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By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today                      

Right before the Dawgs race onto the court from the locker room at home games, announcer Mark Hershberger, who also does double-duty as the in-house DJ, starts blaring the Grammy-winning hit from 2000 by the Baha Men, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” After another week of four games, four wins, I suspect the teams the Dawgs are (mostly) walloping are hearing that song in their nightmares.

Game 1: Camden County Technical High School–Sicklerville at Haddonfield, 1/23/23

The first game this past week I didn’t even know about until the day of, Monday, 1/23, as it wasn’t on the original schedule. Luckily, it was at home at 7. As I found out, it was part of the newly established Camden County Tournament that will take place over different days and include various teams from our county. In its inaugural game, Haddonfield hosted Camden County Technical High School–Sicklerville. After the first 2:30 minutes, the Dawgs were already taking it to the Warriors: After senior Teddy Bond’s second straight 3, the Dawgs were up 10–0. After 8 minutes, the Dawgs were chewing up the Warriors and spitting them out, up by 25, with Bond’s four 3’s leading the way. Junior Sam Narducci’s 10 quarter points also included a 3. Junior Zach Langan added 6, and juniors Patrick Ryan and Daire Roddy each had a bucket.

The story of the night, aside from Haddonfield’s annihilation of Camden Tech, was Bond. At the end of the half, with the Dawgs up by 42, Bond had already hit six 3’s. I wondered … Could he break Andrew Gostovich’s 3-point record that had been set, believe it or not, this very date 3 years ago versus Gateway? Bond would need four treys to tie “Gos” and five to become the single-game 3-point leader. (During the contest, I mistakenly thought he needed three to tie, four to go ahead of Gostovich.) I also suspected that Coach Paul Wiedeman, with the Dawgs already so far ahead of the Warriors, would not let his starters play too much of the second half, record or not.

Bond got 3 number seven less than a minute into quarter three. Number eight came with 6:28 on the clock after a pickoff by Langan and a 2 by Narducci and put the Dawgs up by 48, 66–18. A basket by Langan actually made it a 50-point lead, 68–18, with just under 5 to play in the quarter. Although his teammates were giving Bond every chance to hit number 9, he didn’t sink it until the 1:37 mark, which put the Dawgs up by 54, 76–22. It didn’t look like he was going to get a chance for number 10, but with 3.8 left on the clock, Camden Tech turned over the ball on a foul call, and Bond made them pay, sealing the deal just ahead of the buzzer. I was jumping up and down under the assumption that he’d set the record, but a text exchange from Hershberger indicated Bond and Gostovich were now tied with 10. (Checking my scorebook from the 2019–20 season once I was home that night, proved that indeed Teddy had equaled, not surpassed, Andrew.)

With the Dawgs up by 61 (!!!) at the end of three, Bond and the remaining starters, returned to the bench for the final time, done for the night. None of them had seen continuous action during those 24 minutes, either. While I’m sure he wished he’d could have gone after sole possession of the 3-point record, Bond was still psyched to have connected for 10 treys (and in less than 3 quarters) and came off the court with his fists pumped, looking quite excited.

Even with the starters and first-ins-off-the-bench players—juniors Matt Morris and Nate Rohlfing—watching from the sidelines, the junior varsity Dawgs still outscored the Warriors by 7, 13–6. When the buzzer sounded to end the game, Haddonfield had thoroughly conquered the Warriors, beating them by 68 points, 96–28. Not surprisingly with his 10 treys, Bond led all scorers with 30 points (which meant he scored more than the entire Camden Tech team). Narducci added 17, and Langan finished with 14. Eleven Dawgs contributed to the season-high 96 points.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Game 2: Audubon at Haddonfield, 1/24/23

This wasn’t quite the blowout of the previous night, but the Dawgs still made the Green Wave look a bit seasick at both ends of the court. Haddonfield started the game on a 12–0 run on 3’s from Narducci and Bond, a field goal from Ryan, who also hit 2 from the foul line, as did Bond. Going into the second 8 minutes, the Dawgs were up by 20, 24–4. Their scoring cooled a bit in the 2nd, and the Waves’ picked up, but even so, at the half, Haddonfield was cruising, 37–15.

In the third, Haddonfield got a trio of treys from Bond, four field goals from Narducci, and baskets from Ryan, Roddy, and Langan to add 23 to their total while holding Audubon’s offense to 7 points. In the 4th quarter, Chris Beane, Mike Douglas, and Lear Fuller came off the bench to combine for 8 of the Dawgs’ 18 points. When it was all over, the Dawgs had hung 78 points on the Wave, who could only muster 29—hey, at least it was 1 more point than Camden Tech put on the board. Narducci, with his nine buckets, three of which came from behind the arc, led the Dawgs with 21. Bond had 16, and Ryan had 14.  

