We've just archived the summaries on several scrimmages that we covered in the pre-season, the Freshmen and JV Games of the Week, and Freshmen and JV Roundups.

GMC Hoops Summaries--December 27, 2007
Holiday Tournaments--Shello/Santy Tournament

Lester Sparks Middlesex To Rout Of Manville, 70-46

By Greg Machos
December 27, 2007

DUNELLEN, NJ—Several years ago you wouldn't think that Billy Lester would have a day such as this. As a freshman, Lester was a short stocky kid that was a reserve on Middlesex's Freshmen team back in 2004-05 season. He didn't score a lot of points for the Little Blue Jays, but the young man stuck with it, trimmed down, and gradually got into better basketball shape over the next three years, and on Thursday evening finally showed everyone how his hard work has paid off. With Nick Fariella sitting on the bench in a shirt and tie as well as a pair of crutches laying against the wall behind him thanks to a hairline fracture, the Jays and their third year head coach, Brian Feath, were looking for someone to step up, and on this day, they found it in Lester. In the opening round of the Mike Shello/Clem Santy Tournament at the Faber Gymnasium over in Dunellen, Lester swiped three steals off Manville players, and converted them into three layups for himself including a three point play, and then sank a three pointer that ignited a 21-0 avalanche to propel the tenth ranked Middlesex Blue Jays to a resounding 70-46 victory over the Manville Mustangs of the Valley Division of the Skyland Conference. Lester ended up going 4 of 6 overall from the floor including 1 of 2 from three point range for 10 points along with 4 steals, and an assist while junior forward, Mark Stockton led all scorers with 19 points and 8 rebounds as well as 3 assists, and a steal.

Junior point guard, Mike Perone, who ended up with 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting, and 2 of 2 from the foul line to go along with 4 assists, and 2 steals, also scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Blue Jays jumped out to a 26-8 lead. Then, in the second, the GMC Blue Division team, which is off to its best start since 2000-01, registered the first ten points of the second period for a commanding, 36-8 advantage. John Stockton, was the fourth and final player to score in double figures for Middlesex despite a subpar shooting performance. The elder Stockton had eight points in the second period, and wound up with 11 for the game along with two rebounds while junior forward/center, Ryan Farley chipped in with 8 points on 4 of 7 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. See the Middlesex individual statistics for this contest in the game stats section. For the game, the Blue Jays shot fairly well going 27 of 60 from the floor for 45 percent including 3 of 14 from three point range for 21.4 percent. The Jays also went 13 of 21 from the foul line for 61.9 percent, and only committed 11 turnovers including just three in the first half alone. On the other hand, Manville, which actually shot the ball well by going 17 of 34 from the floor for 50 percent, hampered their efforts with turnovers. The Mustangs, which coughed up the ball on each of its first four possessions, finished the game with 22 miscues as they couldn't handle Middlesex's pressure defense.

Manville, which went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc, and 11 of 18 from the foul line, was led by Anthony Palovick, who made five field goals and four foul shots for a team high 14 points while Bill Fisher chipped in with five field goals and a foul shot for 11 points. Brian Rock also contributed in the losing effort with two field goals and three foul shots for 7 points. In other team statistical areas, Middlesex held edges in rebounding (27-19), assists (16-13), steals (13-4), and turnovers (11-22) while Manville had a slight advantage in blocks (3-2). The game was pretty much over before it started as the Mustangs got the ball on the tip, but then Middlesex came up with a steal for a layup, and a 2-0 lead. A short time later, Lester swiped a steal, and went in for the layup to give the Jays a 4-0 lead. Within the first 1:02 of the game, Manville had its third turnover, and it lead to another Middlesex score for a 6-0 lead at the 6:45 mark. On the next Mustang possession, Lester, who was a perfect 4 of 4 from the floor including a three, and made his only foul shot for 10 points, repeated the feat to make the score, 8-0 at the 6:30 mark. The Somerset County school finally got on the board with a score by Fisher at the 6:12 mark for an 8-2 Blue Jay lead. Mike Perone then got a layup that made it 10-2 before the Mustangs got a pair of free throws at the 4:57 mark to make it 10-4.

