Aguilar Lifts Lady Jays Past South River for Harper’s 700th Career Win, 43-34
MIDDLESEX, NJ—For the third time this season, Middlesex and South River met in girls basketball, and for the third time the Lady Jays won. However, this victory had much more significance for two reasons. First, the win helped Middlesex clinch a berth in the GMCT Elite Eight for the third time in the past four years, and second and perhaps even most importantly, it was the 700th career win for head coach Kevin Harper.
Junior guard, Neysa Aguilar scored a game high 17 points including seven in the second quarter to help 6th seeded Middlesex establish a 20-17 halftime lead, and then scored four more points during a crucial 10-3 fourth quarter spurt to defeat 11th seeded South River, 43-34 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Girls Basketball Tournament on Wednesday evening in Middlesex Borough.
Senior center Madison Robel chipped in with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds including 4 points in the first period to help the Lady Jays take a 9-6 lead, and then five more in the third as Middlesex took a 31-22 advantage into the fourth period. Kaylin Nepton added 5 points while also pulling down 10 boards while Ashley Knuth also contributed with 5 points and 7 rebounds. Knuth scored 4 of her points in the 2nd period.
Tiffany Fischer, a 1,000 point scorer at South River, led the Lady Rams in a losing cause with 16 points including two threes along with 6 rebounds. Fischer now has a total of 1,385 points in her career. Sophomore Natalia Vera Cruz chipped in with 7 points and a game high 13 rebounds while freshman Gianna Rodriguez also added 7 points while collecting 6 boards.
Middlesex had six different players score as Makenzie Marsh knocked home a third quarter three for her only points that gave the Lady Jays a 27-22 lead, and freshman Jessica Devine got her only points of the game as she helped wrap up the victory with a transition layup in the final minutes. Meanwhile, South River had four players get into the scorebook as Maya Ragab contributed with 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Also playing for the Lady Rams were Ashley Pereira (3 rebounds) and Madison Vitucci (2 rebounds). While South River garnered a 6-3 edge in points from long distance thanks to Fischer, Middlesex enjoyed a 28-24 edge in points scored within the arc, and a 9-1 advantage in points scored from the charity stripe. The Lady Jays also outrebounded the Lady Rams by a margin of 41-34.
The 2022 GMC Blue Division girls basketball champs outscored their division rival in the first (9-6) and third periods (11-5) while the second (11-11) and fourth periods (12-12) ended in draws. Both teams struggled offensively early on, as neither side scored for much of the first half of the opening frame. The two teams eventually got going as Middlesex took a 9-6 lead as Robel scored 4 points, Aguilar added 3, and Nepton chipped in with two.
In the second period, Aguilar (7 points) and Knuth (4 points) combined for all 11 of Middlesex’s points as Aguilar netted the team’s only three while adding two other scores and Knuth scored both her buckets in the paint. Fischer, who scored 7 points in the first half kept pace with two jumpers from the top of the key including one that was a three pointer to keep the game close at 20-17 heading into the intermission.
The third period saw the two teams go back and forth for a bit before Middlesex pulled away from a 24-22 lead with a 7-0 spurt to end the frame sparked by Marsh’s three from the left corner for a 31-22 lead. Robel led the charge with 5 points including a nice turnaround move in the paint for a score while Aguilar and Marsh chipped in with 3.
At the start of the fourth, South River rallied with the first 6 points of the period including a couple scores from Fischer to narrow the deficit to 31-28 with 6:34 remaining. Following a Middlesex timeout, the Lady Jays scored 5 of the next 7 points including an Aguilar layup for a 36-28 lead with 5:53 to play. After a South River timeout, Midddlesex scored 5 of the next 8 points including another layup by Aguilar and a score from Robel at the 2:27 mark for a 41-31 Lady Jays lead.
Devine then closed out the win with her layup off the break while Rodriguez added a three point play to close out the scoring. With the victory, Middlesex advances to the GMCT Quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last five years. In the GMCT Girls Elite Eight on Saturday, the Lady Jays will take on 3rd seeded Colonia, which is in the midst of its best season ever thanks to the likes of Taylor Derkack and Mattie Chiera.
Middlesex also improved to 19-2 overall on the season including a 17-1 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, South River drops to 16-6 overall and 14-5 in the GMC. The Lady Rams are scheduled to play J.F. Kennedy in a state tourney tune-up game on February 22nd at 4:30 PM in Iselin before hosting A.L. Johnson Regional of Clark in the opening round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 2 State Playoffs on February 28th.
DID YOU KNOW? Kevin Harper became the fifth coach in New Jersey history to reach 700 career wins. Harper has coached at three different schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference: Piscataway Tech, Bishop Ahr/St. Thomas Aquinas, and Middlesex. Since arriving at Middlesex in 2017, Harper has a compiled an overall record of 103-18 with four GMCT Elite Eight and two GMCT Final Four berths.
In addition, Middlesex had been awarded the top seed in the GMC Girls Championship Pod in 2021, but had to withdraw to due COVID. Under Harper’s guidance, the Lady Jays have also reached the Central Jersey Group 1 Final three years in a row (2018, 2019, and 2020). Middlesex will be competing in Central Jersey Group 2 this season.
Middlesex senior center, Madison Robel is the youngster sister of former girls hoops standout, Olivia Robel and boys hoops standout and 1,000 point scorer at MHS, Jake Robel. The latter is currently attending Wilkes University, where he is playing on the men’s basketball team. Meanwhile, Gianna Rodriguez is the youngster sister of South River boys hoops standout, junior Lazaro Rodriguez, who currently has 910 career points. Another older brother, football standout, Steven Rodriguez, graduated in 2020.
Tiffany Fischer also had some older siblings come through South River High School. Older sister Ashley Fischer, who was her teammate two years ago when the Rams reached the GMCT Semis before losing to eventual champion, St. Thomas Aquinas, played all four years at South River, and scored 1,134 career points. Older brother R.J. Fischer, graduated in 2018 with 219 career points and was a contributor to the Rams Final Four run in the 2016 Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs.
South River girls basketball head coach, Mike Feaster was a three sport star for the Rams when he was in high school. Feaster was on the Rams’ boys basketball roster in the first two seasons of GMC Hoops in 2000-01 and 2001-02 when current SRHS AD, Carl Buffalino was the head coach.