VIDEO: Cappelletti, Palek spark decisive 3Q run as Middle advances to CAL semifinal

Posted: February 11th 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Points were at a premium in Saturday afternoon’s Cape-Atlantic League playoff quarterfinal girls basketball game, with the score just 14-12 at halftime.

That’s until Hannah Cappelletti and McKenzie Palek helped Middle Township unlock its offense in the third quarter.

Cappelletti sank eight points and Palek scored seven points in the quarter to spark a 19-10 surge by the Lady Panthers that helped lead to a 45-28 victory over Egg Harbor Township.

The win sends fourth-seeded Middle Township into the CAL semifinal round. Middle will play top-seeded Mainland Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Atlantic City High School.

Cappelletti hit a pair of three-pointers and made a nifty layup with her left hand for Middle (19-6) during the decisive third quarter. Palek wrapped a bow around her team’s excellent third-quarter performance and gave Middle a double-digit lead for the first time at 33-22 when she drove to the basket and scored over 6-1 EHT standout Avery Harding shortly before the buzzer of the period.

“I think we just kept it nice and simple,” Middle coach John Leahy said of his team’s third-quarter success. “That’s the theme for this team, to keep things simple and fundamental. When we make the simple play, shots seem to go downs and our layups go. When we complicate things and get away from our fundamentals, that’s when we struggle.

“I also think we did a great job on the glass. The kids have been working hard to make a commitment to boxing out and a commitment to going and getting the ball. Against that team, you really have to rebound and I thought we did a really good job of it.”

Cappelletti scored all of her team-high 12 points in the second half. She went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the late stages of the fourth quarter. Palek added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists and Reagan Powell contributed 11 points and seven rebounds.

Harding led fifth-seeded EHT (19-4) with 13 points.

Middle has won seven straight games. The winning streak has come without standout senior Madison Palek, who is out for the season after suffering a foot injury in mid January. 

“I think it speaks to the culture we’ve created in terms of sticking together and having toughness, both physically and mentally,” Leahy said. “We talk about adversity all the time and how you’re going to handle it. The reality of it is, people get hurt, people get sick, people get in foul trouble and you have to figure it out. To this group’s credit, they’re figuring it out.

“I still think we can get better in a lot of areas. But at the end of the day we’re finding ways to win and we’re beating good teams. We’ve been playing a tough schedule, so we’re going to be battle tested as we go forward.”