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By Lauree Padgett / Special to Haddonfield[dot]Today

h, March! It’s time for a look back at this past boys basketball season with a celebration at the annual boys banquet. And it’s also a month when you can sprain your dominate thumb maneuvering the remote while trying to watch all the NCAA tournament games simultaneously! Although I don’t think it was foremost on his mind, I’d like to thank Dawgs head coach Paul Wiedeman for making sure the day’s festivities ended in plenty of time to for me to drive home to Voorhees from Tavistock Country Club for the Duke–Baylor tip-off.

I have plenty to report on about the banquet, but first, I’d like to take a quick look back at the Dawgs’ season, a season where, despite not having one returning varsity starter, the team went 21–8, clinching the Liberty division of the Colonial Conference by winning nine of ten contests. In overall conference play, the Dawgs were 11–3. And speaking of 20-plus wins, this is the twenty-second time in 25 full seasons (in the COVID-marred 2020 season, the team only played 15 games, winning 12 of them) since Wiedeman took the helm at Haddonfield that this has happened. Pretty darn impressive, eh?

Since I covered almost all of those 29 games in my Haddonfield.Today articles (to read, or reread, any of the mostly weekly write-ups, just go to the Haddonfield.Today website and put my name in the Search box), I’m going to what I consider to be the top 10 highlights of the season.

Lauree’s Top 10

Here we go, from number 10 to number 1:

1. 12/28 at home versus Clearview in the Haddons Invitational. Only five games into the season, the Dawgs pulled off an impressive 78–59 win, jumping out to a 26–6 lead after the first 8 minutes. Juniors Chris Beane and Michael Douglas led the way, knocking in 26 and 23 points, respectively, while sophomore Ryan Guveiyian added 16. The Dawgs were also 9–10 from the foul line.

2. 12/19 at Paulsboro. A few nights earlier, the Dawgs traveled down 295 to visit the Red Raiders. No matter what, games on this court are often fraught with a lot of drama. But this time, Dawg fans weren’t sweating out the outcome, although at the half, Haddonfield was only up by 2. But the Dawgs outscored the Raiders 31 to 20 in the second half and won by 13, 59–46. (In the rematch on 1/21, the Dawgs roughed up the Raiders by a score of 54–29.)

3. 2/6 versus Woodbury. The Rams gave the Dawgs their only Liberty division loss on their home court on 1/10, winning by 2, 55–53, on foul shots. A month later, the Dawgs
“rebounded,” pulling off a decisive 64–63 victory. Although trailing by 1 after the first quarter, the Dawgs got their offensive mojo going in the second and were up by 9 at the half. Michael Douglas poured in 28 points, 15 in the third quarter, swooshing in 5 treys.

4. 1/3 versus West Deptford. The Eagles did not have a chance in this game, as the Dawgs dominated from start to finish. And that’s no exaggeration. In the first 8 minutes, Haddonfield put up 36 points to West Deptford’s 8. The Dawgs slowed it down a bit in the second and the Eagles actually put 18 on the board to their host’s 17, but at the half, the Dawgs were up by 27, 53–26. Coach Wiedeman started subbing his starters in the first quarter and none of them saw action in the 4th. Even so, the Dawgs netted 23 points. When the final horn sounded, the Dawgs had defeated the Eagles by 54 points, 102–48. Eleven players contributed to Haddonfield’s total and four players were in double-digits: Michael Douglas (21), Chris Beane (20), senior Jake Dewedoff (17), and junior Chase Stadler (13).

5. Bearing Haddon Heights twice, first on a snowy night in January at Heights by 23 points and then on 2/11, which was Senior, aka Jake Dewedoff and the Cheer Squad, Night. The home game was a bit more intense. After 1, the teams were tied at 8; at the half, the Dawgs were up by 5, 24–19. But the Garnets made a run late in the third to take a 3-point, 39–36, lead into the 4th. Ryan Guveiyian and Michael Douglas helped the Dawgs turn back the Garnets in the final 8 minutes, as the team put 14 points on the board and held their opponents to 6, giving the Dawgs a 50–45 W.

6. Beating Sterling two times, first at home on 1/8 and then on the Silver Knights’ floor on 1/30. The home game was the closer of the two matchups. While Haddonfield jumped out to a 21–9 advantage in the first, in the 2nd, Sterling put up 11 to Haddonfield’s 12. In the second half, although outscoring the Dawgs 27–22, the Knights failed to mount a comeback and lost by 8, 55–47. Round two at Sterling was not nearly as close, as the Dawgs put more on the board three out of the four quarters and beat back the Knights by a final score of 58–36. It was a balanced scoring effort for Haddonfield. Michael Douglas scored 16, Ryan Guveiyian finished with 15, and Chris Beane added 13.

7. 2/15, Round 1 of the Camden County Tournament. Haddonfield hosted the Gateway Dragons, a team in the Colonial Conference Patriot division. The teams had not played a conference game this season (teams in opposing divisions are not required to do so). Maybe Gateway had wanted to avoid the inevitable, which didn’t happen anyway. In this game, Gateway didn’t get its first basket until the 2:59 mark in the first quarter, which made it 20–2, Haddonfield. Chris Beane and Michael Douglas combined for 24 of the Dawgs’ 29 1st quarter points. The Dawgs would win by 63 points, 88–25. Ten out of the 13 players who saw time on the court scored. Five players reached double digits: Michael Douglas (20), freshman Ethan Miller (17), Chris Beane (14), Ryan Guveiyian (11), and Nick Scipione (10).

8. 2/19, Camden County consolation game. After a tough loss to KIPP Academy in Round 2, a team the Dawgs had beaten earlier in the season by 18 points, Haddonfield traveled to Winslow Township for a consolation game. Winslow looked tough and athletic, but looks can be deceiving. The Dawgs put them away by 26 points, 64–38.

9. and 10. So, I’m counting the game at Gloucester City (aka the Lions Den) on 2/4 twice. First of all, the victory gave Paul Wiedeman number 600 in his career at Haddonfield. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, how that win came about just added to it. The two teams had not been far apart most of the game. Even though the Dawgs were up by 8, 17–9, at the half, it was only a 3-point, 24–21, lead after 3. After Michael Douglas went 1–2 from the line with 25.5 seconds remaining in the game, it gave Haddonfield a 34–32 edge. Really good D from the Dawgs was making it hard for the Lions to penetrate the paint, and so with about 8 seconds left, a ball was released from beyond the 3-point line—and dropped in, putting Gloucester City up by 1, 35–34. I say about 8 seconds left because there was a big powwow about how much time was on the clock when Michael Douglas called timeout. The refs settled on 6.9 (it should have been 7.5 according to what the clock showed when I watched the game on HUDL). Chris Beane inbounded the ball to Douglas, who calmly dribbled the ball across the halfcourt line. Then he passed it to Chase Stadler, who popped out from the corner. He let the ball go with about 2 seconds on the clock. It swooshed in with about .5 to go, putting Haddonfield up by 2, 37–35, and sealing the win. (I just caught that auto-correct changed Stadler’s first name to Christ, which could explain the miracle shot!) It was Stadler’s fourth trey of the game and couldn’t have come at a better time. He and Beane shared the scoring lead, with each putting 12 on the board. When the two teams met again in Round 1 of the South Jersey Group 2 finals, the Dawgs were in control for all 36 minutes, winning by 23, 64–41.

The Basketball Banquet

Sunday, March 23 was a sunny but chilly official end to the boys’ season. For the last several years, the banquet has taken place at Tavistock Country Club. This year, it was a brunch menu, with plenty to choose from: scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, bread, sausage, waffles, and something everyone really likes (but I have no idea what it’s called) that’s sweet and “bread-y.”

As enjoyable as the buffet was (and the cake later on), the main course was really hearing the freshman, JV, and varsity coaches reflect on their teams’ season and accomplishments. A common refrain from all the staff who spoke was how hard their players practiced, their dedication, their love and respect for the game, and how they supported each other on and off the court. All the coaches acknowledged that this dedication to the team was a reflection of their parents and guardians. All also expressed their thanks to the booster club, headed by Chris Beane, and all the ways, beyond the concessions and half-time shootouts, the booster club helped the team to gel during the season, especially through team dinners.

First up was freshman coach Lou Sottolanno. Upon introducing the first-year coach, Wiedeman gave him the tongue-in-cheek warning that his speech was part of the evaluation that would determine whether he would be invited back for a second year. Sottolanno began by saying how fortunate he considered himself to have his fellow coaches as mentors, calling Wiedeman one of the best coaches in the state and the program at Haddonfield first-class. He cited how even as freshmen, his players recognized the culture of winning, noting how they had a very strong will to win, which helped them amass a 20–3 record. He specifically mentioned a game at Eastern that went into triple overtime which the team flat-out refused to lose. He finished by saying how excited he was to work with the next group of freshmen. As he stepped down, Wiedeman quipped, “You passed.”

Wiedeman set up JV coach Anthony Parenti by remarking how “super proud” he was of the nine years Parenti has been coaching. Noting that Parenti is a Dawgs alum, having graduated in 2011, Wiedeman added that he has gotten to watch Parenti grow from a player to a coach and as a person as well.

Parenti has a fun sense of humor too and began by saying that since he’d missed the last two banquets, he was going to read his speeches from the past two years first. Getting more serious, he admitted that when he started coaching at the age of 22, he thought he knew a lot about basketball. “I did not,” he stated, echoing Sottolanno’s remarks about how much his fellow coaches have helped him and how grateful he is for that.  

He called the season a “journey of joy,” explaining that it wasn’t just the big things, good or bad, but the little moments along the way that made the season special. Parenti emphasized how hard his team played, no matter the circumstances, and how much fun it was. That he took time to speak about the sole senior Jake Dewedoff is a reflection of the kind of person, not just coach, Parenti is. He spoke of the energy Dewedoff brough to the team, how happy he always was to be on the team, and that his resilience and spirit would be a legacy to the players he shared the court with. As Parenti was taking his seat, Wiedeman made sure to let everyone know, because Parenti was too modest to do so, that the JV finished the season undefeated for the fourth straight time.

The next coach to step up to the mic was volunteer assistant JV coach Scott Kupersmit. Wiedeman said, “I thought I loved basketball, but … “ He went on to say how Kupersmit would do anything basketball-related that Wiedeman asked him to do, from scouting to analytics Kupersmit relayed the story about how in 1995, he interviewed with Dave Wiedeman for an assistant coaching position at Eastern, and the elder Wiedeman asked him if he had any special skills. Kupersmit replied that he was great with man-to-man defense. “We play zone, “ Wiedeman told him, and that was that. Fast-forward to 2022 when he was looking to join the Dawgs coaching staff. He met with both Wiedemans and reminded Dave of his first interview. Paul told him, “Hey, he didn’t hire me either.”

What I thought was especially important about Kupersmit’s comments was that he told the players, who he called “so coachable,” to keep up with their basketball skills during the off-season, shooting every day and getting in better shape so they are in “superior” shape for the start of the 2025–26 season.

Finally, it was time for the head coach to talk. “I am going to go over all 600 wins,” he announced, referencing a fun tribute play-by-play man Mark Hershberger had done with some giant gumballs and 600 small ones. Then he assured his audience, many of whom had seen him working off many pages of notes in years’ past, that he only had one page, two sides (and it turned out the second side just had a list of all the people he wanted to thank). Getting a bit more serious, he said, “My father is the architect of the Haddonfield basketball legacy, I am caring for it.” (At least that’s what I think I scribbled down, but even if I can’t read my own handwriting 8 hours later, that’s still the gist of what he meant.)

Wiedeman always thanks anyone who has a part in a season of basketball, from his coaches and student managers to the booster club, the parents, and his family, and this year was no exception. He gave a shout out to the best scorekeeper in South Jersey, Jeff Holman (“You also coach tennis too, don’t you?”), Mark Hershberger, and Charlie Gallagher, the man who makes sure the team gets safely back and forth from every away game on the school bus.

When he turned to his players and their season, Wiedeman said this was the first time in 26 years that he did not have a single starter back from the previous year. Even though they were “starting out from scratch,” Wiedeman said that beginning in the summer when the players began to work together, he had an “inkling’ of what could be. He said the players wanted to show that they belonged and that they carried a collective chip on their shoulders, which is a big reason they worked so hard from the get-go.

Because the team was flying under the radar, other teams and coaches were not expecting them to win the way they did. Wiedeman shared that several coaches would tell him, “We didn’t know you were that good.” But they were, which is why the team finished with a 21–8 record and won the Liberty division of the conference. Their winning record was a reflection of how hard they practiced, but also of how much fun they had along the way.

Wiedeman also took time to recognize senior Jake Dewedoff, talking about his perseverance and how he stuck with the team for his senior year knowing nothing was guaranteed. He praised how Dewedoff has taken some tough experiences and turned them into positive outcomes. Even though they butted heads along the way, Wiedeman always knew how much Dewedoff cared. “You can’t choose your circumstances, but you can choose how you handle them, and I’m so glad you stuck it out.”

Wiedeman’s final thoughts were about looking ahead to next season. “It’s easy to say, “We’ll be really good, “ and we could be, but commitment starts way before November [when practice starts].” He encouraged the players to be ready physically and mentally.

There were a few awards of note. Chris Beane was named to the second team All Colonial Conference, while Michael Douglas made first team. Douglas was also named to the newly created top 20 players in Camden County, an offshoot of the Camden County Tournament, which Wiedeman said is the best in the state.

A special award, which began a few years ago, called the Eternal Flame, had a new recipient this year: Mike DePersia, class of 2019. I could recite many reasons why the younger brother of Nick and Rob DePersia (class of 2015) is so worthy of this accolade, but it’s getting close to my bedtime (and I want to watch a bit more March Madness before I turn out the lights). Suffice to say that his junior and senior years, DePersia was a big part of the reason the Dawgs won back-to-back Group 2 state titles, especially in the way he played in the two games against Camden in the South Jersey playoffs. Only Brian Zoubek finished with more points than DePersia. He was also named the Philadelphia Inquirer’s player of the decade for 2011-2020. Mike would play Division 1 basketball at IUPUI in Indiana and finish up at Le Moyne in Syracuse, New York, ending his hoops career in 2024. This year, he served as Le Moyne’s director of basketball operations.

