Schools

By Lauree Padgett. Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

CLICK TO WATCH DAIRE RODDY SINK A 45-FOOTER AT THE BUZZER!

At the end of a 4-game stretch that saw the Dawgs defeat St. Joseph’s (Hammonton) High School in the Seagull Classic, and then three Colonial Conference opponents (Haddon Heights, Lindenwold, and Gloucester City High School—which, unbeknownst to me, became a new member of the Liberty division), the Haddonfield boys had earned a bit of time off. Their first game this past week wasn’t until a home matchup against Colonial rival, the Audubon Wave, on Thursday, 1/20.

One way to describe this contest for the Dawgs would be “easy-threesies.” That’s because in the first half alone, Haddonfield hit 9 3’s. The first came from senior Tom Mooney on the Dawgs’ first possession of the game off a feed from sophomore Daire Roddy, who grabbed the ball after senior Matthew Guveiyian’s tip from the jump ball. After a 2 from junior Tommy Bond, Audubon got 3 back, but senior Matt Leming answered with a 3. Mooney got 2 from the foul line before the Wave got 2 field goals in a row, and with 5:17 left in the first, the Dawgs were up by 5, 12–7. Mooney’s second trey of the quarter would make it 15–7. Back-to-back jump shots by Leming and Mooney pushed the lead up to 12, 19–7, with 2:02 remaining.

Audubon ended its dry spell with a nice drive but a bounce pass from one Matt (Guveiyian) to the other (Leming) made it 21–9 with just over a minute to go in the 1st. Audubon would pick up one more point from the foul line and the Dawgs would get 2 more on a nice drive by Roddy, and as the first quarter came to an end, Haddonfield was up by double digits, 23–10.

In the second 8 minutes, the Dawgs would put 26 on the board thanks to Leming, who knocked down five shots from behind the arc. But he had help with the offense. Mooney began the scoring making 2 foul shots and Roddy followed with a floater to make it 27–10. Sophomore Sam Narducci, who started the 2nd, grabbed a defensive board and went cross-court to finish with a layup, increasing the Dawgs’ lead to 19, 29–10, at the 5:42 mark. The Wave’s first bucket of the quarter made it 29–12, but a basket by Dawg sophomore Patrick Ryan got that 19-point lead back. Then Leming got smoking hot. He swooshed in three 3’s in a row between only a pair of foul shots by Audubon, and before the Wave knew what hit them, they were trailing 40-14 with 3 minutes and change before the half.

Audubon managed to get 2 unanswered field goals before Roddy hit a 3. The quarter closed out with Leming hitting another pair of 3’s (one of them rolled around the rim before dropping in). As the half ended, Haddonfield was giving the Wave a pounding, 48–18. Leming alone was beating Audubon 22–18.

Coach Paul Wiedeman already had been making substitutions in the first half, when 10 players saw action, and by the time the game ended, 15 had gotten onto the court. In the 4th quarter, Bond picked up where Leming left off and made back-to-back-to-back 3’s. The final score was Haddonfield 79, Audubon 37. 13 of those 79 points came from the bench. Not surprisingly, Leming led the Dawgs’ scoring barrage with 22 but was closely followed by Mooney, who had 20. Bond added 15.

Saturday, the Dawgs welcomed former Colonial Conference Liberty rival, the Rams of Overbrook, who are now in the Tri-County conference. As we were leaving the stands on Thursday night, Dave Wiedeman predicted this was going to be a tough game. Never doubt what Dave Wiedeman says.

The first thing I thought when the game actually started was how small the Overbrook starters made Haddonfield ‘s look, and that’s with two of our players being 6-4 (Guveiyian) and 6-5 (Bond). The Dawgs started out with a 3 from Matt Leming, but the Rams answered with a 3 and then got one of several they would make during the game off an offensive rebound to go up by 2, 5–3.  Tom Mooney’s 2 foul shots tied it up. The Dawgs lost a defensive board this time and the Rams’ second shot went in, making it 7–5, Rams, with 4:19 left in the quarter.  A nice pass from Daire Roddy to Mooney tied the game at 7 but a steal from behind, also the first of many that Overbrook would inflict on our usually good ball handling guards, broke the tie. Leming’s second 3 of the quarter gave the Dawgs their first lead of the game, 10–9, with 2:24 on the clock. A Haddonfield foul sent Overbrook to the line, but only one shot dropped, bringing the game even at 10. Senior Dante Del Duca was fouled behind the arc and made 1-3 to inch the Dawgs back out in front 11–10 with just under 2 minutes left in the quarter. However, the Rams would get the last 2 buckets of the first to go up by 3, 14–11, going into the second.

Those first 8 minutes set the tone for the next 24. Neither team could go up more than a few points and neither team could hold whatever lead they had. Leming started the 2nd the way he started the first, with a trey, which made it 14–14 with just over a minute gone. A floater by Mooney gave the Dawgs’ back the edge, 16–14, but Overbrook got the next two baskets to take a 2-point lead with 5:04 on the clock. Neither team could get a basket for almost 2 minutes, then Roddy was fouled at stepped to the line with 3:19 left in the half. His shots tied it at 18. Senior Carson Wolff, who almost always starts in the 2nd quarter, brings a lot of energy, especially defensively, onto the court. His steal was capped by a 3 from Teddy Bond, and with the Dawgs up by 3, 21–18, with 2 and change left in the half, Overbrook called a timeout.

After the inbounds, Overbrook lost the ball off a rebound, but the Dawgs couldn’t capitalize, even after getting an offensive board. Haddonfield was assessed a foul, even though the Overbrook player slipped on the court, and the Rams ended up hitting a 3 to knot the game at 21 with 45 seconds on the clock. Roddy’s basket made it 23–21, Haddonfield, but a foul, called just ahead of the buzzer on the Dawgs gave the Rams 2 shots at the foul line. One went it, and when halftime officially started, the Dawgs had the slimmest of leads at 23–22.

The 3rd quarter began with Overbrook having possession. The Dawgs immediately started pressing, which was having a good effect of blocking the entryways into the lane. So instead, the Rams shot from behind the arc and successfully regained the lead, 25–23, with 7:33 on the clock. Mooney went up and in on a reverse layup and tied the game at 25 about 70 seconds later. Leming, who was still channeling the 3’s, hit another to give the Dawgs’ a 3-point, 28–25, lead, but the Rams pulled down an offensive board and got a basket to cut that edge to 1, 28–27, with 5:19 left in the quarter. A pass went off Haddonfield under the basket. At the other end, good “D” by the Dawgs got a jump ball call, but Overbrook had the possession arrow and held onto the ball. Both teams exchanged a bad trip down to their respective baskets, and then the refs missed a clear backcourt violation on Overbrook (when I see it, you know it’s a no-doubter). Luckily, a blocked shot by Matthew Guveiyian kept the Rams from getting points off the missed call, and then a nice pass from Bond to Leming resulted in another 3 swooshing in, which gave Haddonfield its biggest lead, 31–27, of the game with 4:12 to go in the 3rd.

Neither team would score of their next few attempts. Then at the 2:21 mark, Overbrook turned yet another offensive board into a basket to make it a 31–29 game. After the Dawgs’ next shot did not find the net, the Rams got 2 on an uncontested layup to make it 31 all with 1:38 showing on the scoreboard. After getting an offensive board, it looked like Guveiyian was fouled trying to get the ball up and in under the basket and would be heading to the line, but the refs didn’t see it that way. Instead, the Dawgs had to inbound the ball and misfired, which put the ball back in the hands of the Rams, who scored to retake the lead 33–31. The Dawgs had 6.3 seconds to set a play but were charged with a travel. The buzzer sounded with the Rams finally missing a second-chance shot and the Dawgs looking uncharacteristically rattled.

