HMHS Boys Basketball: Four more games. Four more wins.
By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today
The Haddonfield boys basketball team had a long week, playing three conference games before competing once again in the Jeff Coney Classic at Rancocas Valley Regional High School (RVRHS) on Saturday. While each conference opponent—Woodbury, Audubon, and Haddon Heights—gave the Dawgs a bit of a challenge, the most competitive game would prove to be the nonconference match versus Nottingham High School, the game I did not get to stream or see live. (The RVRHS AD, who told me last week via email that the game would be streamed on the school’s YouTube channel has some “splainin’ to do, because it wasn’t.) So while I’ll give recaps from the Colonial contests I saw (two via live stream and one, Audubon, in person), I alas won’t have too much to tell you about the Nottingham game beyond what two “on-site” reporters passed along.
Haddonfield at Woodbury: January 22, 2024
The varsity game’s 4 p.m. start time on Monday made streaming it later a much better option for me. Plus, my recliner chair is a bit more comfy than seating in most schools’ gymnasiums.
From the outset, Woodbury, members of the Patriot division of the Colonial Conference, made their presence “Herd,” scoring the game’s first basket. While senior Sam Narducci’s trey put the Dawgs out in front on Haddonfield’s first possession, the Woodbury players made it clear the Herd was going to run with the Dawgs. After a 3 by senior Phil McFillin made it 6–2, Dawgs, with 5:45 on the clock, the Dawgs had a chance to add to their score after a combined pickoff by senior Daire Roddy and Narducci. Ensuing foul shots did not drop, however, and the Herd answered with a 2. Senior Patrick Ryan went in for a bucket off a feed from Narducci, putting the Dawgs up 8–4, and after Woodbury lost the ball, Ryan scored again, this time off a pass from senior Matt Morris.
The Dawgs’ 10–4 lead was short-lived, as the Herd hit a 3. Ryan, who was a scoring machine in the first 8 minutes, scored once more, with Roddy getting the assist, making it 12–7, Haddonfield, but Woodbury scored back-to-back 2’s. With 3:46 on the clock, the Herd were within 1, 12–11. Narducci, who would score 9 points on a trio of 3’s in the first, hit his second to push the Dawgs’ edge to 15–11, but Woodbury got a 2, and with 2:17 left in the quarter, they were hanging around, only down by 2, 17–15.
After pulling down an offensive board, Ryan’s shot made it 17–13 with about 90 seconds to go in quarter 1. Neither team scored their next possessions, but with 1:06 on the clock, Woodbury’s 2 got the Herd back to within 2, 17–15 before Narducci swooshed in his third trey of the quarter, making it 20–15, Haddonfield, which was the last basket for either side before the horn sounded.
In the second quarter, the offense cooled a bit under both baskets. After Woodbury got the first basket of the second quarter to make it 20–17, Haddonfield, with less than a minute gone, the Dawgs had some miscues and missed shots that resulted in no baskets. Woodbury found the net again and, with 5:52 left in the half, had gotten to within 1, 20–19. A possession later, after the Dawgs had once more failed to score, the Herd had a chance to tie the game or go up by 1 from the foul line. Neither shot dropped, and a few plays later, Narducci dropped in a 3, putting the Dawgs up by 4 again, 23–19.
Woodbury’s next shot attempt was blocked, and Ryan scored in the paint and was fouled. His shot from the line went in, and with 4:34 remaining in the second, the Dawgs were now in front 26–19. About a minute later, Narducci upped that lead to double digits, 29–19. After a much-needed Woodbury time out, the Herd came back and got a basket, but Narducci responded with yet another 3, which gave the Dawgs an 11-point, 32–21, advantage.
Woodbury would not score again in the half, but the Dawgs added 4 more points on baskets by Narducci and McFillin. As the teams headed to their locker rooms, the Dawgs had put some space between them and their hosts and were ahead by 15, 36–21.
Narducci, who scored 20 of Haddonfield’s 36 first-half points, stayed hot in the remaining two quarters. He made five 2’s in the third. Meanwhile, Woodbury as a team, which had done a good job of keeping the game close for a good part of the first half, only managed two baskets in the third, both coming after the midway point. For Haddonfield, sophomore Mike Douglas knocked down a 3, Ryan made another basket, Roddy scored twice, and senior Nate Rohlfing, who is playing significant minutes but not starting yet after returning from his injury, also added a bucket. When the third ended, the Dawgs had really pulled away from the Herd and were leading by 28, 57–25.