His coach called Mike a “game changer,” and said he wouldn’t be wearing two state championship rings on his fingers without the contributions DePersia made to the 2018 and 2019 teams. He specifically cited the end of the 2018 game at Cherry Hill West when Haddonfield was down by 1 with the ball. Aidan Blake drove into the paint, the ball did not drop, and “the smallest guy on the court with the biggest heart” got the rebound and the basket, giving the Dawgs “one of the greatest wins in program history.”

When Mike got up to accept the lovely glass “Eternal Flame,” he thanked Wiedeman for his kind words and said he always viewed the Inquirer award as a team award. He said he doesn’t know where he’d be without his brothers or his twin sister, Natalie, who was in attendance with mom Janet, who ran the booster club for 8 straight years and really helped to turn it into a high-functioning part of the basketball program. He acknowledged all his coaches, noting that Parenti was a role model off the court, and sharing that one reason why Haddonfield basketball is what it is today is “the sense of community is the greatest.”

He finished up his remarks by speaking to the young men in the room who now represent the Haddonfield basketball team. He said that while playing college basketball had a lot of ups and downs, he can’t recommend it enough. “What I’ve learned through the journey has been incredible and has made me the person I’ve become.” He also told the players he is always available to them.

And that is why Mike DePersia is a prime (and primo) example of what it means to be part of Haddonfield boys basketball and why it truly is a South Jersey legacy.

While December seems a long way off, as it always does in March, I take heart in knowing the months will pass by quicker than I expect, and before I know it, I will be back in the stands, with notebook and scorebook in hand, ready to chronicle another exciting season of Dawgs basketball.

By Lauree Padgett / Special to Haddonfield[dot]Today

Well, it’s nearly 7:15 Sunday night, March 9. I have put off writing this article as long as I possibly can, so now it’s time to buck up and do the job I am (not) paid to do: detail how the Haddonfield boys basketball season came to an end this past Monday, March 3 in Round 2 of the South Jersey Group 2 portion of the NJSIAA state tournament.

Ranked # 6 out of a field of 16 (no surprise, Camden got the top seed), the Dawgs’ first game was a rematch with a member of the Colonial Conference Patriot division, Gloucester City. Round 2 put them up against Burlington County Institute of Technology (aka BCIT)–Medford, ranked #3. I’ll highlight both games below.

February 27, 2025: South Jersey Group 2, Round 1—Gloucester City at Haddonfield

These two teams had quite the battle in the beginning of the month, Feb. 4 to be exact. It was without question the most exciting game of the season for two reasons. First, junior Chase Stadler drained a 3 just ahead of the buzzer to push the Dawgs past the Lions on their “den” 37­35. Even bigger, it gave Paul Wiedeman his 600th victory as Haddonfield’s head coach.

So, going into this first-round game, the big question was whether the four quarters to come would be as intense as the previous four. One thing was clear from the outset: Haddonfield would not be able to count on Stadler for any last-second heroics this time. Stadler was benched with an ankle injury and, in fact, was unfortunately done for the season.

Junior Michael Douglas tipped the ball to sophomore Ryan Guveiyian to start the game and then after a good amount of passing (about 40 seconds’ worth), knocked down a 3. At the other end, Douglas secured the defensive board, and under the Dawgs’ basket, picked up an assist, passing the ball to junior Chris Beane, who went up and in for 2 with 6:48 on the clock. The Lions were held scoreless again, and this time Beane grabbed the board.

Senior Jake Dewedoff, who was playing his last game on the Dawgs’ home court, set up Douglas, who drove in for a bucket, and with Haddonfield now up 7–0, Gloucester City called a t timeout at the 6:27 mark. That seemed to help, as in their next possession, the Lions got their first field goal. Beane’s next shot, a 3-point attempt, did something pretty rare: it got stuck between the back of rim and the backboard. After a near Dewedoff pick-off, the Lions got their second straight 2. And with 5:03 on the clock, Gloucester City wase back to within 3, 4–7.

The Dawgs and the Lions traded missed shots before Guveiyian drove hard into the lane and put the ball in the net. Now the Dawgs were back up by 5, 9–4. After a bit of a pileup on the court, Gloucester City picked up its first foul of the quarter, nearly stole the ball back, but Haddonfield’s shot did not go in. At the other end, Beane pulled down another rebound and dribbled cross-court to score, making it 11–4, Dawgs, with just under 3 to go in the first.

The next basket of the quarter came on a 3 by the Lions that bounced in off the backboard and brought them back to within 4, 11–7. After Haddonfield did not score, Guveiyian stole it back, dishing it to Douglas, who got his third basket of the quarter. Now with 1:55 left in the quarter, the Dawgs were in front by 6, 13–7. The pair combined for a block shot (Guveiyian) and rebound (Douglas) under the Lion’s basket, then continued to work in tandem, with Guveiyian setting Douglas up for a 3. This gave the Dawgs their biggest lead, 9 points, with 1:14 on the clock. The Lions drove in the lane for the last basket of the quarter with 22 seconds remaining. So heading into quarter 2, the Dawgs were up by 7, 16–9.

Gloucester City inbounded to start the second quarter and not only had a shot blocked, was assessed with a quick foul. Beane did one of his spin moves under the Dawg basket for 2, making it 18–9 with 7:21 on the clock. The Lions roared back with a 3 and a 2 to close the gap to 4, 14–18, with 6:39 left in the half. Douglas’ offensive board gave the Dawgs a second chance at the other end. What was initially ruled a 3 by junior Mike Mooney was eventually changed to a 2, which made my usually messy notepad and scorebook even messier. To simplify things here, I’ll just make it 20–14 from the get-go.

Gloucester City responded with a 2, Haddonfield got called for a travel, and after the Lions’ shot missed, Beane grabbed the board. This time, Mooney passed the ball to Douglas for a clear 3-pointer, making it 23–16 with 5:11 on the clock. The Lions got the next two field goals, the second off an offensive rebound, and with 4:52 remaining in the half, had made it a one-possession game and were only trailing by 3, 23–20, with 4 and change to go. After the Dawgs didn’t score, the two Mikes combined for a steal, but this proved fruitless, as the Dawgs didn’t capitalize on it.

Under the Gloucester City basket, Mooney knocked the ball out of bounds. Tough D by Beane altered the next Lion shot, and enabled Beane to also secure the ball. Mooney was fouled attempting to score and stepped to the line with 2:52 on the clock. He made both, pushing the lead back to 5, 25–20. The Dawgs upped their defense a notch for the end of the half, holding the Lions scoreless. The Dawgs added 5 more points. One came off a foul shot by Guveiyian and 4 were from baskets from Mooney and Beane, whose shot went in just ahead of the buzzer. When the teams walked off the court, the Dawgs had a double-digit, 30–20, advantage.

The Dawgs blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring 19 points. Douglas and Beane each swooshed in 3’s. Bean also had a 2, while Douglas had a pair of field goals. John Scipione, who saw playing time in three quarters, also had 2 baskets. Guveiyian was fouled scoring a hard drive in the paint and finished the play at the line. The Lions only managed 9 points and going into the final quarter were trailing by 20, 49–39.

The fourth quarter was more competitive, with Haddonfield outscoring Gloucester City by 3, 15–12, but overall, it didn’t make much difference. When the final horn sounded, the Dawgs had beaten back the Lions by 23, 64–41. That was a 21-point differential on the plus side from their previous meeting. Douglas and Beane were a big part of that, finishing with 20 and 19 points, respectively.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 16, Gloucester City, 9

2nd: Haddonfield, 14, Gloucester City, 11

Halftime: Haddonfield, 30, Gloucester City, 20

3rd: Haddonfield, 19, Gloucester City, 9

4th: Haddonfield, 15, Gloucester City, 12

Final: Haddonfield, 64, Gloucester City, 41

Player scores:

Michael Douglas: 20

Chris Beane: 19

Ryan Guveiyian: 8

Mike Mooney: 8

John Scipione: 5

Ethan Miller: 2

Nick Scipione: 2

March 3, 2025: South Jersey Group 2, Round 2—Haddonfield at BCIT–Medford

As I compared the records of the two teams ahead of time, it seemed like this matchup had the makings of a tight game. And it sure turned out that way. However, the first quarter play of the Dawgs both offensively and defensively made their fans hopeful that the Dawgs could pull out a win.

Michael Douglas tipped the ball to Ryan Guveiyian to start the game. After some nice passing by the starters—which included John Scipione for the still-injured Chase Stadler—Guveiyian fed the ball to Chris Beane, who went in for 2. Jake Dewedoff got the defensive board at the other end, but the Dawgs failed to score. But the Dawgs applied pressure and picked off the ball, which then went out of bounds off the BCIT–Medford Jaguars, from here on in referred to as the Jags. The Dawgs did not score, but John Scipione’s steal gave the ball back, and this time Douglas found the net, putting the Dawgs up 4–0 with 6:01 on the clock.

The first basket by the Jags was a 3, but Douglas answered, off handoff by Jake Dewedoff, with a trey that was waaaay out there, making it 9–3, Haddonfield with 5:19 left in the first. Douglas got the defensive rebound, and then Beane set Dewedoff off for a fast break. With 4:50 on the clock, the Dawgs were up by 6, 9–3. The Jags got 2 back from the foul line, the Dawgs missed two scoring chances the next possession, but a steal by Beane led to a basket by John Scipione. The Dawgs’ 6-point lead was cut in half when the Jags nailed a 3 with 3:03 to go in the quarter, which made it 11–8, Haddonfield.

Haddonfield got a second shot its next possession after a hustling Guveiyian grabbed the ball off a missed basket and knocked it out of bounds off a Jaguar. Keeping possession, the Dawgs were able to score off an assist from Beane to Douglas. Now it was 13–8, Haddonfield with 2:07 on the clock. The Dawgs got a defensive board bur lost it and then picked up a shooting foul. The Jags made both shots and were now within 3, 13–10, with 1:32 to go. Neither team scored for more than a minute before Dewedoff hit a trey with about 15 seconds showing on the clock. The quarter ended with the Dawgs on top by 6, 16–10.

The second quarter would prove to be the Dawgs’ downfall. The team could only muster 3 points total. The first came off a basket by John Scipione at the 6:37 mark—the sole field goal of the quarter for Haddonfield. The other point, from the foul line by Guveiyian, came more than 3 minutes later. The Dawgs played hard those 8 minutes, but could not take advantage of turnovers by the Jags, often giving the ball right back after a steal or defensive rebound. The Jags didn’t exactly have an offensive barrage, once again putting 10 on the board, but those 10 were enough for them to take a 1-point, 20–19, edge at the half.

In the first few minutes of the third, the Dawgs and Jags traded baskets, with the Jags holding onto that 1-point advantage. After a drive by Guveiyian made it 24–23, Jags, the Jags lost the ball out of bounds, and a drive by Beane gave the Dawgs back the lead, 25–24, with 5:34 on the clock. A lot happened the next 60 or so seconds except for scoring by either team. Then in a confusing chain of events that left me missing that a basket counted, the Jags scored but then were assessed a technical. (I mistakenly thought the technical had negated the basket.) Douglas stepped to the foul line alone, made both shots, and with 4:17 remaining in the quarter, the Dawgs were up by 1, 27–26 (instead of what I initially thought was being up by 3, 27–24). The Dawgs would only get 1 more point, on a foul shot by Guveiyian, while the Jags got 9, including 3 from the foul line with 1:05 left in the quarter, which put them up by 7, 35–28 and finished the scoring for the quarter.

With Guveiyian leading the charge, the Dawgs fought back in the last 8 minutes. After the Jags got a basket to go up by 9, 37–28, Guveiyian got the next 5 points. The first 3 came off a basket and a foul shot, which he followed with another field goal. With 6:26 left in the game, the Dawgs were back to within 4, 33–37. The Jags got a basket, but Douglas answered for the Dawgs to maintain that 4-point differential. It looked like the Dawgs were going to get the ball back on a travel, but one of the refs instead called a foul on Haddonfield. This ended up being a 3-point turnaround, as the Jags scored and got a shot from the line. Now they were back up by 7 again, 42–35, with 5:04 on the clock. Needless to say, this turn of events did not sit well with the Haddonfield contingency.

Douglas missed his shot but got the rebound, and Beane scored, closing the gap to 5, 37–42, with 4:35 left in the game. The teams exchanged 2 points once more, with the Jags getting a field goal and the Dawgs getting 2 from shots at the line by Beane. After a near-pick-off by Douglas, there were bodies on the floor, but the Jags retained possession. But then John Scipione did pilfer the ball, and Guveiyian scored and was fouled. His shot from the line got the Dawgs to with 2, 42–44, with 3:10 remaining, and the Dawg fans were cheering their approval.

The Jags went into stall mode (we probably would have done the same if we had been on top), passing and passing and passing. Haddonfield was called on a questionable foul, but neither shot dropped, so with 1:44 on the clock, it was still just a 2-point game. The Dawgs could not score, instead losing the ball out of bounds a few seconds after getting the rebound. At the Jag end, the Dawgs were assessed a technical foul. (A day later, when checking with the dad of one of our players as to what happened, he told me no one really knew why the ref had called it.) This time, both shots went in, and now the Dawgs were down by 4 with about 83 seconds left in the game.