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores;

Game 3: Haddon Heights at Haddonfield, 1/26/23

The game against the Garnets didn’t start off with a double-digit run by Haddonfield. While Haddon Heights won the tipoff, Roddy quickly stole the ball, passed it along to Narducci, who went up and in. After pulling down an offensive rebound, which gave them a second-chance shot, the Garnets were on the board, and with 1 minute gone, the game was even at 2 all. Langan got 2 and went to the foul line, but was not able to make it a 3-point play. Heights did not score and a 3 from Narducci made it 7–2, Dawgs, with 6:13 on the clock. However, the Garnets answered with a 3 and after picking off the ball, tied the game again, making it 7–7 with about 5:30 left in the first.

After putting 14 total points on the board in about 2:30, thanks to turnovers and missed shots, both from the field and the line, neither team was able to score again for a few possessions. Narducci’s 3 at the 2:35 mark broke the tie to put Haddonfield up by 3, 10–7. Two foul shots by Ryan pushed the lead up to 5 with 2 minutes to go, and then Bond was fouled from behind the arc. He got 3, this time from the line, to make it 15–7 with a minute and change left. The Garnets’ mini-drought ended with their 2nd 3 of the quarter, which finished with the Dawgs on top 15–10.

What looked like a competitive game in the first quarter started looking anything but in the second. Heights inbounded only to have Roddy pilfer the ball, passing it again to Narducci, who drove in for the basket. The Garnets held onto the ball and scored in their second possession, but Rohlfing, as is customary, started the second quarter and wasted no time getting a bucket. A Garnets turnover led to a 2 by Bond, and with not even 90 seconds gone in quarter 2, the Dawgs had increased their lead to 9, 21­–12. After a timeout by Heights, the Garnets lost the ball out of bounds, but the Dawgs failed to score. A Haddonfield foul sent Heights to the line. One of two shots dropped, making it 21–13 with 5:46 left in the half. Bond’s 3 gave the Dawgs their first double-digit lead, 24–13, and that was followed by a 3 from Roddy. What had been a 5-point advantage going into the 2nd had now opened up to a 14-point edge with about 4:30 remaining in the quarter.

The Dawgs defense would help Heights lose the ball out of bounds again. This time, Ryan hit a 2 on a feed from Roddy, who I like to think of as the floor admiral, as he is the play-maker and the main ball-handler for the Dawgs. Heights got its first field goal of the quarter with 2:45 on the clock, making it 29–15, Haddonfield, but Morris’ 3 from waay out there stretched the Dawgs’ lead to 17, 32–15, with 2:30 left in the half. Roddy and Ryan combined for 2, and Heights answered with a bucket. Heights didn’t seem to have any answers for Bond, who nailed another 3, with 1:03 on the clock, giving the Dawgs a 20-point, 37–17, lead. Heights got 2 back only to have Bond hit his third 3 of the quarter with 36 seconds left. A steal and a basket by Narducci finished the scoring for the half, and as the teams headed off the court, the Garnets were looking far from polished, trailing by 23, 42–19.

In the second half, the Dawgs only outscored the Garnets by 4, 20–16, but by that time, it didn’t matter too much. And it also should be noted that six junior varsity Dawgs saw some action. When the final horn sounded, the Dawgs had won their third game of the week by the score of 64–35. Although losing, Haddon Heights did succeed in doing something Haddonfield’s previous two opponents had not: getting out of the 20s and into the 30s points-wise. Bond and Narducci were the top scorers again, netting 17 and 14, respectively. Ryan knocked in 10.

More important than the results of the game or the players’ scores (really!) is that both the Dawgs and the Garnets were raising money for a pediatric cancer organization, Go 4 the Goal (go4thegoal.org). If you weren’t able to make a donation at the game, you can do it on the website, which notes, “All funds stay in the state where they are raised to support local children.”

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Game 4: Haddonfield versus Burlington Township High School, 1/28/23, at Rancocas Valley Regional High School’s Jeff Coney Classic

This tournament has been going on for well close to 2 decades, and it honors the memory of the school’s former head basketball coach, who died in 2004. The school has more than one basketball court, so on this day, you can hear more than one set of buzzers going on as two games are often going on simultaneously. I had forgotten this and didn’t realize the Haddonfield­–Burlington Township game had started streaming until I noticed that Vic Wiedeman had sent me score updates for the first two quarters. I found the stream, started at the beginning, and told him thanks, but not to send any more info.

I had checked online to see what I could find out about Haddonfield’s opponent for this game. The Falcons are part of the Burlington Scholastic League and coming into the game, had an overall record of 5–9 and were 3–6 in their conference. Those stats belied the kind of game the Falcons played, especially in last 4 minutes of the last quarter.

The game started off with the Falcons getting the first point of the game from the foul line. However, the Dawgs got the next 8 points on baskets from Langan, Ryan, Narducci (off his own steal), and another from Ryan. A 3 from Burlington Township made it an 8–4 Dawg lead with 3:0l left in the quarter. After an offensive foul was called on the Dawgs, the Falcons hit another 3, and after Haddonfield failed to score, Burlington’s 2 put them in front 9–8 with 1:45 on the clock.

