go. However, after a bad pass gave Willingboro the ball with :9.5 on the clock, John Scipione stole the ball and fed it to Stadler, who nailed a 3 to give the Dawgs a 17–15 edge going into the locker rooms.

The Dawgs started to pull away a bit toward the end of the 3rd quarter. However, not before the Chimeras had gotten to within 2, 24–22, at the 4:33 mark after having three chances to score in one possession. A 3 by Mooney was followed by what I can only describe as a “bounce” 3 by Willingboro (the ball hit the rim and bounced in instead of out) to keep it a 2-point, 27–25 game, but Guveiyian scored off an inbound pass, and a few plays later, his feed to Beane made it 31–25, Dawgs with 1:36 on the clock.

A steal by Douglas led to a 2 by John Scipione, and the next possession, Douglas hit 2 from the foul line to put Haddonfield up by 10, but a 2 on the buzzer kept Willingboro within 8, 35–27.

The Dawgs outscored the Chimeras 13–5 in the last 8 minutes of the game to notch their first win by 16, 48–32. Guveiyian was the only Dawg in double digits, finishing with 14 points.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield 9, Willingboro, 8

2nd: Haddonfield 8, Willingboro, 7

Halftime: Haddonfield 17, Willingboro, 15

3rd: Haddonfield 18, Willingboro, 12

4th: Haddonfield 13, Willingboro, 7

Final: Haddonfield 48, Willingboro, 32

Player scores:

Ryan Guveiyian: 14

Mike Douglas: 9

John Scipione: 7

Mike Mooney: 6

Chris Beane: 4

Jake Dewedoff: 4

Chase Stadler: 4

December 19, 2024: Haddonfield at Paulsboro

My travel buddy and I agree that a game played at the Red Raider’s court can never be considered an easy 32 minutes. And this early in the season, it was hard to know what to expect.

The Raiders stole the ball right after the Dawgs had gained possession from the tipoff and scored the first bucket of the game. That wasn’t the greatest of starts, but after Mike Douglas’ bucket tied the game, a pair of treys by Chase Stadler and Jake Dewedoff put the Dawgs on top 8–2 with about 4:14 left in the quarter. Paulsboro got a 3 in its next possession, but Chris Beane answered at the other end to make it 11–5, Dawgs with 3:51 on the clock.

After a timeout by Paulsboro, the Raiders knocked down another 3, to cut the deficit to 3, 11–8. Dewedoff’s layup was followed by a missed Raiders’ shot and a defensive board by Guveiyian, who scored at the other end after a non-shooting foul by Paulsboro. That made it 15–8 with 1:47 on the clock. Paulsboro hit its third trey of the quarter to get to within 4, 15–11, with 47 seconds showing on the scoreboard. Douglas finished off the scoring of the quarter with a 2 and as the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs were up 17–11.

After Paulsboro got the first points of the 2nd quarter on the foul line, the Dawgs responded with 7 unanswered points. Douglas’ 2 from the line made it 19–13, and Paulsboro turned the ball over almost immediately, stepping out of bounds. (There was an unusually high number of turnovers as players from both sides had trouble staying within court boundaries throughout the game.) Douglas got 2 more, this time from the field. The Raiders again stepped out of bounds and paid the price when John Scipione notched a 3, giving the Dawgs a double-digit, 24–13 lead with only 2 minutes gone. Maybe this wasn’t going to be too tough a game after all …

Of course, that wasn’t the case, as Paulsboro went on its own mini-run, getting the next 6 points of the game and closing the gap to 24–19 with 2:29 left in the half. John Scipione kept it from getting any closer with a steal and a nice hesitation move under the basket to break the Dawgs’ scoreless run, but Paulsboro nailed another 3 and with about 1:30 to go, the Raiders were within 4, 26–24. After turning the ball over, the Dawgs got it back on a steal from Douglas, who went all the way with a basket, giving Haddonfield a 28–22 edge with just under a minute left.

Paulsboro hit yet another 3, Haddonfield turned the ball over again, and Paulsboro got to the foul line with 9.7 seconds to go. Both shots were good, and when the halftime buzzer sounded, the Dawgs were only up by 2, 28–26.

