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By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

I’m not sure if the Haddonfield boys basketball team started eating double servings of Wheaties this past week (the breakfast of champions, you know), or they just got themselves wound up after a three-game stretch in which their play looked lackluster at best. Or maybe they just started listening more to Coach Paul Wiedeman from the sidelines. Whatever the explanation, suffice to say the Dawgs got their bite back and then some on the way to collecting four—that’s right, four—dominating victories in week 5 of the high school hoops season.

Because all four games were not even that close after the first quarter, I’m not going to recap every quarter of each game. Instead, I’m going to throw out some impressive stats and then take a look at the decisive parts of each game.

Over those four games, two against Colonial Conference foes and two versus nonleague teams, the Dawgs won by an average of 25.25 points. Conversely, their opponents only averaged 29 points against what truly was a smothering Dawgs’ defense for almost all of the 16 quarters they played. Only Gloucester City broke 30, but the Dawgs put 26 more points on the board than the Lions. The team knocked down 26 3’s over this stretch, but even better, the Dawgs weren’t dependent on outside shooting to stay ahead.

Game 1: Haddonfield at Lindenwold, 1/9/22

This was the first game after the Dawgs had lost back-to-back contests against Sterling (39–47, which gave Haddonfield their first loss within the conference) and Hammonton (37–45). And it didn’t start out all that well. The Dawgs only got two buckets in the first 8 minutes, both by junior Patrick Ryan. Ryan’s first gave the Dawgs a 2–0 lead, but the Lions answered with a 3. Ryan put the Dawgs ahead again, 4–3, however, Lindenwold would get the last basket (at the 2:30 mark, which shows how poorly both teams were setting up plays and scoring to begin with) to take a 1-point lead into the second quarter. That would be the last time the Dawgs trailed at the end of a quarter for the rest of the week.

The Dawgs’ offense woke up a bit in the next 24 minutes, as they put 14, 14, and 15 on the board in the second, third, and fourth quarters, respectively. And 34 of those points came from the paint or inside the arc. Junior Matt Morris and Ryan led the way, with Morris scoring 15 to Ryan’s 12. In an “if you blinked” (or were scribbling in your notepad) moment at the end of the third, Morris drove into the lane, scored, then intercepted the Lions’ inbound pass under the Dawgs’ basket and scored again. When the buzzer sounded to end the 4th quarter, Haddonfield was on top by 21, 47–26. The Dawgs’ defense held Lindenwold to single digits every quarter.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Game 2: Gloucester City at Haddonfield, 1/11/23

The Dawgs offense kicked in from the start in this game against the newest member of the Patriot division of the Colonial, also with the nickname of the Lions. In the first 5 minutes, the Dawgs went on a 14-0 run, with 2’s from Sam Narducci and Teddy Bond, 3’s from Narducci and Daire Roddy, and a pair of foul shots from Narducci, before the Lions, hit a 3. The Dawgs would get 7 more in the quarter, while Gloucester City only mustered one additional basket, a 2-point field goal, making it 19–5, Haddonfield, as the second quarter started.

The Dawgs scoring slowed a bit in the second, as they added in only 9 more points on 3’s from Matt Morris and Roddy and a 3-point play—a basket and a foul shot—from Nate Rohlfing. The Lions were held to 5 again, so going into the half, the Dawgs were up by 18, 28–10.

The third quarter saw the biggest point tally for Haddonfield. Narducci and Roddy each nailed another 3 while Bond sank a pair of treys. Ryan had a pair of field goals, Narducci added a 2, and Rohlfing, who is almost automatic on the foul line, dropped in 2. These 8 minutes were also the Lions’ best effort of the game, as they put 17 on the board. Going into the fourth, the Dawgs were up by 21, 48–27.

With most of the starters out, the Dawgs still put 14 points on the board in the 4th. Morris and Phil McFillin had 3’s, Ryan and Rohlfing went up and in for 2’s, and Morris hit two foul shots. When this game was officially over (I say “officially” because it was pretty much over by halftime), the Dawgs had sent the Lions running, upending them by 26, 62–36.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Game 3: Haddonfield at Pemberton Township High School, 1/12/23

This was a nonleague game I was very happy to be able to stream, since it started at 5:30 and would have been at least a 35-minute drive from Voorhees. (That’s where I live, in case you didn’t know.) At least I was happy for the first 5:10 of the first quarter …

But to begin with, after both sides had some loose play in their opening possessions, the Hornets scored after an offensive board. Junior Zach Langan got the Dawgs on the board and tied the game at 2 with 5:45 on the clock. A feed from Daire Roddy to Patrick Ryan made it 4–2, Haddonfield, but it was immediately followed by another 2 from Pemberton. Teddy Bond’s drive with 4 and change showing slid the lead back to the Dawgs, 6–4. After the Hornets did not score, Roddy picked up another assist, this time dishing the ball to Langan, who went up and in, making it 8–4, Dawgs. Roddy, who had a great overall floor game, secured the rebound at the other end of the court, and this time, Sam Narducci found the net to push the lead to 6, 10–4, with 3:04 left in the quarter.