Haddonfield again came up empty under its basket, then picked up its third foul (non-shooting) of the game. What I thought from the stream was a basket for the Dawgs actually wasn’t (I had to rewind the feed a few times to understand why the points weren’t going up on the mini scoreboard). However, a steal by Morris set in motion a lovely back-and-forth between Morris and Ryan that ended with Morris driving into the lane with about 28 seconds left to put the Dawgs back on top 10–9, which is how the quarter ended.

Haddonfield inbounded the ball to start the second 8 minutes and almost immediately had a 2-shot opportunity from the foul line. I gritted my teeth when neither ball dropped, but after Burlington Township lost the ball out of bounds, Bond hit a 3 (he would finish out the week swooshing in 19 balls from beyond the 3-point arc!), putting the Dawgs up by 4, 13–9, with aobut a minute gone in the quarter. Neither team scored their next two possessions, then Rohlfing was fouled and went to the line. He made 1–2, nudging the Dawgs’ lead up to 5, 14–9, with 5:51 left in the half.

A tie-up on the floor over a loose ball (one of many in the game) gave possession back to Burlington Township and resulted in the Falcons hitting another 3 (there were several of them in the game as well) and cutting the Dawgs’ lead down to 2, 14–12, with 5:27 on the clock. Burlington make a field goal sandwiched in between two drives by Ryan (the second one was a nice banker off the board). He had a chance to add a point from the line after basket number 2, but the ball didn’t drop. Burlington Township followed with two missed foul shots, and with about 4 minutes remaining in the half, Haddonfield was still nursing a 4-point, 18–14, lead.

Narducci’s 3 pushed it up to a 7-point lead, which lasted 18 seconds before the Falcons responded with a trey of their own, and with 3:20 on the clock, it was still a 4-point, 21–17, lead for the Dawgs. After Langan pulled down a defensive board, Haddonfield kept missing shots but getting the rebounds until finally Rohlfing was fouled and went to the line. Both his shots went through the net, and with 2 and change left in the half, the Dawgs were now up by 6, 23-17. A travel gave the ball back to the Dawgs, but they couldn’t capitalize on it. A blocked shot by Rohlfing or Langan (between the fuzziness of the feed enlarged to full screen and the fact that the Dawgs were often faster than the person controlling the videocam, I had a few times that even when I rewound the feed, I couldn’t tell who did what) set up a drive in the paint by Rohlfing from Langan, giving the Dawgs’ their biggest lead, 8 points, 25-17, with 1:05 to go.

The teams then exchanged pickoffs. With 36.9 showing on the clock, the ball went out of bounds off Haddonfield. Aside from the Dawgs needing a bit of work on their foul shooting (IMHO), they also need to find a way to stop fouling with seconds left in a quarter. This time, the foul was committed on an attempted 3-pointer, which meant that Burlington Township had three chances at the line. All three went in, and with 31 seconds to set up a play and score, the Dawgs were up 25–20. The coaching directive was clearly to go for the last shot, but with 3.8 seconds remaining, the Dawgs lost the ball out of bounds. The Falcons sent a ball sailing from the other end that did not hit the target, and as the teams left the court for halftime, it was still a 5-point, 25–20, game.

The third quarter started off the way the second quarter had ended, with the teams trading shots and Haddonfield maintaining at least a 4-point edge. However, after Ryan’s basket made it 27–21 with 50 seconds gone, Burlington Township scored a 2-point field goal, and the Dawgs lapsed into some bad play, turning the ball over and then picking up a few fouls in quick succession. With 5:30 on the board, the Falcons knocked down another 3, and it was now a 1-point, 27–26, game. Were the Dawgs getting rattled? A 3 by Narducci seemed to calm the Dawgs down a bit, and after a timeout and a foul on Burlington, a 3 by Roddy indicated that the Dawgs were in rhythm again. They kept the Falcons from scoring, and a nice move under the basket by Rohlfing on the other end gave the Dawgs’ their largest lead of the game, at 9, putting them up 26–17, with 4:04 left in the third.

Burlington Township scored and had a chance for a 3-point play, but the foul shot did not go in, and with 3:55 on the clock, it was a 7-point, 35–28, advantage for Haddonfield. Once more, the Falcons did not score and then turned over the ball on an offensive foul call. A few plays later, the Dawgs were inbounding the ball under their own basket. Bonds flipped it to Langan, and it was back to a 9-point, 37–28, Haddonfield lead. A few more plays later, Haddonfield was called for a foul. I couldn’t tell what happened (and there was no one doing any kind of play-by-play—I surmise that with two games going on at the same time, that would have been pointless, no pun intended), but I heard a lot of boos. I think I recognized the people behind a few of them …

The game continued on, and after a near pickoff by Morris, the Dawgs got assessed another foul (no boos ensued this time). Burlington did not score, however, as Haddonfield did steal the ball and Morris went in the lane for 2. Now the Dawgs were up by double digits, 39–28, with 2:17 to go in the quarter. The Dawgs kept picking up fouls, but the Falcons were not having a stellar day at the line either and missed both chances from the line with 2:05 on the clock. After neither team scored, Langan went in for a reverse layup on a pass from Rohlfing, and with 1:15 to go in the quarter, the Dawgs were up by 13, 41–28.