The Dawgs had more trouble trying to inbound to start the 4th quarter and lost the ball. At the other end of the court, the Dawgs were pressuring the Rams under the basket, and more than 90 seconds ticked off the clock before the Rams found a path into the paint and the basket to go up by 4, 35–31, with 6:02 left in the game. Wolff got trapped in the corner with the ball and made a smart move, deflecting the ball off a Ram player so it went out of bounds. However, the Dawgs could not score. Overbrook gave the ball back on a traveling violation, and just back into the game, Bond fired off a 3-point attempt that just rimmed in to get the Dawgs back to within 1, 34–35, with 5:07 on the clock.

Wolff snuck in for a steal and Haddonfield made three attempts to get the ball in; none dropped. Overbrook gave the ball back after getting called for an offensive foul, and with 4:32 on the clock, Paul Wiedeman called a 30-second timeout. The Dawgs got the ball in this time under the Rams’ basket, and Leming got his own rebound but did not score. He pulled down a bigtime board defensive board at the other end and was fouled. Again, the Dawgs faltered trying to inbound the ball. This time, Overbrook called a timeout with 3:42 to go.

After a near pickoff by Mooney, it looked like the Dawgs did pull off a steal, but the refs called a double-dribble on Leming that no one in my section of the stands seemed to see or agree with. Overbrook had gone a bit cold but its missed shot went out of bounds off Haddonfield. However, the Rams were assessed with another moving violation, which their fans did not agree with. (A longtime Haddonfield fan who has probably seen even more high school games than I have remarked afterwards that the game was too fast-paced for the referees to keep up with, and I think she was absolutely right, as the refs got a lot of jaw from both sets of fans throughout the game.) With 2:49 on the clock, the Dawgs managed to successfully inbound the ball and Leming got fouled in the act of shooting, which sent him to the line with 2:39 remaining. His shots put Haddonfield up by 1, 36–35, and a timely pickoff by Guveiyian gave the Dawgs back the ball. Wolff passed the ball to Del Duca, who went up and in, giving the Dawgs a 3-point edge, 38–35, with 1:59 left in the game. That didn’t last for long as Overbrook “rammed” in a 3 to make it a dead heat again, 38 all, with 1:36 left in a very exciting, back-and-forth game.

After Guveiyian had to make a quick move to save the ball from going out of bounds, and with the clock down to 1:36, Coach Wiedeman thought this was a good time for a huddle on the sidelines with his players. After the Dawgs inbounded, the ball went out of bounds off a kicked ball by the Rams. The Dawgs ran a good play but the ball did not drop. At the other end, the Rams got their shot to roll in to take the lead back, 40–38, with 9.4 seconds left. Haddonfield called another timeout to discuss the last play. Things did not go as planned and not only did the Dawgs not score, they fouled the Rams trying to get the offensive rebound. 

With 2.7 left, the Rams inbounded the ball under Haddonfield’s basket, and it went out of bounds off the Dawgs. Now there was 1.7 seconds left. Wiedeman put the Dawgs’ tallest players, Guveiyian and Bond, on the Ram who was trying to inbound. With no players open, Overbrook had to call at timeout so it wouldn’t lose possession. In the stands, the Haddonfield faithful were not feeling too optimistic, as it looked like time had run out for a Dawgs’ comeback.

But Dawgs players do not quit. Ever. Odds don’t faze them. Clocks running down don’t make them wave the white flag. As the Ram player inbounding the ball threw it higher up, over the heads of Bond and Guveiyian, aiming for his player on the other side of the half-court line, 5-11 Roddy, who was also positioned on the other side of the line a bit in front of the much taller Overbrook player, leapt up and intercepted the ball before it could reach its intended target. With amazing poise, Roddy dribbled the ball into Haddonfield territory, and instead of just throwing up the ball in desperation, he set his feet and made a shot, not a heave. The buzzer sounded as the ball was in midflight. It hit nothing but net for a waaay-behind-arc 3. The Dawgs had won in stunning fashion, 41–40. As the scoreboard registered the shot and it registered with the fans and players in the gym that Haddonfield once again had stared down what seemed like a sure defeat to pull out a win, the place went nuts. Overbrook players could not believe what had happened, hung their heads (even though they had played their hearts out for 31 minutes and 58.3 seconds), and walked off the court. Dawg fans started screaming, and there was a big pile-up of Dawgs on the court. Somehow Roddy did not end up on the bottom, which was probably a good thing, but Mooney, officially listed at 6-2, and Guveiyian did, and they were both slow to get up once the bodies of their teammates were pulled off them. I was a bit worried when Guveiyian very gingerly stepped off the court, but a check-in later with his dad, Mike, eased my concern, as I got the “all clear.”

Roddy’s amazing leap and basket got into the hands of the people at ESPN who create the Sports Center Top 10 Plays, and it ranked as number 4. During the Sunday 6 o’clock Action News broadcast (ABC being affiliated with ESPN), sportscaster Jamie Apody also showed the clip and marveled at Roddy’s one-two punch to upend the Rams. If you missed being there in person or were there but would like to watch it a few more times, here is the LINK to the whole Top 10 countdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pfAJssGZI.

This was a game for the books. Every point mattered. Every rebound mattered. Every steal, every block, every denied basket kept the Dawgs in the game for 32 minutes, including the last 1.7 seconds. Leming, with his 5 3’s and 2 foul shots, one again was high scorer for his team, putting 17 on the board. Mooney had 8; Bond, 6; Del Duca, 3; and Roddy, 7. From now on, I’m going to call this super soph “Double Daire” because not only did he dare to try for that steal, he dared to go for that improbable 3. If he hadn’t, the Dawgs would have played hard and lost 40–38 to a really good, athletic team. But because Roddy believed the Dawgs still had a “shot” to win, that’s just what they did.

Haddonfield now has an 11–2 overall record and is 7–1 in conference play. Next up is a Tuesday, 1/25, 7 p.m. home game against the Thundering Herd of Woodbury. On Thursday, 1/27, the Dawgs head down to what is almost always a tough game against the Red Raiders of Paulsboro. That is also a 7 p.m. start. The week wraps up in what has become an annual appearance in the Jeff Cooney Classic at Rancocas Valley Regional High School. The Dawgs are slated to go up against Burlington Township High School in a 6:15 game that in all probability will not start on time.

By Lauree Padgett. Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

After what was, from all reports, an exciting game on the court, with some additional excitement in the stands, Sunday, 1/9, when the Dawgs pulled out a 50–46 OT win against St. Joseph’s High School (Hammonton) in the Seagull Classic, the team had no time to savor it. Monday night, 1/10, they were back on the (home) court hosting their Colonial nemesis, the Garnets of Haddon Heights. It would be the first of the week’s trio of games, which also included another Colonial home matchup Wednesday, 1/12, versus Lindenwold and a nonleague contest Friday, 1/14, at Gloucester City High School.

No matter where the teams are in the conference standings, games between the Dawgs and the Garnets are always highly anticipated. Monday night, that may have been the case at the outset, but by the end of the first quarter, the outcome seemed pretty apparent. Senior Matthew Guveiyian got the offense rolling with a nice drive up and in to put the Dawgs on top 2-0 a minute and 40 seconds into the game after both teams had not scored during their first possessions. Heights quickly tied the game at 2, but after senior Tom Mooney picked off the ball after Haddonfield’s next shot had not gone in and Heights pulled down the rebound, he was fouled in the act of shooting. His two shots from the foul line were good and put the Dawgs back up by 2, 4–2, at the 5:28 mark.

