One More Miracle? New Egypt Goes for Improbable First Sectional Title

NJSIAA South Jersey Group I Championship

Saturday, March 7, 2026

At Salem High School, 3 p.m.

 

No. 14 New Egypt at No. 1 Salem

 

Teams at a Glance

New Egypt (14-14)

Head Coach: Mick Hughes
Last Sectional Championship: None
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2011

Road to the Final

First Round: On the second day of state tournament play, New Egypt landed, arguably, the biggest upset of the first round when the Warriors controlled the pace, got 33 combined points from seniors Ryan Reynolds and Nolan Arnold, and stunned No. 3 Haddon Township, 42-36, to move on to the quarterfinals. Reynolds hit four three-pointers on the way to a game-high 19 points and Arnold poured in 14 to carry the offense, while New Egypt limited the Hawks to a season-low 36 points.

Quarterfinals: In many ways, New Egypt’s state-tournament run started on the Saturday of the NJSIAA cutoff, when the Warriors topped Pittman to guarantee their spot in the bracket. In round two of the South Jersey section, New Egypt’s opponent was the team that beat Pitman in round one. No. 6 Penns Grove avoided the first-round home loss to Pitman, but was not so fortunate vs. New Egypt. Arnold struck for 20 points, fellow senior Clyde Ferris backed him up with 16 and the Warriors closed the game with a 20-point fourth quarter that finished off a 47-38 win over the Red Devils.

Semifinals: In the semifinals at No. 2 Palmyra, New Egypt faced its highest-pressure situation yet. The Warriors held a 12-point lead with five minutes to play, but squandered the lead when the Panthers closed the fourth quarter on a 14-2 run to send the game into overtime and charge up their home crowd. With momentum going in the wrong direction, New Egypt fell behind, 56-52, in overtime, but Reynolds hit his seventh three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to one and Arnold hit a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to take the lead for the Warriors, who held on for a 58-56 win after coming up with a defensive stand in the final seconds. Reynolds finished with 22 points on 7-for-9 three-point shooting, Ferris chipped in 17 points and Arnold went for 11 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

 

Projected Lineup

Nolan Arnold, Sr., 6-4, Guard

Ryan Reynolds, Sr., 5-10, Guard

Dylan Harper, Sr., 5-10, Guard

Clyde Ferris, Sr., 6-3, Forward

Paul Kennedy, Jr., 6-4, Forward

 

Salem (22-5)

Head Coach: Anthony Farmer
Last Sectional Championship: 2008
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2022

Road to the Final

First Round: Junior Naziah Spence scored 16 points and Salem dominated the glass en route to a 67-42 win over No. 16 Riverside in round one. Senior Fatah Paige posted 13 points and eight rebounds, lead guard Tymear Lecator added 11 points and seven assists, while three players – senior Marshall Stephens, junior Deshaan Williams and Cole Sayers – grabbed 10 rebounds apiece.

Quarterfinals: Williams led the way with 19 points,11 rebounds and three assists while Lecator contributed 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists to help the Rams fight off No. 8 Woodstown, 63-54. Senior Xavier McGriff also chipped in 10 points and Brandin Robbins delivered eight points and four assists off the bench for Salem.

Semifinals: Williams posted his third straight double-digit-rebound game and second straight double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to lead Salem to a 56-42 win over No. 4 KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, which locked down Salem’s first sectional final trip in four years. Spence and Lecator each added 13 points and Paige ignited the second-quarter run that gave the Rams a double-digit cushion by unleashing a highlight worthy dunk over a KIPP defender.

 

Projected Lineup

Tymear Lecator, Jr., 6-1, Guard

Neziah Spence, Jr., 5-9, Guard

Xavier McGriff, Sr., 5-9, Guard

Deshaan Williams, Jr., 6-2, Forward

Marshall Stephens, Sr., 6-6, Forward

Off the Bench

Brandin Robbins, Jr., Guard

Darrelle Johnson, Sr., 6-3, Guard

Fatah Paige, Sr., 6-3, Guard/Forward

Cole Sayers, Jr., 6-5, Center

 

With one week to go before the NJSIAA Tournament cutoff, New Egypt was in grave danger of missing out on the postseason altogether. The Warriors were 8-12 and outside the top 16 in power points among the teams in the South Jersey Group I section with only four games lined up to change their playoff fate. With an experienced, senior-led team that went 12-13 a year ago against a similar schedule as juniors, missing the state tournament would have been gutting to the group.