Burlington’s drought ended with a 3, but Roddy’s 2 (it’s nice to see Roddy now choosing to shoot the ball once in a while instead of always dishing it off) kept the Dawgs ahead by double digits, 43–31. The Dawgs got 2 more after an out-of-bounds turnover by the Falcons, in a Roddy to Langan to Morris series of passes, and with 17 seconds on the clock, the Falcons were trailing by 14, 31–45. Then with 6.1 on the clock, the Falcons came up with another big 3 and were fouled. This time, the foul shot went in, and so when the quarter horn sounded, they were down by 10, 35–45.

The final period started off with the Falcons, who inbounded, and the Dawgs, exchanging baskets to keep it a 10-point game. That 10-point differential lasted for a few possessions. The Dawgs again missed foul shots, but got the ball back when it went off the Falcons out of bounds. Again, a flick by Bond, who was tossing the ball inbounds, this time to Ryan, resulted in an easy and quick 2, pushing the Dawgs’ lead up to 12, 49–17, with 5:32 left in the contest. Haddonfield was called for its 6th foul, sending the Falcons to the line with a 1+1 opportunity. (If the first foul shot is good, the player gets another shot.) The first shot went in, the second one didn’t, making it, 49–38, Dawgs, with 5:20 remaining.

After Burlington Township was called for a foul, Roddy sent in another 3, and with 4:21 on the clock, the Dawgs were back in front by 14, 52–38. As they had done a few other times, the Falcons answered a 3 with one of their own and were fouled in the process. The shot from the line was good, and with 4:16 on the board, they had cut the lead back to 10. After a Haddonfield turnover that resulted in a 2 for Burlington, that lead was down to 8, 52­­–44, with 3:30 left in the game. Ryan pulled down an offensive board and put the ball back up and in for 2, but Burlington Township got a bucket at its end of the court, keeping it an 8-point game, 54–46.

When the Falcons were assessed their 6th foul of the half, Ryan went to the line for a 1+1, making the first and missing the second. Now it was 55–46, Haddonfield. The Falcons lost the ball on a bad bass, but a loose ball call went in their favor and a Dawgs’ foul sent the Falcons back to the line for another 1+1. Again, the first shot dropped, the second didn’t, so with 2:08 on the clock, it was 55–47, Haddonfield.

Haddonfield called timeout and when play resumed, a bad pass gave the ball back to Burlington Township, which hit a 3. Suddenly (or so it seemed), it was now just a two-possession game, with the Dawgs up only by 5, 55–50, with 1:53 still left on the clock. After the Dawgs failed to score, the Falcons nailed another 3. With 1:36 to go, they had cut a one-time 14-point fourth quarter deficit down to 2, 53–55. Not surprisingly, Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman called another timeout.

I’m not sure what he told his players, but it didn’t amount to, “When you go back on the court, take too much time getting the ball over the half-court line so you turn it over.” However, that is exactly what happened. To make matters worse, Haddonfield committed a foul and now Burlington Township would have a chance to tie the game at the line. It didn’t happen.

With a 2-point lead and 1:20 on the clock, the Dawgs were in passing mode. With 40.5 on the clock, Roddy was fouled. He had a 1+1 and sank both, giving the Dawgs a 4-point, 57–53, cushion. With the clock down to 21.4, the Falcons lost the ball out of bounds. Five seconds later, Narducci headed to the line, still with the 1+1 in play. He dropped both in the net, and the Dawgs had gotten back to a 6-point, 59–53, edge. Those 4 foul shots by Roddy and Narducci clinched the W for Haddonfield. Amazingly, it was their 11th in a row. Ryan, Narducci, and Roddy led the offense, contributing 15, 10, and 10 points, respectively.

Quarter Scores:

Player Scores:

Patrick Ryan: 15

Sam Narducci: 10

Daire Roddy: 10

Zach Langan: 8

Nate Rohlfing: 7

Matt Morris: 6

Teddy Bond: 3

The Dawgs are now 17–3 overall and 10–1 in the Colonial Conference. They pick up conference play with a 7 p.m. game at Haddon Township on Tuesday, 1/31, which will be followed by a 7 p.m. home game on Thursday, 2/2, versus West Deptford. This will be Senior Night, so come out and honor our sole senior Dawg, Teddy Bond, as well as our senior cheerleaders and student basketball managers. Saturday, 2/4, the Dawgs will head to Holy Cross Academy to take on Moorestown High School with the game scheduled to start at 3:45.

By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today

The Haddonfield boys basketball team seems to have shaken off the early January blahs that had them looking so-so at best the first week of the new year. Now, they’re looking like a new, invigorated team. Since their back-to-back losses to Colonial rival Sterling on 1/5 and Hammonton on 1/7, the Dawgs have won seven straight games, including two this past week to conference teams and one against a top-ranking Cape Atlantic school. One of the games was a slam dunk, but the other two matches required a huge amount of effort and coming from behind in the fourth quarters.