The Dawgs almost had another steal (I had marked three for the quarter already), but it went out of bounds off Haddonfield, so Pemberton maintained possession. At the 2:50 mark, their coach thought a timeout was prudent … That timeout lasted a loooooong time. Well, the timeout didn’t but that’s when the feed froze. After a few minutes, I got a text from my traveling buddy (TB), who was also streaming the game:

            TB: Did your picture freeze?

            Me: Yes.

            TB: Ugh.

            Me: What did you do, lol?

            TB: Still frozen here (this text was sent at 5:59, so you know this was a long delay)

            Me: Yup, grrrrr …

I think most of us who were still hoping the feed would start up again (and periodically refreshing the screen) were about to give up when there was finally screen movement again. But it didn’t pick up at the 2:50 mark of the first quarter. There was now 1:12 left in the second quarter. I was thrown a bit and was quite baffled as to how we were now down 13–24, as I texted:

            Me: Back and not good … Oh, wait. We are the guests …

            TB: I was wondering …

So in fact, after the Hornets got a basket as the action picked back up, it was 24–15, Dawgs, and that’s how the quarter ended. Thanks to the commentators from Pemberton Township High, who commented that Teddy Bond had gotten 10 of the Dawgs’ 11 second quarter points, with Morris adding a foul shot, I was able to mark that info down on my scorepad. What I didn’t know at the time was whether Bond had made three 3’s and a foul shot or a pair of treys and a pair of field goals. I also now knew that if the halftime score was 24–15, and the Dawgs had put 11 on the board in the second 8 minutes, the Dawgs had gotten 13 in the first quarter. When the feed stalled, the Dawgs had 10. So, who got those other 3 points and how? Happily, the Hornet commentators would fill me in before the game was over with point totals and even telling me how many 3’s Bond had made.

In quarter 3, in what is turning out to usually be the 8 minutes when the offense really kicks in, the Dawgs scored 8 baskets. Bond hit another 3, Narducci had a trio of field goals, Ryan had a pair, and Morris and Langan each added a bucket. Going into the last 8 minutes, the Dawgs had the Hornets buzzing mad, as they down by 21, 20–241. Each team added 7 points in the final 8 minutes, so when the game was over, the Dawgs had kept that 21-point advantage with a honey of a 48–27 win.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Game 4: Haddonfield at Overbrook, 1/14/23

Although Overbrook left the Colonial Conference a few years ago and is now in the Tri-County, the teams have still been meeting in nonleague contests. Almost 51 weeks to the day in 2022, the Dawgs, playing at home, had trailed the Rams the entire game. They were down by 2 and Overbrook was trying to inbound under their basket with 1.7 to go. (The Dawgs had knocked it out of bounds in the Rams’ first attempt.) Wiedeman had his two tallest players (Matt Guveiyian and Teddy Bond) guarding the baseline. The Ram tasked with getting the ball inbounds decided the smartest move would be a high lob pass to his teammate on the other side of half-court. He wasn’t expecting Daire Roddy to leap up in front of his teammate to intercept the ball. Borrowing from last year’s write-up, here’s what happened next: “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.”

Having checked on how the Rams had been doing so far this season before heading out to today’s game, I discovered because they had played one more conference game than the Dawgs, they had a 7–1 record to the Dawgs’ 6–1 record. Both teams were 9–3 overall. That made me think it could be another down-to-the-wire game, and I hoped Daire Roddy was at the ready! It turns out, Haddonfield would not need any last-second heroics this go-round. However, we still got a pretty darn exciting half-court basket … More on that in a bit.

That a big, game-winning shot would not be required wasn’t obvious at the outset of the game. Overbrook got the ball from the tipoff and scored, while Haddonfield failed to do so its first possession. After getting an out-of-bounds call under the Rams’ basket, the Dawgs then picked up two quick fouls. But good hustle helped the Rams get called for a backcourt violation. With 6:19 on the clock, Patrick Ryan got the Dawgs’ first bucket off a pass from Zach Langan to tie it at 2. After a near pickoff by Sam Narducci, Ryan got the defensive board, but the Dawgs’ shot missed the mark. Pressure from all five Dawgs kept Overbrook from getting its shot to drop, but the ball went out of bounds off Haddonfield. Roddy turned the tables and got the ball to go off a Ram, giving the Dawgs back the ball. Ryan was fouled trying to score and made both his shots to put the Dawgs ahead by 2, 4–2, with 4:19 left in the quarter.

The Dawgs kept pressing and the Rams kept missing shots and/or losing the ball out of bounds. Ryan blocked a shot, and Bond stole the ball off the inbound, but the Dawgs lost the ball on a dicey pass. The Rams returned the favor, also sending a bad pass out of bounds, but the Dawgs couldn’t take advantage of it and came away empty-handed. The next scoring came on a 3 by the Rams’ Devon Johnson, which put him into the 1,000-points club. Time out was called so his teammates, family, and fans (on both sides of the court) could applaud his accomplishment, which also put his team up by 1, 5–4, with 2:23 left to go.