Douglas contributed to the first 4 points of the second half, dishing the ball to Chris Beane and then pilfering the ball and making a great move under the basket to score himself. That made it 32–25 with about 90 second gone in the 3rd quarter. Paulsboro got the next 4 points from field goals, so with about 4:20 left in the quarter, it was back to a 2-point Haddonfield edge, 32–30. A hard drive by Beane pushed it back to a 4-point advantage. However, the Raiders were raining 3’s and the one at the 4:10 mark got them back to within 1, 34–33.

Stadler hit his second trey of the game, Paulsboro traveled but got the ball right back with a steal and scored, and with 3:25 showing on the clock, it was a 2-point, 37–35, Dawgs’ lead. Haddonfield went on a mini run again, with Dewedoff scoring in between a pair from Guveiyian, with Guveiyian’s second coming on a nice bit of passing with John Scipione starting if off and Douglas getting the assist. That made it 43–35 and with :40.3 remaining in the half, Paulsboro called a timeout.

The Raiders got 2 points back from the foul line, but Dewedoff launched a 3 ahead of the buzzer, and going into the last 8 minutes, the Dawgs were up by 9 46–37.

Paulsboro got the first two buckets of the 4th, a 2 and a 3, and it was back to a 4-point game,  46–42, with less than 90 seconds gone. Dewedoff’s 3 made it 49–42. The Raiders answered, but Douglas went in for 2 at the other end, and with about 5 minutes left in the game, Haddonfield had a little more breathing room, up by 7, 51–44. Beane had a nice drive into the paint, increasing that lead to 9, 53–44, with 4:11 on the clock.

Neither team scored for a few trips up and down the court before Douglas made it 55–44 with 2:33 left in the game. A pickoff and bucket by Beane gave the Dawgs their biggest lead of the game, 57–44, with 2 and change left. Douglas got his second basket of the quarter off an inbound pass after Paulsboro lost the ball out of bounds. Paulsboro hit one more 3 before time ran out, but it didn’t matter. The Dawgs had prevailed 59–46 and survived another game in Red Raiders’ territory.

Mike Douglas knocked in 16 points, and Jake Dewedoff had 13. All starters scored.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 17, Paulsboro, 11

2nd: Haddonfield, 11, Paulsboro, 15 

Halftime: Haddonfield, 28, Paulsboro, 26

3rd: Haddonfield, 18, Paulsboro, 11

4th: Haddonfield, 13, Paulsboro, 9

Final: Haddonfield 59, Paulsboro, 46

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 16

Jake Dewedoff: 13

Chase Stadler: 9

Chris Beane: 8

Ryan Guveiyian: 6

John Scipione: 5

Mike Mooney: 2

December 21, 2024: Haddonfield vs. Lenape at Cherokee (Coaches vs. Cancer tournament)

After the win at Paulsboro, Coach Wiedeman said the next game was going to be a tough one. He was right. The Dawgs managed to stay in the game in the 1st, but were trailing by 4, 9–13. After 2 quarters, Lenape was up by 10. By the end of the 3rd, Lenape was cruising, up 19, 41–22. Haddonfield outscored Lenape by 3, 16–13, in the last 8 minutes, but it did not change the outcome of the game, and when the final buzzer sounded, Lenape had handed Haddonfield its first loss, winning by 14, 54–40. The bright spots of the game were Chris Beane’s second half scoring, in which he got 12 out of his 14 game-leading points. We also so the debut of freshman Ethan Miller (who may be taller than 6-3, but since he wasn’t on the original varsity roster, I don’t have an official height for him yet).

December 27, 2024: Haddons Invitational—Pemberton Township vs. Haddonfield

The Hornets had four senior starters and looked like another athletic team out on the court during warmups. And they definitely had some inches over the Dawgs’ starters. But they did not know how to handle the Dawgs’ stellar (as always) defense. That in part led to the Dawgs 9–0 run at the game’s outset. Mike Douglas started it off with a 3, Ryan Guveiyian’s steal led to a 2 by Douglas, another pickoff by Guveiyian put the ball in the hands of Chris Beane, who went up and in, and Guveiyian would get the last 2 points from the foul line. The Hornets finally scored at the 5:19 mark, so it was it 9–2, Dawgs.

After Douglas’ third basket of the game, off a nice double clutch move in the paint, Pemberton Township scored its second, and last, basket of the quarter, making it 11­–4 with 4:01 on the clock. The Dawgs got the last 7 points on a pair of 2-point field goals by Beane, a pretty maneuver under the basket by John Scipione, and one from the line by Guveiyian. This put the Dawgs up 18–4 going into the second quarter.