Narducci had himself quite a night, and even though Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman would sit all the starters (I count seven Dawgs’ players as starters this year, by the way) before the game ended, Narducci still managed to sink another 3, go up and in for a pair of 2’s, and drop in 2 from the foul line. A 3 from senior Mike Feinstein and two baskets from freshman Ryan Guveiyian accounted for the other 7 points of the fourth. When the game was over, the Dawgs had left the Herd in the dust, winning by a score of 73–38. Sam Narducci was responsible for more than half of Haddonfield’s points, besting Woodbury’s score by 1, with 39.
Quarter scores:
1st: Haddonfield 20, Woodbury 15
2nd: Haddonfield 16, Woodbury 6
Halftime: Haddonfield 36, Woodbury 21
3rd: Haddonfield 21, Woodbury 4
4th: Haddonfield 16, Woodbury 13
Final: Haddonfield 73, Woodbury 38
Players scores
Sam Narducci 39
Patrick Ryan 13
Phil McFillin 5
Daire Roddy 4
Ryan Guveiyian 4
Mike Feinstein 3
Mike Douglas 3
Nate Rohlfing 2
Haddonfield at Audubon: January 23, 2024
The Audubon Wave’s gym has gone through a transformation. In fact, if you so desire, you can buy a piece of the old floor, that is framed with its dates of 1958–2023, as a souvenir. (One set of Haddonfield parents, who met 33 years ago when the now husband and dad was scouting the game for Haddon Heights and the wife/mom was in attendance cheering for Haddonfield, purchased a piece to commemorate the start of their “court”ship.) The Wave motif, seen in a few locations in the gym, has been depicted artistically as a mascot that has a bit of a resemblance to the Flyers’ Gritty.
Audubon is also in the Patriot division of the Colonial Conference, so this would be Haddonfield’s only meeting with them. Patrick Ryan tipped the jump ball to Daire Roddy to begin the game, but the Dawgs could not score on their first attempt. After the Wave lost the ball out of bounds, Roddy hit a 3 to give Haddonfield an early 3–0 lead. A traveling violation was called against Audubon, and at the other end, Phil McFillin was fouled. His two shots from the line were good, making it 5–0, Dawgs, before Audubon scored its first basket of the game.
After a 3 from Narducci, Ryan grabbed a defensive rebound, and Audubon, applying good pressure, knocked the ball out of bounds. So, the Dawgs stepped behind the arc, with Narducci setting up Roddy for another 3, and with 4:46 on the clock, the Dawgs were up 11–2. Audubon answered with a 3, and then after the Dawgs did not score, made a 2 to get back to within 4, 11–7 with just under 4 minutes left in the quarter. Audubon blocked a shot, Matt Morris pulled down a defensive board, and at the Dawgs’ end, McFillin hit a 3 to make it 14–7, Haddonfield.
Neither team scored their next trips up and down the court, then the Wave made a bucket. Ryan got fouled pulling down an offensive rebound. After making the first shot, he missed the second, got his own rebound, but the Dawgs lost possession out of bounds. Morris collected the defensive rebound under the Wave basket, and Roddy nailed his third trey of the quarter, which doubled Audubon’s score, making it 18–9 with 1:35 left in the quarter. The last basket of the quarter would be a 3 by McFillin ahead of the buzzer after the Dawgs got an offensive board. This gave Haddonfield a 21–9 lead going into the second period.
Audubon chipped away at that 12-point deficit, scoring the first two baskets of the second quarter, a 2 and a 3, respectively, to get to within 7, 21–14, with 6:40 on the clock. McFillin got his third 3 of the half, and after Audubon lost the ball out of bounds, Narducci got 2 off an offensive board. A pair of foul shots from the Wave made it 26–16, Haddonfield with 5:21 to go in the half. More than a minute ticked off the clock before another ball found the net. This time it was Audubon who scored from the field and followed with 1 from the line. With 4:01 remaining in the second, Audubon had taken away the Dawgs’ double-digit lead and were within 7, 26–19.
Unfortunately for the Wave, those 3 points would be their last of the quarter. The Dawgs went on a 16-point run that went like this: Narducci hit a 3, McFillin did the same, Ryan went in for a basket off a Roddy pass, then he scored again on another pass from Roddy, and Narducci ended the run with another 3. When the teams exited the court for halftime, the Dawgs had shored up their lead and were out in front of the Wave by 23, 42–19.
