Scoreless Second Quarter Dooms Middletown South In State Final

Photo above: Dejected Eagle players on the bench during post-game ceremonies

TOMS RIVER – Middletown South’s dream of repeating as the NJSIAA Group III champions and getting another shot at the Tournament of Champions title was washed away by an almost unimaginable five-point first half. The Eagles were held scoreless in the second quarter of their 47-36 loss to Old Tappan in Sunday’s NJSIAA Group III final at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.

The game was a rematch of last year’s Group III final when the Eagles (25-4) beat the Golden Knights 50-42 for the program’s first-ever Group III championship.

The twelfth-ranked Eagles trailed 23-5 at the half after shooting nine percent from the field, 2-for-21, and Old Tappan - ranked No.17 in the state – pushed the lead to 21 points, 36-15, with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles then proceeded to scratch and claw their way back into the game pulling within six, 37-31, with 3:10 remaining in the game.

“It’s not like we haven’t been down big before and I thought only giving up 23 points in the half that we were still okay,” Eagles coach Tom Brennan said. “The way the makeup of this group is they always just support each other and every timeout, every huddle was we’re good, we’re going to chip away, get it to 12 points, get it 10, get it to six. They knew there was no 18-point play and to just chip away so we never thought we were out of it.”

Counted for dead just minutes earlier, the Eagles, to their credit had their chances to inch even closer then the six- point margin and potentially win the game. Isla Brennan's field goal off a seed form Karcz cut the Old Tappan lead to six before Karcz' steal on the Golden Knights ensuing possession gave the ball to the Eagles with a shot at cutting the deficit to four with 2:44 left in the game.

However, the Eagles turned the ball over on that possession and again on their following two possessions spelling their doom as Old Tappan took advantage of the miscues to close out the game. Crevani scored eight straight points including going 6-for-6 from the line as Old Tappan outscored the Eagles 10-5 down the stretch to seal the deal for their first state title in program history.

Brennan felt the game slip away during that span of turnovers, “I would tell you I think it was at six with possession on a fast break when the ball went out of bounds that that was the moment where I thought we might need some extra special assistance here,”

For the Eagles just to get to the group final after overcoming one hurdle after another this season is a testament to their guts and determination.

Coach Brennan underwent life-threatening quadruple heart bypass surgery on December 31 and was just now slowly working himself back onto the bench. And after just 14 games this season the Eagles lost star forward Haley Delonzo for the year with ACL surgery after she averaging 12 points and seven rebounds when she went down. Add to that the fact that starting forward Julia Valkos had just recently returned to the lineup after missing 14 games with an injury and the Eagles were facing a recipe for disaster that they impressively overcame.

“The whole season’s been about them playing with heart,” Brennan said. “Everything they’re made up of is just passion and bravery and heart. They’ve just been so inspirational all year with everything I’ve gone through. It’s just because they care so much for each other and they care for me and I can’t say enough. From a basketball standpoint win or lose does matter, but sometimes what they put on display is so inspiring and meaningful I can’t ask for more than that. They won a lot of games, especially the seniors and what they’ve given to me over the year’s I just want to bottle it up and take it with me forever.”

It was an unfitting ending for the best player to ever come out of the Middletown South girls basketball program as Steph Karcz’ last game in an Eagle uniform sadly ended in tears.

Karcz – who will continue her career at Loyola University - is a remarkable player who was a consistent double-double scorer and rebounder with multiple triple-doubles (points, rebounds and steals) to her credit. She finishes her high school career having put up some incredible numbers with 1,678 points scored, 766 rebounds, 486 steals and 302 assists as a four-year varsity starter.

“When we found out she was coming (to Middletown South) because you don’t always get the elite players in the public schools we knew we were going to be pretty good from a basketball standpoint,” Brennan said. “I didn’t have any idea of how much of an impact she was going to have on me from a human element. She’s such a good person; she’ll give up anything of herself if it makes me better or the team better. It’s a special quality they all have but a lot of it started with her.”

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