I’m going to go out of order to do a quick write-up of the 30-plus-point blowout, then look more closely at the games that went down to the wire, in one case, the final shots.

Haddonfield at Collingswood, 1/19/23

On Thursday, 1/19, Haddonfield traveled to nearby Collingswood, a team that usually gives the Dawgs a run for their money. No matter what their records are going into these matchups, you never want to miss them, and you never feel overconfident. Back in the Brian Zoubek era, I went to a home game only a few days after major surgery. (I took the elevator up to the top of the bleachers so I didn’t have to go up and down steps.) My sister the nurse was not too happy with me, but my rationale was waiting to hear the final score would do more emotional damage than actually being at the game. Games at Collingswood always seemed the most stress-inducing, and I still shudder thinking about a 2004 game when junior guard Vinnie Ciecka saw his season end with a broken ankle after a hard collision with a Panther player near the end of the game. This game, however, had little of the drama of those from years past.

By the end of the first quarter, led by junior Patrick Ryan’s trio of field goals, treys by juniors Matt Morris and Sam Narducci and senior Teddy Bond, plus a bucket and two foul shots by junior Zach Langan, the Dawgs were ahead by 11, 19–8. In the second and third quarters, the Dawgs’ offense really cut loose. Morris and Narducci combined for 15 of the Dawgs’ 23 points in the second. Ryan exploded for 11 in the third, when the Dawgs put 25 points on the board. In the last quarter, anyone who had not gotten in the game before then saw action, and juniors Phil McFillin and Mike Feinstein swooshed in the last two of the Dawgs’ nines. The final score was Haddonfield 77, Collingswood, 34. The only quarter the Panthers hit double digits, 11, was in the third, but in those 8 minutes, the Dawgs still more than doubled that tally. I almost felt bad for the Collingswood team, and to their credit, the Panthers played hard all four quarters, even though the score did not reflect it.

Quarter Scores:
1st: Haddonfield, 19, Collingswood, 8
2nd: Haddonfield, 42, Collingswood, 16
3rd: Haddonfield, 67, Collingswood, 27
4th: Haddonfield, 77, Collingswood, 34

Player Scores:
Patrick Ryan: 19
Sam Narducci: 15
Zach Langan: 12
Matt Morris: 11
Teddy Bond: 9
Phil McFillin: 5
Nate Rohlfing: 3
Mike Feinstein: 3

Woodbury at Haddonfield, 1/15/23

If you just looked at the quarter scores for this game against Woodbury, you wouldn’t get the full picture of what transpired on the floor for 32 minutes. But for those of us who were in the stands(or watching via the Haddonfield YouTube stream), we can attest that the Herd was Thundering throughout the whole game.

In the first quarter, the Herd hit its first 3 of the game (there would be many more to follow) with less than 20 seconds gone off the clock. A nice jumper by junior Daire Roddy got the Dawgs on the board, but Woodbury got the next 2 baskets, a 3 and then a 2 off an offensive rebound, and with 4 and change left in the quarter, they were up 8–2. At the other end, Haddonfield missed its shot and the ball went out of bounds. This time, Woodbury did not score thanks to a blocked shot by Patrick Ryan and a rebound by Teddy Bond. This set up the Dawgs’ first 3 of the quarter, by Sam Narducci, and after a hard defensive rebound by Zach Langan, Ryan’s bucket brought the Dawgs to within 1, 7–8, with 2:55 on the clock.

An easy layup by Woodbury put them back up by 3, but a basket in the paint off an offensive board by Langan make it a 1-point, 9–10, game again. Bond had a busy and effective spirt, knocking the ball out of bounds on Woodbury’s side of the court, then blocking a shot. His 3 at the 1:22 mark gave the Dawgs their first lead, 12–10. A few possessions later, Narducci turned a steal into 2, and with 25.2 seconds to go, the Dawgs were up by 4, 14–10. However, Woodbury’s 3 just ahead of the buzzer trimmed that lead down to 1, 14–13.

Just as they had in the first quarter, the Thundering Herd got on the board first, stealing the ball after they failed to do so after inbounding the ball to begin second quarter action. That resulted in them retaking the lead by 1. After Haddonfield couldn’t quite hold onto an offensive rebound, Woodbury scored again, and less than 50 seconds into the second quarter, the Herd was up by 4, 17–13. Langan’s bucket cut that down to 1. After a pickoff by Matt Morris, the Dawgs were fouled and had a chance at the line to tie or go back in front but weren’t able to do so. That hurt when the Herd’s third scoring chance off three offensive boards went in, inching their lead up to 3, 19–16. They had a chance to add 1 more point from the line, but the shot did not drop. However, the Herd grabbed another offensive board, but this time, a pickoff by Haddonfield deprived them of another scoring opportunity.