The Jags retained possession after the foul shots, but did not score. The Dawgs lost the ball, got it back after a timeout, but could not score. After another timeout, I think this time by the Jags, the Jags scored to go up 48–42. With 1.8 seconds left, Douglas got the Dawgs’ last basket, but to no avail. Despite their efforts in the final 8 minutes, the Dawgs could not rally past the Jags, losing by 4, 44–48. It was a hard loss, as the few times the momentum seemed to switch back to the Dawgs, the team just couldn’t make that big shot. But as they left the court for the last time in the season, the Dawg fans showed their appreciation with loud applause and cheers. And well they should have, as the Dawgs finished with a 21–8 record, no small feat with no returning starters from the previous season.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 16, BCIT–Medford, 10

2nd: Haddonfield, 3, BCIT–Medford, 10

Halftime: Haddonfield, 19, BCIT–Medford, 20

3rd: Haddonfield, 9, BCIT–Medford, 15

4th: Haddonfield, 6, BCIT–Medford, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 44, BCIT–Medford, 48

Player scores:

Michael Douglas: 12

Ryan Guveiyian: 11

Jake Dewedoff: 8

Chris Beane: 5

John Scipione: 4

Final Thoughts

I’m going to share my reflections of the season in a few weeks’ time. It will probably be after the boys banquet on March 23, so I can also include Coach Paul Wiedeman’s remarks as well. But until then, I’ll just say how proud I am of all the Dawgs accomplished this season and I can’t wait until it’s December again!

By Lauree Padgett / Special to Haddonfield[dot]Today

This was the third year of the Camden County Tournament. So far, it’s been a mixed bag for the Dawgs. The Dawgs won two out of three games, which was good, but the third game was in the  consolation round. And it’s hard to really draw a lot from these games, since teams are going up against each other from different sized-schools/conferences, and there are no cut-offs. If you’re school is in Camden County, then you’re in the tournament.

Saturday, February 15: Round 1—Gateway at Haddonfield

Although these two teams did not face each other during the regular Colonial Conference season, they did meet up in the first round of the Camden County playoffs. The Gators entered the game as the 26th seed (only higher than Lindenwold, the only team the Gators beat in the Colonial, and Camden Academy Charter), with the Dawgs being the 7th seed. It was not unexpected, then, that the game was pretty much a blowout from the tipoff to the final buzzer.

In the first quarter, Haddonfield put 29 points on the board to Gateway’s 2. Juniors Chris Beane and Michael Douglas led the offensive blitz. Beane had five 2-point field goals for 10 points. Douglas mixed it up a bit. He scored four 2-point field goals, three from the foul line, and one from behind the arc. Sophomore Ryan Guveiyian, with two buckets, outscored the Gators all on his own.

The second quarter did not get much better for the Gators. The Dawgs “only” scored 22 points, while the Gators got 3. In this 8-minute stretch, freshman Ethan Miller (college hoops broadcaster Dick Vitale—and welcome back, Dickie V!!!—would no doubt call Miller a “Diaper Dandy”!) took over the scoring. He knocked in 10 on a pair of field goals and a pair of treys. Guveiyian and Douglas also swooshed in 3’s along with junior John Scipione.. His twin bro Nick also got 3, on a basket and a follow-up foul shot. At the half, the Dawgs were waaaaaaay out in front 51–5. They probably could have gotten one more bucket, but when the Dawgs got possession with a few seconds on the clock, Coach Paul Wiedeman made the “don’t attempt a shot” sign.

The third quarter was the only period the Dawgs didn’t score at least 20 points, settling for 17 to the Gator’s 7. All five starters contributed to those 17 points: Beane had 2 baskets, senior Jake Dewedoff had a 2 and a foul shot, Guveiyian had 2 more buckets, junior Chase Stadler hit one of his signature 3’s, and Douglas got his third trey of the game. Going into the final 8 minutes, the Dawgs were up by 56, 68–12.

None of those starters played at all in the final quarter. However, the Dawgs still added 20 points to their total. Miller got 7 points on a trio of 2’s and a foul shot. Junior Mike Mooney nailed a 3, as did Nick Scipione, who also got a pair of field goals. Bro John hit one from the line, and junior Ben Raus also went up and in for 2. When it was all said and done, the Dawgs had defeated the Gators by 63, 88–25. That was such a huge margin of victory, the Dawgs student section showed some unexpected restraint and did not impose their favorite chant—“Start the buses!”—to a team that was heading home with a loss.

Thirteen players saw action in the game. Ten of them scored. Five finished with double figures.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 29, Gateway, 2

2nd: Haddonfield, 22, Gateway, 3

Halftime: Haddonfield, 51, Gateway, 5

3rd: Haddonfield, 17, Gateway, 7

4th: Haddonfield, 20, Gateway, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 88, Gateway, 25

Player scores:

Michael Douglas: 20

Ethan Miller:17

Chris Beane: 14

Ryan Guveiyian: 11

Nick Scipione: 10

Jake Dewedoff: 4

John Scipione: 4

Chase Stadler: 3

Mike Mooney: 3

Ben Raus: 2

Monday, February 17: Round 2—KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy at Haddonfield

In the middle of January, Haddonfield took on KIPP as part of the Paul VI Showcase, winning rather handily, 54–36. So even though Ryan Guveiyian was very unhappily sitting at home with the flu, I wasn’t overly concerned. I should also note that I had not seen the first matchup between the teams, but knowing that the Dawgs had won by 18 and that KIPP was seeded 10 in the tournament made me feel like the Dawgs had a good chance to come out on top even without the rebounding presence of Guveiyian.

The first points of the game did not come until the 3:54 mark and were made by Chris Beane from the foul line. About 30 seconds later, the Titans tied it at 2, also from the line. With about 2 minutes left in the quarter, KIPP went ahead by 2 on foul shots. The first field goal came with 57 seconds on the clock, as Ethan Miller grabbed an offensive board and went up and in to tie it at 4. The Titans’ first basket came with 33.9 and put them back in front by 2, 6–4, and that’s how the first quarter ended.

Haddonfield had possession to begin the second quarter. Michael Douglas found himself at the line with 7:34 on the clock and made 1–2. After a Dawgs’ blocked shot at the other end, John Scipione grabbed the board and went cross-court to score, putting the Dawgs up by 1, 7–6, with 6:41 left in the half. Although the Dawgs would pull even a few more times in the quarter, they never regained the lead. As the teams left the court for the half, the Dawgs were down by 7, 15–22.

The Dawgs came closer to matching the Titans’ output in the 3rd, as Haddonfield added 14 points to KIPPS’ 17. The Dawgs just couldn’t seem to break through. The Titans were getting rebounds at both ends, even if three Dawgs were under the basket battling for the ball. The KIPP players were tall and big, and unlike other teams the Dawgs had gone up against who looked athletic but didn’t play that way, the Titans could handle the ball well and were making a lot of their shot attempts. And unfortunately, more of the Dawgs’ shots were not finding the net. When the Titans went up by 11 at the 6:30 mark in the 3rd, I honestly started wondering how the Dawgs had managed to beat them by almost 20 points 5 weeks ago.

But there’s also one thing I never have to wonder about: Would the Dawgs just give up? Heck no. Not under Paul Wiedeman’s watch. Although the Titans extended their lead to 15, to up 39–24 with 1:08 to remaining in the quarter, Douglas drove the ball cross court and scored as if the deficit was much smaller. After Beane got a defensive board the Titans’ next possession, John Scipione got an offensive rebound under the Haddonfield basket to score and was fouled. His shot got the Dawgs to within 10, 29–39, which is how the quarter ended.  

John Scipione scored to start the 4th quarter, eliminating that double-digit lead with 7:09 left in the contest. KIPP got that lead back its next trip down the court. Ethan Miller’s basket got the Dawgs back to within 8 at the 6:09 mark. And so it went. The Dawgs would inch closer and the Titans would erase the bucket with one of their own. Meanwhile, during timeouts, our play-by-play man and DJ combo Mark Hershberger was playing ABBA songs for the second straight game. This could only mean one thing: He was plugging the Drama Club’s spring musical, MAMA MIA!, which is happening Friday and Saturday nights March 7–8 and 14–15, with a matinee on 3/9. (And yes, I’m doing it too, as once a Drama Club member, always a Drama Club member!)

Despite their efforts, the Dawgs could never get closer than 8. Their coach was getting a bit irate on the sidelines: not at the team but at the refs. With about 3 minutes remaining, Jake Dewedoff took an elbow in the nose and had to come out of the game, but no foul was called. With 53.2 on the clock, the refs called a ball out on Haddonfield when it seemed to have clearly be last touched by KIPP. This caused more than a few Dawg fans to yell, “Our ball!” To make matters worse, the ref didn’t seem to know where the ball should have been inbounded from and would not listen to Coach Wiedeman, who was trying to tell him where to put it. (The ball, I mean, of course.)

The Dawgs’ last basket of the game came on a pretty floater by Beane. The Titans got 3 more off a field goal and a foul shot. The horn sounded, and KIPP had definitely gotten some “sweat” revenge from their 18-point January loss, beating Haddonfield by 13, 55–43.

Before I give the quarter and player scores, I hope you will indulge me stepping up on my soap box for a minute. As the disappointed Dawg contingency was dispersing, I heard more than a few comments from longtime fans, many former players and even some who have coached the game on some level or another. The lament seemed to be that this year’s team just isn’t that good. Well, I beg to differ. No, this year’s squad didn’t win their first 21 games like last year’s veteran group did. And we may not get too deep into the NJSIAA’s this year, either. But after the loss to KIPP, the Dawgs were 19–7. To me, that’s pretty darn good without having to wait, as others have said more than once, for next season.

Haddonfield fans, dare I say, can be a bit snobby. We expect to win the Colonial Conference every year. We expect to win more than 20 games a season. We expect to go deep into the playoffs. We expect so much that we can forget that some teams are still in the rebuild mode. This year’s team has no one who played any real minutes at the varsity level last year. That’s because out of the eight seniors who suited up last season, seven played varsity every game. Yes, Michael Douglas got into many games last year as a sophomore. But he wasn’t the first or even the second Dawg off the bench. Unless one of the regular seven was hurt or got into foul trouble, his minutes were limited.

Our other guard, Jake Dewedoff, didn’t even get in that much JV playing time last year mostly due to injuries. While as a freshman Ryan Guveiyian made the JV squad and got into a good number of varsity games, it was mostly at the end of the 4th quarter. That was the same with Chris Beane as well. The “point” here is that the Dawgs are a whole new team this year. Everybody has had to learn how to play together, some at new positions. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy and that the boys have had their share of frustrations. But look at what they have accomplished. They did win the conference. And—spoiler alert—after the next contest, they did win 20 games. It remains to be seen what will happen in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 playoffs, but I wouldn’t count them out.

Will they be really good next year? I sure think so. But IMHO, they’ve been good this year too. Thus ends my rant. And with that, we go to …

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 4, KIPP, 6

2nd: Haddonfield, 11, KIPP, 16

Halftime: Haddonfield, 15, KIPP, 22

3rd: Haddonfield, 14, KIPP, 17

4th: Haddonfield,16 , KIPP, 22

Final: Haddonfield, 45, KIPP, 58

Player scores:

Michael Douglas: 14

John Scipione: 12

Chris Beane: 11

Ethan Miller: 7

Jake Dewedoff: 1

Wednesday, February 19, 2025: Consolation Round—Haddonfield at Winslow Township

The most frustrating thing about this game was that it kept changing. First, according to the online schedule, it was going to be home versus Pennsauken on Saturday, 2/22 at 11:30 a.m.. Then within a few hours’ time, it switched days, time, team, and venue, with the Dawgs now traveling to Winslow Township on Wednesday, 2/18 for a 5:30 game. That got changed to 5:15 and then, after the JV game was canceled, to 4:30. Good thing I was able to leave work early and that my driving buddy for the day was keeping an eye on that schedule …

Funnily enough, we got to the game ahead of the boys’ bus. The Winslow Eagles and their cheerleaders were doing warmups when we got inside the gym. On the plus side, I had plenty of time to get a snack and set up my scorebook and notepad. I had also gone on NJ.com to get some background on the Eagles. They are in the Patriot division of the Olympic Conference and were 5–3 in conference play, 15–8 overall going into the game against the Dawgs. In the Camden County Tournament, the Eagles had an easy W versus Collingswood but fell to Camden Eastside by 4 points.

No doubt, both teams were looking to shake off their last game, one a close match, the other, not so much. Who would come out the victor?

For the first 8 minutes, the Winslow Eagles looked like they were flying high. They jumped out to a 4–0 lead before Ryan Guveiyian, apparently not suffering any ill-effects from the flu, drove cross court to go up and in with 4:29 on the clock. John Scipione, who started in place of Chase Stadler (I am not sure if he was out with the flu), tied the game from the line after Winslow Township picked up its second foul of the quarter with 4:09 remaining.

The Eagles went ahead again on a ball that bounced in. At the other end, Guveiyian went down hard but no foul was called, and after the Dawgs missed the basket, the Eagles snatched the rebound away from Haddonfield. A Dawgs’ foul sent Winslow to the line, but neither shot dropped in. Both teams were cited for traveling, and then Guveiyian was fouled. He made the first but missed the second, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 1, 6–5, with 2:39 on the clock.

Mike Mooney got the rebound off the missed foul shot, but the Dawgs turned it over and then got another foul called on them. This time the Eagles landed both shots in the net to go back in front by 3, 8–5. A pass from Guveiyian set Mooney up for a 3, which tied the game at 8 with just under 2 minutes to go. A few plays later, Winslow hit a 3 to again go up by 3, 11–8 with 55 seconds on the clock. The Dawgs would get one more basket in the quarter by Michael Douglas, so going into the second, they were down by 1, 10–11.

Although Winslow would get the first bucket to make it 13–10, Eagles, Jake Dewedoff answered with a 3 to tie the game at 13 with 6:37 on the clock. He then almost stole the ball but ended up on the floor instead—that kid hustles! Instead, the Eagles scored to retake the lead 15–13 with 6:18 left in the half. A few back-and-forths up and down the court later, Dewedoff was fouled in the act of shooting. Both shots were good and with 5:23 on the clock, the game was even at 15.

After Winslow was called for a travel (the refs were calling this left and right but at least seemed to be consistent with what they were IDing as moving violations), the Dawgs did not score, but neither did the Eagles. Next Dawg possession, Dewedoff was fouled yet again, this time making 1–2 to give the Dawgs their second lead of the game, both coming from the foul line, with 4:52 to go.