That would be the last time Overbrook would be on top the rest of the game. After a Haddonfield travel and Overbrook being pressed into making another bad pass that went off the court, Narducci’s 3 gave the lead back to Haddonfield, 7–5, with 1:23 remaining in the quarter. Overbrook kept struggling to get shots off because the Dawgs were playing zone and in their faces. Between near pickoffs, actual steals, blocked shots, and defensive boards, the Rams had a tough time for all four quarters. With 1.4 left, the Dawgs got called for a sloppy foul that sent a Ram to the foul line. He converted 1–2.

That made foul shot would be the last point Overbrook would put on the board until the 1:57 mark in the third quarter. No, that was not a typo. Haddonfield kept Overbrook from scoring at all in the second quarter and for more than 6 minutes in the third quarter. While keeping Overbrook from getting anything into the net in the next 8 minutes of play, the Dawgs weren’t exactly on fire offensively, but thanks to a pair of 2’s from Matt Morris, a bucket in the paint from Nate Rohlfing, and a basket and a 2 from the line from Ryan, going into halftime, the Dawgs were up by 11, 17–6.

Just ahead of the start of the third quarter, Nostra“thomas” Betley said it was time for Haddonfield to blow the game open with some 3’s. The Dawgs were happy to oblige. Although the first shot of the third, an attempted 3, did not go in, the next four did. Narducci got the trey dropping with a little more than a minute gone, putting his team on top by 14, 20–6. Ryan pulled down another defensive board, and Bond nailed a 3. After Overbrook lost the ball out of bounds, Bond did it again.

With 6:28 on the clock and down by 20, 6–26, Overbrook called a timeout. It didn’t help or cool off Bond. After Langan and Narducci combined for a steal, Bond hit his third trey in less than a minute. To put it bluntly, Haddonfield was ramming Overbrook 29–6.

The Dawgs finally didn’t score, but after Narducci got a defensive board, he went cross-court and scored. In the next possession, Narducci’s attempted 3 went in and out, but after Overbrook turned over the ball again, Narducci went in for another 2, and with just under 4 minutes to go, the Dawgs were up by 27, 33–6. The Dawgs defense kept hounding the Rams, even though Haddonfield didn’t score for a few possessions. When another basket went it, it was Narducci once more, and with 2:02 on the clock, the Dawgs were up by 29, 35–6.

Finally, after nearly two quarters with nary a point, the Rams got a basket with 1:57 to go in the quarter. Rohlfing got those 2 points back from the foul line. After a steal by Morris, Narducci got the Dawgs’ fifth 3 of the third, making it 40–8, Haddonfield, with 1:23 remaining. Rohlfing got one more from the line, and with 3.0 left, so did Overbrook. That appeared to be the last point of the third, but Phil McFillin, in off the bench, did his best Daire Roddy impression and hit a half-court 3 as time expired. With 8 minutes left to play, the Dawgs were up by 35, 44–9, having put 27 points on the board in the quarter to the Rams’ 3.

Before the fourth quarter was over, all of the Dawgs who play JV but also are part of the varsity squad had come in off the bench. Several of them had seen some minutes earlier than the fourth. Rohlfing, who had his best game of the year both offensively and defensively, scored three more times in the paint. McFillin launched another 3, Jack Walters hit a 3 and a 2, and freshman Mike Douglas (except for Bond, who is a senior, the rest of the team is made up of juniors and one sophomore, Lear Fuller) notched a bucket. And after only getting 9 points through 3 quarters, the Rams got 18 points in the final 8 minutes. Those 18 points barely made a dent, as the final score was Haddonfield, 60, Overbrook, 27. Eight Dawgs scored at least one basket in this big win.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

The Dawgs are now 10–3 overall and 6–1 in the Colonial Conference. Up next is a home game versus Woodbury on Tuesday, 1/17,at 7:00 p.m. and a 5:30 p.m. away game at Collingswood on Thursday, 1/19. Saturday, 1/21, the Dawgs will play Mainland Regional at Paul the VI in a game scheduled for 5:30 (but that will probably start later), as there will be games ahead of it.

By Lauree Padgett Exclusive to Haddonfield[got]Today

Well, the week started out well enough, as the Dawgs, minus junior starter Daire Roddy, who was out due to COVID protocol, hosted the Red Raiders of Paulsboro on Tuesday, 1/3. Unlike some recent games versus this Colonial Conference Patriot division rival, the Dawgs were in control most of the game. By the final buzzer, they had put 72 points on the board to their opponents’ 52.

Two nights later, the Dawgs headed to Sterling to play another one of their Colonial nemeses. As their announcers noted, going into Thursday’s game, the Silver Knights had won three out of the last four matchups between these two Liberty division teams, dating back to the COVID-shortened 2021 season (no games were played in December of 2020). Haddonfield had avenged those three defeats by coming back to win in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 round three game in March of 2022 by 1 point, 26–25 thanks in part to some last-second defensive and offensive heroics by Matt Guveiyian.