The Jays would then get another score before Lester would swipe his third steal of the frame for a layup, and the foul for a three point play to put his team even further ahead at 15-4 with 3:19 remaining in the period. Manville tried in vain to fight back with four straight points to cut the deficit to 15-8, but Lester got his final points of the period on a three pointer from the left wing off an assist by Perone to not only make the score 18-8, but to spark what would be the decisive run of the game. Continuing what would eventually be a 21-0 run that carried over into the middle of the second period, Middlesex got three more scores including layups by Perone and Mark Stockton for a 24-8 lead with 32.9 seconds to play in the first as Manville, which now had ten turnovers, called for time. Following the timeout, it was business as usual for the Mustangs as they were flagged for a ten second violation with 21.2 seconds remaining, and Middlesex capitalized on it with a layup by Mark Stockton off of a fine pass in the interior by Mike Fincher for a 26-8 lead going into the second. Manville only attempted six shots during the entire first quarter thanks to the eleven turnovers it had. The Mustangs made 3 of 6 for 50 percent. In the second quarter, the contest continued to deteriorate as the Blue Jays proceeded with their onslaught by scoring ten more points capped by an offensive rebound, and follow for a foul, and two free throws by Mark Stockton at the 3:43 mark for a huge, 36-8 lead.

Manville finally ended the first half surge when Fisher stole an errant pass by Mark Stockton, and took it in for a layup that put the Mustangs in double digits as the score read, 36-10 with 3:10 remaining in the half. The Blue Jay miscue was only their second of the entire first half. Manville then ended the first half with seven of the final nine points including a three pointer from the right wing at the buzzer that banked in for a 38-17 Middlesex lead going into the intermission. Looking at the halftime scoring, Perone and Lester each had ten points apiece with Perone shooting 5 of 8 from the field to go along with 3 assists, and a steal while Lester was 4 of 5 including a 1 of 2 showing from beyond the arc to go along with three steals and an assist. John Stockton made 4 of 11 shots for 8 points and a rebound while brother Mark picked up 6 points on 2 of 3 shooting, and a 2 of 2 effort from the foul line to go along with 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Ryan Farley made 2 of 4 field goals for 4 points and 6 rebounds. Looking at the team statistics Manville was 6 of 14 from the floor for 42.9 percent including a three pointer while the Blue Jays shot 17 of 33 from the floor for 51.5 percent despite only going 1 of 9 from downtown for 11.1 percent. Each team was perfect at the line although Middlesex had one more attempt going 3 of 3,, but the real story was the disparity in turnovers as the Mustangs made 14 miscues while Middlesex made only three. The Jays, which did a fine job converting turnovers in a pre-season scrimmage versus Cranford, also cashed in on quite a few of those turnovers with 15 points.

Middlesex also dominated in other areas including rebounding (12-6), assists (8-6), and steals (10-1). Manville had the edge in blocks (1-0) while neither team drew a charge. In the third quarter, the Mustangs drew even as both teams scored 16 apiece in a 32 point period. The Blue Jays started the second half by outscoring the Somerset County team by a 5-4 margin to go up 43-21, but then Manville rallied with six straight points for a 43-27 Middlesex lead at the 3:41 mark. Fincher aided Manville's slim hopes of perhaps pulling off a tremendous miracle by missing two foul shots. However, after Manville got another score to pull within 14 at 43-29, the Jays scored seven of the next nine points including a three point play by Mark Stockton, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half for a 50-31 lead. The Blue Jays then scored four of the last six points for a 54-33 lead entering the fourth and final period of play. In the fourth, the reserves saw much of the action as players such as Mike Colacci (7 points on 2 three pointers and a foul shot) and Avery Barnes, younger brother of Rutgers-Newark player and former Middlesex standout, Phil Barnes, got a foul shot in the waning moments. The Blue Jays opened the final frame with a 9-5 run including a three pointer by Colacci from the left wing for a 63-38 lead as Manville called timeout with 3:50 left. From there, the Mustangs made it a bit more respectable with an 8-7 showing the rest of the way for the 70-46 Middlesex triumph.

With the victory, the Blue Jays improve to 4-0 on the season overall, and advance to the Championship Game to face an undefeated Princeton Day squad at 8-0 after it defeated three time defending champion, Dunellen, in the final seconds, 69-68.

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