The Garnets did not score, Mooney secured the board, and senior Matt Leming swooshed the ball into the net for 3, pushing the Dawgs’ lead to 5, 7–2, with 4:35 on the clock. Mooney and Leming combined for a pickoff, but the ball went out of bounds off Haddonfield. This time Guveiyian pilfered the ball and took it cross-court for a slam. The Dawgs were now on top 9–2 with just about 3:30 left in the quarter.

The Garnets lost the ball again, this time on a steal by senior Dante Del Duca. Leming’s shot did not find the net, but he stole the ball before the Garnets could get a shot up and was fouled on his scoring attempt. His two foul shots made it 11–2, Dawgs, with 2:40 showing on the scoreboard. The Garnets finally did get a basket—from the foul line—to put another point on the board. A nice defensive shot block by the Garnets gave them back the ball, but they were still cold from the field. Guveiyian grabbed the board, passed it to senior Carson Wolff, who had come in a few plays earlier for Del Duca. Wolff made a nice move to give the ball back to Guveiyian, who got his second basket of the quarter, which gave the Dawgs’ a double-digit, 13–3, lead with about 90 seconds remaining in the first. Still, Heights could not hit a shot, and this time on the Dawgs’ end, Mooney got fouled. Both his shots dropped in, making it 15–3, Haddonfield, with 1:24 to go.

Heights’ drought from the field ended on a 2-pointer at the 1:15 mark, but the Dawgs would score two more times off a pair of foul shots by Leming after another steal, and a basket by Del Duca after Heights had turned the ball over on a double dribble. After 8 minutes, it was all Dawgs, who were up 19–5.

In quarter 2, the Dawgs’ scoring (12 points) slowed a bit and the Garnets’ (9) picked up. The Dawgs’ 12 came on an outside 3 and two foul shots by Guveiyian, a 3 by sophomore Daire Roddy, a field goal by Roddy’s fellow “soph” Sam Narducci, and a pair of foul shots by Leming. When the teams trapsed off to the locker rooms at halftime, the Dawgs were up 31–14.

The third quarter proved to be the most competitive 8 minutes of the game, as Heights put up 14 to Haddonfield’s 19. However, the Garnets were doomed by the fact that they were down by 17 when the second half began. The Dawgs would have had to have gone bone dry from the field in order for the Garnets to make up enough to get back into the game. Still, it was a fun quarter to watch, as the teams traded baskets much more evenly. Even so, after 3 and then a 2 by Heights, at the 4:26 mark, the Dawgs had twice as many points—42—as their opponents’ 21.

The play of the quarter, probably of the game, came right before the Garnets’ 3. It began with a poach of the ball by Del Duca and ended with Guveiyian stunning the crowd—my travel buddy Vic Wiedeman was still talking about it on the drive home—with a 360-degree reverse slam. Guveiyian would have another reverse layup with 2:07 left in the quarter that gave the Dawgs a 47–24 lead. Also in the 3rd, Mooney hit a pair of treys, Roddy hit one, as did Leming, who also got 2 from the foul line. At the end of the quarter, the Dawgs were taking the shine away from the Garnets and were up by 22, 50–28.

It was more of the same in the 4th. The Dawgs’ held the Garnets to 7 points while adding 16 more to their total. Guveiyian had 2 more under the bucket, Narducci got a 3 and a 2, as did senior Sean Beane, and Mooney and Leming each got another pair from the line. When the final buzzer sounded, the Dawgs had tarnished the Garnets by a score of 66–35. Guveiyian finished with 20, Leming had 16, and Mooney had 12.

In this odd Monday–Wednesday week of conference play, the Lindenwold Lions next came into the Dawgs’ den. It should be noted that the visitors seemed to be missing several players from the varsity squad. Haddonfield has been without Teddy Bond for a few games, but the other 14 Dawgs all made it into the 1/12 game. That being said, the Lions managed to get 9 points compared to the Garnets’ 5 in quarter 1. The Dawgs, got 22, with four out of their five starters contributing. Dante Del Duca got the Dawgs rolling with a 2. Matthew Guveiyian followed with a bucket under the basket, and his fellow Matt, Leming, hit a 3. When he stole the ball down at the other end, it led to a 2 by Tom Mooney, and with not even 3 minutes gone in the 1st, the Dawgs had jumped out in front 9–0.

Leming would get another 2 off a nice bounce pass from Guveiyian before Lindenwold got its first bucket of the game. At the 3:42 mark, the Dawgs were up by 9, 11–2. Leming hit another 3, the Lions got another basket, and then Mooney hit one from behind the arc. After a blocked shot by Guveiyian, Leming cut loose with another 3, and with 1:53 on the clock, the Dawgs were having no trouble keeping the Lions at bey and were on top by 16, 20–4. Lindenwold would get 5 in a row on a 3 and a 2 before the Dawgs’ scoring for the quarter ended as it had begun: with a 2 from Del Duca. The Lions put one more up and in, and when the quarter ended, it was a 22–9 lead for Haddonfield.

The Dawgs defense kicked into a higher gear in the 2nd, and the Lions only “mane”-aged to get two field goals in the next 8 minutes. Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman began inserting his non-starters into the game in the 2nd as well. Senior Carson Wolff, who is almost always first in off the bench, began the quarter on the court and finished with 5 points and added a lot of intensity into the mix. Sam Narducci and senior Jon Bucci also made their presence felt on the court, as the two each contributed a pair of field goals. Mooney had the hot shot in the 2nd, with 3 2’s and 2 from the foul line. At the half, the Dawgs had 44 points, twice as many as the Lions.

The third quarter was the last time any of the five starters saw any action. Guveiyian got three buckets in the paint plus a foul shot, and Mooney kept up his scoring with 3 more buckets as well. Leming got one more 3 and one more from the line. Wolff got his third field goal of the night and Daire Roddy got his first. This nice, even display of offense added up to 21 points, so going into the last quarter, the Dawgs were up by 43, 65–22

Even though the Lions were losing by quite a bit, it is worth noting on their behalf that they did not roll over and play dead. Instead, the team played as if the score was much closer, and they showed off some nice moves throughout the game. It would have been interesting to see how much more competitive the game would have been if Lindenwold had been sporting a full bench.

In the 4th, while the starters cooled their paws, their teammates kept up the offense and defense. Eight different players got the ball in the net. Narducci and Beane added 4 apiece. Sophomore Patrick Ryan hit 1-2 from the line and scored in the paint after an offensive rebound. Sophomore Jack Walters nailed a 3, Bucci and fellow senior Evan Rohlfing each hit 2, as did sophomore Zack Langan. And another soph, Nate Rohlfing, added 2 from the foul line. When it was all over, the Dawgs had kept the Lions out of the hunt with an impressive 87–30 victory.

Despite the very lopsided score, only Tom Mooney, with 18, and Matt Leming, with 15, reached double digits for the Dawgs This was due in large part to the way Paul Wiedeman, like his dad Dave before him, coaches. He wants his players to excel, to play hard, to learn from and help each other every game. If he had kept his five starters in and just interspersed his other few players who often come in off the bench, the Dawgs could easily have reached 100, probably more. Losing by 57 was not a fun experience for the Lindenwold Lions, but Paul Wiedeman made sure it wasn’t a humiliating one either. That’s one of the reasons he is such an exceptional coach and so well-respected in and out of the Colonial Conference.