And then a switch was flipped. The Dawgs upped the offense and the defense simultaneously. John Scipione stole the ball and scored. A few plays later, Mooney fed the ball to John Scipione, who this time hit for a 3. This put Haddonfield up by 6, 21–15, with about 3:30 left in the half. Dewedoff stole the ball, but the Dawgs would lose it off a bad inbound pass. The Dawgs were pressing the Eagles, who got out of a bad spot only to throw the ball into the stands. The Eagles in fact would not score for the rest of the quarter, but the Dawgs got one more basket from, yes, John Scipione off a steal and pass from Douglas. At the half, the Dawgs were ahead by 8, 23–15.

The 3rd quarter saw a lot of points going up on the board, with the Dawgs outscoring the Eagles 22–13. Douglas, who only had one field goal in the first half, added 9 in the third on two foul shots, two baskets, and a 3. Beane had two baskets, as did Guveiyian, with one of his coming from behind the arc. John Scipione also scored one more bucket. Going into the 4th the Dawgs had increased their lead to double digits and were ahead by 17, 45–28.

In the 4th, the Dawgs held the Eagles to 10 points, which was their lowest quarter total of the game. The Dawgs almost doubled that, putting 19 on the board with seven players scoring, including Nick Scipione and Ben Raus off the bench. When the buzzer sounded to end the game, the Dawgs had shaken off the dust from the game before to give themselves win #20 for the season, defeating the Eagles 64–38.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 10, Winslow Township, 11

2nd: Haddonfield, 13, Winslow Township, 4

Halftime: Haddonfield, 23, Winslow Township, 15

3rd: Haddonfield, 22, Winslow Township, 13

4th: Haddonfield, 19, Winslow Township, 10

Final: Haddonfield, 64, Winslow Township, 38

Player scores:

John Scipione: 14

Michael Douglas: 13

Ryan Guveiyian: 12

Chris Beane: 8

Mike Mooney: 7

Jake Dewedoff: 6

Ben Raus: 2

Nick Scipione: 2

NJSIAA Tournament

The South Jersey Group 2 playoffs start on Thursday, 2/27. The Dawgs are seeded 6th and will host Colonial Conference compatriot Gloucester City, who the Dawgs beat on the buzzer just a few weeks ago to give Paul Wiedeman coaching win 600. The Lions are seeded 11 and I am sure would love to invoke some payback for that snatched-away win. The game is at 7:00 p.m., but you can come out and cheer on the Lady Dawgs, seeded 5, as they take on Lower Cape May, seeded 12, at 5:00 p.m.

GO DAWGS!!!

By Lauree Padgett / Special to Haddonfield[dot]Today

February 11: Senior Night              

This week’s write-up is just going to focus on two things: the game last Tuesday, 2/11 between Haddon Heights and Haddonfield, which was Senior Night, and the Dawgs’ lone senior this year, Jake Dewedoff.

Although the Camden County Tournament started on Saturday, 2/15 (if you can’t stand the suspense and didn’t find out another way, yes, the Dawgs took care of Gateway to advance to the next round), I am going to do a whole wrap-up of those games, which will post next Monday, 2/24. Tonight, the Dawgs host KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy (how do they fit that on the back of the player unis?), who they played in mid-January in the Paul VI Showcase. In that game, the Dawgs won by 18, 54-46, but since that was a month ago, I’m going to try not to have any assumptions about how tonight’s game will end. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

February 11, 2025: Haddon Heights at Haddonfield

Fairly frequently, Senior Night, which is almost always the last home Colonial Conference game of the sesaon, features a match between the Dawgs and one of their biggest conference rivals, the Garnets of Haddon Heights. This year was one of those times. Unlike other years, however, I was not there in person to pay tribute to the cheer squad members, assistants to the team, and team members who are graduating in June. It was a really tough call, but I just didn’t want to deal with driving in snow and/or sleet, which for some reason started much earlier in Voorhees where I (and also my main driving buddy) live. When my driving buddy texted that they weren’t going to drive either, I took it as a sign that I should just watch the game on HUDL in the safety and warmth of my own home. That plan didn’t work out quite the way I was expecting, but more on that later.

What follows here is my game summary. Scroll down to find my sidebar highlighting Jake Dewedoff, which includes comments from his coach Paul Wiedeman.

As for the game itself, when the Dawgs traveled down the highway in January to the Garnets

Territory, you may recall that Heights jumped out to a 7–0 start and that the Dawgs’ first points came from the foul line. You may also remember that after it was 9–4, Garnets, the Dawgs went on a 14–0 run, and, when the first quarter was over, were ahead 18–9. The Dawgs would go on to win the game by 23 points. Anyone expecting that kind of easy victory again would be in for a big surprise.

This go-round, the Garnets also garnered the first points of the game, off a trey, at the 5:57 mark, after both teams had missed their first shot attempts. After the Dawgs failed to score again, Heights got 2 off a ball that decided to roll into instead of off the rim to go up 5–0. Sophomore Ryan Guveiyian hit a 3 off a pass from Dewedoff, who, realizing he was trapped in the paint, had found the open man behind the arc. That made it 5–3, Garnets, with 4:52 on the clock.

The teams exchanged missed shots again, and then on Heights’ next possession, Dewedoff stole the ball, this time passing it to junior Michael Douglas, who went up and in for 2 and got fouled in the process. His shot from the foul line put the Dawgs up by 1, 6–5, with 3:33 to go in the quarter. A Dawg foul put the Garnets at the line, and one shot of two went in, tying the game at 6 with 3:33 to go.

There were some missed shots, blocked shots, and fouls the next few trips up and down the court before Heights broke the tie with a field goal at the 2:04 mark. The Dawgs did not score; the Garnets did not score, even on a second-chance shot; the Dawgs didn’t score again; and then picked up a foul with 1:10 showing on the scoreboard. Again, both teams could not get their shots to drop. With less than 25 seconds to go in the 1st, junior John Scipione, who had just come into the game, fed the ball to junior Chase Stadler, whose shot ahead of the buzzer knotted the game at 8.

In the second, the Dawgs started the scoring on a basket by Douglas, which put the Dawgs up 10–8 with about 35 seconds having ticked off the clock. John Scipione pilfered a pass, but the Dawgs couldn’t capitalize on it. After a bad pass by the Garnets gave the ball right back to the Dawgs, the Garnets stole back possession, but good “D” kept Heights from scoring. A shooting foul sent Douglas to the line, and he very uncharacteristically missed both attempts, keeping it 10–8, Haddonfield, with 6:32 left in the half.

Heights tied the game again on its next trip up the court, Haddonfield lost the ball out of bounds, and to the dismay of Dawg fans, the Garnets went ahead by 2, 12–10, after pulling down three offensive boards. The Dawgs did not score, but the Garnets did, and now with 4:49 on the clock, were up by 4, 14–10. A drive by junior Chris Beane got the Dawgs back to within 2, 12–14. A Guveiyian pickoff led to a bucket by John Scipione, and at the 3:54 mark, the game was tied for the fifth time, with the score knotted at 14.

Seconds later, Heights’ field goal broke the tie and put them back on top 16–14. A Haddonfield timeout was called a few seconds later. After play resumed, Heights was called for a non-shooting foul, again pausing play. When the clock started ticking again, the Dawgs did some passing around, which ended with Guveiyian feeding the ball to Douglas, who fired from behind the line to swoosh in a 3, giving the Dawgs a 1-point edge, 17–16, with 2:54 left in the half.

A blocked shot kept Heights from scoring, and Beane followed that with a basket, which made it 19–16, Haddonfield with 2:33 to go. After a defense board by Douglas, Beane was fouled attempting to go up and in. He made 1–2, pushing the Dawgs’ lead to 4, 20–16, with 2 minutes and change to go in the quarter. Heights lost the ball out of bounds twice in between a missed shot by Haddonfield. The Dawgs got the ball back with 1:21 on the clock and did some more nice passing to set up a play for Douglas, who drove in the lane for 2, giving the Dawgs their biggest lead of the game, 22–16, with 51 seconds remaining.

John Scipione stole the ball and scored, upping that advantage to 8, 24–16, to the delight of Dag fans. However, a few seconds ahead of the halftime buzzer sounding, the Garnets would steal the ball off a Haddonfield inbounds attempt and hit a 3. When the half ended, the Dawgs were still ahead, but only by 5, 24–19.

The second half got off to an interesting start. Guveiyian stole the ball after Heights inbounded, but the Dawgs didn’t score. Then Douglas did the same, which led to a jump ball, with the possession arrow favoring the Dawgs This time, Guveiyian drove in the paint, scored, and was fouled. Although his shot from the line did not go in, the Dawgs were now ahead by 7, 26–19, with a little more than a minute gone in the third.

Heights got a basket back after an offensive board, was also fouled en route, and also missed the foul shot, making it a 26–21 game with 6:22 on the clock. The Dawgs got a few offensive boards off missed baskets but could not score, only to have Heights hit a 3, bringing the Garnets back to within 2, 26–24, with about 1:35 gone in the quarter. This time, the Dawgs answered with a 3 of their own by Douglas off a feed from Beane, giving the Dawgs back a 5-point, 29–24, edge with 5:26 to go.

The two teams traded fouls, with Dewedoff taking an offensive charge, before Douglas drained his second 3 in a row, putting the Dawgs on top by 8, 32–24, at the 4:43 mark. Some sloppy play at both ends kept points off the board during the teams’ next possessions, but Heights’ 3 with 4:05 brought the Garnets to within 5 again, 32–27. After a Heights timeout, Haddonfield did not score, then Heights did. Now the Garnets had whittled the Dawgs’ 8-point lead down to 3, 32–29.

Down at the Dawgs’ end, Douglas picked a good time to get a 2 off an assist from Beane, which gave Haddonfield a little more breathing room again. However, that breathing room was very short-lived, as Heights got fouled and made both shots from the line. Now, with 2:29 to go in the third, it was a 3-point game again, with the Dawgs ahead 34–31. The Dawgs shot did not find the net, and with 2:06 left in the period, Height’s field goal got them to within 1, 34–33.

Haddonfield managed to get a second-shot basket as Douglas pulled down the board and dished it to John Scipione, who drove in the paint for 2, pushing the Dawgs’ advantage back to 3, 36–33, with 1:37 on the clock. Haddonfield committed it’s fifth foul of the quarter, automatically sending Heights to the line. The first dropped in, the second missed, but Heights got the rebound and scored, so with 1:10 left in quarter 3, the game was tied once more, this time at 36.

The tie was untied after a Dawg unwittingly passed to the wrong color uni with 49.1 on the clock, then committed a foul. The Garnets got 1–2 to go up by 1, 37–36. In less than a minute, things got uglier for the Dawgs. They missed a shot, then after Guveiyian picked off the ball, there was a scramble, and the refs called a jump ball, giving back the ball to Haddonfield. The Dawgs missed another basket and then were assessed a foul after trying to steal back the ball. With 6.3 showing on the scoreboard, Heights hit both foul shots, and the Dawgs’ last shot attempt of the third was unsuccessful. Going into the 4th quarter on Senior Night, the Dawgs were down by 3, 36–39.

To make matters worse, the first possession of the 4th belonged to the Garnets. They did not score, and Beane secured the board. At the Dawgs’ end, Douglas wasted no time getting the ball in the net and closing the deficit to 1, 38–39, with 7:18 on the clock. Heights gave the ball back by stepping out of bounds, and it was Douglas again who scored, putting the Dawgs on top by 1, 40–39, at the 6:50 mark. Heights retook the lead with a basket, making it a 1-point Garnets’ lead, 41–40, with 6:35 remaining.

Guveiyian was fouled; his first shot was good, but the second did not go in. Now the game was tied again (if I’ve counted right, it was for the seventh time), 41–41, with a little more than 6 minutes left in the game. The ball went out of bounds off Heights in a rebound attempt. With 5:59 on the clock, Dawg coach Paul Wiedeman called a timeout. Heights blocked a shot, then at their end of the court got several chances to score off offensive rebounds, but none went it. Finally, Douglas got the ball back for the Dawgs and off a feed from Beane, hit a big-time 3, his fourth of the contest, making it 44–41, Haddonfield with 5:03 left in the game.

Haddonfield knocked the ball out of bounds, and Douglas stole it as Heights attempted to inbound it. The Dawgs gave the ball back off an errant pass, and the Garnets got a 2, getting back to within 1 yet again, 44–43, with just under 4 minutes to go. Heights committed a non-shooting foul, and after the inbounds, Dewedoff passed the ball to Guveiyian, who went up and in. Now it was 46–43, Dawgs, with 3:24 to go.  

The Garnets were not deterred and got another basket. I have lost count (and am too lazy to go back and count, but you are reading this, feel free to do so) of how many times one team or the other got back to within 1 point, but with 3:10 left in the game, it was 46–45, Haddonfield. At the Dawgs’ basket, Haddonfield was playing catch and pass. Were they looking for a shot or for someone to step up and drive in? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that Guveiyian powered into the paint and scored, and with 1:51 on the clock, the Dawgs were back on top by 3, 48–45.

Douglas picked up another steal, and the Dawgs were lucky a loose ball was called out on the Garnets at the 1:39 mark. The Dawgs couldn’t hold onto the ball, and there was a dash for it under the Heights’ basket. Once again, the Dawgs managed to get it back with 1:19 on the clock. After a timeout, Douglas inbounded the ball to John Scipione, and the Garnets, who had fouls to give, committed one. Haddonfield inbounded the ball again, and this time, it went out of bounds off Heights. With 1:03 to go, Heights got called for its 4th foul of the quarter and then took a 30-second timeout.

The Dawgs had to inbound from the Heights bench and ended up having to call a timeout to avoid a 5-second call that would have resulted in a turnover. Heights knocked it out of bounds, the clock still says 1:03, but now the Dawgs are inbounding by their own bench. This time the ball gets inbounded only to have Haddonfield temporarily lose it. After they came up with it, Wiedeman called another timeout. (Was Jeff Holman, keeper of the scoreboard, having fun yet??) On inbound attempt #3, the Dawgs lose it, but the Garnets can’t score. They commit foul number 5, which sends Beane to the line. His first shot goes in, making it 49–45, Haddonfield with 43.1 seconds to go. The second does not drop and goes out of bounds off the Dawgs.