The commentators went on to add that coming into the game, both teams were undefeated (4–0) in conference play and boasted a 6–1 record overall. Furthermore, the teams were very close in both points scored and given up per game so far this season. When the game was over, one team would remain on top of the Liberty division at 5–0 and one team would drop to 4–1. Unfortunately, the Dawgs faltered in the second half and lost by 8, 39–47.

Two days later, in a nonleague game on Saturday, 1/7 (while I, along with the fictitious residents of River City, Iowa, was being cast under the spell of Hugh Jackman’s Harold Hill), the Dawgs were still under a lack-of-scoring spell and lost again by 8 points, this time to Hammonton, 37–45. Obviously, I did not see this game, and while my nearly lifelong friend (and sometimes nemesis) Bill Tourtellotte kindly sent me a link to stream the game, after I heard from two other basketball buddies that the Dawgs lost and it wasn’t pretty, I decided to skip seeing a second loss within a week’s time.

So, I’m going to do something different (again) and compare the victory versus Paulsboro to the Dawgs’ upending by Sterling. This will be a little tricky, as Paulsboro (minus a key player, I was told) was not as tough an opponent as Sterling. Also, the Dawgs may have missed Roddy, who was still out on Thursday (I’m assuming that was the case Saturday as well), more against the Silver Knights than they did against the Red Raiders. OK, with all that said, here goes!

In the first 8 minutes against Paulsboro, four Haddonfield players (juniors Matt Morris, Paul Ryan, and Sam Narducci and senior Teddy Bond) combined for 16 points, including 3’s by Morris, Narducci, and Bond. The Dawg defense stole the ball three times, aided in the two traveling violations that were called against the Raiders, and held them to 9 points, with the last basket by Paulsboro coming on a 3 that just rolled in ahead of the buzzer.

The first quarter at Sterling was a reversal of fortunes. Three Dawgs scored (Morris, Ryan, and Narducci) but all were on 2-pointers. The Silver Knights saw a pair of treys drop and after Ryan’s basket got the Dawgs back to within 1, 8–9, with 1:09 to go, the Knights would score the last 7 points, putting them up by 6, 16–10, as the quarter ended.

In the second quarter of both games, the team that was down after the first 8 minutes actually outscored their opponents in the next 8. In the Dawgs–Raiders game, Paulsboro came back out on the court and after getting 3 points in the first 4 minutes, had an offensive spurt in the last 4 before half, adding 12 points (including 3 3’s) to get to within 3, 24–27. Meanwhile, in those same 8 minutes, the Dawgs’ offense dropped a bit, as they only added 11 to their tally. Just three players scored (Narducci, junior Zach Langan, and Bond), and out of five baskets, only one, Bond’s, was from behind the arc.

At the Sterling game, the Dawgs “D” got really tough, and Sterling managed one basket, a floater for 2, about midway through the second quarter. The Dawgs had a lot of chances to put more than 8 points, on three baskets (a 3 by Morris and Bond and a 2 by junior Nate Rohlfing), on the board. They missed easy layups, they missed foul shots, and had some fouls called off illegal screens. In other words, even while the Dawgs pulled even, tying the Knights at 18 thanks to the 3 from Bond that bounced on the rim before rolling in at the 3:09 mark, they could have, make that should have, gotten at least a few more points on the board before halftime.

In the third quarter of the Paulsboro contest, the Dawgs really started pulling away. In 8 minutes, six players combined for 27 points, which matched the team’s total output from the first 16 minutes. Out of 11 baskets, 10 were 2-pointers. Langan hit the trey this time, and he and Rohlfing both sank two free throws.

In the third quarter at Sterling, the Dawgs missed a lot more baskets than they made. The Knights got the first 2 points of the third on a nice drive to go up 20–18 with 5:37 on the clock.  Morris’ second 3 of the game would give the Dawgs the slimmest of leads, 21–20, 30 seconds later. Sterling missed an easy layup, but Haddonfield couldn’t take advantage of it. Then on their next possession, the Knights retook the lead, 22–21, on another smooth maneuver in the paint.

This time the Dawgs had an answer, with a field goal from Ryan on a feed from Morris. After Langan pulled down a rebound under Sterling’s basket, Narducci’s jumper gave the Dawgs’ their biggest lead, 3 points, 25–22, with 3:17 left in the quarter. After Sterling came away empty-handed (netted?) at the foul line at the 2:06 mark, the Dawgs had a chance to extend their lead, also from the foul line. Neither of their shots dropped either  With just under 2 minutes to go in the third, Sterling again had free throw opportunities. This time, one of the shots dropped in, making it a 2-point, 25–23 game.