Friday, 1/14, the Dawgs left the confines of their court to travel to Gloucester City High School to take on another pack of Lions. I watched from the comfort of my desk, but was having trouble getting the stream to come up, so I missed the initial possessions of both teams. When I joined the game, it was tied at 2. My sideline reporter, Mike Guveiyian, told me that Haddonfield got its first two points from the foul line courtesy Dante Del Duca. The Dawgs got another basket from the foul line by Mike G’s kid Matthew to take a 1-point, 3–2, lead with about 5:20 on the clock.

Both teams seemed a bit flat—and for the Dawgs, that was understandable, as this was their fourth game in 6 days. Almost 4 minutes went by before anyone got the ball in the net again. Luckily for Haddonfield, it was Del Duca’s shot, which made it 5–2, Dawgs, with 1:47 to go. The Lions answered with a basket at their end to tighten the game back to 1-point, 5–4, at 1:28. The Lions then picked-off the ball and went up and in to take the lead, 6–5, with 1 minute remaining in the quarter. Haddonfield did not score, and Gloucester City ran down the clock before taking and making another basket. However, they left just enough time for Del Duca to hit a 3 ahead of the buzzer, tying the game at 8.

Gloucester City inbounded the ball to start the 2nd quarter and did not score. The Dawgs missed at the other end but got the offensive board. The Lions almost got a steal but instead were charged with a foul, which sent Tom Mooney to the line. He made both shots to break the tie and put the Dawgs up by 2. Good “D” got the Dawgs back the ball and Guveiyian went up and in on a feed from Mooney to make it 12–8 with 5:46 on the clock. The two teams traded buckets, with the Dawgs’ coming on a nice drive by Mooney, which made it 14–10, Dawgs with 5 and change left in the half.

At the other end, Guveiyian and Carson Wolff applied good pressure but the ball went out of bounds off the Dawgs, and the Lions were able to get a basket to cut the Dawgs’ lead down to 2, 14–12, with 4:14 left in the half. Another ball that went out of bounds off Haddonfield gave Gloucester City possession. This time, the Lions hit a 3 to retake the lead 15–14, but a nice move by Mooney en route to the hoop flipped the edge back to Haddonfield, 16–15, with 2:45 on the clock. Under the Lions’ basket, Haddonfield blocked a shot but then failed to score.

Matt Leming elevated enough to just tip a shot from the Lions that was behind the arc, keeping it from going in. Haddonfield had two chances at their end but couldn’t get the ball in the net; Gloucester City had no better luck and then lost the ball out of bounds. Mooney’s shot did not drop, Wolff pulled down the offensive board, passing the ball back to Mooney, who this time hit a 3 with 55 seconds left in the half, which put the Dawgs up by 4, 19–15.

More tight defense from the Dawgs prevented the Lions from scoring, but the Lions returned the favor under the Haddonfield basket, causing the Dawgs to lose the ball out of bounds with 2.3 seconds left. Gloucester City ran a quick, effective play off the inbounds to score, so the half ended with the Dawgs only out in front by 2, 19–17.

The 3rd period possession arrow favored the Dawgs. Their first shot attempt was no good, Guveiyian tipped the ball back out to a teammate, but the Dawgs could capitalize on the second chance to score. However, a loose ball sent the teams diving to the floor, and Haddonfield came up with it. Del Duca got his own rebound after a missed basket, handing it off to Mooney, who drove in for a bucket. His shot made it 21–17, Haddonfield, and Mooney would add 2 more points from the foul line a few plays later. (One play featured a backcourt violation being called on Haddonfield that absolutely was not.) With 5:28 left in the 3rd, the Dawgs were up by 6, 23–17.

The Lions were playing stall ball because they were having a difficult time moving past the perimeter into the paint. However, a ball from behind the arc found the net, which made it a 23–20 game with 4:26 on the clock. Although the Dawgs did not answer with a basket, they got a group effort steal and Leming hit a 3 to get that 6-point lead back, 26–20, with 4:02 remaining in the period. Del Duca got a defensive board, Haddonfield did not score, then got a non-shooting foul assessed on them. The Lions got off another shot that did not drop, and Leming snatched the rebound, then helped to prevent a near-steal by the Lions. That allowed Del Duca to sink a 3, and with 2:04 to go in the 3rd, the Dawgs had their biggest lead of the game, at 29–20.

The Dawgs were caught off-guard thanks to a very nice backdoor drive by the Lions to make it a 7-point, 29–22, game with 1:22 on the clock. Haddonfield lost the ball on a bad pass, but Del Duca and Guveiyian combined for a pick-off with 37 seconds left. The Dawgs kept moving the ball until the clock was almost wound down, when Mooney hit a 2 to reclaim that 9-point lead and put the Dawgs up 31–22 as the 3rd ended.

Clearly this had not been exactly an offensive barrage for the Dawgs, who had beaten Haddon Heights by 31 and Lindenwold by 57. After scoring 8 in the 1st, 11 in the 2nd, and 12 in the 3rd, the Dawgs only got 5 points, all by Mooney, on the board in the 4th. After his opening basket to start the 4th, Mooney would get 3 from the foul line, going 1-2 in three trips. It was also the lowest-scoring quarter for the Lions, who got all 4 of their points from the foul line. When the buzzer (mercifully) sounded, the Dawgs had come away with a 10-point, 36–26 W.

Mooney accounted for 20 of the Dawgs’ 36 points. Del Duca knocked in 10. Guveiyian and Leming were the only other Dawgs to score, and each had 3.

Haddonfield will not play again until they travel to Audubon on Thursday, 1/20, for a Colonial Conference game against the Green Wave. It’s good that they have some extra days between games, as the team is looking, you guessed it, Dawg tired. Their other game of the week will take place at home, when they host Overbook on Saturday, 1/22, at 1 p.m.

By Lauree Padgett. Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

Dawgs Have a Sandwich Week: Two Wins on Either Side of a Loss

The Haddonfield boys basketball team played three games this past week. The first two, on Tuesday, 1/4 and Thursday, 1/6, were against Colonial Conference rivals Collingswood and Sterling. The third was a nonconference match-up against St. Joseph High School (Hammonton) and took place at Holy Spirit High School on Sunday, 1/9 as part of the Seagull Classic.

The first contest, at Collingswood, was ugly, but we got a 26-point W out of it, and it wasn’t really close after the first half. The next two games went down to the wire. One even went into OT. The Dawgs nearly pulled out a win in one and did hang on to win in the other. Of course the game I didn’t get to was the game that the Dawgs eked out the victory … But thanks to a “court” reporter at the Holy Spirit game, I can give you a bit of a recap, including highlights of the last 4 minutes.

The Collingswood game I got to watch from the comfort of my desk, as almost all of the away conference games are being live-streamed. The Dawgs got the first point of the first quarter on a foul shot by senior Tom Mooney, but Collingswood got 2 on the Panthers’ first possession.

A nice feed from Mooney to fellow senior Matthew Guveiyian put the Dawgs back on top by 1 again, but another basket by Collingswood put them up 1, 4–3 with 5:46 on the clock. Neither team scored for a few trips up and down the court. Two minutes would go by, in fact, before junior Teddy Bond’s shot seesawed the lead back to the Dawgs, 5–4; 20 seconds later, sophomore Daire Roddy made it 7–4, Haddonfield.

However, a 3 by the Panthers tied it at 10 with 1:40 to go in the quarter. With just under a minute left, Collingswood got 2 from the foul line to push ahead 9–7. After a near turnover by the Dawgs, senior Matt Leming launched a 3 to give the Dawgs back a 3-point, 10–9, lead with 24.5 seconds remaining. In what looked like a pretty empty gym, it was easy to hear the Collingswood coach’s instruction: “One shot.” That one shot, released just ahead of the buzzer, did not drop, so heading into the 2nd quarter, the Dawgs were still on top 10–9.