Haddonfield gets called for its fourth foul of the quarter with 29.0 left in the game. Haddon Heights calls a timeout. And then .. And then … HUDL freezes. Then I realize the stream has ended even though the game has not! “AAAAGGGGHHHH!”

I start texting people who I think are at the game. The first person to get back to me was Ryan G’s dad, Mike, who, it turns out, was traveling for work and had the same thing happen to him. He had to find out from wife Leigh Anne that the Dawgs prevailed and won by 5, 50–45. When Mark Hershberger was able to get back to me, I asked for a recap. He said Heights’ tried for a 3, missed, and fouled (he thinks) Douglas, who made 1–2 from the line. That’s how the Dawgs got the last point of the game.

As for the HUDL issue, when investigating this, I found out that the stream is set to record for 150 minutes, i.e., 2 hours and 30 minutes), so whatever caused the stream to abort with 29 seconds left was an “untimely” glitch.

So, on Senior Night, the Dawgs had to fight to pull out a W, but they played good D and made the baskets they needed to, beating the Garnets home and away this season. This was the last game in the regular season as well. The Dawgs finished with an 18–6 overall record, and overall Colonial Conference record of 11–3. In the Liberty division, they were 10–1, winning it outright.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 8, Haddon Heights, 8

2nd: Haddonfield, 16, Haddon Heights, 11

Halftime: Haddonfield, 24, Haddon Heights, 19

3rd: Haddonfield, 12, Haddon Heights, 20

4th: Haddonfield, 14, Haddon Heights, 6

Final: Haddonfield, 50, Haddon Heights, 45

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 24 (assuming he was the one who hit that last foul shot)

Ryan Guveiyian: 12

John Scipione: 8

Chris Beane: 6

Senior Profile: Jake Dewedoff

Last year, I had eight, count ’em, eight, seniors to talk to for my profile on the Dawgs who were graduating in June. It was literally a round table discussion. The eight players and I sat at one of the round tables in the cafeteria during a JV game and talked. It was a little intimidating, probably for all of us, but once the boys felt comfortable replying to my questions, I think we all had fun.

This year, with a lone senior on the team, I didn’t want my interview to sound like an interrogation, so Coach Wiedeman helped us connect via email. We did have a short exchange on court after the tough game versus Burlington City, when Jake confirmed he’d gotten my questions and that he was looking forward to answering all of them. Here’s what I learned about Jake, as well as some comments from his head coach.

Jake, who is a guard on court, has been playing hoops “since third grade, so going on 10 years now.” While he has been a fan of other sports, such as football and baseball, and will play them with friends and family just for fun, he acknowledges, “I really just fell in love with

playing basketball and wanted to dedicate my time year round to it.”

I wanted to know what it has been like starting this year, if there were many adjustments, since he had very little varsity experience coming into this season. For Jake, being part of the starting five has been a huge honor, something he’s dreamed about since he was kid, so it’s been definitely exciting for him. However, the lack of much prior varsity playing time has required a mindset change. He realized that “feeling everything out, knowing the game plan, and all types of people in the stands, would be a different experience. However, he relayed, “I always had confidence in my ability through all the hard work I had put in.” He says having had many different experiences with basketball has helped. “Playing with all different levels of players, playing on winning teams and losing teams, and playing all different types of roles on the team. [has been] able to help me adjust and fit in without having much varsity basketball experience.”

This is what Coach Wiedeman had to say about Jake’s presence this year in the starting lineup. “I am so happy for the way Jake’s senior year has gone. He is such a resilient kid who has overcome so much. He was a reserve JV player his sophomore and junior seasons in the program.” Additionally, because he was dealing with nagging injuries a year ago, Wiedeman said Jake was not guaranteed any playing time going into this season. It was “his drive and determination during the offseason [that] put him into a position to be in the starting five.” Wiedeman is especially proud of Jake because of what he has overcome on a personal level. “He can serve as an example to future Bulldogs to keep a positive attitude through tough times.” That’s pretty high praise from a coach who has won 600 games!

I didn’t get Jake’s comments about his coach and his 600th win in time to include them in my article about it, but as with his court mates, Jake considers it an “amazing” honor to have been a part of the team that netted Coach Wiedeman that milestone. As for what makes him such as great coach and what it’s like to play for him, this is Jake’s assessment: “ I remember watching the first round of the 2018 playoffs at Cherry Hill East like it was yesterday. I just remember saying that one day I would start for Haddonfield. What makes Coach such a good coach is that he isn’t going to be your friend. He isn’t going to make you feel complacent. There is always something that can be improved upon or something you could be doing better. We all have that feeling and that motivates all of his players to keep wanting to be better. You also can tell that he loves basketball, he has one of most dedicated work ethics I have ever seen, and it has been an honor to be around it.” That’s a pretty perceptive analysis of what a player needs from a coach and why his is so gifted at it.

Because only junior Michael Douglas had seen any substantial varsity time last season, I wanted Jake’s take on what has helped the team mesh so well this season. He says it is their “unique fit,” explaining it this way: “With losing so many guys, we also lost most of our ‘size’ down low. With the guys we have, we are able to do a little bit of everything. We all play hard, we can all handle the ball well, and do the little things that help us win and stay in close games.” Jake also feels that some teams take them for granted because this year’s Dawgs’ squad doesn’t have what most would call a traditional lineup, which “plays” to their advantage. “That just motivates us all even more because we know we have the ability to compete with anyone. It also helps that we get along and mesh well off the court.” Their shared experience on the JV team and all the time the players have spent preparing this past summer has also helped them to get better.

I enjoyed his response to what gets him psyched before a game, It is grounded in his love for basketball, which he in part attributes to his uncle, “who has been a huge part” of Jake’s basketball life. Jake says his uncle “really taught me to first have respect for the game, and it will respect you back; that respect is earned through working hard and playing the game the right way. He is where my love for basketball comes from and that directly translates to my play on the court.” It’s his love for the game that makes him “think of it as a responsibility or something I need to do rather than just a game. That is what really gets me going, the fact that I have worked so hard for the opportunity to be able to play, and now I have that ability.”

I was curious to find out what Jake considers to be the strongest part of his game. And after watching him on the court all season, I totally agree with his self-analysis: “I believe the strongest part of my game is my motor. My motor and my energy … get everything else going for me. If my energy is low, then my shooting isn’t going to be as on, or I might have just missed a pass I should have stolen.” He sees everything stemming from his energy. As for challenges, he says it’s about “identifying something that can be improved upon and just working on it. The only way to overcome the challenges is to work and them.” He also views the biggest challenge as not even being its physical aspect of basketball, but a mental one: It’s “being able to play free and have the confidence to just go out there and play the game.”

Jake expects to stay in New Jersey for college and plans to major in business, possibly so he can run his own company one day. Although he would love to continue playing basketball in college, he wants to put his focus on his education. That being said, he also added, “I don’t think basketball will ever leave my life; it will always be part of me.”

Hmm, Jake. It so happens I know of a former Dawg who majored in business in college but whose love of the game drew him back to the court as a coach who now has more than 600 wins under his clipboard. Just something to consider …

By Lauree Padgett. Special to Haddonfield[dot]Today

NOTE: A report of Coach Wiedeman’s 600 wins will be published on Tuesday, February 11.

Even though they didn’t go 3 for 3 this past week, the Dawgs first two games resulted in significant wins for both their head coach and the team. I’m going to focus on the game against Gloucester City, but will do a quick write-up about the next game versus Woodbury. And I’ll say as little as possible about the last game when the Dawgs got their tails thumped.

February 4, 2025: Haddonfield at Gloucester City

After falling short a few days earlier in a non-conference matchup against Burlington Township, the boys basketball team was facing a Colonial Conference Patriot opponent in their quest to capture win 600 for head coach Paul Wiedeman. Ahead of this game, Wiedeman had told me, “Tuesday will not be easy for win 600.” As usual, the coach knew what he was talking about.

This was such a close, intense game, it deserves a basket-by-basket replay. So get comfy!

Haddonfield’s usual starters took to the court ahead of the tipoff: sophomore Ryan Guveiyian; juniors Chris Beane, Mike Douglas, and Chase Stadler; and senior Jake Dewedoff, who had missed the Burlington Township game due to a knee contusion. Douglas tipped the ball Haddonfield’s way as the game started, but the Dawgs couldn’t hold on to get a shot off.

The Gloucester City Lions (a banner in their gym reads, “Welcome to the Lion’s Den”) got the first point of the game from the foul line to go up 1–0 with 6:51 on the clock. It took more than a minute for the Dawgs to score, and that was after a third offensive board, this one secured by Guveiyian, who got the ball up and in the net. His bucket put the Dawgs up by 1, 2–1 with 5:03 on the clock.

Both teams were playing hard, and occasionally bodies were flying onto the floor, but neither was having a lot of luck getting the ball in the net. The Lions broke through with 3:23 left in the quarter to take that 1-point, 3–2, lead back. Beane answered with the Dawgs’ first field goal of the game to push the pendulum back in Haddonfield’s favor, 4–3, with 3:15 remaining. There was a lot of passing, running up and down the court, missed shots, and hard rebounds by the Dawgs and the Lions, but the ball eluded the hoop for the rest of the quarter. Needless to say, I didn’t have to worry that I’d missed recording a basket in my scorebook with the Dawgs up by 1, 4–3, as the second quarter started.

The Lions inbounded the ball to begin the quarter and turned it over quickly on a travel call. Haddonfield gave the ball back after being assessed its first foul of the game. Junior Mike Mooney, who often sees action in the second quarter, got the Dawgs rolling on a nice drive in the paint, making it 6–3, Haddonfield with not quite a minute off the clock.  Gloucester City took some time to set up a play, about 30 seconds, but it paid off, as they scored, cutting the Dawgs’ lead to 1, 6–5, with 6:27 on the clock.

The Dawgs raced down court and did not score, and just as quickly, the Lions raced back to their basket and did. Now they were back on top by 1, 7–6, with 6:08 left in the half. The Dawgs failed to score again, but at the other end, Douglas blocked a shot and Beane pulled down the board. The Lions committed a non-shooting foul and Beane got stuck in the middle of the paint and was forced to take an off-balance shot that did not go in. The Dawgs got the ball back off an errant Gloucester City pass, but again could not score. With 4:05 on the clock Guveiyian pulled down a defensive board and junior John Scipione, who also is often on the floor in the second quarter, took the ball into the paint and scored. With 3:37 on the clock, the Dawgs now had the 1-point edge, 8–7.

That didn’t last long, as the Lions reclaimed the lead after a second-chance shot rolled in, and with 3:03 on the clock, they were up 9–8. John Scipione went into the lane to score again. His shot didn’t go in, but he was fouled and made 1–2, tying the game for the first time at 9 with 2:48 showing on the scoreboard. After Douglas got a defensive rebound after all-around good “D” by the Dawgs, he missed a shot under the Dawgs’ basket. Guveiyian got the offensive board, his shot didn’t drop, but Beane’s rebound and shot broke the tie and gave the Dawgs’ their “biggest” lead of the game, 2 points, with 1:55 left in the half. His foul shot upped it to a 3-point, 12–9, advantage.

The Dawgs got the last two baskets of the half. After the Lions turned the ball over, Beane made another off-balance shot, but this one rolled in. With 1:26 to go, the Dawgs were ahead by 5, 14–9. The Lions gave the ball back this time on a bad pass, with 1:14 on the clock. John Scipione drove into the paint, but at the last second, passed it to Stadler, who had come back into the game with about 3 minutes left. From the corner, Stadler sent in a 3, and now the Dawgs had a real lead, 17–9, with 43 seconds to go in the half. Neither team scored, and so as the teams left the court, Dawg fans were thinking that their team was looking pretty good and that Wiedeman was on his way to that 600th win.

The Lions were having none of that mentality as the second half began. Although the Dawgs inbounded to start the 3rd, their first shot attempt was not good. Dewedoff blocked a Gloucester City shot and grabbed the ball as well, but the Dawgs’ next shot attempt, with 6:38 on the clock, also did not go in. The first basket of the quarter went to the Lions, which made it a 17–11 game at the 5:45 mark. Neither team scored again for about 90 seconds, and again, it would be the Lions, this time off a 3 that came from a long way out, which cut the lead to 17–14 with 4:20 on the clock.

What Dawg fans thought was an offensive foul on the Lions turned into a Haddonfield foul and the basket counted. (And whoops, I must have been so stunned, I forgot to note the time on the clock.) The foul shot brought the game even again, this time at 17. Stadler hit his second 3 of the game to give Haddonfield back the lead, 20–17, with 3:28 left in the quarter. After a Lions’ timeout, their next scoring attempt did not find the basket and Dewedoff got the defensive board. He passed it to Beane, who demonstrated some nifty dribbling skills, as he tripped but did not turn over the ball. Instead, he got a basket that gave the Dawgs a 5-point, 22–17, advantage with 2:33 remaining in the 3rd.

The Lions may have gotten away with a travel on the way to a bucket, which made it 22–19, Dawgs, with 2:15 on the clock. The Dawgs picked up two quick fouls at the 1:23 and 55.4 mark; the second sent the Lions to the line. Both shots were good and now it was a 1-point, 22–21, game again. The Lions picked up a few fast fouls, the second off an inbounds, with 31.2 on the clock. When the Dawgs got the ball on the court, the plan was to go for the last shot. They did some nice passing to set up a play that had John Scipione feeding the ball to Guveiyian. His basket with 3.0 on the clock put the Dawgs in front by 3, 24–21, heading into the last quarter.

Those last 8 minutes of the game were nerve-wracking to say the least. Gloucester City had the inbounds to open the 4th. The Dawgs’ defense kept them from penetrating for about 40 seconds before a player broke into the paint and scored. With 7:18 on the clock, it was once more a game in which the teams were only separated by a point, 24–23.