Sterling brought the match even at 25 off a steal and a field goal. After the Dawgs missed an easy 2 under the basket, they committed a shooting foul. With 58.9 left in the third, the Knights edged back in front 27–25 on 2 made foul shots. The Dawgs missed another field goal attempt, the Knights were successful, and with 29.1 on the clock, the Knights were back up by 4, 29–25. With 15.8 seconds left, the Dawgs were able to convert 2 free throws courtesy Narducci. Those would be the last points of third, and going into the 4th, the Dawgs were trailing by 2, 27–29.

The 4th quarter of the Paulsboro game, Morris, Narducci, and Bond added to their individual totals as well as their team’s, each knocking in 4. Junior Joe Tedeschi, who played in three of the four quarters, got a basket, as did junior Jack Walters, who saw some action in the last quarter. Together, they contributed 18 points. Although Paulsboro would score 17, it didn’t matter, and Haddonfield came away with a double-digit, 20-point 72–52, win.

On Thursday, the home team also put 18 points on the board in the 4th; the visitors could only muster 12. That meant that when the horn sounded, Sterling remained the only undefeated team in the Liberty Colonial Conference division, having slayed the Dawgs by 8, 47–39.

Why were there two very different outcomes in the two conference games the Dawgs played this past week? Paulsboro was missing a starter, but they also did not give Haddonfield the same difficulty on the floor that Sterling did. Sterling pressed Haddonfield, somewhat turning the tables on the Dawgs, who are used to doing that to other teams. As a result, in Thursday’s game, the Dawgs had more turnovers than they usually do. Because they were often behind, they put pressure on themselves, which led to them to take bad shots and miss ones they could have made, including from the foul line. I think it’s also noteworthy that in their 20-point victory, eight Dawgs scored from the field. Conversely, in their 8-point loss, only five Dawgs made field goals. It’s also possible the absence of Roddy threw the starters off their rhythm a bit as well.

This coming week, the Dawgs, now 6–3 overall and 4–1 in the Colonial, will look to rebound (and score more baskets!) in conference games against Lindenwold on Tuesday (away at 7:00 p.m.) and home versus Gloucester City, also at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, the team is on the road again in a nonleague game against Pemberton Township that starts at 5:30.

1/3/23 versus Paulsboro                                  1/5/23 versus Sterling

Quarter Scores                                                Quarter Scores

Player Scores                                                  Player Scores

By Lauree Padgett Exclusive to Haddonfield[got]Today

I finally was able to go back to live and in-person viewing of Dawgs basketball to see the Haddonfield boys host the Pioneers of Clearview Regional on Tuesday, 12/27 and the Eagles of Egg Harbor Township on Thursday, 12/29. As a result, I thought my issues with scoring anomalies would be put to rest … Well, not quite.

Clearview Regional High School vs. Haddonfield, 12/27/22

I got to the gym in time to see the exciting end of the girls matchup against Rancocas Valley Regional High School. When I looked at the scoreboard, the Lady Dawgs were down by 2, and got down by 3 before coming back to seal the 34–31 win from the foul line.

The  boys started their game with 2 points off an offensive rebound from junior Patrick Ryan, but the Pioneers got a 3 to roll in and then after the Dawgs lost the ball at the other end out of bounds, a foul sent the Pioneers to the free throw line, where both shots were made. This gave them a 5–2 edge at the 6:11 mark.

Junior Daire Roddy, on a feed from Ryan, who had picked off the ball, made it 4–5, and the next time down the court, Ryan picked up another assist after junior Sam Narducci went up and in. His bucket put the Dawgs on top 6–5 with 5 and change left in the first quarter.

A basket by the Pioneers gave them back a 1-point, 7–6, edge with 4:41. However, that would be the last time the Pioneers would be in front for the rest of the game. Ryan took the ball in for a basket, making it 8­–7, Haddonfield, and good pressure by the Dawgs on the other end enabled Roddy to pick off the ball. That resulted in a 3 by Narducci, and with 4:18 on the clock, the Dawgs were up by 4, 11–7. Clearview would only get one more basket in the next 3  minutes, while the Dawgs added 2-pointers by Roddy, junior Zack Langan, and senior Teddy Bond. The quarter ended with another 3 by Narducci, which gave the Dawgs an 11-point, 20–9, lead. Clearview got the last bucket of the quarter, however, on a nice move in the paint, but was still trailing by 9, 11–20, going into the next 8 minutes of play.

The Pioneers began the 2nd quarter as they did the first, with a 2-pointer, bringing them back to within 7, 13–20, at the 7:29 mark. After Haddonfield committed an offensive foul to turn the ball back over to Clearview, Bond blocked a shot, and Roddy followed with his third 2 of the half, putting the Dawgs’ lead back to 9, 22–13, with 6:40 to go. After Clearview failed to score, good work under the Dawgs’ basket gave the team a second scoring opportunity, and Ryan’s shot dropped, pushing the Dawgs’ lead back to double digits, 24–13, with 5:32 until the half.