At the 7:12 mark of the 2nd quarter, Collingswood went to the foul line. That in and of itself was not unusual; what made it so was the fact that this trip to the line was a 1+1 opportunity, meaning that in less than 9 minutes of action, Haddonfield had committed seven fouls. One-and-ones don’t generally happen until the end of a half, but less than 60 seconds into the 2nd quarter, the Panthers converted both ends to slip back into the lead, 11–10.

Sophomore Sam Narducci’s bucket put the Dawgs back up 12–11, but not for long, as the Panthers scored on an uncontested shot to make it 13–12, Collingswood, with 6:11 left in the half. A floater by Carson Woolf flipped it back to a 14–13 Dawgs’ edge. A technical called on Collingswood sent Bond to the line, and he made both shots to put his team up by 3, 16–14. The Dawgs maintained possession of the ball but did not score.

Another Dawg foul set up another 1+1. This time, Collingswood got the first shot but not the second, making it 16-14 Haddonfield with 4:57 on the clock. Collingswood finally picked up its fourth foul of the game (to Haddonfield’s 8, not that anyone was counting) at the 4:55 mark. About 40 seconds later, senior Sean Beane’s 2 gave the Dawgs a 4-point, 18–14, lead.

After the Dawgs picked up foul #9, Collingswood stepped to the line once more. This time, both shots were good and the Dawgs’ lead was back to 2, 16–14. A pickoff by Collingswood resulted in—you guessed it—a 10th foul called against Haddonfield. I scribbled down, in all caps, I might add, “THIS IS UNREAL,”  and with 2 and change until half-time, Collingswood made 2 more foul shots to tie the game at 18. Bond broke that tie with a 3, which was followed by a 2 by Narducci and then a 3 by Narducci. And just like that, with 39 seconds left on the clock, the Dawgs had taken an 8-point, 26–18, lead, and that’s what was on the scoreboard as the half came to an end.

Mooney started the second half the same way he started the first: making 1–2 from the foul line. After Guveiyian took a charge and the Dawgs got the ball back, a 2 by Leming gave Haddonfield its first double-digit lead of the game, at 29-18, with 50 seconds gone in the 3rd. A drive by Mooney made it 31–18 with 6:05 on the clock. The Panthers didn’t get a basket until nearly 3 minutes had ticked off the clock, but the Dawgs answered with a 3 from Leming, as with 4:48, the Dawgs were up by 14, 34–20. Another basket by Collingswood made it 34–22 with 4:38 to go.

The Dawgs had gotten a little sloppy and after that Panther basket, the Dawgs committed two fouls on either side of a bad pass that resulted in a turnover. This time, Collingswood did not get any points from the foul line, and with 2:29 left in the 3rd, the score remained 34–22. At the other end, sophomore Patrick Ryan hit 2 from the line to make it 36–22, Haddonfield, with 1:53 on the clock. A few plays later, Ryan showed good hustle to keep the ball in the Dawgs’ possession, which enabled Leming to score to make it 38–22, Dawgs, with 35 seconds to go. The Panthers got a basket and a foul, but didn’t convert the shot from the line, and Leming ended the 3rd with a 3. Going into the last 8 minutes, the Dawgs had stretched an 8-point halftime lead into a 17-point, 41–24, lead.

The Dawgs would score another 15 points in the 4th and hold the Panthers again to 6 points. Guveiyian, Mooney, and fellow senior Evan Rohlfing each had a basket. Narducci had a pair, and Leming had another 2 and another 3. The final was 56–30. Leming led all Dawg scorers (10 players each had at least one basket) with 19. I am giving Haddonfield’s coach Paul Wiedeman an assist, which was his trademark while a Haddonfield player, as I had to ask him for a box score the next day. The lighting for the live stream was not great, so it was not always easy to read the numbers on the jerseys. (Even after I stopped the feed and rewound it a few times during the game, I wasn’t sure if I had given the right player credit for a shot, and apparently, more than once, I hadn’t.) Plus, with a few exceptions, most of the Dawg players have dark hair. Leming usually wears a headband, and it took me until the end of the 3rd quarter to realize he was wearing a dark blue one, which is why I had short-changed him 4 points.

Two days later, the Dawgs welcomed the Silver Knights of Sterling to their home turf. I was informed by a regular in the stands, former head coach Dave Wiedeman, that Sterling was good and it was going to be a tough game. The elder Wiedeman, as always, knew what he was talking about.

The game started off with neither team scoring during its first possession. Matthew Guveiyian, who went in for a “gentle” dunk, got the Dawgs’ on the board, but Sterling quicky answered, and with 6:22 on the clock, it was 2 all. Guveiyian was fouled his next attempt and made 1–2 from the line, and with a little more than 2 minutes gone in the quarter, it was 3–2, Haddonfield,.

After a scuffle on the floor for a loose ball, Sterling came away with it and scored. Haddonfield lost the ball on a travel. The Dawgs had good “D” under their basket to deny the Knights, but a bad pass turned the ball over, and this time, Sterling found the net to push the lead to 3, 6–3, with 4:25 on the clock. Mooney’s bucket made it a 1-point game, but after a foul called against the Dawgs, the Knights scored again to put them back up by 3, 8–5, with 3:36 to go in the 1st.

Guveiyian, who is more known for his points in the paint and his offensive and defensive boards, took Sterling by surprise with a 3 to tie it at 8. Sterling got the lead right back with a basket, and after neither team scored during a few trips up and down the court, Sterling took advantage of another Dawg turnover to go up by 4, 12–8, with 5.7 on the clock. A missed shot on the buzzer by Haddonfield kept the Dawgs trailing by 4 going to the 2nd quarter.

In the initial 2:57 of the 2nd, the two teams only mustered 3 points, all coming from the foul line. Sterling got 1 to go up by 5, 13–8, and then a pair by Mooney cut the lead down to 3, 13–10, with 5:58 on the clock. The first field goal of the quarter came from Wolff, to get the Dawgs to within 1, 12–13, at the 5:03 mark. Sterling got its first bucket down at its basket to go back up by 3, 15–12. The Dawgs had two shots fail to find the net, Sterling also failed to score, and then the Dawgs lost the ball on a traveling violation.

Another basket by Sterling put the Knights up by 5, 17–12, with 4 minutes to go until the half. Mooney made a nice weaving move to get to the basket and his shot did everything but drop. Sterling was having no trouble at all getting the ball in the net and scored its third unanswered basket to increase its lead to 7, 19–12, with 3:18 to go. A few plays later, Mooney secured a defensive board then went down the other end for a shot that did go in. A few seconds later, he went in for another 2 off a quick steal, and with 25 seconds remaining in the half, the Dawgs had gotten back to 3 and were down 16–19, which is how the half ended.

When play resumed in the 3rd quarter, Haddonfield came out looking energized. The Dawgs inbounded the ball and got the offensive board after a missed shot. That gave Teddy Bond the chance to let loose behind the arc and tie the game at 19 just 29 seconds into the 2nd half. Neither team scored, and then Sterling got called for a travel. Matt Leming got his first basket of the game, also a 3, to put the Dawgs out in front 22–19 with 6:48 on the clock. Again, the teams were not able to score for a few possessions. An offensive foul called on the Dawgs gave the Knights the ball back, and a 3 at their end tied it a 22 with 2:58 on the clock. Mooney was fouled in the act of shooting and made 1–2 from the line to push the advantage back to Haddonfield, 23–22, at the 2:18 mark.

