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Cardinal
McCarrick Defeats Middlesex In A Track Meet, 81-68 |
By Greg Machos
January 28, 2008SOUTH AMBOY, NJ—To describe Monday night's varsity game between the Middlesex Blue Jays and the Cardinal McCarrick Eagles would be to say something like, "I went to a basketball game, and a track meet broke out." That would basically summarize what it felt like for not only me to cover this game, but also for our Middlesex Hoops Volunteer, who returned from a hiatus to capture some of the action as well. Both of us had to ask the other who scored a layup, or who made that shot although I'll admit I asked him more than he asked me. To put the numbers in a nutshell (we'll still go into more detail as usual), there were three quarters in this game, where one of the two teams scored 20 or more points. Each team scored in double-figures in each of the four quarters. Both teams shot extremely well, and ended up tallying nearly 150 points in the contest. It was the third highest scoring game involving a GMC team this season. Three other games among teams in the GMC with plenty of points in 2007-08 were: Spotswood at Bound Brook in the opening round of the 2007 Crusader Classic in Bound Brook won by Crusaders, 84-68. Then, in another holiday tournament game, Sayreville defeated Woodbridge in the Championship Game of the Wildcat Holiday Tournament at High Point, 80-68. The two teams then met in the regular season a couple weeks ago at Woodbridge High School that the Bombers won, 90-80.
By time the first quarter was over, my pen was literally smoking. Both teams put up 37 points with Middlesex actually taking a 20-17 lead. However, over the next two periods, the fast paced, high octane offense of Cardinal McCarrick began to wear the Blue Jays down with the Eagles outscoring the visitors by a 50-34 margin for a 67-54 lead after three periods. Both teams then drew to a 14-14 draw in the final frame as the top ranked Eagles won their thirteenth straight game, 81-68. Senior guard/forward, Mike Burwell led the way as usual for the South Amboy school with 31 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the floor including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, and 9 of 10 from the foul line while also picking up 10 rebounds for a double-double. Burwell also added six assists and two steals in the win while junior teammate, Julio Rosario chipped with 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor, and 4 of 5 from the line. At one point in the game, Rosario connected on nine shots in a row, which was the best shooting stretch for the McCarrick guard since the memorable 2007 GMCT Semifinal victory over South Brunswick, where he was a perfect 7 of 7 for the game. Branten Widgeon also contributed in the win with 12 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the field to complement 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Junior forward, Dominic Appiah helped out as well with 4 of 5 shooting for 8 points along with 8 boards, a steal, and a blocked shot.
On the other side of the ledger, Middlesex was led by two seniors, John Stockton and Nick Fariella. The elder Stockton, who has steadily improved over his last two games covered by the web site, sank 7 of 11 shots including 2 of 4 from long range for 16 points along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Meanwhile, Fariella, who has had at least a share of team high in scoring for Middlesex in each of the past three Blue Jay contests covered by GMC Hoops, made 6 of 11 shots from the floor, and 4 of 8 from the foul line to equal Stockton's mark while picking up 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Mike Perone, a junior point guard, also contributed by making 4 of 8 from downtown for 12 points while collecting 3 assists, a rebound, steal, and blocked shot. To view the rest of the individual statistics, please feel free to visit the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section. For the game, both teams were quite hot shooting the basketball. Cardinal McCarrick made 32 of 59 attempts for a scorching 54.2 percent including 4 of 11 from beyond the arc for 36.4 percent while Middlesex was a bit cooler, but still fairly warm as it connected on 26 of 55 shots from the field for 47.3 percent including 6 of 13 from long distance for 46.2 percent. One of the disparities between the two teams in this game was at the line as the Eagles, bolstered by Burwell and Rosario, made 13 of 18 foul shots for 72.2 percent while the Blue Jays made only 10 of 17 for 58.8 percent. Turnovers also played a key role as McCarrick only made 17 miscues while forcing the visiting Jays to commit 24. Fifteen of those Middlesex turnovers were produced by Eagle steals.
In other statistical areas, the Eagles held advantages in rebounding (34-27), offensive rebounding (16-12), assists (18-16), blocks (4-1), steals (15-6), and charges (1-0). Cardy Mac outscored MHS in two of the four periods with the Blue Jays winning the first, and the final one being a draw. The first period set the tone for the rest of the game as the two teams played tennis rather than basketball with one team answering the other's volley with a score. Middlesex was able to forge ahead by breaking McCarrick's pressure for layups and open threes off of 2 on 1 or 3 on 2 situations. There were three lead changes and two ties early on in the first period before Middlesex broke away from a 7-7 tie with a 9-4 spurt over a span of 2:49 to take a 16-11 lead, and ultimately emerged ahead after one, 20-17. At the start though, McCarrick came out fast with two quick scores for a 4-0 lead. Then, Middlesex responded first by getting a three pointer from the left side by Perone after Mark Stockton grabbed an offensive rebound, and found the junior on a kickout to the perimeter. Then, the younger Stockton got on the board himself with two free throws for a 5-4 Blue Jay edge at the 5:58 mark. The Jays then increased their lead to three with a field goal that made it 7-4 before Burwell, who despite shooting only 40.8 percent in the four McCarrick games covered by GMC Hoops in 2007-08, had still averaged 25 points and 9 rebounds in those contests, was fouled on a three point attempt from the left corner with 5:33 to go in the first. Burwell promptly netted all three free throw attempts, and the score was knotted at 7-7. Within the next minute, Middlesex went back out on top again as John Stockton scored a layup off an assist from Perone for a 9-7 lead with about four and a half minutes to play in the period.