Neither team scored for their next few possessions, and then with 4:01 on the clock, the Dawgs got another offensive board, this time from junior Nate Rohlfing, who then put the ball up and in. This made it 26–13, Haddonfield. He then got a blocked shot at the other end, and when the Pioneers inbounded, Roddy had a near steal, but the ball went out of bounds. Rohlfing got another blocked shot, and under the Haddonfield basket pulled down another board. After Clearview picked up a foul, this sent Narducci to the foul line.

Narducci’s first shot went in, making it 27–14 with 3:34 on the clock. His second went in and … it was still 27–14. I was sure I had missed something. Perhaps a ref called a foot foul or a Haddonfield player moved before Narducci’s shot went off? Our play-by-play man, Mark Hershberger, did not indicate anything unusual happened, so I put a big ?? in my notepad and took another look at the scoreboard after junior Matt Morris got 2 on an assist from Narducci. Yep. It now had the Dawgs on top 29–13 …

A 2 from Rohlfing and 3’s by Narducci and Bond finished the scoring for the Dawgs in the quarter. The Pioneers got one more basket in between, and when the teams left the court for halftime, the Dawgs were boasting a 22-point lead, 37–15.

It was pretty crowded in the gym, so I did not attempt to cross over to ask about that one Narducci foul shot, but I did make sure when the third quarter began that it still wasn’t showing on the board. It wasn’t …

The Dawgs got 21 points in both the third and fourth quarters, holding the Pioneers to 8 points in the third. In the third, Ryan, Roddy, and Bond each had two buckets, and Ryan added a foul shot (that counted!) after one of his field goals. Narducci had a 2 sandwiched between a pair of 3’s.

In the fourth, Clearview did manage to reach double digits, 11, in scoring,  but it didn’t really matter as far as the outcome went. Haddonfield’s 4th quarter points all came from players who hadn’t started the game. Morris had a 3 and a 2; Rohlfing added 2 more baskets, as did freshman Mike Douglas. (Did that make anyone else start humming the theme from My Three Sons or did I just really date myself?) Juniors Joe Tedeschi, Jack Walters, and Phil McFillin each knocked down a 3, and McFillin added 1 from the foul line.

When the horn sounded, the Dawgs had triumphed by 45, 79–34, and definitely sent the Pioneers packing. It also improved the Dawgs’ record to 5–0 for the season. Eleven players contributed to the Dawgs’ total.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scoring:

* If any of you checked my arithmetic (and you really should; just ask Michael Steinberger, who would never let me keep score when we played gin rummy), you may have caught that the points listed above actually total 80, not 79. Here’s why. Because I was so flummoxed about that foul shot that seemed good but didn’t get recorded on the scoreboard, I went back and watched the stream of the game to see what I missed. After I confirmed that both shots had gone in, I emailed Dawg coach Paul Wiedeman. It turns out, he had discovered the same discrepancy when he went over the team stats. He explained that while the final score had to remain 79–34, Narducci still gets credited with both foul shots. That’s why the team score adds up to 80, not 79. I should also note, to protect his sterling (ahem) reputation, that the Dawgs’ usual scoreboard operator, Jeff Holman, was not manning it during this game.

Egg Harbor Township vs. Haddonfield, 12/29/22

At some point after I printed out the initial scheduled, the Dawgs’ opponents in the second Showcase game changed from Woodrow Wilson to Egg Harbor. I found out from talking to Mark Hershberger after the game that going into the contest, the Dawgs had been ranked 11 to the Eagles’ 7 in the South Jersey Top 20. I was also reminded just now as I’m reviewing my scorebook how much points can be affected by the number of players involved in the tally. In the first Showcase, as I noted, 11 players put points on the board on the way to Haddonfield’s rout of Clearview. In this game, only four players out of the eight who were on the court scored. You might be able to see where this is going …

The first 8 minutes of the game went well for Haddonfield. Sam Narducci drove for 2 buckets in the paint, and Teddy Bond connected for a pair of treys. And although the Eagles, a very athletic group of players, were getting second-chance offensive boards, Egg Harbor was still down by 6, 10–4, going into the second quarter.

Unfortunately, during the next 24 minutes, the Dawgs would end up on the downside of the quarter scores. In the second quarter, the Eagles put 10 on the board, while the Dawgs struggled and only scored 2 baskets, a 2 by Patrick Ryan and a 3 by Narducci. Still, the Dawgs were up by 1, 15–14, going into the half.

Patrick Ryan accounted for 11 of the Dawgs’ third period points, with four field goals and 3 foul shots. (He so far is proving to be a very reliable shooter from the free throw line.) The Dawgs also got a 3 from Narducci. This meant that going into the deciding quarter, the game was knotted at 29.

The Dawgs had chances in the 4th to tie the game after the Eagles scored the first 5 points, but never quite made the needed plays. A few times after keeping their opponents from scoring, the Dawgs lost possession due to traveling violations. After a second “walk” was called against Haddonfield, Ryan got the ball back with a steal, but the Dawgs lost it on an out-of-bounds call. Egg Harbor then responded with a 3 off an offensive board with 1:44 left in the game. That seemed like the proverbial dagger, as it gave them a 6-point, 37–31, lead. However Daire Roddy responded with a 3 to make it a one possession, 34–37, game at the 1:29 mark.