A foul sent a Knight over the back of Mooney but since it wasn’t during a scoring attempt, the Dawgs had to inbound the ball. In a nice play, Bond passed the ball into Guveiyian, who went up and in to put the Dawgs up by 3, 25–22, with just under 2 minutes showing on the scoreboard. Sterling got a quick bucket and was fouled in the process. The foul shot was good and once again, the teams were knotted, this time at 25 all with 1:32 to go.

The Dawgs missed a shot, but Guveiyian, in an amazing feat (feet?) of balance, saved the ball from going out of bounds, and with 44.2 remaining, put the Dawgs back up by 2, 27–25, with another basket. Sterling drew even with 15 seconds to go. Senior Dante Del Duca (known as D³ in my notepad) was fouled attempting to score. With 6 seconds left, he made the first shot and missed the second, but Wolff got the rebound and scored, and the Dawgs were up  by 3, 30–27, going into the 4th.

Both teams were showing the weight of 24 minutes that had been a constant battle, as neither managed to score for the first 1:59 of the final quarter. Sterling’s 3 at 6:01 brought the teams even yet again at 30 all. At the other end, Wolff pulled down an offensive rebound and then sent the ball into the net to give the Dawgs a 2-point edge, 32–30, and with 5:43 left in the game, Coach Paul Wiedeman wanted a timeout.  Play-by-play announcer and DJ Mark Hershberger took that break to play a few strains of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” which I always thought was a great basketball song. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what  Sterling did to make it 32–32, but could not go up by one on the follow-up foul shot.

The Dawgs picked an especially bad time to have a turnover, as it resulted in Sterling going up by 2, 34–32. After the Dawgs did not score, Sterling was fouled attempting to do so. Both foul shots were made, which gave the Knights a 4-point, 36–32, lead with 4:54 on the clock. 90 seconds would go by before Haddonfield got to the foul line with a 1+1 chance. The first shot did not go in, and after getting the rebound, Sterling scored to take a 6-point, 38–32, lead with a little less than 3 minutes to play.

Leming caused a jump ball and the Dawgs had the possession arrow. A Sterling foul sent Mooney to the line, again with a 1+1 in play. He made both shots to make it 38–34, Knights, with 2:43 left in regulation. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, Sterling hit a 3 and the Dawgs lost the ball on a travel on a bit of slippery court. Del Duca picked off the ball, the Knights were called for a foul, and Leming stepped to the foul line for a 1+1. He made both, and with 1:45, the Dawgs were still in the hole by 5, 36–41.

Wolff stole the ball but couldn’t quite hold onto it. Sterling kept possession on a jump ball call with 1:31 on the clock. But Mooney caused one of his own to get the Dawgs back the ball, only to have the Dawgs give it back to the Knights on an offensive foul call. Del Duca picked off the ball again … and again the Dawgs couldn’t hold onto it. Instead, a foul sent Sterling to the line with a 1+1 chance. Both shots went in, and with 45.1 seconds to go, the Dawgs were down by 7, 36–43.

Now, at about this “point,” it wasn’t looking too good for the Dawgs. However, the Dawgs never give up and concede a loss. After a full-time out by Sterling, Mooney got a 2 on a feed by Guveiyian. Now it was 43–38, Sterling, with 22.7 remaining. Haddonfield called a full time out. Off Sterling’s attempt to inbound the ball, Guveiyian intercepted it, passed it to Wolff, who went up and in. With 14.1 to go, Sterling’s lead was down to 3, 43–40.

This time the Knights got the ball in play and were fouled, bringing into play yet another crucial 1+1. With 8.4 on the clock, Sterling missed the front end, and Guveiyian grabbed the rebound.  Two times, the ball went out of bounds off Sterling. With 2.1 on the clock, Sterling called a full time out. The Dawgs had to inbound and were having trouble finding an open man. But Sterling committed a foul to help the Dawgs out. After Leming uncharacteristically missed both shots, the Dawgs tried for a rebound and lost it out of bounds.

All Sterling has to do is inbound the ball and the game is over. In trying to make a long pass into Sterling territory, the ball hits the rafters. It’s now Haddonfield’s ball again, and there is still 1.1 seconds on the clock. There is time for a very quick shot. It looks like Mooney is going to be the man to launch it, but … Haddonfield loses the ball. “WTF?” I demand on my notepad. (Everyone knows this translates into “What the foul??”) Sterling gets the ball back and this time makes a short pass to inbound the ball. The buzzer sounds. The Knights have swash-buckled their way to an intense, often crazy, 43–40 victory. Tom Mooney finished with 13 for the Dawgs, Matthew Guveiyian with 10.

After the game, I turn to—who else—the man in the know, aka Dave Wiedeman, for an explanation. He tells me in that last play by the Dawgs, they were called for an illegal screen. The fourth, Dave adds, of the game. On the way home, my driving buddy Vic Wiedeman says, “Paul’s been teaching his players that screen for 23 years …” Apparently, if that screen is now illegal, the Dawgs’ coach never got the memo.

On Sunday, 1/9, the Dawgs traveled down to Absecon and Holy Spirit High School to take part in the Seagull Classic. Their opponents was St. Joseph’s High School of Hammonton. I was hoping to find a stream of the game, but after many attempts, I had to give up. Luckily, I had a man on the scene, Mike Guveiyian, dad of Matthew. His first update was at the half, when the Dawgs were up by 1, 21–20, which was pretty amazing since Mike said 12 or so of St. Joe’s points were from the foul line. Since this was supposed to be another really tough opponent, I was heartened to hear the team was hanging in there. My next update was after the 3rd period. The Dawgs were now on top by 5, 33–28, which was sounding pretty good. The next update was not what I had hoped: At the end of regulation, the teams were tied at 37 and were headed to a 4-minute OT. “Aagghh!” I replied. The next message read,” 46–42 us with 1 minute left in OT. Other team hit a 3—we were up 7.” I was hoping the Dawgs would hang in for those last 60 seconds … With 19 seconds left, Mike reported that the Dawgs were ahead 48–44 and had possession. St. Joe’s was fouling. A short time later, I was told, “48–46. 6.7 left, our ball.” Jeez, this was getting too close again! After what seemed like a long time and wasn’t, I got the good news: The Dawgs had prevailed and won 50–46. Mooney and Leming made big foul shots at the end. I asked about the Guveiyian on the court and was told he pulled down a lot of rebounds. My last question to my reporter was, “Any illegal screens called on us?” “Zero” I was told.

So, in a long week the Dawgs managed to win 2 out of 3 games. They are now 6–2 overall and 3–1 in the Colonial Conference.

The week ahead has a bit of a scheduling oddity, as the Dawgs are playing conference games on Monday, 1/10 and Wednesday, 1/12. Both are home games, the first against Haddon Heights and the second versus Lindenwold. Friday is an away game at Gloucester City at 5:30. I am not sure what the status is as far as fans in the stands, but the game will be streamed live. Go HERE to watch it.

By Lauree Padgett. Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

If you added up the Dawgs’ points and their opponents’ points for the two games Haddonfield played this past week, the first against Clearview Regional High School in the Haddonfield Invitational, the second versus Egg Harbor Township in the Haddons Showcase, and divided the totals in half, the Dawgs would have come out on top in both contests. Alas, that is not how it  works. So after pummeling the Pioneers on Tuesday, 12/28, 73–39, the Dawgs never really got airborne in their matchup against the Eagles on Thursday, 12/30, and suffered their first loss of the early season, 42–59. They are now 4–1 overall and 2–0 in Colonial Conference play.