At the other end, Douglas drew a foul trying to score. His second foul shot went in, and with 6:59, the Dawgs had pushed the lead back to 2, 25–23. At the other end, Douglas picked off the ball in midair off a bad Lions pass. He handed the ball off to Guveiyian, who passed it to Beane, and Beane went into the lane for 2. Now with 6:40 left in the game, the Dawgs had a 4-point, 27–23, edge. About 15 seconds later, a 3 by Gloucester City got the Lions back to within 1 again, 27–26.

At the Haddonfield end, the Dawgs missed a shot and lost the ball out of bounds with 5:55 on the clock. And 10 second later, the Lions went ahead by 1, 28–27, earning a trip to the foul line as well. The foul shot was no good, so it stayed a 1-point difference. The Dawgs again missed a shot and lost the ball on some iffy passing. Haddonfield was then assessed a non-shooting foul, but Gloucester City was not able to take advantage of it, as Beane stole the ball back and was fouled trying to score a basket. He went to the line, missed the first, but got the second into the basket, knotting the game at 28 with 4:52 left in the game.

The teams exchanged fouls, but no baskets for the next 40 or so seconds. During that time, Stadler came back in the game. A timeout was called with 4:06 showing on the clock. After a near pickoff by Douglas, John Scipione got a big defensive board with 3:25 to go. Under their basket, Guveiyian spotted an open Stadler, dished it to him, and he cut loose with his third trey of the game, putting the Dawgs back on top, this time by 3, 31–28, at the 3:05 mark. Before the Dawg fans had completely exhaled a sigh of relief, the Lions answered with a 2, and with 2:42 left in the game, were now only trailing by 1 once more, 31–30.

Literally 2 seconds later, one of the three refs called a travel on Haddonfield, but Stadler pulled down another board off a missed Gloucester City shot with 2:24 on the clock. Ten seconds later, Coach Wiedeman decided a timeout was in order. That led to a basket by Douglas off an assist from Beane, giving the Dawgs a 3-point cushion, 33–30, with 2:02 remaining. The Lions were not about to lie down and with 1:49 showing on the clock, got a bucket to pull back to within 1, 33–32.

The Dawgs lost the ball with 1:27 to go. Another timeout was called (and I’m not sure by which team) with 1:23 left in the game. I seem to have missed indicating how, but apparently the Dawgs had gotten the ball back, and after a missed shot, John Scipione got a huge offensive rebound. Another timeout was called, after which Douglas was fouled. His first shot dropped in, his second did not. Now the Dawgs were up by 2, 34–32, with 25.5 on the clock. Egad.

Gloucester City’s coach called timeout with 21.9 seconds left in this barn-burner of a game. The Dawgs were playing tough pressure “D,” keeping the Lions from getting in the lane. With time running out, the Lions made shot from behind the arc that cleanly swooshed in, putting them up by 1, 35–34. Douglas immediately called timeout for Haddonfield.

However, the clock did not stop immediately. (Where is Jeff Holman when you need him?) Instead, it was showing 5.5 seconds remaining. Several people rooting for the Red and Black were yelling about this discrepancy as one of the refs went over to the scorer’s table to investigate. One really worked-up fan was screaming, “Fix the clock! 7.5 seconds!” (I won’t say who it was, but their initials are L.P.) Finally, the clock was adjusted to 6.90 seconds, which wasn’t right, but it was sure better than 5.5.

Haddonfield had to inbound under the Gloucester City basket. Beane tossed the ball into Douglas, who calmly dribbled it over the halfcourt line. Guveiyian stepped out to make a screen, and Stadler stepped in a little further than his normal corner position. Douglas turned and passed him the ball. With 2.7 on the clock, he planted his feet, bent his knees, extended his arms, and let the ball fly. With .5 on the clock, the ball landed inside the basket. The Haddonfield fans and bench erupted while the Lions and their fans just froze in disbelief. The Dawgs had given their coach his 600th victory on a heart-pounding buzzer-beater that ended with the Dawgs on top by 2, 37–35. On the court, Stadler was swarmed by his ecstatic teammates and several ended up on a pile on the floor.

To the credit of Gloucester City’s coaches and AD, the Dawgs were not hurried off the court. Instead, parents and fans were able to snap a bunch of pictures of one happy head coach with his pleased-as-punch family, including his parents Joan and Dave, his wife Sue, daughters Sara and Abby, and son Matthew (who is 2 years away from being a Dawg, BTW!); and his brother Vic. Parents hurdled the team and coaches together for photos, but the ever “on-the-ball” Wiedeman put a hand up to stop, realizing that Stadler was off-court finishing up an interview. When he joined the team to a rousing cheer, the photo-taking commenced. It was quite a fitting end to Wiedeman’s sweet 600th!

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 4, Gloucester City, 3

2nd: Haddonfield, 13, Gloucester City, 6

Halftime: Haddonfield, 17, Gloucester City, 9

3rd: Haddonfield, 7, Gloucester City, 12

4th: Haddonfield, 13, Gloucester City, 14

Final: Haddonfield, 35, Gloucester City, 33

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 12

Chase Stadler: 12

Ryan Guveiyian: 4

Mike Douglas: 4

John Scipione: 3

Jake Dewedoff: 2

February 6, 2025: Woodbury at Haddonfield

At a game I did not get to in early January, the Thundering Herd on their home court gave the Dawgs their first loss in the Liberty division of the Colonial Conference, besting them by 2, 55–53. The Dawgs were looking for payback.

After the first 8 minutes, that payback was not looking definite, as the Dawgs found themselves trailing by 1, 10–11. However, in the second quarter, the Dawgs’ offense started to kick in. They scored 20 points off nine baskets. Chris Beane, Ryan Guveiyian, and John Scipione each scored 2 buckets, while Mike Mooney got one. Mike Douglas, however, started it lighting up, knocking down two 3’s. As the teams left the court at the half, the Dawgs had erased their 1-point deficit and were ahead by 9, 30–21.

Douglas just went to town in the 3rd quarter. Haddonfield put up 20 points, and Douglas accounted for 15 of them. He swooshed in another pair of 3’s, had three 2-pointers, and added 3 points from the foul line. By the end of the quarter, he had helped the Dawgs extend their lead to 20, 50–30, as the Dawg defense held the Herd to 9 points.

The 4th quarter was a bit more competitive, as only 1 point separated the teams’ output, with the Dawgs scoring 14 to the Herd’s 13. Douglas hit one more 3 and one more 2 before Coach Wiedeman started substituting his starters and first-ins. When the buzzer sounded, Haddonfield had “thundered” back from the 2-point defeat in January to handily corral Woodbury 64–43. The win also gave the Dawgs the outright Colonial Liberty crown.

Mike Douglas had himself a game, finishing with 28 points Chris Beane and Ryan Guveiyian each had 12.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 10, Woodbury, 11

2nd: Haddonfield, 20, Woodbury, 10

Halftime: Haddonfield, 30, Woodbury, 21

3rd: Haddonfield, 20, Woodbury, 9

4th: Haddonfield, 14, Woodbury, 13

Final: Haddonfield, 64, Woodbury, 43

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 28

Chris Beane: 12

Ryan Guveiyian: 12

John Scipione: 6

Jake Dewedoff: 4

Mike Mooney: 2

February 8, 2025: Haddonfield at Cinnaminson

This game will not make the highlight reel of the Dawgs 2024–25 season. The Pirates really outmaneuvered the Dawgs from almost every angle. Most impressively (and annoyingly), they hardly missed a basket, both from the field and from the foul line. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Dawgs trailed almost the entire game. After Cinnaminson got the first basket, Jake Dewedoff stole the ball back after the Dawgs had traveled, and his basket tied the game at 2 with 7:01 gone in the first. At the 6:09 mark, the Pirates nailed a 3 and never relinquished the lead again. Cinnaminson scored eight baskets from the field in the first quarter; When the quarter ended, they were up by 10, 20–10. In the quarter, the Pirates started adding 3’s to their repertoire and were maintaining a 10-point, 37–27 lead, as the teams broke for halftime, even though the Dawgs’ had matched the Pirates’ 2nd quarter output of 17 points.

The second 16 minutes did not get much better for the Dawgs. Every time the Dawgs gnawed away ever so slightly at the Pirates’ lead, the Pirates had an answer, often with a 3. (They ended up, if my tally is correct, with 10.) Only in the 4th did the Dawgs put more on the board, 16 to the Pirates’ 12, but since Cinnaminson had been up by 19 going into those last 8 minutes, it didn’t really matter. When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had never found the map to the buried treasure and lost by 15, 68–53. I’ll say it again, though, because it bears repeating. No matter how much they are down, the Dawgs never consider themselves out. They keep playing hard. That’s something their coaching staff, headed by Mr. 600, has taught them well.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 10, Cinnaminson, 20

2nd: Haddonfield, 17, Cinnaminson, 17

Halftime: Haddonfield, 27, Cinnaminson, 37

3rd: Haddonfield, 10, Cinnaminson, 19

4th: Haddonfield, 16, Cinnaminson, 12

Final: Haddonfield, 53, Cinnaminson, 68

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 15

Chris Beane: 12

Ryan Guveiyian: 10

Jake Dewedoff: 7

Mike Mooney: 5

John Scipione: 3

The Week Ahead

The Dawgs go into this coming week with a 17–6 record. Their last Colonial Conference game is scheduled to be this Tuesday, 2/11 at home versus Haddon Heights. It’s also Haddonfield Youth Basketball Association (HYBA) Night as well as Senior Night. Unless the weather forecast changes dramatically, I suspect that game will need to be postponed due to snow. There will be plenty of opportunities to make the game up this week, as the next scheduled game isn’t until Saturday, 2/15. This is round 1 of the Camden County Tournament. Haddonfield plays host to fellow Colonial Conference team Gateway at 2:30. However, this game could also be impacted by “a wintery mix.”

Arrrrrg.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

The Dawgs had another long week to finish off the month of January and start off February. It began with a Monday night makeup game against Audubon that had been postponed on 1/6 due to snow, included Colonial Conference contests against West Deptford and Sterling on Tuesday and Thursday, and finished on Saturday with a nonleague matchup as part of the Holy Cross Prep Academy Showcase. Although the Dawgs handled all their conference rivals without much trouble, the game Saturday versus Burlington County would end the Dawgs’ week on a losing note.

January 27, 2025: Audubon at Haddonfield

Audubon is currently in the Patriot division of the Colonial Conference, so this makeup game was the only time they would “Wave” at the Dawgs this year. I jotted on my notepad as Mark Hershberger was announcing the lineups that the Wave had two freshmen, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior starting the game. I wondered how that would “play” out on the court.

For the first 8 minutes of the game, the Wave were knocking down baskets and knocking the Dawgs a bit out of their rhythm. That’s partly why the game’s first points didn’t get scored until almost 2 minutes had ticked off the clock: a 3 by Audubon. Dawg sophomore Ryan Guveiyian got the offense going for Haddonfield with a 2 at the other end, but that was quickly answered by the Wave with a 2. Senior Jake Dewedoff got the Dawgs back to within 2, 4–5, at the 5:09 mark, and a pickoff by junior Chris Beane and a pass to junior Mike Douglas gave Haddonfield its first lead, 6–5, with 4:52 on the clock.

After Audubon missed an easy layup, the Dawgs missed two shots, but a second offensive board was the charm, as junior John Scipione went up and in for 2. That made it 8–5, Dawgs with just under 4 left in the quarter. The Wave got a 2-point bucket, but Guveiyian swooshed in a 3 at the other end, so now the Dawgs were up by 4, 11–7.

So, what, you wonder, did I mean about the Wave causing some problems? I’m getting to that. After a short-lived steal by Scipione, Audubon got another 2 to get back to within 2, 11–9 with 3 and change to go. Guveiyian got another 3, this time from the field and the foul line, pushing the Dawgs’ advantage up to 5, 14–9.  However, Guveiyian’s foul shot was the last point the Dawgs would get in the quarter. Audubon scored the next 7 points, including a 3 that was the result of a bad pass by the Dawgs that put the Wave up 16–14, which is how the quarter ended.

As the teams went back to their huddles before the start of the second quarter, I am sure I was not the only fan wondering if I had dismissed Audubon too quickly, like I had Haddon Township the week before. The next three quarters would provide the answer to that question.

Actually, the question was answered in the next 8 minutes. The Dawgs inbounded the ball, did not score, but junior Mike Douglas pulled down the offensive board, got the ball in the net, and was fouled. His shot from the line put the Dawgs up by 1, 17–16, with 7:20 showing on the clock. (And by the way, speaking of the clock, I feel I never give Jeff Holman enough props for his ever-steady operation of the scoreboard. So thanks, Jeff.)

Audubon flipped that 1-point advantage back to its favor on a basket off an offensive rebound, but just as quickly, a nice outside shot by Douglas gave the Dawgs’ back the 1-point edge, 19–18, with 6:25 left in the half.

Audubon retook the 1-point lead from the foul line, and Beane retook it, also from the foul line. Now it was 21–20—in case you lost track of the score with all those 1-point shots dropping—with just under 6 minutes to go. The Wave got two shots off in their next possession, but after the second did not drop, Douglas grabbed the board, and junior Chase Stadler let loose with one of his corner 3’s. Douglas pulled down another defensive board, and this time, Guveiyian came away with a 2-pointer. This gave Haddonfield its biggest lead of the game, 26–20, with 4:20 on the clock. And it was about to get bigger.

Guveiyian picked off the ball, a scramble ensued, and Douglas recaptured it. Guveiyian’ secured the offensive board, and junior Mike Mooney’s pass set up Stadler for another chance to shoot behind the arc, and this one swooshed in as well. Now the Dawgs had put 9 unanswered points on the board and were up 29–20. And they weren’t done yet. Douglas and Guveiyian each made 1–2 from the foul line on consecutive possessions, and with 1:33  left, they were up by 11, 31–20.

Audubon finally got a basket and then a foul shot to make it 31–23, but the Dawgs got the last two baskets of the quarter. Guveiyian’s came off an inbound pass. Beane’s caught everyone by surprise, as after a missed Haddonfield attempt with seconds on the clock, it looked like Audubon was going to have the last shot. Beane, however, had other plans. He stole the ball and went up and in just ahead of the buzzer, giving the Dawgs a 12-point, 35–23, halftime lead, meaning the Dawgs had outscored the 21–7 in the second.