The Eagles shifted into stall ball. The Dawgs had some fouls to give, as time whittled off the clock. After the third foul was called on Haddonfield during this Eagles’ possession, with the clock down to 54.1, Egg Harbor maneuvered a wide open player under the bucket and got an easy 2 to push the lead up to 5, 39–34. That was the last bucket of the quarter and the game, as the Eagles doubled the Dawgs’ output in the final 8 minutes, 10 to 5. Aside from Roddy’s 3, he also drove in the paint for a basket and Ryan netted 2 more from the foul line.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scoring:

Still in all, after six games, the Dawgs are 5–1 and are still undefeated in the Colonial Conference (3–0). The Dawgs resume conference play the week of 1/2, hosting the Red Raiders of Paulsboro on 1/3 for a 7:00 p.m. game and traveling down Warwick Road to play the Silver Knights of Sterling on 1/5 at 5:30. Saturday, 1/7, the Dawgs will have a non-conference game against Hammonton High School at Holy Spirit, a game scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. (I hope I won’t get in “Trouble” for this, but I’ll miss this matchup, as I’ll be up in New York City that day watching Hugh Jackman in The Music Man.)

By Lauree Padgett Exclusive to Haddonfield[got]Today

Except for the game versus BCIT Westampton that took place at Cherokee High School on Dec. 17, which went into overtime before Teddy Bond’s 3 sent the Dawgs home with an exciting 48–45 win, the Haddonfield boys basketball team has been downright stingy with points given up. In the team’s three other games, opponents scored 18, 24, and 34 points total. But I’m getting ahead of myself …

My plan going into this season was to provide box scores when able and to pick one game per week to write up at length. (Now that I’ve hit 61, I don’t have the vim and vigor I did back in the Zoubek or the DePersia eras. My hope is that by cutting down on the hours spent per week trying to decipher my handwriting on my notepad, where I scribble the play-by-play of each game, or making sure all the points I’ve marked on my scorebook add up before I actually start to write up each game, I won’t wear out before the playoffs.)

That being said, I must admit that my plan has already gone a bit off-course. During the first game of the year at Haddon Heights on 12/15, I let my guard down, so to speak, and forgot to put my mask on (although I’m fully vaxed and boosted, I wear masks indoors where there are crowds). That’s how COVID was “passed” onto me and why I did not get to the next three games in person. Luckily, the home Haddon Township game on 12/20 and the away matchup versus West Deptford were streamed, so I was able to watch both games, even if I didn’t see both of them “live.” (Note that all home Haddonfield boys and girls games are streamed live and can also be watched at any time after the fact on the school’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=haddonfield+basketball)

Before the Heights game, I emailed Paul Wiedeman, who is entering his 24th season (!!) as Haddonfield’s head coach (and through the 2021–22 season has won 81% of his games with a jaw-dropping record of 532–130). Since only one player, senior Teddy Bond, had a lot of time on the court last year, I asked Wiedeman if he viewed this season as a rebuilding one. His response surprised me. “I am very optimistic about this season. We have a skilled team that is highly connected with good size and who play very hard. The team looked good in scrimmages.”

As usual, the coach knew what he was talking about. Since the most exciting game was the one I couldn’t attend in person or stream online, I’m going to provide short summaries of the games I was able to watch as well as the box scores.

Haddonfield at Haddon Heights, 12/15/22

These matchups are always a bit heated on and off the court. The opposing fans don’t like each other and the players on both teams hate to lose to their longtime Colonial Conference rival. However, from the outset, when junior Zach Langan went up and in for 2 off a feed by fellow junior Daire Roddy to score the Dawgs’ first basket of the season and the game, Haddonfield was pretty much in control. After 8 minutes, Haddonfield was ahead by 8, 13–5. By halftime, it was 20–10. In the second half, the Garnets could only manage 8 points against a defense that wasn’t letting them get many shots off, let alone offensive boards. When the final buzzer sounded, the Dawgs had won by 28, 46–18.

There were a lot of new faces and names to align with jersey numbers, which was a bit of a challenge. After the game, I told my travel buddy I was most impressed with guard Matt Morris and forward Patrick Ryan, both juniors, who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively, but also played well on both ends of the floor.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scoring:

Haddonfield vs. BCIT-Westhampton at Cherokee, 12/17/22

This was the game I missed altogether, as I stayed home and could not find it online. I did get the box score from NJ.com. Here are a few of the stats I wrote down. Patrick Ryan led all Dawgs with 15 points and was followed by Teddy Bond, who had 11. Three of Bond’s buckets, including the winning shot, were treys. Sam Narducci grabbed eight rebounds, and Ryan secured four. The team collected 13 steals, and no one hogged the ball, as of their 48 points, 17 baskets came off of assists.

