Middlesex @ Cardinal McCarrick–January 28, 2008

McCarrick Holds Off Resiliant Middlesex

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–Last year the Jays squad from Middlesex went into South Amboy with a near .500 record, an optimistic outlook and fresh off the mere 5 point loss from the Rob Tolomeo era Jays squad.  They promptly got thrashed by 68-29.  This year the Middlesex team was entering the game at 13-2 with only defeats to non-public schools Bishop Ahr and the Eagles, looking for revenge and respect.

The first quarter the Jays made a statement by showing that they can contend with the higher competition in the area.  With strong guard play and good interior defense the Middlesex squad was able to keep up with the high scoring Eagles offense point for point.  Quick shots and quick play made keeping the statistics quite a challenge, even requiring second opinion from resident GMC Hoops expert Greg Machos at times to see just who made what shot at what point on the court.  At the buzzer of the first quarter, the Jays were leading 20-17.

The second quarter saw a shift in momentum.  The press of the Eagles was forcing the players the Jays did not want dribbling upcourt to do so.  After that they were able to force turnovers and bad passes and were able to capitalize that from a 3 point defecit into a 6 point lead.  After that the Eagles were able to ride behind Mike Burwell, Julio Rosario and Branten Widgeon who scored 12 points in the second half for his 14 total.  The McCarrick Eagles were able to hold and maintain a lead that prevented Middlesex from making it a one possession game.

With the loss, Middlesex falls to just 13-3 overall on the year, and 9-3 in the GMC Blue. Meanwhile, McCarrick, which defeated fourth ranked Bishop Ahr on Saturday, improves to 15-3 overall, and move into first place in the division with a 10-1 record. The Jays enter their next game at home Thursday with a 8-0 record against teams in the Central Jersey Group I section.  They play Highland Park at Middlesex High School.  The Cardinal McCarrick Eagles, which have now won thirteen straight, play the East Brunswick Bears in South Amboy on Saturday, February 2nd. Take a look at the full summary of the game provided by GMC Hoops as well as the Scorecard, Three Stars of the Game, and Team Statistics provided by our Middlesex Volunteer.


Scorecard

Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Cardinal McCarrick (15-3) 17 26 24 14 81
Middlesex (13-3) 20 17 17 14 68

3 Stars of the Game

  • Mike Burwell – McCarrick – Not particulary strong from theperimeter until the second half, but his inside game was virtually
    unstoppable and he took turnovers and converted them into easy layups
    which helped swing the momentum to the Eagles side.
  • Branten Widgeon – McCarrick – Every time it seemed like Middlesex was primed to make a run to put the game within reach, Widgeon recieved a nice pass for a easy layup.
  • Nick Fariella – Middlesex – Was tied with John Stockton for the scoring lead for the Jays.  Was fearless in driving into the lane and grabbing rebounds, helped keep Middlesex within striking distance.

Team Statistics

# Middlesex Points Rebounds Assists Steals Fouls Blocks
23 Nick Fariella 16 7 1 0 5 0
20 Sparky Stockton 7 10 3 4 3 0
12 John Stockton 16 3 1 0 4 0
2 Billy Lester 6 4 6 2 0 0
5 Mike Perone 12 1 3 1 2 1
1 Ryan Farley 8 3 1 1 1 0
3 Mike Colacci 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Kyle Paul Adams 0 0 1 0 1 0
33 Mike Fincher 3 1 0 0 0 0
  Totals 68 29 16 8 16 1
# Cardinal McCarrick Points Rebounds Assists Steals Fouls Blocks
23 Mike Burwell 31 11 6 1 3 2
22 Julio Rosario 22 2 4 3 0 0
12 Dominic Appiah 8 6 1 1 4 1
20 Branten Widgeon 14 8 2 1 1 0
11 Sean Williams 2 1 1 0 1 0
24 Will Snider 2 2 5 3 1 0
2 Alvin Baptiste-Ousley 0 1 0 0 1 0
35 Tom Costello 2 1 0 0 2 0
31 Eliazar Landeo 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Taylor Snider 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 Mike Brennan 0 1 0 0 0 0
3 Craig Thomas 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Jack Giordano 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 81 33 19 9 13 3