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I have to say that Christian Brothers Academy-Middletown North game was by far the best I have seen of any I have covered this season in the Shore even though it didn’t come down to the wire because the atmosphere was great and Middletown North is arguably the most exciting team in the Shore Conference.
Matt Manley got to a lot of the key points about Middletown North’s growth as a team in his column, which you can read by clicking here. I definitely echo his sentiments that the consistency of Shilique Calhoun and the improvement of junior point guard Eric Youncofski are huge factors.
I was just most impressed by this team’s togetherness given how fractured it was at times last season. It’s been a complete 180 in that department. No team in the Shore had a summer as important as Middletown North for building cohesion on and off the court.
Youncofski is the key to everything, “the head of the snake,” as Middletown North head coach Mike Iasparro, a former star point guard at Mater Dei himself, put it. What makes Youncofski good is his anticipation. He sees the game one step ahead and often makes passes to a spot rather than to a player, knowing the player will be there in an instant. He is efficient in transition and does not overdribble. That also comes from having played so many games together with this group. Even when Youncofski gets caught up in the air, he is good at throwing skip passes across the defense to open 3-point shooters. I would almost run a double team at him sometimes to get the ball out of his hands in the backcourt, but then you run the risk of being vulnerable to the Lions’ array of scorers and slashers.
Senior John Martens has improved the versatility of his game as he can score off the dribble, on mid-range runners and on 3-pointers, as he hit some big ones from deep yesterday. As for Calhoun, there are few, if any, players in the Shore who can match up with him athletically. The fact that he trusts his teammates now and plays to his strengths rather than throwing up wild shots makes him nearly unstoppable against most teams. He is just ridiculously explosive. There were two of his alley-oops where he was practically flat-footed before exploding straight up to hammer down a dunk. Plus, when the Lions got CBA star Matt McMullen in early foul trouble, they could go to that back screen for alley-oops to Calhoun because, as McMullen said afterward, he was afraid to fight through them and possibly get whistled for a third foul in the first quarter, so good job by North of recognizing that and going to it often during a pivotal stretch early in the second quarter.
The most dangerous thing about North is that different guys can carry the offense for stretches. Martens and junior Jason Huelbig got off to a slow start against CBA, but Calhoun took over in the second quarter and senior guard Frank Derise also hit some big shots before Martens and Huelbig got in on the act in the second half. I thought Derise, who had 11 points, was the unsung player of that game, knocking down open looks from 3-point range, finishing in transition and playing very hard-nosed defense on the perimeter. Derise was the quarterback on the football team so he obviously already had chemistry with Calhoun, who is a star tight end/defensive end headed to Michigan State, and Derise doesn’t back down from anyone.
I also like that Middletown North is constantly on the attack. There was a point where CBA was making a run in the fourth quarter where I felt the Lions were shooting too early in possessions, but that’s the way they play. If they get a step on you or an open look from behind the arc, they’re going to take it. They are very aggressive offensively.
All in all, a landmark win for the Lions, but still early. They’ve all but locked up the Class A North public title unless they get stunned during the rest of the schedule, so now it’s about whether they can sweep CBA and win the overall division title and if they can make their mark in the Shore Conference and state tournaments, which is where teams’ ultimate reputation is determined. They certainly have the ingredients to do it.
It’s an incredible tribute to the dominance of CBA and to the accomplishment of Middletown North yesterday that it was only the second time North has ever beaten the Colts and the first time ever at CBA. Middletown North was just Middletown High School and Leonardo High School before it became Middletown North when Middletown South opened in 1976, so even if you’re talking after the split of the two schools, that’s 35 years it took to get that first win in CBA’s gym, and it wasn’t even a fluke for North. The Lions were simply the better team. That’s incredible.
As for CBA, I’m pretty sure the sun still came up today in Lincroft. The Colts need that third scorer behind Matt McMullen and J.P. Koury to emerge because if one of those guys gets in foul trouble or faces a tough defender, they struggle offensively. They also need to tighten their defense, especially on the interior, and get more ball pressure on the perimeter while cleaning up their defensive rebounding, as there were a few points where North was playing volleyball on the offensive glass. I think sophomore guard Tom Aldridge can be that third guy as he gets more comfortable on the varsity stage. He was one of the few that didn’t look passive offensively and actually looked for his shot rather than playing hot potato to get it back to McMullen or Koury.
It’s still early for the Colts, and I would still consider them a top 3 team in the Shore behind Middletown North and Lakewood right now. It’s one thing to beat CBA in January, and another to beat them in February in the SCT, so we’ll see if they regroup to keep their SCT crown after watching their streak vs. the Shore end.
Some quick other tidbits:
—Great job by Raritan reserve Frank Finnerty to step up and score a career-high 16 points for Raritan in a win over Red Bank without junior center and leading scorer Mike Aaman. Also, another strong game by senior point guard Kevin Furlong, who flirted with a triple-double.
—Rumson continues to come on strong in A Central as it won five straight after beating Matawan as Jack Donnelly got hot from behind the arc and continues to be the Bulldogs’ primary scorer.
—Nice win by Marlboro under new head coach Mark Truhan to surprise a Freehold Township team that had played some good teams tough up to last night. Marlboro is a team that I think will improve as the season progresses because just about everybody is new thanks to heavy graduation losses. The more they get Truhan’s system, the more games like last night we might see.
—Red Bank Catholic surpassed its entire win total from last season by improving to 6-1 with a win over Pinelands.
—Lacey really took it to Toms River North yesterday, which was a good win for the Lions, led by senior guard Deon Smith. Important B South game today for Lacey against upstart Barnegat in the race to see the main challenger to Manchester in the second half of the divisional schedule.
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