Islanders Surge Late to Beat Huskies, 64-49

Breaking out in the nick of time.

After battling visiting Mt. Hope High of Bristol to a virtual standstill during the opening 25 minutes of play, the Middletown High boys’ basketball team used a game-deciding 19-2 blitz late in the second half to record a 64-49 Division III-South victory Monday night.

Senior Toryn Smith-Neves led a parade of four double-digit scorers with a game-high 15 points as the Islanders expanded a two-point lead with eight minutes to go to a 19-point bulge with three minutes left while improving their divisional record to 4-1 and overall season mark to 5-3. Cam Murphy (12), Cam Condry (11) and Justin Bailey (10) also finished in twin figures for the victors and Randolph Butler added 9 points.

Kyle Valenzuela (14), Ben Francis (13) and Mike Head (11) paced the Huskies, who slipped to 2-4 in league play and 3-7 this winter.

After trailing by a 28-24 margin at halftime, Mt. Hope hung tough with the hosts through the first eight minutes of the final period and drew to within two points (37-35) with 8:57 to play when Head drained a three-point basket from the top of the key. Middletown then ran off eight unanswered points – a trey by Condry, a free throw by Justin Sellar, two Butler charity tosses and a Bailey bank shot – to open up a 45-35 cushion before Francis swished a pair of foul shots to reduce the visitors’ deficit to 45-37 at the 5:26 mark.

Smith-Neves sank a lay-in off a turnover and pretty feed from Murphy to ignite an 11-0 burst which also included a Murphy runner, Smith-Neves trey, Sellar jumper from the right corner and Bailey lay-in. When the dust had settled, the Islanders boasted a 56-37 spread with 3:17 remaining and the final outcome was no longer in doubt.

“Our defense picked up the pressure and we put in a little quicker lineup to match Mt. Hope’s,” Middletown Coach Kevin Lendrum said. “We were big for them, but they were a little quicker than we were at the beginning of each half, so we had to get a quicker lineup to match them.”

“We knew whichever team got a run at that point in the game would take charge and they did,” Mt. Hope Coach Mike Topazio said. “The thing that impressed me about Middletown’s run was that it came from all facets of the game. It came from their defense, it came from their three-point shooting, it came from the foul line and it came from their hustle.”

Indeed it did. The taller Islanders shut down the Huskies’ offense at critical junctures during the contest, controlled the backboards behind Smith-Neves, Bailey and Matt Sullivan, effectively attacked Mt. Hope’s pressure defenses, ran well most of the night, and drilled eight three-pointers, including five in the first half.

“We controlled the boards, contested their shots and did a nice job getting some easy baskets in transition,” Lendrum said. “It opened up the game for us.”

The Huskies scrapped and clawed for the full 32 minutes, but were eventually betrayed by their lack of size and experience (just two seniors) and forced to settle for too many shots under pressure.

“We let them have too many open shots,” Topazio said. “We’re young, but our kids worked hard. Unfortunately, we never made a run.”

Middletown led through most of the first six minutes of the game until a Valenzuela jumper and Head three-pointer gave Mt. Hope its largest lead of the night at 14-11 with 10:13 to go in the opening period. A Neves-Smith trey put the Islanders ahead for good at 18-16 with 6:21 remaining and Middletown stretched its lead to seven points (28-21) on a Condry three-pointer before Head pumped in a trey with two ticks left to narrow the gap to 28-24 at the break.

The Huskies twice sliced the lead to a single point in the second half before the Islanders finally pulled away.

Mt. Hope returns to action Wednesday in a Division III tilt at Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High, while Middletown is idle until Friday night when it travels to East Greenwich High for a league tussle.

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