Haddonfield Sports Week, Jan. 28

The Haddonfield Memorial High School boys’ basketball team has demonstrated week after week that it has all the tools to be a championship squad. Last week it gave further evidence to that case, going 3-0. The girls’ basketball team also found success on the hardwood, while the wrestling and swimming teams are gearing up for a big week ahead.

BOYS’ BASEKTBALL

When Haddonfield and West Deptford met on the court last month, the Eagles stormed out to a 14-point lead and appeared to be well on their way to a big upset. The Bulldawgs responded and ended up charging all the way back to win the game in overtime.

Haddonfield started slow, but this time it didn’t wait until the second half to show West Deptford it meant business. Haddonfield used a 17-0 second-quarter run and never looked back in a 67-40 victory.

The Bulldawgs got contributions all over its roster as they continued to demonstrate why they are the best team in the Colonial Conference Liberty Division.

“It’s really been like that for awhile,” Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman said. “I think it was a wake-up call against West Deptford the first time because they really dominated us. We were fortunate to win that game. As this game started it was like ‘here we go again’. Finally, we started to pressure and I think that gave our guys confidence to attack on offense and attack on defense. We can pressure with the guards and then you get your threes from (Billy) Griffin and your inside game from (Chris) Biddle.  It’s nice to have all of your facets working.”

Haddonield also picked up wins over Lindenwold (54-46) and Westhampton Tech (89-42) to improve to 15-1. The Bulldawgs return to the court on Tuesday to face rival Haddon Heights.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

With the playoff cutoff date rapidly approaching the Bulldawgs pulled out some of their best basketball last week, going 3-0 to move two games over the .500 mark.

Haddonfield scored convincing victories over West Deptford, Lindenwold and Florence, not allowing either team to score more than 34 points, and holding two opponents in the 20s.

Hayley Raymond and Taylor Sehdev led the way against Lindenwold, scoring 18 and 14 points, respectively. The Bulldawgs used a lock-down defense to suffocate rival West Deptford two days later. Haddonfield held West Deptford to just a single point in the first quarter and ran away with a 44-27 win. The week concluded with a 53-34 non-conference victory over Florence. Maddie Bettey was the star of the game, netting a pair of threes on her way to 22 points.

With its place in the Group 2 tournament now secure, Haddonfield turns its focus to Haddon Heights, which it will travel to face on Tuesday.

WRESTLING

The Bulldawgs were fired up when they took on the rival Garnets last week and it showed. Haddonfield got pins from six wrestlers in a 51-22 victory. William Benedict, Peter Rhodes, David Hessert, Crawford Oswalt, John Tedeschi and Henry Klaus each pinned their opponents to the mat, while Jake Klaus won by technical fall and Eric Feldhake scored a major decision.

The Bulldawgs were unable to string together consecutive victories, however, as powerhouse Paulsboro proved too much in a 40-15 win. Henry Klaus managed a victory by pin, while Christian Kreps scored an 8-7 decision.

The Bulldagws (7-10) have a tough conference test on Wednesday when they travel to take on the Collingswood Panthers (19-6).

SWIMMING

It was a quite week for the swim teams as only the boys’ squad competed. Haddonfield hung right with Shawnee, but fell, 87-83. Haddonfield is now 7-2 on the season.

The playoff bracket is expected to be released this week, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams expected to receive a high seed. The girls’ have a dual meet Wednesday against Lenape and both the girls’ and boys' have a dual meet against Cherry Hill West Saturday at 1 p.m. This will be the final regular season meet so the seniors will be honored during a break after the 50 free.