Sitting between the GMC Hoops wizard Greg and my semi-basketball literate girlfriend, I witnessed the tightest crispest game played by Middlesex in a good while. In the final tune up before tickets are sold and popcorn is devoured, the Blue Jays showed definite positives to this season in their scrimmage against the Cranford Cougars.
Starting on a roll led by John Stockton and his eventual game high of 22 points, the Jays jumped out to a 10-2 lead over a clearly slow starting Cougar team. Middlesex however soon fell in love with the long ball as junior guards Mike Colacci and Mike Perone missed long jumpers that allowed Cranford to chip away and eventually recapture the lead at 12-10. Senior center Nick Fariella who had himself an all around good game helped change momentum with one of his two blocks that led the Middlesex transition to tie the frame in the final minute.
The Jays would once again jump into an early lead in the second quarter with the stingy defense playing good fundamental box outs and jumping on Cougar mistakes and sending them the other way for easy twos. What really impressed me was the fact that the big men led by Nick Fariella and Sparky Stockton were leading the Middlesex transition with flawless outlet passes. Showing selflessness and trust with the ball is an extreme polar opposite of the conceitedness that doomed so many past teams whos ego overshadowed their talent.
The third quarter was much like none i have seen in the three scrimmages ive covered so far, all the subs stayed in the game for the latter stages of the tilt even as Cranford pushed a 15-13 lead into the final minute. Senior guard Kyle Paul Adams ran the offense to perfection in engineering two consecutive scoring plays to give Middlesex the 17-15 edge and the victory.
The fourth quarter saw John Stockton drill a three pointer and laser a short bank shot too hard to end his very successful day with 22 points and 3 boards. Him and the other starters mostly sat and gave people like junior foward Ryan Farley extra playing time. Farley who was an integral part of the team last year as the first guy off the bench will reprise his role as spark and rebounding specialist.
Fittingly, I would once again like to thank GMC Hoops creator Greg, from freshman year when I had a splendidly mediocre 2 points and 3 fouls in 5 minutes of mop-up duty in a Freshman game of the week against J.F. Kennedy of Iselin back in February, 2005, all the way to hopefully playoff action this year i would like to show appreciation for all the work he puts into this site. Check out the box score, key plays from the scrimmage as well as the stats. You can also read the full summary on this game as well as a write-up on the JV scrimmage in the JV Roundup section at the web site.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | 12 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 61 |
| Cranford | 12 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 45 |
Key Plays
1. Not So Much as a key play as this is a key player, whose hustle earns him time on the court. Sophmore Mike Fincher provided a definate energy subbing in for big men Fariella and Sparky and ended up with 4 rebounds and 2 points on a putback off his offensive rebound.
Middlesex Blue Jays Team Stats
Nick Fariella 12 Pts 5 Rbd 2 Ast 2 Blk 4 Stl 2 Fouls
Sparky Stockton 8 Pts 6 Rbd 3 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 Fouls
John Stockton 22 Pts 3 Rbd 1 Ast
Billy Lester 3 Pts 5 Rbd 4 Ast 1 Blk 2 Fouls
Mike Perone 3 Pts 1 Rbd 2 Ast 1 Stl
Ryan Farley 6 Pts 2 Rbd 1 Ast 1 Blk 3 Stl 1 Fouls
Mike Fincher 2 Pts 4 Rbd 3 Ast 2 Stl 3 Fouls
K.P. Adams 1 Ast 1 Stl
Mike Colacci 1 Rbd 1 Ast 1 Stl 1 Fouls
Robert Menditto 1 Fouls