Sports
Middletown South Shakes Up SCT With Thrilling Win Over Rumson-Fair Haven
Overlooked Eagles advance to the Shore Conference Tournament semfinals
Photo above: Eagles head coach Tom Brennan gives his team last minute instructions
LINCROFT – The Middletown South Eagles quickly became an afterthought in the Shore Conference girls basketball hierarchy when star forward Jill Falvy was lost for the season with a torn ACL before the season even got underway.
Despite winning the Shore Conference Class A North - going undefeated in its division - and winning 19 games prior to Saturday’s quarterfinal match against Rumson-Fair Haven – ranked seventh in the state – the Eagles were still labeled as the team that could’ve really been a top contender; “only if.”
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Six Shore Conference teams are ranked in the Star Ledger’s top twenty, with the Eagles on the outside looking in despite beating Red Bank Catholic – ranked No.17 – and losing at No.12 Gloucester Catholic by only six points. And Although the Eagles are ranked seventh in the Shore Conference, they’re still flying under the radar; until now.
The No.5 seed Eagles defeated No.4 seed Rumson-Fair Haven 55-48 in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Brookdale for their 20th win of the season (20-4) advancing into Tuesday’s SCT semifinal round against unbeaten and nationally ranked St. Rose (24-0).
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“I can’t be more proud of the way we’ve played all season, especially today,” Middletown South head coach Tom Brennan said. “We’ve been through an awful lot of adversity and our kids just keep grinding and getting better. When Jill (Falvy) got hurt it changed just about everything we do on both sides of the ball and the kids have done an unbelievable job figuring out their roles.”
Saturday’s affair was a highly-contested game that seesawed back-and-forth for over three and a half quarters.The lead continually changed hands until the Eagles (20-4) finally took control of the game in the waining minutes.
After trailing 31-29 at the half, South’s Angela DeBartolone broke a 37-37 tie with 1:14 left in the third quarter when she drove the length of the court for a layup after stealing the ball in the backcourt to give the Eagles a 39-38 lead after three quarters.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 41-41 on junior Nicole Morris’ bucket, but after junior Stephanie Karcz hit one-of-two free throws for the Eagles, sophomore Haley Dalonzo drained a three-pointer to put Middletown South up 45-41 with 4:38 remaining in the game. That shot was huge and a turning point in the game as the Eagles never trailed again.
However, the Bulldogs crept back to within one, 46-45, when freshman Tori Hyduke found sophomore Hannah Scanlan underneath for a layup with 2:38 remaining in the game.
But that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Eagles shut the door on them and went on a 8-0 run building an insurmountable 53-45 lead at 1:06 of the fourth. Rumson would not score again until junior Stephanie Lesko hit a last-ditch three-pointer with 51.9 seconds left in the game to make it 53-48.
“I just felt we were really strong with the bounce off the dribble in the fourth quarter,” Brennan said. “Our kids were aggressive and defensively I thought we rebounded better and we contested the three-point shot better.”
Sophomore Alexandra Balsamo and Karcz each hit one-of-two free throws in the final seconds to clinch the 55-48 win for the Eagles.
Junior Julia Valkos had two huge buckets and a free throw in the 8-0 run and Karcz’ steal and pass to DeBartolone for the lay-in made it 53-45 with 1:06 left in the game.
“Julia’s been great all year, the kids a gazelle out there,” Brennan said. “She gets out and up the floor as well as anybody. We try to get her out and into some open space and late in the game she found some.”
Balanced scoring propelled the Eagles with Karcz and Valkos each finishing with 15 points while Delonzo had 10 and DeBartolome added nine points. Karcz grabbed 10 rebounds - five of them offensive while Delonzo added seven boards and two steals. Balsamo finished with six points, three assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
“It’s been no one player taking Jill’s place,” the proud coach said of his team. “It’s been a collective, circle the wagons type off effort. Steff’s (Karcz) a leader on and off the court and has been with us three years now. I think this was her 76th varsity game and she’s only a junior. We felt we had a chance to win; it’s just that nobody else did.”