That lead grew in the third. Audubon only got two baskets, a 3 with 5:35 on the clock and a 2 with 3 and change left in the quarter. Haddonfield’s offense slowed a bit, and in fact, the third would be its lowest-scoring of the game, as they “only” put up 17. Morris, Narducci, and Roddy added 3’s, Morris and McFillin both scored a 2, and Ryan added a pair of buckets. Going into the final 8 minutes, the Dawgs were making quite a splash in the Wave’s new gym, up by 35, 59–24.
Rohlfing got some extra time on the court in the fourth and made the most of it, going up and in for four baskets in the paint. Morris got one more 3, and Roddy got his fifth bucket of the game—the only one that wasn’t a trey—but the rest of the scoring came from the bench. Mike Douglas scored three times, Mike Feinstein hit a 3, and Ryan Guveiyian made 1–2 from the foul line. When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had sunk 10 3’s on the way to sinking the Wave 82–39. Four starters finished in double digits and nine Dawgs scored altogether: Phil McFillin led the Dawgs with 16, Sam Narducci and Daire Roddy both had 14, and Patrick Ryan had 12.
Quarter scores:
1st: Haddonfield 21, Audubon 9
2nd: Haddonfield 21, Audubon 10
Halftime: Haddonfield 42, Audubon 19
3rd: Haddonfield 17, Audubon 5
4th: Haddonfield 23, Audubon 13
Player scores:
Phil McFillin 16
Sam Narducci 14
Daire Roddy 14
Patrick Ryan 12
Matt Morris 8
Nate Rohlfing 8
Mike Douglas 6
Mike Feinstein 3
Ryan Guveiyian 1
Haddonfield at Haddon Heights: January 25, 2024
Thursday night was the first rematch for Haddonfield against the teams that are also in the Liberty division of the Colonial Conference. In the first game of the season back in December, the Dawgs had hosted the Garnets, winning by 5, 41–36 in what so far has been their second-closest final to date. This second meeting would have a slightly different outcome.
In the first few minutes of the game, the lead shifted back and forth. Matt Morris got the Dawgs on the board for the first basket of the quarter, but the Garnets responded with one of their own. Phil McFillin hit a 3 to make it 5–2, Dawgs, but Heights got a point back from the foul line, and with a little more than 2 minutes off the clock, it was briefly 5–3, Haddonfield, before Heights got its first 3 of the game to go up by 1, 6–5. Patrick Ryan snatched the lead back with 2, and at the other end, grabbed a defensive board after the Garnets’ shot did not go in.
Under the Dawgs’ basket, Ryan then pulled down another board, which set up another 3 from McFillin. A turnover by Heights turned into a basket by Narducci, and with 3:51 on the clock, the Dawgs’ mini run had put them up by 6, 12–6. McFillin got the defensive board when Heights again did not score and passed the ball to Daire Roddy, who drove into the paint for 2 to make it 14–6, Haddonfield, leading to a timeout called by Heights with 3:23 left in the first.
Neither Heights nor Haddonfield scored on their first possessions after play resumed. McFillin got a defensive board but again the Dawgs could not get the ball in the hoop. Ryan’s block of a Garnet shot sent the ball airborne, but the Dawgs still couldn’t score. Finally after Ryan hauled down one more defensive rebound, Narducci’s attempt at a 3 dropped in, giving the Dawgs a double-digit, 17–6, advantage with 1 minute and change to go. Heights’ several minute drought ended with 52 seconds left, but a drive into the paint by McFillin with 39 seconds remaining boosted the Dawgs’ lead back up to 11, 19–8. That would be the final basket of the quarter, as Heights let the clock run down to almost 0 before taking a shot that did not go in.
The next 8 minutes would produce the biggest offensive output for both teams. McFillin made five baskets: a pair of 3’s, a pair of 2’s, and was 1–1 from the line. Narducci got another 3 and another 2, in reverse order than in the first. Matt Morris had 2 field goals and was also 1–1 from the line. Ryan and Roddy each scored a basket, and so while Heights added 13 to its total, the Dawgs added 25 and had more than doubled the Garnets’ score by the half, ahead by 23, 44–21.
Morris went on quite a tear in the third, knocking down two 3’s and three 2’s, meaning he tripled the Garnets points, outscoring them on his own 12–4. Mike Douglas, Roddy, and Narducci all scored 2’s as well.