Instead, the seniors rallied to go 3-1 in the final week, capped by a 44-40 win over Pitman that left no doubt that the Warriors would be going to the NJSIAA Tournament.

Once in the field, however, the chances for New Egypt to make a run did not seem all that high. The Warriors were the No. 14 seed in the section and would have been No. 15 had LEAP Academy been eligible to qualify.

The rest is already history, although the Warriors hope they are not done rewriting it. New Egypt slayed No. 3 Haddon Township, No. 6 Penns Grove and No. 2 Palmyra to earn a spot in the sectional finals for the first time since 2011, when the Warriors lost to Asbury Park at home with North Carolina head coach Roy Williams in attendance to watch his recruit and 6-foot-9 New Egypt wing Desmond Hubert.

To complete the run to the program’s first ever sectional championship, New Egypt will have to pull off its biggest upset yet. Beating Haddon Township suggests New Egypt has the tools to knock off Salem, but this will be a different atmosphere and a different focus level from the opponent with a championship on the line.

While New Egypt boasts a senior-led lineup, Salem has done it with a talented junior group complemented by a collection of senior role players, which includes 6-foot-6 forward Marshall Stephens. His size will be a concern for New Egypt, with 6-4 junior Paul Kennedy there to combat him. Palmyra also had size and length, which bothered New Egypt for parts of its overtime win on Wednesday, but the Warriors worked around it with efficient shooting thanks to a red-hot game from Ryan Reynolds, another solid scoring outing by Clyde Ferris and outstanding point-guard play from Arnold.

Speaking of Arnold, a skilled, 6-4 point guard is a tough matchup for any team and that will be the start of any championship gameplan for New Egypt. More hot shooting will help, but the quality of New Egypt’s shots begins with Arnold’s ability to initiate the offense. Earlier this season, he passed Hubert to become the program’s all-time leading scorer, but it is his play-making at point guard that has helped New Egypt play their best offensive basketball of the season over the last week.

Salem, meanwhile, will be the most athletic team New Egypt has faced all season, let alone during the NJSIAA Tournament. Coach Anthony Farmer – a former guard at Rutgers and a star at St. Augustine Prep – has a rotation that runs at least nine deep and the core of that lineup is composed of juniors.

Tymear Lecator leads Salem with 16.4 points and 5.2 assists per game, while fellow junior Deshaan Williams is averaging 12 points and 8.3 rebounds and classmate Neziah Spence is putting up 9.3 points per game, giving the Rams three juniors as the top three scorers.

The Verdict

To pull off one more upset and complete an improbable run to the team’s first ever sectional championship, New Egypt will need shooting like it got from Reynolds in the sectional semifinal, when he shot 7-for-9. It does not have to be all Reynolds, but Arnold, senior Dylan Harper and Ferris can also stretch the defense out. The Warriors will also be counting on Kennedy to hold his own in the paint as a rebounder and defender, as well as a finisher on the offensive end when he finds daylight.

The Warriors need all five starters to be sharp and to stay out of dire foul trouble because coach Mick Hughes wants to ride his starting five. In the win over Palmyra, all five starters played all 36 minutes, so other than stealing a few minutes with the bench in isolated pockets of the game, New Egypt will want those five on the floor for as much of the game as possible.

On the other side, Salem can run quality players into the game off the bench and not suffer much of a drop-off. That also allows the Rams to play a fast pace without worrying too much about fatigue and fouling. To combat that, New Egypt handling pressure and setting the pace – as the Warriors did so well against Haddon Township in round one and for most of Wednesday’s game at Palmyra – will be crucial.

As the last week has revealed, New Egypt’s Shore Conference schedule coupled with the senior leadership had the Warriors more prepared for the postseason than anyone outside their gym expected. Salem, however, has played a schedule that is at another level. The Rams have played the likes of Atlantic City, Cherry Hill East, Rutgers Prep, Pleasantville, Williamstown, Burlington Township and Rancocas Valley and while the last two of those games were Salem’s only wins, it shows the kind of program it takes to beat Salem in this particular year.

New Egypt’s run has been historic for the program and it is a fitting end to the senior seasons of a group that refused to go quietly after a disappointing regular season. At this point, it is hard to put anything past this group, but make no mistake about it: New Egypt is the underdog and will have plenty of doubters to prove wrong. If the last week is any indication, the Warriors like it that way.

The Pick: Salem, 52-44