By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
MILLVILLE — Midway through the third quarter of the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament semifinal between top-seeded Middle Township and No. 4 Atlantic City on Wednesday night at Millville High, Middle forward Re’Ale Basquine threw down a thunderous dunk — and let everybody in the gym know about it by letting out a guttural scream. He was fired up.
So much so that he was issued a technical foul for hanging on the rim, and that gave Atlantic City a pair of free throws at the other end. Mikel Jones converted both to give the Vikings a 35-22 lead. It may have seemed, at first, like a selfish play by Basquine, basically giving up the two points he had just scored on the dunk.
But the play was exactly what the Panthers needed to wake up from a stupor that saw one of the best teams in South Jersey trailing by an almost inconceivable score of 30-14 at halftime. Basquine gave Middle a huge spark — both offensively and defensively — in the third and fourth quarters as the Panthers came all the way back to steal a 56-50 win and punch their ticket into Saturday’s league championship. They’ll take on No. 3 seed Mainland Regional, a 55-50 winner over No. 2 Ocean City, in the title game at noon on Saturday at Egg Harbor Township High.
“He’s an athletic monster, and he showed it tonight,” Anthony Trombetta said of Basquine, a 6-foot-6 forward. “He played great defense, and offense. They were getting a lot of finishes around the rim (early), but in the third and fourth quarters he was the difference.”
Middle (24-2, 12-0 Cape-Atlantic American) chipped away at Atlantic City’s lead throughout the third quarter and trailed just 41-36 heading into the fourth. They had shaved a 16-point deficit down to five by outscoring Atlantic City (20-5, 10-2 CAL National) 22-11 in the third.
“It started in the third quarter, we came out pumped and energized,” said Mike Zarfati, who scored 13 points and had seven rebounds and a pair of steals for Middle. “We knew in the first quarter we were quiet and came out slow. We just had to realize we had to play together on defense and execute. Coach (LaMarr) Greer is a great coach, we just had to execute.”
With the game tied at 50, Trombetta scored on a driving layup. Then, with 30 seconds left, Zarfati stole an inbounds pass at half court and drove in for a layup that pushed the Panthers’ lead to 54-50, effectively ending the game.
“We went zone and they had shooters on the outside, so we knew we had to press up to them. We knew we couldn’t just lay back in the zone and guard the paint. It was just a bad pass and I just took it and ran with it,” Zarfati explained.
Middle’s comeback was amazing, considering how poorly the Panthers — the No. 7 ranked team in New Jersey, according to nj.com — played throughout the first half. They scored just three points in the second quarter, and trailed by as much as 19-7 in the first quarter.
“We didn’t know what was going on, but we knew we had to stay together. We knew we were going to come back and win the game. We knew we weren’t done. We had to cut all the arguing out, play as a team and realize we’re a family and we’ll get through this together,” Zarfati said. “It was weird. Definitely weird, and that’s not something that has happened this year, but like our coach says, adversity brings out character. At halftime, we were talking about it, and we really got deep. We had to fight through that adversity.”
“We had to just stick together. Basketball is not a game of two quarters, and that’s what we were emphasizing at halftime — it’s a four-quarter game. We have to keep playing. Our game plan was to cut it to 10 by the fourth quarter, and we had it at five. We knew we were right where we wanted to be and we kept playing, kept sticking together and got the win,” Trombetta said. “We (were thinking) we have to do better. If we play like that in the Group 2 state championship, we lose, that’s it. Last time we played them we started the same way, and our whole emphasis was to not start that way. But, you never know what’s going to happen. You just have to keep playing for four quarters and do whatever you can to get the win.
“It wasn’t nerve wracking. We know we work harder than everybody else, so we just have to keep sticking to it and keep playing, that’s all it really is.”
“They are kids. Sometimes I have to remember they aren’t pros, they’re high school kids. I always tell them, ‘you can be cool or you can be good, but you can’t be both.’ You can’t be cool and good, you have to be one of the other. Sometimes high school kids have to get hit in the mouth (so to speak). They have to get a lot of pressure and start responding, and they started doing what we do every day in practice. We tell the kids we are battle tested. We stay calm and cool, and these kids have been playing together forever. They come together instead of falling apart,” coach Greer said. “We always say, ‘adversity shows our character.’ We faced adversity and we started playing. They are tough kids. They’re Middle kids.”
Now the Panthers turn their attention to Mainland, a team that won the league title two years ago and has won seven straight and 10 of its last 11.
“This is our first time being there (in the CAL championship) with this group, so we’re excited. We can’t wait to play,” Trombetta said. “For us, it’s just another game. For everyone else who plays us, it’s their championship. Even if it isn’t a championship, they are going into the game (against us) like it is a championship. We’re the hunted. Everyone wants to hunt us, but we’ll come ready to play, always.”
“That’s the standard that (former coach Tom) Feraco set. You see those state championship banners hanging in the gym. This is the first step,” Greer added. “We always have goals. Winning the division was No. 1, now it’s winning the CAL, then we’ll get to South Jersey. We’ll take them one by one, and that’s the hard part. We have to forget about this one and come to work (on Thursday). But they are good at that. They handle themselves well.”
WHAT’S NEXT: N. 1 Middle Township vs. No. 3 Mainland Regional on Saturday at noon at Egg Harbor Township High for the CAL Tournament championship. Atlantic City’s season is complete.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