An offensive board by Bond gave Nate Rohlfing a chance under the rim, and he drove in hard for 2 and was fouled. His shot dropped in, and with 4:01 left in the half, the game was tied for the first time at 19 all. That tie didn’t last long as Woodbury again got 2 after a man was left open under the basket. Rohlfing’s basket on a feed by Roddy knotted it at 21 with 3:23 to go. Both teams went a bit cold for almost 2 minutes before Morris was fouled with 47.8 on the clock. His shots put the Dawgs back up by 2, 23–21. Narducci nearly stole the ball, but good pressure “D” under the basket kept Woodbury from finding the net. When the buzzer sounded to end the half, that 2-point lead was still in effect.

In case you were wondering, yes, the Herd got the first basket of the third quarter, although it didn’t come until almost 2 minutes had ticked off the clock. Good defense by Woodbury kept the Dawgs off the board until Ryan went up and in on a nice pass from Roddy, giving the Dawgs back a 2-point, 25–23, edge at the 5:04 mark. In its next possession, Woodbury tied the game at 25, and after a bad pass at the other end by Haddonfield, hit a 3 to reclaim the lead 28–25, with 4:05 on the clock. A steal resulted in 2-pointer, but since the Herd player was fouled in the process, the end result was the same—3 points were added to Woodbury’s score – as he sank the shot from the line. This gave Woodbury its biggest lead of the night, 31–25, with 3:49 on the clock.

A floater by Roddy, who has a nice touch from outside, got the Dawgs back to within 4, 27–31. After a defensive board by Bond, the Dawgs lost the ball out of bounds, but Woodbury gave the ball back by picking up an offensive foul. Another board, this time offensive by Bond, resulted in Bond’s second 3 of the game, and with 2:26 left in the third, the Dawgs were only trailing by a point, 30–31. Woodbury managed to grab the ball under their basket after a blocked shot by Haddonfield, but Narducci pulled off another steal ,and his basket flipped the lead back to Haddonfield, 32–31, with 1:49 left in the third.

Bond’s third trey of the game, helped by a friendly bounce off the rim, make it 35–31, and a foul by the Herd gave the ball back to Haddonfield. This time the Dawgs got 2 on a drive by Narducci that put them on top by 6 once more, 37–31. A foul at the other end put Woodbury at the line. Both shots were good, making it a 4-point, 37–33, game with 56.3 to go. After a near steal by the Herd, which was saved by Narducci, he scored, but a 3 ahead of the buzzer by Woodbury meant going into the fourth, the Dawgs were only up by 3, 39–36.

That 3-point lead was washed away when Woodbury got the first basket of the fourth, not quite 2 minutes in, a 3, to tie it at 39. Rohlfing’s bucket in the paint gave the Dawgs the lead again, briefly, before the Herd thundered in another 3 with just under 5 minutes remaining in the game to go up by 1, 42–41. Ryan got fouled going in for a basket and headed to the foul line, where he converted 1–2 to create yet another tie with about 4:30 left. After a timeout, Woodbury kept passing the ball and passing the ball. When a shot was finally taken, it did not go in, and Ryan grabbed the rebound. The Dawgs were no more successful under their basket, and with 3:04 on the clock it was still a 42–42 game.

The good news for Dawgs’ fans was that Woodbury would not score again. This was partially because after another timeout, the Herd played stall ball, winding almost 2 minutes off the clock before a held ball call gave Haddonfield possession at the 1:03 mark. The Dawgs ticked a bit of time off the clock as well before Narducci nailed a huge 3 with 47 seconds left, putting the Dawgs up by 3, 45–42. At the other end, Rohlfing secured a defensive board, and this time, Haddonfield called a full timeout with 12.0 showing on the clock. Woodbury had a few fouls to give before Morris was sent to the line with 4.7 left. He calmly sent both shots through the net, giving the Dawgs a 47–42 lead, which turned into a 47–42, victory. While Narducci was the only Dawg in double figures, with 14, all the Haddonfield players who got into the game scored.

Quarter Scores;
1st: Haddonfield, 14, Woodbury, 13
2nd: Haddonfield, 23, Woodbury, 21
3rd: Haddonfield, 39, Woodbury, 36
4th: Haddonfield, 47, Woodbury, 42

Player Scores:
Sam Narducci: 14
Teddy Bond: 9
Nate Rohlfing: 7
Patrick Ryan: 5
Daire Roddy: 4
Zach Langan: 4
Matt Morris: 4

Mainland vs. Haddonfield at Paul VI, 1/21/23

I wasn’t sure that I was going to get to this game, but I was very happy when my travel buddy texted me mid-afternoon Saturday to see if I wanted a ride. Considering how crowded it has been at previous Winter Classic tournaments at Paul VI, it was quite surprising to see how empty the stands were for this 5:30 game. (The Eagles game didn’t start until 8, after all.) Fans for both teams who stayed home for whatever reason missed a really nerve-wracking but exciting game. The Mainland Mustangs were sporting a 14–1 overall record and were sitting in first place, at 8–0, atop the Cape-Atlantic League. No doubt about it: The Dawgs were going to have their work cut out for them.

