HMHS Boys Basketball: Dawgs give Wiedeman win 600, clinch Colonial Liberty title

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.