By BRIAN TORTELLA

Correspondent

PITMAN — Second-seeded Pitman pulled away from a close game in the final three minutes to hold off No. 3 Salem, 51-42, in the South Jersey Group 1 semifinal on Thursday night.

Junior Elijah Crispin exploded for a game-high 28 points en route to the Panther’s third victory over their Tri-County Conference rival this season. It was the sixth time that Crispin scored 25-plus points in a game this season.

“I like to keep confident and keep shooting,” Crispin said.  “I think I should be a little smarter about it, but I was taking good shots that they gave me. They backed off because of how I attacked the net in recent games. I needed to shoot well again to get myself back in the paint. I need to attack to get my guys shots. Those threes really opened it up.”

Crispin has traditionally followed in his family’s footsteps when it comes to shooting a long step-back three-ball. No one did it better for the Panthers than his father, Joe, and uncle, Jon, who scored a combined 4,970 points in their respective prep careers.

“I trust my shot,” Crispin said. “I’ve done it for years. I’ve gotten better over a period of time. It’s something that I trust, (shooting the deeper 3-pointer) and when it’s open, I know I can make it.”

Pitman coach Ron Myers grew up and played with both Joe and Jon, and was thrilled with Elijah’s performance Thursday night.

“Elijah is a baller,” he said. “His heart wants to win. He puts in so much work. He works so hard and it shows. He steps up in games like this. In big moments, he steps up and makes big plays for us.”

Although Pitman’s offensive attack was arguably at its best, the defensive side of the ball is what truly won the game. Crispin was quick to credit fellow junior classmate Trey Tinges on his impressive defensive performance against Salem’s 1,000-point scorer, Anthony Farmer. 

“That was actually our best defense against Farmer,” Crispin added. “Trey Tinges locked him up most of the game, and Farmer is an amazing player.”

The final points that Salem scored came with 2:56 remaining in the game with the score 44-42 in favor of Pitman. The Panthers then went on a 7-0 run to close out the game behind four more Crispin points and a three-point play from senior Chris Wyllie. Ron Myers Jr. had a team-high 15 rebounds.

After a 48-44 setback to defending state-champion Woodbury in last year’s sectional semifinal, it felt particularly sweet to get over the hump and advance to the final, Myers said.

“This feels fantastic,” said coach Myers. “We always preach to be ‘better than you were the day before, be better than you were last season’. We’ve taken the next step, we got further than we did last year, but we’re not finished.”

Pitman (22-7) will now travel to KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy (22-8) in Camden for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 1 final on Saturday at 3 p.m.

“I think my guys are ready for the challenge,” Myers said. “We’ve had goals all year long, and we’ve been hitting them. This upcoming game is just one more on the list.”

Salem’s record fell to 18-9, with three of those losses coming to Pitman this season. Despite the tough setback, third-year coach Anthony Farmer assured fans that the Rams will be back.

“It was obviously a heck of a season, to finish 18-9 and get the third seed in South Jersey group 1,” he said. “We’re building a program. We went to the South Jersey final my first year, second year was not so great, and now we’re in the semis. Our fans have nothing to hang our heads about. Three years, and two-out-of-the-three we’ve been contenders. I think we have something going here. We’ll be fine. We’ll be back.”

Brian Tortella is a correspondent for South Jersey Glory Days. Follow him on Twitter @tortreports.