Jays at the Halfway Point
Depleted, in-fighting, attitudes over aptitude. Sounds like the beginning of a clichéd sports movie, but it is actually more like the obstacles that ever kept teams from Middlesex in recent years from ever truly shining. No shortage of talent the past couple of years; with Jabree Sunkins, Ahmed Sunkins, Authnel Reid, Gary Brenner, Rob Tolomeo, Dave Earl and Phil Barnes are some of the names that have passed through the past four years. All of them had good talent but they could never get a chemistry working between them and the supporting cast. This year’s varsity group has always had a nice camaraderie among them from the time they began to get thrown together as sophomores. Last season was one for change, for development.Â
With Class of ’07 senior Jimmy Miguel, not only a hard worker but a good all around person having to pull out for medical reasons it left last years squad without a single player graduating. This gave coach Brian Feath ample amount of time to assemble his army for the upcoming two seasons while providing them some time to take their lumps and get adjusted. Take their lumps they did, while the team of last year showed glimpses of greatness to come, their inconsistency was maddening to say the least. Knocking off last year’s CJ Group II #1 seed DelVal in the pre-season and upsetting Bishop Ahr for their only non-McCarrick division loss were the highs, but the lows consisted of four losses. Two each to JFK-Iselin and Dunellen that were winnable games, the latter two were even harder to take because quite frankly… its Route 28 arch rival Dunellen. On top of that, Middlesex, which was within a game of the much needed .500 mark to qualify for the state tournament as of their win over North Warren on January 27th, finished the year with six straight losses including a resounding defeat at the hands of South Amboy in the 2007 GMCT Play-In Round.
With all that said, the Jays came into this season with dual high hopes and many skeptics. But every game, whether preseason or regular was a test. One by one they passed, from Del-Val to Northern Highlands to Metuchen all the way to a very exciting 9-2 start. Fan interest has picked up accordingly, with the Middlesex faithful dubbing the team the “Middlesex Patriots†modeled after the juggernaut New England team and bringing in matching red white and blue memorabilia while shouting praise to the home team has made the Jays nest a virtual headache shall one enter their vote for the opposition. By no means does the team itself not get credit; a 13 point and 7 rebound game is pretty much a nine to five effort for Sparky Stockton while Nick Fariella shaked off an injury to come back and provide the athletic firepower in the paint.Â
John Stockton a three year starter has provided leadership; clutch ability and a maturity missing from even the grownest of men (remember Latrell can’t feed his family on 10 mil). Even the guards, once considered a weak link in the Jays chain have stepped up its play. Bill Lester has grown into the ultimate hard working blue collar success story, and Mike Perone has stepped his game up even when facing fierce competition. The bench led by Ryan Farley who is as liquid as cash at the free throw line and a beast off the glass can burn the opposition at any time. Mike Fincher is very fundamentally sound and a solid contributor. Even Kyle Paul “Mammimals†Adams has preformed well in spelling the guards.
Take what was previously mentioned in the first two paragraphs; if you would have not known any better you would say there’s no way that that is the exact same school two years removed. Much of the credit has to go to the man who was first introduced in the twilight of my freshman year. Coach Feath brought in an idea of change, hard work and selflessness as well as fundamental basketball. The players have bought into his ideas and the spoils have been shown this season. And lest you think this is just one super-class and back to mediocrity, three of the six major minute holders are juniors with the potential for self improvement. But no time to look forward while the present is so sweet.Â
This is only half of the games the Jays will play and with a little luck their will be more beyond that. With its 9-2 mark through eleven games, Middlesex has already clinched itself a playoff birth in the upcoming 2008 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament and appears destined for good things. Clinching the berth meant for the first time in six seasons, the Blue Jays were going dancing in late February, and early March. I myself will be gone on vacation until either the Spotswood or North Warren game (hopefully the former). The creator, webmaster and resident basketball expert Greg Machos will be at the game versus South Amboy on Saturday in a conference clash that will go a long way towards not only determining the seeding for the CJ Group I playoffs and beyond, but also the GMCT seeding, which is in a few weeks. On top of that, there is the revenge factor for the Blue Jays, which are looking to make amends for last year’s tourney loss to the Guvs. The second half has in store a potentially special season, its time to reach out and grab it.