The game started, and Mainland immediately hit a 3 after getting the possession off the tipoff. Haddonfield lost the ball on an errant pass, but Daire Roddy got it back on a steal. The Mustangs drew the first (non-shooting) foul of the game, but the Dawgs couldn’t take advantage of it and failed to score. Then the Dawgs really kicked into defensive high gear, showing off their trademark full press. The Mustangs were being corralled on the perimeter and couldn’t figure out how to get the ball inside. A timeout did not help. Zach Langan, who would have himself quite the game offensively and defensively, kept at his opponent and finally stole the ball. He slipped and lost the ball out of bounds, but Sam Narducci stole it right back, driving in the lane for Haddonfield’s first basket. He was fouled but his shot from the line didn’t drop, keeping it a 1-point, 3–2, Mainland lead. That lead went back to 3 with 5:33 on the clock.

Narducci was fouled again, ahead of the shot this time, and this time, both his baskets from the line were good, drawing the Dawgs back to within 1, 4–5. The defensive pressure from the Dawgs was still causing Mainland problems, especially when trying to pass the ball. After losing possession on one such bad pass, the Mustangs then lost the lead when Narducci hit a 3, putting the Dawgs ahead for the first time, 7–5, with 4:43 on the clock. Mainland still was not having a lot of luck getting the ball inside because they couldn’t get away from the Haddonfield press. But they had a few players who could shoot behind the arc, including #3, Cohen Cook (I looked him up after the game), whose trey put the Mustangs back in front 8–7, with 3:43 remaining in the quarter.

The Dawgs failed to score, got possession after a big scramble on the floor for the ball (and I do mean on the floor), but then lost it on an offensive charge. The Mustangs managed to find a path to the basket and put the ball up and in, pushing their lead to 3, 10–7, with 2:57 on the clock. Neither team scored for a few possessions. (Cook nearly had another 3, but it rimmed in and out.) After both teams traded turnovers, Nate Rohlfing, just into the game for Haddonfield, scored under the basket on an assist from Daire Roddy, getting the Dawgs back to within 1, 9–10, with a minute to go. That was the final basket of the quarter, so going into the second 8 minutes of play, the Dawgs were trailing by 1.

Mainland inbounded to start the second, and Langan pulled down the rebound from the missed shot. Narducci drove in for 2, had a chance to make a 3-point play from the line, but the ball didn’t drop for him. Still, with less than a minute gone, the Dawgs were back in front 11–10. Langan stole the ball (he would do this seven times during the game), the Dawgs could not score, but at the other end, Mainland had two chances, neither fell (hampered by the Dawgs’ continuing man-to-man defense). After the ball went out of bounds off Haddonfield, Mainland could not find an open man and turned the ball over on a travel violation. Alas, Haddonfield then committed a walk at their end, and a drive by the Mustangs seesawed the lead back to their favor, 12–11, with 4:41 left in the half.

Matt Morris, who usually starts the second quarter, whether he’s gotten into the game before then or not, drove in for a reverse layup, switching the game again to the Dawgs’ favor, 13–12. A blocked shot by Rohlfing and a rebound by Langan (he collected seven of them in the course of the game as well) set the stage for a 3 (thanks to a roll) by Langan, giving the Dawgs a 4-point, 16–12, advantage with 3 and change left in the half.

Haddonfield knocked the ball out of bounds under the Mainland basket, and then Rohlfing got another blocked shot. After a foul by Haddonfield and a near steal, Mainland got a basket and went to the foul line. The foul shot was good, so with 2:36 remaining in the quarter, the Dawgs were still up, but only by 1, 16–15. After an offensive board by Langan and an out-of-bounds call on the Mustangs, Rohlfing scored, pushing the Dawgs’ lead to 3, 18–15, with 2 and change left. After a near pickoff by Haddonfield, Mainland got a basket, and once more, the Dawgs’ lead had dwindled down to 1, 18–17.

A shooting foul by Mainland sent the Dawgs to the line, and neither shot went in. (I will interject here that I hope the Dawgs spend some extra time in their next practices working on foul shots, as in close contests like the ones against Mainland and Woodbury, when every point matters, free throws could make or break a game.) At the other end, another Rohlfing block (he is the tallest Dawg, listed at 6-8 on the team roster) set up a cross-court drive by Morris, making it 20–17, Dawgs with less than a minute left in the half. A steal by, you got it, Langan, caused a frustration foul by Mainland, giving the Dawgs a 1+1 opportunity (if you make the first shot, you get a second shot), but again, the Dawgs missed from the line. However, Morris pulled down the offensive board with 37.3 seconds until the half, and the Dawgs were passing the ball, going for the last shot. Mainland committed a foul with 5.9 to go, giving the Dawgs another 1+1 shot.

Narducci made the first but missed the second, and Mainland’s last shot attempt was no good. As the teams headed off the court, the Dawgs were up by 4, 21–17.

The third quarter, which has been the Dawgs’ bread and butter most of the season, proved to be less than stellar for Haddonfield this game. Although the Dawgs built on their lead early on, up by 6, 26–20, with 5:45 on the clock, the Mustangs weren’t about to give up and about 2:30 minutes later, had put the reins on the Dawgs to retake the lead, 27–26. After the Dawgs did not get a basket, they could not secure an offensive board, giving the Mustangs multiple chances to score, which they finally did, and at the 3:10 mark, they were up by 3, 29–26.