The Blue Jays then got another score before Rosario sank a baseline jumper for an 11-9 lead for the visitors at the 3:41 mark. MHS then scored five of the next seven points including a three point play by Fariella, who grabbed an offensive rebound, and put it back in as he was fouled with 2:44 to play in the first for a 16-11 lead. The visitors then added another score for an 18-11 advantage before the Eagles rallied to end the frame with a 6-2 burst sparked by two free throws from Burwell at the 1:46 mark that made the score, 18-13. Appiah then closed the gap to three by scoring on a putback that forced a rather demonstrative Brian Feath, the Middlesex head coach, to call a 30 second timeout with 58.5 seconds to play in the stanza. Billy Lester, who handed out six assists in the game, came up with his first points of the night when he connected on a jumper with 41.8 to play in the first, but then Will Snider came up with a steal for a layup to give the Eagles momentum entering the second as Middlesex now led by only three instead of seven, 20-17. At the start of the second quarter, the Eagles continued to roll as Rosario came up with a layup as he was fouled for a traditional three point play that tied the game at 20-20 with just 18 seconds gone by in the period. A little more than a minute later, the Eagles took their first lead since the six minute mark of the first as Snider inbounded to Burwell for a three pointer from the left corner that made the score, 23-20 at the 6:41 mark. On the very next Middlesex possession, the Jays tied things right back up again when Mark Stockton made another kickout to Perone in the right corner for a trifecta that made the score, 23-23 at the 6:25 mark.
Twently seconds later, the Blue Jays went back ahead as Lester grabbed a rebound on the defense end, and outletted the pass upcourt to junior forward, Ryan Farley for a layup that made the score, 25-23 with 6:05 left in the first half. Up to this point in the game, there had been a total of five lead changes and four ties. However, there would be only one more of each as the Eagles took control of the game for good with a 9-0 run over a 1:22 span to take a 32-25 lead with 4:43 to go before intermission. The key spurt was highlighted by a layin from senior Sean Williams for his only points of the game, a three pointer by Burwell, and then a steal for a layup by Rosario at the 5:01 mark that forced MHS to call for time with the scoreboard reading 30-25 in favor of McCarrick. Following the timeout, Rosario got another steal for a layup to cap the run for the seven point lead. The Blue Jays attempted to rally, but the Eagles still managed to maintain the lead with a 6-6 draw as Mark Stockton and Fariella only went one of two at the line respectively at the 4:18 and 2:26 marks while Rosario scored on a short jumper, and Burwell got a layup off a loose ball. Trailing 38-31 with 2:26 to go in the half, Middlesex closed out the second with six of the last eleven points to close to within six at 43-37 going into the intermission. At the half, both teams were shooting at a blistering pace. Middlesex was roughly 16 of 27 from the field for 59.3 percent while McCarrick wasn't too far behind by going 17 of 29 for 58.6 percent. Part of the success by both teams was from behind the arc as the Blue Jays made 4 of 7 shots while the Eagles connected on 3 of 8. However, the Eagles made all six of their free throws while the Jays made only 1 of 5 for the key contributor to the difference in this game up to this point.
Rebounding also played a pivotal role as McCarrick held an overall 18-10 advantage including an 8-3 edge on the offensive glass. Looking at the first half scoring, Burwell was as hot as he was in the first half of Saturday's game versus Bishop Ahr. The 6'6" forward, who has garnered a lot of interest from Division I schools including a recent bid by Notre Dame of the Big East, made 7 of 13 shots including 3 of 5 from long distance, and all five of his foul shots for 22 points while grabbing six boards, and handing out two assists. Rosario was 5 of 7 from the floor for 10 points, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Meanwhile, Middlesex was paced by John Stockton, who made 4 of his first 5 shots including a trey for 9 points along with 2 assists, and Perone, who made 3 of 6 with the three ball for 9 points while handing out two assists, and collecting a rebound. Fariella made 3 of 4 shots, and 1 of 3 from the line to chip in with 7 points and 3 rebounds. The third quarter began much like the first quarter did with McCarrick scoring four quick points in a span of just 41 seconds for a 47-37 lead. The highlights of the mini-run included two free throws netted by Rosario, and an assist by Burwell on a Widgeon layup at the 7:19 mark as Middlesex called for time. Following the timeout, both teams exchanged a basket before Fariella came up with his second three point play of the game for a 49-42 McCarrick advantage at the 6:12 mark. Over the next 1:20, Rosario would go on a personal scoring spree with six straight points for a 55-42 Eagle lead with 4:52 left in the third as the Jays called another timeout. Over the final five minutes or so of the period, both teams drew even with twelve points apiece as Cardy Mac headed into the fourth and final stanza with a 67-54 lead.
The fourth quarter again started out fast for Cardinal McCarrick as the Eagles again put in four points in a span of 42 seconds for a 71-54 lead. Burwell accounted for all the scoring with a pair of free throws, and then a field goal on a jumper. From there, it was apparent that the South Amboy based school would emerge victorious. Although Fariella fouled out of the game at the 4:33 mark, and the benches were emptied later on, Middlesex managed to make the game a bit closer by outscoring the home team, 13-9 for the 81-68 final score. With the victory, Cardinal McCarrick improved to 15-3 overall on the season, and 10-1 in division to move into first place by itself for the first time since the very first full week of the campaign. The Eagles also improve to 3-1 in games covered by GMC Hoops, and now have the best conference record at 13-1. Meanwhile, Middlesex, which had won eight of its last nine since the last time these two teams met on January 2nd at MHS, fell to 13-3 overall, and 7-3 in divisional play.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Cardinal McCarrick (15-3) |
17 | 26 | 24 | 14 | 81 |
Middlesex (13-3) |
20 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 68 |
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