It isn’t too exciting to write up either a blowout, which the first game clearly was, nor four quarters when the Dawgs were just not getting it done offensively or even defensively. Hence, this is not going to be one of my longer articles. Instead, I’ll share the highlights of the 34-point victory that sent the Pioneers packing and then take a look at the best part of the Dawgs’ 17-point defeat against the Eagles.

The Dawgs got off to a very hot start in Tuesday’s game. Their first five baskets were from behind the arc (aka 3-point line), and I honestly can’t remember that happening very often, if at all. Teddy Bond got the 3-point barrage started after both teams missed their first scoring opportunities. After another Dawgs’ miss, Tom Mooney stole the ball and went cross-court and put up his first 3 of the game. Clearview got 2 points back from the foul line before Matt Leming nailed a 3 to put Haddonfield up by 8, 12–4 with 4:35 left in the quarter.

Another Dawg foul put the Pioneers back on the line, where both shots were again made, but Mooney’s second 3 made it 15–6, Dawgs. The Pioneers finally got a 3 of its own, and Haddonfield finally had to “settle” (think about it a second and you’ll get it) for a drive up and in by Matt Guveiyian, and with 3:31 on the clock, the Dawgs were leading by 8, 17–9. Clearview got its second 3 to cut the lead to 17–12 before Daire Roddy joined the 3-point fun to give the Dawgs back their 8-point cushion at 20–12. A pickoff by Roddy led to a 2 by Mooney, which would be the final basket by either team. When the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, the Dawgs had a double-digit, 10-point edge up 22–12.

The second quarter wasn’t as offensively explosive as the first, which had seen the Dawgs put 6 3’s in the net. However, Bond put on his own little 3-point show to start it off, hitting back-to-back-to-back 3’s while the Dawgs kept the Pioneers scoreless. After 3 number 3 dropped in, the Dawgs had gone from being up by 10 to being up by 19, 31–12, after only 2 minutes.

Clearview’s mini-drought ended with a 2 and then the Pioneers got 1 from the foul line, hitting the front end of a 1+1, to make it 31–15 with 5 and change left in the half. Another Roddy 3 and a foul shot by Jon Bucci pushed the Dawgs’ lead to 20, 35–15. Clearview would get the last 2 baskets of the half, and when the teams headed off the court, the Dawgs were still up by 16, 35–19. Ten of those 35 points came off 3’s.

Clearview had its best 8 minutes of offense in the 3rd, putting 13 points on the board to Haddonfield’s 17. This time, more 2’s (five) went in than 3’s (two). Guveiyian got three baskets in the paint and one from the foul line, while Mooney and Leming each added in a 2 and 3. That gave the Dawgs back a 20-point lead going into the last quarter of action.

In the 4th, the Dawgs saw some more action on the foul line; 7 of their 21 points were made there. Mooney and Leming again each got a 3 and a 2, with Mooney knocking in 2 from the line and Leming, 3. Roddy got a basket, and sophomore Patrick Ryan hit 2 from the line as well. When it was all over, the Dawgs had not given a very friendly welcome to the Pioneers, taking them down 73–39. Bond, who racked up 6 of the Dawgs’ 14 3’s, finished with 20 points. Leming followed with 16, and Mooney, 15.

Haddonfield went into Thursday’s game missing one of its starters and one of its first-off-the-bench players. However, it would be a discredit to Egg Harbor Township to say that’s why the Dawgs lost the game. The truth was, the Dawgs’ shots were not finding the net nearly as easily as they had two days earlier. That was due in part to how well the Eagles played defensively, as the Dawgs weren’t getting the same open looks. But when they did, not enough of those shots swooshed in.

The Dawgs fell behind by 4 to start the game, but got a bucket by Roddy before the Eagles got another basket to go up by 4 again, 6–2. A drive by Mooney and a basket by Leming tied the game at 6 with 1:41 left in the 1st. However, Egg Harbor would get a trio of 3’s to a pair of 2’s by Mooney and Bucci, giving them a 15–10 lead to finish the quarter. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t get any better the next 8 minutes. In the 2nd quarter, the Dawgs only put 7 points on the board compared to the Eagles’ 14, so at the half, they were trailing by double digits, 17–21. 

But remember I said there was something to cheer about in this game. It happened in the 3rd quarter with the Dawgs behind by 24, 19–43 with just under 3 minutes left. Leming hit a 3, Egg Harbor didn’t score; then Leming hit another 3. Again, the Eagles did not score. Mooney drew a foul going up and in and hit both of his shots from the line. With 1:38 left in the quarter, the Dawgs were now within 16, 27–43. And they weren’t done their scoring run. After Egg Harbor lost the ball out of bounds, the Dawgs didn’t score, but Mooney’s steal set up Leming for another 3, and with 47 seconds to go, it was now a 13-point game, with the suddenly cold Eagles’ lead cut down to 43–30. This time Roddy picked off the ball and scored and with 8 seconds remaining in the 3rd, the Dawgs had rattled off 13 straight points to cut the deficit to 11, 32–42. A 3 on the buzzer by Egg Harbor stopped the bleeding and put them back up by 14, 46–32.

While the rally fell short and the Dawgs ended up only getting 10 more points in the last 8 minutes, losing 42–59, it still reminded the fans—and the team—that the Dawgs never give up, even when they are getting outplayed. That “keep on fighting” mentality is the reason the Dawgs won back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019 and how they went 25–5 in 2020, winning the Colonial Conference in what was to be a rebuilding year, and gave Coach Wiedeman his 500th career victory in the South Jersey Group 2 semi-finals versus Haddon Heights, which the Dawgs won on a steal and basket by Connor Fell 35–33.

So, you can bet that the team will have learned some valuable lessons that might just pay off as the season progresses and the playoffs loom.

COVID (and snow forecasts) notwithstanding, Haddonfield is scheduled to travel to Collingswood Tuesday, 1/4, for a 7 p.m. game and to host Sterling on Thursday, 1/6. Right now, the Collingswood school district is staring 2022 virtually, and as of this writing, I have not been able to confirm if Tuesday’s game will be played, and if so, whether fans will be allowed in the gym. You can check the Dawgs’ online schedule for updates (https://haddonfieldathletics.org/main/teamschedule/id/3589622/seasonid/4623182) and also check to see if Collingswood will be live-streaming the game by going to its YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwg3lU6Eo6oija4v2y9sDDQ. Also currently on the slate is a game on Sunday, 1/9, which is a 3 p.m. game at Holy Spirit High School versus St. Joseph High School, Hammonton, as part of the Seagull Classic.

By Lauree Padgett. Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today             

There are few similarities so far between the 2021–22 Dawgs season and last year’s. The biggest difference is that the season kicked off last week on Friday, Dec. 17, when the Dawgs traveled to Haddon Township High School to go up against the Hawks. Last season, which skipped the months of December and January completely due to COVID and then COVID protocols, did not commence until Feb. 6. This contest was still an away game versus Haddon Township, but this time, instead of losing by 8 points, 30–38, which hadn’t happened in literally decades, the Dawgs prevailed 37–30.

That win in and of itself is a good sign, but it also shows what happens when a team isn’t literally interacting with each other for the first time when stepping onto the court for the season’s opening game, which is what happened in the February outing against the Hawks. Paul Wiedeman, who is entering his 23rd season as the Dawgs’ head coach with a more than impressive record of 512–102, noted in an email exchange a few weeks ago what a difference it was to have practices going in full swing and knowing that there would be fans in the stands from that initial tip-off and hopefully moving forward.