With 2:44 on the clock, I scribbled down how shocked a Mainland player was that after falling on Bond, he got called for a foul. The foul was non-shooting, and the Dawgs turned the ball over. After Haddonfield got charged with its fifth foul of the half, Mainland got a 3, and with 1:41 left in the quarter, was up by 6, 32–26. Narducci’s two shots from the foul line cut that to 32–28 with 1:29 on the clock, but Mainland answered with a field goal to go back up by 6, 28–34. Bond picked a great time to hit a 3, and after Mainland’s shot did not fall ahead of the buzzer, the Dawgs were behind by 3, 31–34, going into the fourth quarter, having been outscored in the third 10–17.

As the team walked out onto the court to begin the last quarter, senior captain Teddy Bond had the players in a huddle, taking the lead when the team needed to show its mettle to get back in the game. And they did. Although none of them dropped, the team got off four shots before losing the ball out of bounds at the 7:01 mark. Morris got the defense going on a steal and took the ball to the basket to make it a 1-point, 34–33, Mainland lead with 6:00 left in the game. Under the Mustang basket, Haddonfield was called for a foul, sending Mainland to the line. Neither shot went int, and with 5:44 on the clock, it was still a 1-point game.

It stayed that way after the Dawgs went to the line and missed both shots. After Mainland lost the ball out of bounds (the Dawgs were playing tougher defense again), Morris again drove into the paint and scored, putting the Dawgs on top by 1, 35–34. I was cheering too much to note what time was showing on the clock. But with 4:46 to go, Mainland got fouled again and made 1–2 from the line, and for the first time in the game, the score was tied at 35 with just under 5 minutes to go. The second shot did not drop, Narducci got the rebound, and Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman called a timeout.

Mainland stole the ball off the inbounds pass, but Morris got the defensive board and went down court and scored, giving Haddonfield back the lead, 37–35, with 4:07 on the clock. Mainland tied it again with 3:36 left in the game. The Mustangs got called for a non-shooting foul, and Morris got his biggest basket of the game, a 3, to put the Dawgs up by 3, 40–37, with 3:25 to go. Mainland responded with a 2 to cut the lead to 1, 40-39, with 3:00 on the clock. Timeout was called with 2:42 left. When play resumed, Haddonfield had possession and Mainland committed a non-shooting foul. With 2:15 on the clock, Langan knocked down a 3 on a feed from Morris, putting the Dawgs up by 4, 43–39.

Mainland called a timeout, and after scoring a field goal, making it 43–41, Haddonfield, with 1:43 remaining, yet another timeout was called by Haddonfield. This time, the Dawgs did not score on their possession. The Mustangs missed their shot, got the rebound, and got fouled. With 1:13 on the clock and the chance to pull the game even, Mainland stepped to the line. Neither shot went in, but the ball went out of bounds off Haddonfield with 1:09 left. The Mustangs were having trouble getting a shot lined up, but a Dawg foul sent them to the line again. This time, the first shot went in, making it a 1-point, 43–42, game, but the second did not, and Bond pulled down the board.

Haddonfield called timeout with 25.8 seconds to go. The Mustangs had fouls to give before the Dawgs would head to the line for a 1+1, so they fouled at the 22.1 mark. Two seconds later, after inbounding the ball, Haddonfield was called for traveling. This meant the Mustangs would have a chance for the final shot to win the game. The Dawgs mounted a final defense of the basket and the Mustangs were forced to call a timeout with 6.4 on the clock. The pressure was on Mainland to get a good shot off, but it was also on Haddonfield to not foul while protecting the net. Cook drove up and in for Mainland. His shot hit the rim and bounced off. Mainland tried to rebound and reshoot, but it was too late. The final horn sounded. The Dawgs had prevailed, winning a hard-fought, four-quarter battle against a very worthy opponent by the slimmest of margins, 43–42.

Matt Morris and Sam Narducci finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Zach Langan finished with 9 points, all coming off 3’s.

Quarter Scores:
1st: Haddonfield, 9, Mainland, 10
2nd: Haddonfield, 21, Mainland, 17
3rd: Haddonfield, 31, Mainland, 34
Haddonfield, 43, Mainland, 42

Player Scores:
Matt Morris: 13
Sam Narducci: 12
Zach Langan: 9 (7 rebounds, 7 steals)
Nate Rohlfing: 4 (plus a lot of blocked shots)
Teddy Bond: 3
Patrick Ryan: 2

Haddonfield improved its record this past week to 13–3 overall and 8–1 in the Colonial Conference Liberty Division. The team hosts Audubon on Tuesday, 1/24, and Haddon Heights on Thursday, 1/26. Both games start at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on Haddonfield’s YouTube channel. Saturday, 1/28, the Dawgs will continue the tradition of competing in the Jeff Coney Classic at Rancocas Valley High School, going up against Burlington Township. The game is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 p.m.

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 …)