VIDEO: Middle falls short of four-peat, but will eventually look back with pride over major accomplishments of past four seasons

Posted: March 6th 2026

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – One by one as they checked out of the game, the senior starters from the Middle Township High School girls basketball team fell into the arms of head coach John Leahy.

The longtime head coach tried his best to console them with a hug as they left the floor for the final time Friday evening.

Perhaps not in the next few days or even in the next few weeks, at some point those players will realize the enormity of all they accomplished over their fruitful careers.

But at that moment, as the opportunity for a fourth straight South Jersey Group II title slipped away, there were lots and lots of tears.

Middle, the top seed in the section, trailed from start to finish in falling to No. 2 seed Cinnaminson, 48-35, in the sectional title game on its home floor.

“Obviously, it stings,” said Middle coach John Leahy, who finished his 22nd year of coaching. “Only six teams in the state get to win their last game. Unfortunately, I’ve had to give this talk 22 times now. It never gets easier, especially when you have a special group like this one is.

“But when the dust settles, I think we’re all going to look back and see all the accomplishments. We won 25 games against a really hard schedule. We won the Cape-Atlantic League tournament twice, which is a really hard tournament to win, and we got back to the final here. These are great accomplishments, and you have to appreciate them. Eventually, these seniors are going to look back and see they got to four finals, won three of them and won two CALs, so they definitely deserve a ton of credit. We like to say our standard is high here and these seniors really took the bar even higher.”

Cinnaminson (30-1) began the game by making five of its first nine attempts from three-point range. At the same time, the Pirates made life miserable for Middle’s offense, forcing nine first-half turnovers. That led to Cinnamison taking a 25-13 lead at halftime.

“We made some shots early, and obviously that really helped us, especially with how great their defense is,” Cinnaminson coach Bret Jenkins said. “And when you make them early, it kind of calms the nerves.”

Middle (25-5) appeared poised for a comeback attempt at the start of the third quarter, opening the period on a 6-1 spurt. But Cinnamison closed the period with a 7-1 run of its own to take a 33-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Pirates eventually swelled their lead to as high as 17 points in the fourth and won going away for the program’s first South Jersey championship. Cinnaminson had lost to Middle in the South Jersey title game in 2023 and 2024.

“Middle’s program is the gold standard in South Jersey Group II,” Jenkins said. “Everyone in Group II is trying to become Middle Township. We had to play as well as we could possibly play to win this game and I think we did that. This was the best we’ve played all year.”

Sarah Farrow led Middle with 11 points. Reagen Powell added nine. Farrow, Powell, Abbey Cappelletti and Mya Robinson are the four senior starters whose careers came to a close with the loss. Substitutes Alexia Davis and Essence Still are the team’s other seniors.

Gabby Harvey scored 17 points and Shiloh Moore added 14 points for Cinnaminson, which shot 16 for 33 from the floor, including 6 for 14 on three-point tries.

“I have a lot of respect for their program,” Leahy said. “I give Brett and his girls a ton of credit. They have a bunch of tough kids that play well together. Congrats to them.

“I’m disappointed in the way we played. But overall, I couldn’t be prouder of our program and our seniors.”