Even though this season’s squad had had many practices and some scrimmages prior to the 12/17 game at the Hawks’ home court, the Dawgs still weren’t totally in sync. There were more turnovers than what would normally be expected along with a higher number of bad (not to be confused with missed) shots. Hence, quarter one did not prove to be a rousing display of offense by either team and ended with the Dawgs up by 1, 7–6. Moreover, for most of those 8 minutes, the Dawgs were trailing the Hawks. It was senior Tom Mooney’s pair of foul shots with just under a minute to go that put Haddonfield on top. The only other baskets of the quarter came from a bucket by junior Teddy Bond (little bro to Richie and Will) and a 3 by senior Matt Leming.

Both teams picked up the scoring in the second quarter. The Hawks got to inbound the ball and wasted no time going back on top by a point, 8–7. That edge was short-lived thanks to a 3 by sophomore Daire Roddy, which put the Dawgs up by 2, 10–8, with not even a minute gone in the 2nd. The Hawks would bring the contest even at 10 a few possessions later, but Tom Mooney (sorry, but in the stands, I’m still calling him Tommy) again stepped to the foul line and again put the Dawgs ahead, 12–10, at the 5:12 mark.  A pickoff by Roddy led to a drive up and in by Bond, giving the Dawgs a 4-point, 14–10, lead with 4:39 left in the half. The Hawks answered with a basket to briefly cut the lead to 2, however, sophomore Sam Narducci pushed the lead back to 4. Although two straight 2’s by Haddon Township evened things at 16 with 2:30 on the clock, Haddonfield would get the last 5 points of the game off a 3 and a 2 by Mooney, and as the teams headed to the locker rooms, the Dawgs had stretched the lead to 5, 21–15.

The third quarter scoring dipped a bit again on both sides. The Dawgs only scored three baskets, a bucket in the paint by senior Matt Guveiyian, a 2 and a 3 by Mooney, and a pair of foul shots by Leming. The Hawks matched the Dawgs with a pair of 2’s and a 3 but didn’t get any points from the foul line, so when the period ended, Haddonfield had added 2 points to their halftime lead and were up by 7, 30–23.

In the 4th, the Dawgs would again put up 9 points in the exact same way: a pair of 2’s, this time by senior Carson Wolff and Mooney, a 3 by Leming, and 2 from the line by Mooney. The Hawks would only muster two baskets, coming back to back within a 10-second span. When the buzzer sounded, the Dawgs had won 39­–27. Mooney led all scorers with 18.

The second game was the next day, 12/18, at Cherokee and was part of the Jimmy V (North Carolina State head coach and later ESPN commentator Jim Valvano, who founded the V Foundation for Cancer Research just before his death in 1993 from adenocarcinoma) Classic. The Dawgs played Timber Creek. I was unable to attend, but Vic Wiedeman, my fellow 1980 HMHS grad and bro to the head coach, texted me the halftime (27–10, Haddonfield) and the final (52–30) scores.

On Tuesday night, 12/27, I was back in the Haddonfield gym in “my” spot—about 4 rows up across from the Haddonfield bench—for the first time since March of 2020. While I had been one of the lucky fans (as a member of the press) to attend home games in the 2020–21 season, I had been assigned the corner section by the gym entrance, across from the visiting bench, out of COVID protocol. It was great to be back at center court again!

The Dawgs were hosting the Eagles of West Deptford, and the game was in essence over within the first 8 minutes, if not sooner. The Dawgs started their scoring with a 3 from Tom Mooney and built up a 13–0 lead before the Eagles landed a basket in the net with less than 3 minutes to go in the quarter. When the first quarter was over the Dawgs were up by 14, 17–3; Matt Guveiyian provided 8 of those 17 points, and the other Matt, Leming, knocked in the other 9 on a pair of 3’s, a 2, and a foul shot.

If the Eagles had looked shaky in the first quarter, the Dawgs really clipped their wings in the second. Mooney got hot and hit a trio of treys plus a pair of foul shots. Leming got two more 3’s, and Sam Narducci hit one from outside the arc as well. Senior Jon Bucci added 4 points, and  Teddy Bond also got a basket. When the halftime buzzer went off, the Dawgs were in total command of the game, up 35 points, 45–10.

Even in the second quarter, Coach Wiedeman had started bringing in players off the bench, but he also let his starters and first subs get a decent amount of playing time. The Matts combined for 13 of the Dawgs 22 3rd quarter points: Matt G. had 3 buckets in the paint, and Matt L. had a 2, a 3, and a pair from the line. Daire Roddy got 2 baskets, and Mooney got his 4th from the field. At the end of 3, the Dawgs had put 22 on the board and were cruising, 67–17.

Even though none of the starters scored in the final 8 minutes, the Dawgs still added 15 points to their totals on 2’s by seniors Evan Rohlfing and Bucci and sophomores Sam Narducci and Jack Walters. Seniors Sean Beane and Dante Del Duca each made a basket from the foul line.

When all was said and done, the Dawgs had sent the Eagles limping back to their nest, or at least their bus, with a very lopsided 82–24 victory. Matt Leming was high scorer with 22 points. Matt Guveiyian finished with 14 points, and Tom Mooney had 13.

Now let’s take a look at the week ahead. On Tuesday, 12/28 and Thursday, 12/30, Haddonfield will be hosting two events: the Haddonfield Invitational and the Haddons Showcase, respectively. The boys and girls will be playing both days. On Tuesday, the girls take to the court first at 1 p.m., going up against Moorestown High School. At 2:30, the boys match up against Clearview Regional High School. On Thursday, the boys play Egg Harbor Township at 1 and are followed by the girls taking on Moorestown Friends at 2:30.

Anyone planning to attend any Haddonfield boys or girls games this season needs to know that each host school will decide how many fans can be admitted into the host’s gymnasium. Right now, Haddonfield is not putting a cap on attendance (more on that below), but that may not be the case at all other schools. So, before you head off to any away games, you should make sure you will have access to the gym. For example, Haddon Township, which has a small gym, limited attendance; each player on both teams was allowed to have four people attend the game. I checked ahead of time and found out I would not have been able to gain access through my press pass, but that may vary with each school as well. I got into the gym because Gary Vermaat, grandfather of Matt Guveiyian, graciously gave me his ticket, as going to the first game of the season was supposed to be part of my birthday celebration with his wife Debbie, Matt’s “Nanny.”

During the Haddon Township game, the student doing the play-by-play announced multiple times that masks were to be worn by everyone in the gym. (Players not on the court are required to wear masks as well.) I was not pleased to see that several students behind the Haddonfield bench were flagrantly ignoring this safety measure, and instead of having their masks covering their nose and mouth, had them around their neck.

Haddonfield AD Lefty Banos addressed the mask mandate before the start of the West Deptford game. He went on the court, mic in hand, and told the crowd that in order for Haddonfield to allow open attendance at home games throughout the season, fans had to keep their masks on at all times. Anyone who did not do so would be removed from the gym. Some students either didn’t hear this announcement or didn’t take it seriously and were not properly wearing the masks. Fairly quickly, they were approached and told to mask up or leave. They masked up. I hope Haddonfield keeps close watch on adult and student fans for the safety of all who are at the games, both on the court and in the stands, and that fans respect and comply with the mask mandate when they are at other gyms to cheer on the Dawgs. As COVID has shown, it is still capable of upending NBA, NFL, and NHL contest even with the majority of players vaccinated. Last year, Haddonfield’s normal schedule was cut to 15 games. For the sake of the team and its coaches and all who support them, I sincerely hope all will wear their masks to ensure that this season can continue all the way into March and the NJSIAA tournament.