By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
MULLICA HILL — Professional athletes have to deal with jet lag when traveling to away games, and high school athletes can sympathize because they go through something on a smaller scale — call it bus lag.
Through the first 10 minutes of action on Friday afternoon at The South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament Holiday Showcase at Clearview Regional High, the Middle Township Panthers looked sluggish and tired, and trailed Cherry Hill West 19-8 after Lions senior guard Molly Bovell drained a 3-pointer.
The Panthers took an hour-plus bus ride through a couple of counties to get to the game, and early on it looked like Cherry Hill West might run away with it. But John Leahy-coached teams pride themselves on defense, hustle, sharing the ball and doing whatever it takes to win a basketball game. The Panthers did all of that, rallying from down by as many as 11 points twice in the first half to pull off a stunning 48-43 victory that kept Middle undefeated at 4-0.
“Even in our scrimmages and one or two of our early games, we’ve talked about being able to string together three or four stops in a row, and that can kind of fuel our offense,” the longtime coach said. “In the first half — honestly, I didn’t think our offense was that bad. We missed about five layups. It wasn’t like we were turning it over, we were getting decent looks, but the defense and rebounding will keep us in the game. And eventually, like you saw in the third quarter, people start making shots and we really start to get energized. That’s what we talked about at halftime, just trying to find a way to win the third quarter and that would give us a chance to win the game in the fourth.”
Middle trailed, 26-18, at halftime, but came alive in the third quarter and starting hitting some threes, outscoring the Lions 16-7 to take its first lead, 34-33, on a traditional three-point play by McKenzie Palek in the waning seconds of the frame.
“Mackenzie and Abby (Cappelletti) are going to have the ball in their hands a lot and they have to make plays,” Leahy said. “This is a great challenge. (Cherry Hill West) is a really, really good team. That’s a team that can definitely win (South Jersey) Group 3. That’s a really good challenge for us.”
Palek finished with eight points, three rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal, while Cappelletti added 11 points and two assists for Middle.
“One of my biggest strengths is passing the ball, giving assists and giving it to scorers. I’m more of a creator. If I see an open girl, I’m going to give it to her and I trust in (my teammates),” said Palek, a senior and younger sister of former St. Augustine Prep standout Keith Palek. “I think the big thing was, at halftime we talked to each other and said we had to keep our composure. We knew what we could do, we knew what our strengths were and we had to execute on those. We had great defense in the second half and I think we executed on our offensive plays.
“We love a challenge and we love playing good teams, and we knew we were coming in her playing a good team,” she added. “We knew we had to work for it, and we did. We put our best foot forward and did what we could do.”
“In the locker room, we said we have to come out (strong) the first two minutes,” senior forward Isabelle Toland said of the halftime break. “It’s always the first two minutes, first few possessions that we know can change the whole game. So we came out strong and just got some layups.”
The teams went back and forth throughout the fourth quarter as the lead changed hands several times before Middle took control with a couple of inbounds plays. Toland found Reagan Powell on an inbounds runout and Powell scored an easy layup, and the two hooked up again on a long inbounds pass from the baseline that Powell turned into a three-point play that put the Panthers up, 47-43, with just 15 seconds left.
Powell finished with a team-high 14 points after scoring just three in the first half, while Toland added six points and five rebounds.
“We don’t ever practice that in practice, but out of the blue (coach Leahy) said, ‘just chuck it down the court.’ So I was like, ‘alright,’ I chucked it down and (Powell) got a layup out of it,” Toland explained. “I just tried my best to throw it as far as I could and make a play.”
Powell, a junior, had a solid sophomore season, averaging nearly nine points per game. Coach Leahy said she needs to expect a lot more defensive attention this winter.
“Reagan has to understand that she’s not surprising anybody anymore. She was under the radar last year and now she’s getting all the attention (from opposing defenses). But we have a pretty balanced team and she has to trust that other people are going to make plays and eventually things will open up for her,” he said. “And (in the second half) she found a couple of shots. I thought we executed, our end-of-the-game and a couple of out-of-bounds and our long layups were executed great. That’s what Reagan has to learn, and I thought she did a great job of not forcing it, just let things happen.”
“She has great potential. She changes the whole game for us, she changes the pace, she changes our outlook on things,” Toland said of the very athletic guard/forward combo. “Reagan is a great player and she really changes the game for us. It turns the whole game around, when Reagan starts scoring, we all start scoring and we get into a rhythm with her. She has a lot of talent and there are a lot of good things coming for her.”
Middle is right back at it on Saturday as the Panthers travel back to Clearview to take on Cherokee in the showcase event. Palek said this showcase, which features a lot of Group 3 and Group 4 teams, is a great early season test for the Panthers.
“It’s a bigger challenge, bigger heights, bigger girls — they have a lot of talent and that’s only making us better for what we have when we go back home.”
NOTES: In other Friday games from the showcase, Cinnaminson beat Clearview 56-36; Williamstown beat Shawnee 42-39; and Moorestown beat Cherokee 51-43. Alivia Mauz, a senior at Williamstown, scored 34 of her team’s 42 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer … in Moorestown’s win, Analyse Intenzo nailed five 3-pointers and finished with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
SATURDAY SCHEDULE (All games at Clearview Regional): Cherry Hill West vs. Williamstown, 9 a.m.; Cinnaminson vs. Moorestown, 10:30 a.m.; Shawnee vs. Clearview, noon; Middle Township vs. Cherokee, 1:30 p.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