It was definitely a tight game. The Dawgs were down by 2, 10–12, after the first quarter. By the half, BCIT-Westhampton had pushed its lead up to 5, 21–16. In the second half, the Dawgs inched back, putting 12 on the board in the 3rd to BCIT’s 11, and in the 4th, outscoring them by 4, 14–10, forcing OT. In those extra 4 minutes, Haddonfield put up 6 to BCIT’s 3, capped by Bond’s 3 to break the 42–42 tie.

Haddon Township at Haddonfield, 12/20/22

I streamed this game after the fact, as I wanted to be more awake than COVID had me feeling at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. I have to say it was one of the weirdest games I’ve seen in quite a while. The final score, which I checked on before I actually watched the game, really did not tell the story of what happened on the court for 32 minutes. It was a game the Dawgs won by 30, 54–24, and though it sounded like it was a four-quarter blowout, that wasn’t the case.

Here’s why. While the Dawgs scored 10 points to the Hawks’ 5 (and all five Haddonfield starters contributed to those 10 points) in the first quarter, the Hawks came back and outscored the Dawgs by 2, putting up 8 points to Haddonfield’s 6, in the second 8 minutes. So at halftime, the Dawgs were only leading by 3, 16–13.

In the third quarter, thanks to 3’s by Sam Narducci, who also had a pair of 2-pointers, Daire Roddy, and Joe Tedeschi, the Dawgs were able to hit a double-digit lead, and were ahead by 10, 31–21 going into the last 8 minutes of play. That’s when things got crazy. Not only did the Dawgs’ defense hold the Hawks to 3 points, coming on a basket and a foul shot at the 7:09 mark, Haddonfield poured in 23 points of their own—more than they scored total (16) in the first half.

Matt Morris and Roddy each hit a 3; Teddy Bond nailed 2 of them. Morris also had 4 points on drives into the paint. Bond scored under the net as well, and Patrick Ryan added 2. Zach Langan put up 3 on a basket and a foul shot. So when the game was over, Haddonfield had beaten Haddon Township by 30, 545–24. But the match didn’t hit blowout status until that final quarter.

Quarter Scores

Player Scoring:

Haddonfield at West Deptford, December 22, 2022

This game I was happy to watch as it was being live-streamed from the home of Eagles. But I think it proved more challenging to me at my computer as I tried to keep stats than it did to the Dawgs on the court. Let me explain …

The feed from West Deptford’s gym was spotty. It would freeze, and instead of picking up where it had stopped, it would restart live. So, if the feed froze for a second, that wasn’t too bad, but if it froze for 5 seconds, I would see that the score had changed and if I had missed a Haddonfield basket, I was left to wonder who had made it. All I knew for sure at the end of the first quarter was that the Dawgs—not necessarily which ones—had knocked in 28 points to the Eagles’ 8. In the second quarter, none of the stream freezes occurred during a Haddonfield basket, so I was pretty sure who had scored the 13 points the Dawgs had added. While 13 was almost half of what Haddonfield had put up in the first quarter, sine West Deptford only managed 6 points, it still meant that when the teams left for the locker rooms at halftime, the Dawgs had a sizable, 41–14, advantage.

With the streaming issues seemingly resolved, I was hoping for a good second half from my end. But when I looked at the score shown in the corner of the feed within what I thought was the first minute of the third, I realized it said 48–14, when I still had the score as 42–14. Apparently, more than 2 minutes had been clipped from the game and I really had no idea what had happened. When the period ended, the Dawgs were cruising, 58–16, having held the poor Eagles to 2 points over those 8 minutes. What didn’t help my confusion was that the announcers had credited the wrong Haddonfield player with more 3’s than he actually had made …

In the last quarter, the Dawgs continued their scoring barrage. Players off the bench accounted for 10 of the team’s 25. Junior Phil McFillin scored 8 on a pair of 3’s and a basket; sophomore Lear Fuller got a bucket, as did freshman Mike Douglas. The Eagles finally started landing some baskets in the net, adding 18 points, but it was all for naught, as the Dawgs were a point shy of whipping them by 50, with the final score 83–34.

The next morning, I got the player scores from Paul Wiedeman, explaining that some gaps in the streaming had left me holding the short end of the scorebook. Then I did something that would have amazed my HMHS algebra II teacher F. T. “Bud” Stack, who advised me after I barely passed his class, “Quit [math] while you’re behind.” I used an algebraic equation to figure out who got the missing points in the first and third quarters. It took several attempts, as all the scribbled out numbers on the scorepad will attest, but I finally made it all add up. Sam Narducci, with 13 points in the first and  8 in the second (and finishing with 5 treys) was high scorer with 21. Teddy Bond, with six treys and a foul shot, was right behind him with 19. Patrick Ryan, who scored 4 from the field and was 4–4 from the foul line, added 12.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scoring:

The Dawgs are hosting the Haddon Showcase the week of Christmas break, with both the girls and boys playing on 12/27 and 12/29. You can read about the boys games soon! (Confession: The 12/27 game has already happened …)