LINCROFT,
NEW JERSEY – The No. 2 seeded Middletown South (Middletown, N.J.) Eagles clinched a spot in
the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals with a 66-44 victory over the Rumson-Fair
Haven Bulldogs (N.J.), the No. 7 seed, at Brookdale Community College’s
Collins Arena on Sunday.
The
Eagles were eliminated from the 2009 Shore Conference Tournament in the
quarterfinals by the Freehold Boro Colonials (N.J.). Middletown South Head
Coach Kevin Cullen is ecstatic that his team finally advanced past the SCT
quarterfinals.
“It’s
been 10 years since we’ve been to the Final Four, and it’s really special for
the school,” Cullen said. “Last year in this venue we made some pretty bonehead
errors late in the game. Today, there were no mishaps. We were focused and we
did what we had to do.”
Middletown
South jumped out in front early with an 11-4 lead. Rumson-Fair Haven responded
with an 8-0 run, capped off with a three-pointer by guard Luke Glass to take a
12-11 lead. Rumson-Fair Haven led 14-13 after the first quarter, but that was
their last lead of the game.
The
Eagles, who were ahead 25-19 at halftime, opened the third quarter by
outscoring Rumson-Fair Haven 9-0. Senior Patrick O’Connell scored 8 of his 14 points
in the fourth quarter to help extend the Middletown South lead to 55-29, their
largest of the game.
“When
we get going, we’re a very good team,” O’Connell said. “We don’t look back at
what happened on the last play. We keep playing positive and just let the game
come to us.”
Glass led
the game in scoring with half of Rumson-Fair Haven’s 44 points. The senior also
made three three-pointers, but the team only shot 5 of 22 from three-point territory.
The Bulldogs made 13 threes in a second round victory over the No. 10 Neptune
Scarlet Fliers (N.J.) on Friday night.
Kyle
Cancillieri led the Eagles with 20 points, and Jake Brodsky also reached double
figures with 16.
“Brodsky
is a tremendous weapon for us. He has jump shooting ability, outside shooting
ability, he penetrates well, and he sees the floor,” Cullen said. “And Kyle
[Cancillieri] is just one of those truly special players.”
Rumson-Fair
Haven kept fighting hard even though the game was out of reach. The Bulldogs
managed to cut the Middletown South lead to less than 20 late in the fourth
quarter.
“It
was starting to get a little crazy when we were down 24 points with five
minutes to go,” Rumson-Fair Haven Head Coach Chris Champeau said. “I called a
timeout and I told all my seniors, ‘Today wasn’t our day, but let’s win these
next five minutes and take that into the state tournament. Let’s take a
positive out of this and go out in some style.’”
Middletown
South will play No. 6 Monsignor Donovan (Toms
River, N.J) Wednesday night at the Ritacco Center
in Toms River. The winner will earn a spot in
the Shore Conference Tournament finals against the winner of the other
semifinal between No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, N.J.)
and No. 4 Manasquan (N.J.).
“We’re
all seniors, and we all know that we’re getting close to the end of the
season,” Cancillieri said. “I think everyone realizes that, and we’re all
trying to step up and do what we can.”