It didn’t get any better for Audubon in the third. The Dawgs got 26 points and held the Wave to 10. The Dawgs offense was nicely balanced with Guveiyian adding 8 on a pair of treys and a field goal, Stadler nailing two more 3’s, Beane driving in the paint for three buckets, and Douglas dropping in 4 from the line and one from the field. Going into the last quarter, the Dawgs were flattening the Wave, up by 28, 61–33.

Even with most of the starters watching from the sidelines, Haddonfield still put up 20 (to Audubon’s 19) in the 4th. Beane stuck around long enough to score two more times, but the rest of the points came from Mooney, who went 4–4 at the line and also hit two field goals; 3’s from freshman Ethan Miller and junior Nick Scipione; and a pair of foul shots from junior Jude McFillin. When the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs had “waved” Audubon good-bye by a score of 81–52.

Nine Dawgs contributed to the team’s 29-point victory, and four reached double figures. Ryan Guveiyian led the way with 21, Chris Beane added 16, Mike Douglas knocked in 14, and off four treys, Chase Stadler finished with 12.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 14, Audubon, 16

2nd: Haddonfield, 21, Audubon, 7

Halftime: Haddonfield, 35, 23Audubon,

3rd: Haddonfield, 26, Audubon, 10

4th: Haddonfield, 20, Audubon, 19

Final: Haddonfield, 81, Audubon, 52

Player scores:

Ryan Guveiyian: 21

Chris Beane: 16

Mike Douglas: 14

Chase Stadler: 12

Mike Mooney: 8

Ethan Miller: 3

Nick Scipione: 3

John Scipione: 2

Jude McFillin: 2

January 28, 2025: Haddonfield at West Deptford

I was not able to get to this away game and truth be told, since the Dawgs had upended the Eagles 102–48 in their first game of 2025, I wasn’t too concerned about the outcome. It wasn’t quite the blowout this go-round, but the Dawgs still easily took care of business, winning by 48, instead of 54, 61–29. One of my on-scene reporters had this to say: “[Haddonfield] did well, played within the game and made great passes.” He added that the team set up good plays, noting that all starters sat the whole 4th quarter and most of them came out at some point in the second quarter as well.

January 30, 2025: Haddonfield at Sterling

To refresh everyone’s memory, the home game versus Sterling on Jan. 8 saw the Dawgs jump out to a 21–9 advantage in the first quarter. However, in the second quarter, only a point separated the teams’ offensive outputs, with Haddonfield scoring 12 to Sterling’s 11. In the third, that flipped, with the Silver Knights scoring one more point (14) than the Dawgs. In the last 8 minutes, the Knights again outpaced the Dawgs, this time by 4 points (13). So, had the teams only played three quarters instead of four, the Dawgs would have lost by 4 instead of winning by 8, 55–47.

In other words, I wasn’t taking this game, especially since it was on the Knights’ turf, for granted.

Sterling got possession off the tipoff. Although the Dawgs kept the Knights from penetrating, they got the first basket on a floater at the 7:18 mark. Haddonfield’s first 2 came from Ryan Guveiyian’s foul shots. The first one rolled around the rim in what seemed like defiance of the laws of gravity before dropping in, but the second swooshed right through, tying it at 2 with 6:14 on the clock. Sterling went back in front on ball that hit the backboard and then bounced in, and Guveiyian tied it again, this time from the field with about 3 minutes left in the quarter.

That basket by Guveiyian actually was the first of seven straight by the Dawgs. Mike Douglas knocked down a 3, Chris Beane drove in the paint for 2, then on Haddonfield’s next possession, he fed the ball to Douglas, who hit another 3. Now with 2:29 to go in the quarter, the Dawgs had an 8-point, 12–4, edge. Beane was a busy guy on the court, as a few plays later, he pulled down a defensive board and dribbled cross-court for another 2. With his team now trailing by double-digits, 4–14, the Sterling coach called a timeout with 1:33 on the clock. It did not help much, as the Knights failed to score once more, Douglas got the board, and Guveiyian got another bucket. He and Jake Dewedoff combined for a pickoff, and after pulling down an offensive board, Douglas got his third basket of the quarter, this time a 2-pointer. Sterling got 1 point back from the foul line, but when the buzzer sounded, the Knights were behind by 13, with the Dawgs on top 18–5.

The scoring was a little more balanced in the second 8 minutes. Sterling got 4 out of the quarter’s first 6 points, with Douglas hitting a nice jumper in between a 3 and a 2 by the Knights. However, Dewedoff’s 3 started another mini-run for the Dawgs, as Beane followed with an old-fashioned 3 (a basket and a foul shot), and Mike Mooney drained a 3 on an assist from John Scipione. This quick 9-point assault pushed the Dawgs’ lead up to 19, 29–10, with just less than 4 minutes to go until halftime.

Sterling got two straight baskets before Beane went up and in off a pass from Guveiyian, which kept the Dawgs comfortably ahead, 31–14, with 2:27 on the clock. Both teams lost the ball by stepping out of bounds their next possession, and then Haddonfield lost the ball again on what I recorded as a “whoops” play, as the ball slipped out of the “paws” of one of the Dawgs. Sterling got its last basket of the half to get to within 15, 31–16, but Douglas and Guveiyian each scored, with Guveiyian flicking the ball to Douglas. Then a few plays later, with only 1.2 on the clock, Douglas dished the ball to Guveiyian, who tapped the ball in ahead of the buzzer.

Going into the half, the Dawgs were up by 19, 35–16.

The Knights would outscore the Dawgs in the third, doubling the Dawgs’ 8-point output, but they were still down by double-digits, 32–43, going into the final quarter. And this time, the Knights were not able chip that lead down to single digits, as they had done in the teams’ first matchup. This was because the Dawgs held the Knights to only 4 points—a 3 and a foul shot—while making seven field goals and a foul shot on the offensive end. When it was all said and done, the Dawgs had made it a dark night for Sterling, soundly beating them by 22, 58–36.

There was a downside to the Dawgs’ victory, which I wouldn’t learn about until the start of the game on Saturday versus Burlington County. At the end of the third, Jake Dewedoff went down hard at the hands of a Sterling player. It resulted in a technical being called against Sterling. Dewedoff, usually very steady at the line, missed both shots and did not come back into the game. With the Dawgs ahead, I did not think too much about his absence then, but the play would have repercussions a few days later …

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 18, Sterling, 5

2nd: Haddonfield, 17, Sterling, 11

Halftime: Haddonfield, 35, Sterling, 16

3rd: Haddonfield, 8, Sterling, 16

4th: Haddonfield, 15, Sterling, 4

Final: Haddonfield, 58, Sterling, 36

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 16

Ryan Guveiyian: 15

Chris Beane: 13

Jake Dewedoff: 6

Mike Mooney: 5

Chase Stadler: 3

February 1, 2025: Holy Cross Prep Basketball Showcase—Haddonfield vs. Burlington Township

This 3-day tournament has become a mainstay nonleague event for the Dawgs. This year, their opponents were the Falcons of Burlington Township, who are part of the Burlington County Scholastic League, better known by its acronym, BCSL. Coming into Saturday’s game against Haddonfield, Burlington Township had only lost 2 nonleague games and were undefeated atop of the Patriot division. It did not take long to see why.

The Falcons landed baskets from all over: outside, inside, and from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Dawgs, I suspect in large part due to the fact that their point guard, Jake Dewedoff, was on the bench, were off their game. They weren’t passing or handling the ball well. By the end of the first quarter, they were already down 10, 8–18. The Dawgs’ usually stellar “D” wasn’t full strength. The Falcons got a lot of second-chance shots while often holding the Dawgs to one. The times the Dawgs managed to steal the ball before the Falcons had attempted a shot, they often turned the ball right back to their opponents.

While they matched Burlington Township in points in the second quarter, with both teams putting up 12, the Dawgs still looked out of synch and were consequently still down by 10, 20–20, when the half ended.

The Falcons maintained a good edge, mostly double-digit, for most of the third. Then, with 2:12 left, sparked by a 2 and then a 3 by Chris Beane, the Dawgs got back to with 5, 31–36, and the Dawg fans were sensing a momentum swing. But just that quickly, the Falcons got 4 of those 5 points back, and when the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs were down by 9, 31–40.

No matter what the score, the Dawgs never give up. The last 8 minutes of the game against Burlington Township were a great example of this mentality. After an up-and-down few minutes, the Dawgs were trailing by 12, 36–48, with 5:43 on the clock. John Scipione hit a 3, and after one of too many easy baskets by the Falcons, Chase Stadler knocked down a trey. The refs finally called a push-off on Burlington Township, and when the Dawgs got the ball back, a drive by Chris Beane made it 44–50. Whether it was the fatigue of competing in four games in less than six days, the absence of a key player, or the fact that Burlington Township was one of the toughest teams Haddonfield has faced this season, the Dawgs just couldn’t get closer than 6 in those final minutes. Every time the Dawgs seemed to be on the verge, the Falcons would run off a few baskets in a row to keep Haddonfield at “bay.” When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had lost by 7 (Douglas hit a 3 with about 16 seconds on the clock), 57–65.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 8, Burlington Township, 18

2nd: Haddonfield, 12, Burlington Township, 12

Halftime: Haddonfield, 20, Burlington Township, 30

3rd: Haddonfield, 11, Burlington Township, 12

4th: Haddonfield, 26, Burlington Township, 25

Final: Haddonfield, 57, Burlington Township, 65

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 19

Mike Douglas: 12

John Scipione: 10

Ryan Guveiyian: 8

Chase Stadler: 6

Mike Mooney: 2

The Week Ahead

The Dawgs are now 15–5 overall, 9–2 in the Colonial Conference, with a 7–1 record in the Liberty division. Tuesday, they travel to Gloucester City for a 5:30 p.m. game to take on their Patriot conference rival. This will be another chance for the Dawgs to give Paul Wiedeman his 600th victory as head coach. Thursday, the Dawgs host Woodbury at 7:00. You may remember that the Thundering Herd gave Haddonfield its only Liberty loss when they met back in January. Saturday, the Dawgs visit Cinnaminson for more nonleague action in an 11:30 a.m. matchup.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield.Today

The HMHS boys basketball team had another three-game week this past week. Two games were Colonial Conference matchups at home and the final took place at Rancocas Valley Regional High School as part of the annual Jeff Coney Classic.  I’ll highlight the two conference games but am going to focus on the nonconference contest, as that was the most tense from start to finish.

January 21, 2025: Paulsboro at Haddonfield

As the Red Raiders are currently in the Dawgs’ Liberty division, this was the second meeting between the two teams. The first game at Paulsboro back in December, the Dawgs had a fairly easy win, coming out on top 59­–46. Would this game have a similar outcome?

While Haddonfield jumped out to a 4–0 lead to start the game on baskets by juniors Chris Beane and Mike Douglas, Paulsboro got the next 5 points on two baskets and a foul shot to go up 5­–4 with 4:17 on the clock. Senior Jake Dewedoff hit a 3 to make it 7­–5, Haddonfield, but Paulsboro answered with its own 3 to take another 1-point edge, 8–7, with just about 4 minutes left in the quarter.

Beane, with one of his classic hesitation moves, put the Dawgs back on top 9–8 with 2:20 to go, but at the other end, the Red Raiders nailed another 3 to retake a 2-point, 9–11, lead with 1:59 remaining. A few plays later, a pickoff by Beane set up Dewedoff for another 3, and when the quarter had ended, the Dawgs had the minimalist of leads, ahead by 1, 12–11.

In the second quarter, the Dawgs’ stellar defense held the Raiders to one field goal, while the offense kept the momentum going. Six more points by Beane, along with another trey from Dewedoff and 2-pointers by sophomore Ryan Guveiyian and junior John Scipione, who also hit a foul shot, enabled the Dawgs to go into the locker room having doubled the Raiders score to be up by 13, 26–13.

The Dawgs’ offense slowed a bit in the third quarter, while the Raiders picked up a bit, but Haddonfield still put 10 points on the board to Paulsboro’s 8 and going into the last 8 minutes, had a comfortable 36–21 edge.

The 4th proved to be the Dawgs’ best offensively. Seven players, including three nonstarters, combined to add 18 more points to the Dawgs total. The Raiders again put up 8. When the buzzer sounded to end the game, the Dawgs had handily taken another win from the Raiders by a score of 54–36.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 12, Paulsboro, 11

2nd: Haddonfield, 14 Paulsboro, 2

Halftime: Haddonfield, 26, Paulsboro, 13

3rd: Haddonfield, 10, Paulsboro, 8

4th: Haddonfield, 18, Paulsboro, 8

Final: Haddonfield, 54, Paulsboro, 29

Player scores:

Jake Dewedoff: 15

Chris Beane: 12

Mike Douglas: 9

John Scipione: 8

Ryan Guveiyian: 5

Ethan Miller: 3

Ben Raus: 2

Congrats to Coach Mulligan!

The same night the boys were battling Paulsboro, the girls were at Haddon Township. At halftime of the boys’ game, our play-by-play master Mark Hershberger announced that the Lady Dawgs had won on the buzzer, 37–34, which gave their coach, Jackie Mulligan, her 300th career win. Mulligan, who played and began her coaching career at Sterling, is in her 11th season at Haddonfield. Here’s to many more wins, Coach Mulligan!

January 24, 2025: Haddon Township at Haddonfield

The Hawks are currently in the Patriot division of the Colonial, and after Thursday’s game, I think most of us are OK with not having to play them again, at least in the regular season. As with some other games, like the one at Haddon Heights the prior week, when the Garnets were up 7–0 and then 9–2 before the Dawgs’ offense kicked in, the Hawks jumped out in front quickly on a 3. Ryan Guveiyian’s trey tied it up with 6:41 on the clock, but then the Hawks rattled off 10 unanswered to make it a double-digit, 13–3, advantage with 3:07 on the clock.