Although the Dawgs got 21 points in the second, the Hornets found their groove and started avoiding the pressure defense and making some shots. They actually outscored the Dawgs by 1, 22–21, but were still down by 13 going into the half. Beane provided 9 of the Dawgs’ 2nd quarter points, helping to keep the Hornets from stinging too much.

In the second half, the Dawgs found ways to stifle the Hornets again. In the 3rd, Pemberton only got 8 points on the board to Haddonfield’s 16. This time it was Mike Mooney’s trio of treys that kept the Hornets at bay. Going into the last 8 minutes, the Dawgs were up by 21, 55–34. The 4th quarter was more of the same. The Dawgs added 15 more points, holding the Hornets to 10. When the final horn went off, the Dawgs had won handily, 70–44. I made a note in my scorebook that by the end of the 3rd, the Dawgs had already put up 11 more points—55—than the Hornets would garner in 4.

The Dawgs had some nice balance in their scoring, with three starters hitting double digits. Chris Beane finished with 19, Mike Douglas had 14, and Ryan Guveiyian had 12.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 18, Pemberton Township, 4

2nd: Haddonfield, 21, Pemberton Township, 22

Halftime: Haddonfield, 55, Pemberton Township, 34

3rd: Haddonfield, 16, Pemberton Township, 8

4th: Haddonfield, ,15 Pemberton Township, 10

Final score: Haddonfield, 70, Pemberton Township, 44

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 19

Mike Douglas: 14

Ryan Guveiyian: 12

Mike Mooney: 9

Jake Dewedoff: 8

Ben Raus: 3

John Scipione: 2

Van Lefakis: 2

Jude McFillin: 1

December 28, 2024: Haddons Invitational—Clearview Regional vs. Haddonfield

The Clearview Pioneers looked, yes, big and athletic during warmups the next afternoon. And four of their five starters were seniors. And once again, it did not matter. In that always important first quarter, the Pioneers could not handle the Dawgs defensively and could not do much to stop them offensively either. Although the first 4 minutes of the game were fairly competitive, with the Pioneers actually going up 4–3 at the 6:38 mark, they wouldn’t score again for more than 2 minutes, and that would be their last bucket of the quarter. Meanwhile for the Dawgs, Chris Beane and Mike Douglas led the way in those first 8 minutes. Beane scored 8 points on four 2-point field goals. Douglas had four buckets as well, one of them a 3-pointer. When the quarter was done, the Dawgs were up 26–6.

The Pioneers did tally more points on the board in the second, putting up 17 to the Dawgs’ 21. For Haddonfield, Beane continued to shine, this time from the foul line, knocking in 7 points, one after a bucket. Speaking of the foul line, Haddonfield only missed one shot, going 9 of 10 the whole game. At halftime, the Dawgs were up 44–23.

The third quarter was the tightest of the 8-minute periods. Although the Dawgs put 20 on the board, the Pioneers got 19. The Dawgs made a string of questionable shots (mostly from beyond the 3-point arc) that did not drop, which had the score been closer at the half, could have caused some serious trouble. The Pioneers also were able to outsmart the Dawgs’ defense a bit more in the 3rd, even though the team was still trailing by 22 points, 64–22, at the end of the quarter.

In the 4th, Clearview outscored Haddonfield by 3, in part because Coach Wiedeman cleared the bench, but even so, the Dawgs still came out on top with another double-digit victory, winning by 19, 78–59. Chris Beane and Mike Douglas both topped 20, with Beane notching 26 and Douglas scoring 23. Ryan Guveiyian also hit double figures with 16.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 26, Clearview Regional, 6

2nd: Haddonfield, 18, Clearview Regional, 14

Halftime: Haddonfield, 44, Clearview Regional, 23

3rd: Haddonfield, 20, Clearview Regional, 19

4th: Haddonfield, 14, Clearview Regional, 17

Final: Haddonfield, 78, Clearview Regional, 59

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 26

Mike Douglas: 23

Ryan Guveiyian: 16

Ethan Miller: 6

Jake Dewedoff: 4

John Scipione: 3

Next Up:

Haddonfield will have two games after the New Year begins. First is a home Colonial Conference game on Friday, 1/3, at 7 versus Audubon. The next day is an away game at 11:30 a.m. versus BCIT Westampton