Then with about 4 minutes to go in the quarter, things got a bit rough-and-tumble on the court. With the Dawgs cruising along 56–23, Narducci, as he does at least a few times per game, stole the ball and was on his way to a cross-court basket when a Heights player pushed him into the student section under the basket. I was streaming the game, and there wasn’t much of an explanation. I couldn’t tell exactly what had happened from the angle I saw Narducci go down, but my on-the-scene pair of eyes told me later that Narducci was knocked into the stands, which was no doubt an (unsportsmanlike) act of frustration by the guilty Garnet. However, instead of Heights getting assessed with a technical, Ryan almost had one called on him for coming to Narducci’s rescue and pulling the offending Garnet off of him. When all was said and done, Heights was charged with a regular player foul. Narducci made 1–2 before limping off the court. (Luckily, Coach Paul Wiedeman confirmed later that night that Narducci, who had already missed several games due to a high ankle sprain, was OK.)
At that point, the Dawgs were up 57–23. The period ended with Morris getting his last 2 baskets, Douglas getting his, and Heights making one. When the clock hit 0:00, the Dawgs were tarnishing the Garnets, ahead by almost 40, 63–25.
In the 4th, McFillin got one more basket before heading to the bench, Nate Rohlfing got his first, and then JV squad took over. Mike Feinstein, Chris Beane, and Ryan Guveiyian came in back-to-back-to-back and promptly hit back-to-back-to-back 3’s. A few plays later, sophomore Chase Stadler came in and got in on the 3-point fun. Mike Douglas scored a 2, and Beane followed his trey with a 2 as well. When the final horn blasted, the Dawgs had blasted the Garnets out of the gym, beating them by 51, 83–32, which was a bit more than the 5-point differential of the first game. McFillin and Morris supplied much of the Dawgs’ offense, pouring in 21 and 19, respectively. Narducci finished with 13.
Quarter scores:
1st: Haddonfield 19, Haddon Heights 8
2nd: Haddonfield 25, Haddon Heights 13
Halftime score: Haddonfield 44, Haddon Heights 21
3rd: Haddonfield 19, Haddon Heights 4
4th: Haddonfield 20, Haddon Heights 7
Final score: Haddonfield 83, Haddon Heights 32
Player scores:
Phil McFillin 21
Matt Morris 19
Sam Narducci 13
Daire Roddy 6
Chris Beane 5
Patrick Ryan 4
Mike Douglas 4
Mike Feinstein 3
Chase Stadler 3
Ryan Guveiyian 3
Nate Rohlfing 2
Jeff Coney Classic—Haddonfield versus Nottingham: January 27, 2024
The Dawgs never trailed during a quarter in this game their fourth game in 6 days. Their opponent, from the Colonial Valley Conference, was 10–4 overall coming into the game. That being said, according Reporter #1, Haddonfield got off to a slow start, missing “a lot of shots early,” which is not the norm for the Dawgs’ high-octane offense. Reporter #1 credited sophomore Mike Douglas, who came in off bench and “turned the game around.” Reporter #2 confirmed this assessment, citing Douglas’ “exceptional rebounding and getting to the hoop.” Their off shooting is no doubt one reason the Dawgs had only put up 25 points to Nottingham’s 14 at the half.
In the second half, the Dawgs put a few more points on the board, finishing with 55 to Nottingham’s 43. This was only the sixth time all season that the Dawgs were held to less than 60 points. I didn’t have a Kevin Minnick NJ.com game wrap-up to get more details this time, but I can give you quarter scores and some individual stats for the Dawgs’ players.
Quarter scores:
1st: Haddonfield 11, Nottingham 8
2nd: Haddonfield 14, Nottingham 6
Halftime score: Haddonfield 25, Nottingham.14
3rd: Haddonfield 12, Nottingham 8
4th: Haddonfield 18, Nottingham 21
Final score: Haddonfield 55, Nottingham 43
Player stats:
Matt Morris scored 21 points, five from behind the arc. Phil McFillin finished with 14, making four treys and two steals. Patrick Ryan had another solid game at both ends, scoring 6 points, pulling down 11 rebounds, and dishing out four assists. Sam Narducci also had 6 points. Mike Douglas had 4 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Nate Rohlfing had 4 points and two blocked shots. Floor general Daire Roddy also had three assists.
The Dawgs are now 19–0 overall and 11–0 in the Colonial Conference (6–0 in the Liberty division).
The Week Ahead
The Dawgs have a bit less of a frenetic schedule in the next seven days. Up first, they finally have a home game, their second Liberty rematch, versus the Haddon Township Hawks. Thursday is their away game versus the Eagles of West Deptford. Both games are at 7 p.m. Saturday, they have an 11 a.m. nonleague game versus Central Reginal High School at what is becoming a familiar setting: Holy Cross Academy in Riverside.