Chris Beane got the Dawgs back on the board with a 2, but the Hawks got an easy layup under the basket to keep it a 10-point lead. Beane scored again, but then the Hawks hit another 3 to go up 18–7. John Scipione, who came into the game a little ahead of schedule due to some early foul trouble on the Dawgs’ end, got 2, but at the other end, on what I scribbled down as a “nice setup,” so did the Hawks, who were up by 9, 20–11, as the first quarter ended.

In the second period, the Dawgs only mustered 8 points, all from Mike Douglas. The Dawgs were able to clip the Hawks’ offense a bit, holding them to 9 points, but going into the locker room, the Dawgs found themselves trailing by 10, 19–29.

In the third, the Dawgs outscored the Hawks 9–4, and as the last quarter began, they were only down by 5, 28–33. The Haddonfield fans, sensing a comeback, were urging their team on as they took to the court for the final 8 minutes. The Dawgs got possession of the ball after the Hawks inbounded on a held ball call, and Dewedoff capitalized on that with a basket. Now the Dawgs were within 3, 30–33. But just like they had done all game whenever the Dawgs looked like they might be making a run the Hawks hit a 3 to make it 36–30, Haddon Township. Ryan Guveiyian got those 3 back on a basket and a foul shot, so with 6:03 on the clock, Haddonfield was back to within 3, 33–36.

But then the Hawks got the next 8 points, on back-to-back 3’s and then a field goal, and with 4 and change left in the game, they had recaptured their double-digit lead and were back on top 44–33. Another foul shot by Guveiyian was followed by a steal and a bucket by Dewedoff, and the Dawgs had closed the gap to 8, 36–44 with 3:20 on the clock. The Hawks’ 2-pointer got their double-digit lead back, but a few plays later, after a steal by the Dawgs, Beane scored, and once again, the Dawgs’ deficit was back to 8, 38–46, with 2:01 left in the game.

A 3 by Mike Douglas and another basket by Beane would get the Dawgs to within 3, 43–45, with 55.7 left in the game. Haddon Township called a timeout with 35.9 remaining, and then Haddonfield did the same with 22.1 on the clock. Guveiyian pulled down a huge offensive board and scored. With 9.3 to go, the Dawgs had clawed back to within 1, 45–46. The defense bore down, and Haddon Township couldn’t inbound. Again, the Hawks tried to inbound. This time, they got the ball in, and with fouls to give, the Dawgs kept fouling, forcing the Hawks each time to inbound the ball.

With 5.9 on the clock, and the Hawks once again having to inbound under the Dawgs’ basket, there was a loose ball scramble. The refs awarded the ball to Haddon Township, and from my angle, since it was alongside the Dawgs’ bench, it was hard to tell if that was the correct call or not. Finally, the Dawgs reached their foul limit and sent the Hawks to the line with 3.0 left. Both shots dropped in, meaning the Dawgs would need a 3 to tie it. A long pass was attempted, the Hawks intercepted it, and made 1 more shot from the line. The Dawgs never gave up but came out on the losing end, defeated by 5, 44–49.

One of my basketball buddies said after the game that Haddon Township played the best basketball they could, all credit to them, making big plays when they needed to. The Dawgs, to their credit, even when down by 11 halfway through the 4th, kept fighting and were a call or basket away from coming out on top.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 11, Haddon Township, 20

2nd: Haddonfield, 8, Haddon Township, 9

Halftime: Haddonfield, 19, Haddon Township, 29

3rd: Haddonfield, 28, Haddon Township, 33

4th: Haddonfield, 17, Haddon Township, 16

Final: Haddonfield, ,45 Haddon Township, 49

Player scores:

Mike Douglas: 14

Ryan Guveiyian: 13

Chris Beane: 8

John Scipione: 6

Jake Dewedoff: 4

January 25, 2025: Haddonfield vs. Moorestown in the Jeff Coney Classic at Rancocas Valley Regional High School (RVRHS)

I am not sure if the Dawgs have participated in all 16 of these tournaments, but I know they have played in many of them. The day honors former RVRHS student-turned-coach, Jeff Coney, who graduated RVRHS in 1979, took over as head coach in the 1998–99 school year, and continued on in that position until his passing in July 2004. Proceeds from the games benefit RVRHS student athletes.

This year, 24 teams, mostly from the South Jersey area, met up for 12 games. In the main gym just ahead of Haddonfield’s game, Manasquan defeated Lenape by 18, 52, 34. Other prime matchups included St. Augustine versus Eastern, who won by 7, and Camden Catholic versus Montgomery (the Irish won by 9).

The Dawgs’ opponents were the Moorestown Quakers, from the Patriot division of the Olympic conference. Going into Saturday’s game, the Quakers were 5–9 overall and 2–2 in division play. Still, that was no guarantee that the Dawgs would be able cook the Quakers’ oats.

The beginning of the game was not a good harbinger for the Dawgs. After getting the tipoff (which was a do-over after neither player actually tipped the ball the first attempt), the Dawgs lost it on a travel call. The Quakers did not score, the Dawgs got a shot off this time but also didn’t score. A blocked shot by the Dawgs was called a foul and sent the Quakers to the line, where 1 of 2 shots dropped, so at the 6:29 mark, the Dawgs once again found themselves on the trailing end. About a minute later, Chris Beane got his own rebound and scored, putting the Dawgs up 2–1. This was the first lead the Dawgs had had in more than 4 quarters of play.

At least at that “point,” the lead wouldn’t last, as 2 foul throws from the Quakers tipped the lead back to them 3–2, with 4:38 on the clock. A drive by Ryan Guveiyian flipped it back in favor of the Dawgs, 4–3, with 4:21 on the board. Beane drove in the paint again, making it 6–3, and after a defensive board by Jake Dewedoff, Mike Douglas made a trip to the foul line and both shots were good. Now the Dawgs were up 8–3 with 2:20 left in the quarter.

Moorestown got a second-chance bucket, and a few plays later, got another off a Haddonfield turnover as the clock ran down. The quarter ended with the Dawgs only up by 1, 8–7.

The Dawgs, who started the second quarter looking a bit tentative, got their first basket of the second quarter with an assist of sorts by the Quakers. After a missed shot by Haddonfield, a Moorestown player tried to save the ball, lunging out of bounds and managing instead to put it in the hands of Dewedoff, who swooshed in a 3. After getting a defensive board under the Quaker basket, Beane pulled down an offensive one under the Dawg basket and put the ball up and in. This gave the Dawgs a 12–7 lead with 5:57 on the clock.

Douglas grabbed the defensive board, Dewedoff saved the ball off an iffy dribble, and went into score. Now the Dawgs were up by 7, 14–7, at the 5:12 mark. Moorestown finally its first basket of the quarter, then went 1–1 from the line, closing its gap to 4, 10–14, with just under 4 minutes left in the half. After a bad shot by the Dawgs, the Quakers got another basket off an offensive rebound to get to within 2, 14–12.

After Douglas pulled down another defensive rebound, the Dawgs had another moving violation called. This time, the Quakers’ basket knotted it at 14. At the other end, Douglas’ offensive board resulted in 2 off a nice drive by Dewedoff, enabling the Dawgs to go back on top 16–14 with 3:07 until the half. Moorestown got fouled but missed both chances at the line, and back at the Dawgs’ end, Dewedoff scored off another offensive board, getting fouled in the process. His foul shot dropped, and with 2:36 on the clock, the Dawgs were up by 5, 19–14.

I may have scribbled that the Quakers got their next basket off an offensive board, but I can’t swear to it. (I can swear to the fact that my handwriting, which has never been great, is not getting better with my age.) At any rate, it was now 19–16, Dawgs. Even though there were still more than 2 minutes left on the clock, the only other basket from either team came on the foul line from Beane, so as the teams headed off the court at the half, the Dawgs were up by 4, 20–16.

Haddonfield inbounded to kick off the third. A Moorestown foul was followed by an offensive board by Dewedoff, who scored. He was fouled but did not get the extra point from the line. Neither team scored their next trip up and down the court. With the Quakers in possession of the ball, Chris Stadler took an offensive charge, and at the other end, Beane scored, giving the Dawgs their biggest lead of the game, 24–16, with 6:38 left in the quarter.

Moorestown was fouled trying to score and made both shots, and a few plays later, after another Haddonfield foul, made 2 more from the line. Now, with 5:42 on the clock, they were back to within 4, 24–20. The Dawgs lost the ball, but the Quakers couldn’t take advantage of it. After Beane got the defensive board, Stadler hit a big 3, pushing the Dawgs’ lead back to 7, 27–20. The Dawgs were keeping the Quakers on the foul line, and this trip at the 4:36 mark put 2 more on the scoreboard for Moorestown. Now it was 27–22 with 4:36 on the clock.

About 50 seconds later, they were back at the line, but this time dropped in 1–2, making it 27–23, Dawgs. After Haddonfield uncharacteristically lost the ball yet again, Moorestown got 2 from the field, and with 3:23 to go in the quarter, it was only a 2-point, 27–25, game. Douglas picked a good time to launch a 3, which gave the Dawgs some breathing room with 3 and change on the clock. Moorestown scored at the other end, and this time, Beane was fouled trying to score. He made 1–2, keeping the Dawgs up by 4, 31–27.

The Quakers hit a 3, and suddenly, they were within 1, 31–30, with 1:46 to go. Guveiyian was fouled after pulling down an offensive board. He sank both shots, making it 33–30 with 1:11 on the clock. Moorestown kept the ball moving around its next possession, finally setting up a 3 that swooshed in. Now with 42 seconds left in the quarter, the game was locked up at 33 all. The Dawgs wanted the last shot of the quarter, and Beane provided it, making one of his nice maneuvers under the basket. When the buzzer went off, the Dawgs were back in front, but only by 2, 35–33. Would they be able to build on that lead through the last 8 minutes?

The Dawgs inbounded to start the 4th. Although their first shot attempt failed, the ball when out of bounds off the Quakers. The next shot, a feed from Guveiyian to Beane, went in, and the Dawgs were up by 4, 37–33, with 7:24 to go. Guveiyian provided some good “D” at the other end, Beane grabbed the board, and then went down the court and scored. At the 6:37 mark, Haddonfield was up by 6, 39–33.

Moorestown got those 2 back on its next possession, and then a few plays later, stole the ball off an inbound attempt by Haddonfield, which gave them another basket. Now it was a 2-point game, 39–37, Dawgs, with 6:37 remaining. Haddonfield called a timeout with 6:05 on the clock. When the game resumed, Moorestown had the ball, but Guveiyian and Douglas combined for some good D to get the ball back. At the other end, Stadler got another big 3, making it 42–37, Dawgs, with 5:38 on the clock.

Moorestown’s shot attempt went over the back, but Haddonfield did not score. A nice move under the basket gave the Quakers 2 more, and with just under 5 minutes to go, it was 42–39. This time it was Douglas who hit the 3 off a pass from Guveiyian, putting the Dawgs back on top by 6, 45–39, with 4:35 left in the game. Could the Dawgs fans start to relax a little? Not yet.

A pickoff by Stadler was for naught after a bad pass returned the ball to the Quakers. Good D kept them from scoring, but then the Dawgs missed an easy layup, and with 3:01 on the clock, Moorestown’s field goal made it a 45–41 game. At the 2:48 mark, Moorestown called a timeout. When the clock started ticking again, the Dawgs had the ball and Douglas drove in the paint for a nice bucket. Now it was 47–41 with 2:27 to go.

Guveiyian and Stadler got the ball back, and a field goal by Beane pushed that lead up to 8, 48–21, with 2:01 showing on the clock. A loose ball sent players from both teams diving onto the floor, with Moorestown coming up with it, but the Quakers failed to score. Moorestown then started fouling, trying to stave time off the clock at the 1:36 mark. The Dawgs set up a nice play only to have the ball do everything but go in, and at the other end, the Quakers scored and got a chance for a 3-point play from the line. It went in, and with 1:10 remaining in the game, they were back to within 5, 44–49.

After a Haddonfield timeout and a Moorestown foul, the Dawgs were having trouble getting the ball inbounds. Coach Wiedeman had to call another timeout, but from where I was sitting, I saw him calmly mark up his clipboard with a play, which worked, as the Dawgs got the ball onto the court only to have the Quakers foul again, forcing the Dawgs to inbound again. This time, there was no trouble, and Guveiyian found an open Stadler, who went in for a 2. This gave the Dawgs a 51–44 edge with about 40 seconds to go.

Moorestown was fouled with 36.6 on the clock, making the first but missing the second from the line. Douglas got the rebound, and it went out of bounds off Moorestown with 31.9 left in the game. Guveiyian picked up another assist, feeding the ball to Dewedoff, who scored. The Quakers did not, and with about 8 seconds to go, Beane got the game’s last basket. When the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs had come away with a 55–45 W. But the fans who saw the game know it wasn’t as easy a victory as the final score would indicate.

Quarter scores:

1st: Haddonfield, 8, Moorestown, 7

2nd: Haddonfield, 12, Moorestown, 9

Halftime: Haddonfield, 20, Moorestown, 16

3rd: Haddonfield, 15, Moorestown, 17

4th: Haddonfield, 20, Moorestown, 12

Final: Haddonfield, 55, Moorestown, 45

Player scores:

Chris Beane: 19

Jake Dewedoff: 11

Chase Stadler: 11

Mike Douglas: 10

Ryan Guveiyian: 4

The Week Ahead

The Dawgs are now 12–4 overall, and 6–2 in the Conference (with 1 loss in the Patriot division). Coach Paul Wiedeman is now 4 wins away from 600. He could get it this coming week, as the Dawgs have four games on the schedule. First up is the makeup of the Audubon game that was postponed a few weeks ago due to snow. That is a home game on Monday, 1/27, but note it is now at 5:30. The next night, the Dawgs go to West Deptford for a 7:00 p.m. game. Thursday, the team heads to Sterling, also for an early 5:30 game. Finally, the Dawgs will be playing in a tournament on Saturday, 2/1 at Holy Cross Academy. They will be taking on Burlington Township at 10:00 a.m.

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.