CAL boys semis: Panthers roar back to clip AC, late run sends Mainland through

Posted: February 15th 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

MILLVILLE – Fans who paid the small fee to attend Wednesday’s Cape-Atlantic League playoff tournament semifinal games at Millville High School certainly got their money’s worth.

Fans were treated to two thrilling games, both decided in the final minute.

When the dust settled, Mainland and Middle Township emerged as the finalists. The teams will battle Saturday at noon at Egg Harbor Township High School for the league championship. The game will air live on Cape Atlantic Live’s streaming platforms.

Mainland will be seeking its second CAL title in three seasons. Some of its current seniors played key roles as sophomores when the Mustangs upset St. Augustine Prep in the title game. Middle, meanwhile, hasn’t won a title since before any of its current players were born, the Panthers last claiming league supremacy in 1998.

PANTHERS ROAR BACK TO CLIP AC

Middle Township coach LaMarr Greer often encourages his players to play with emotion and energy. His demeanor on the sidelines, however, usually depicts a certain calmness, with the coach more concerned with anticipating the next play and directing his players rather than overreacting to a player’s mistake or an official’s decision.

But when Middle’s Michael Zarfati knocked down a three-pointer with a little more than a minute to play in the third quarter to bring the Panthers within a point of Atlantic City after they faced a 16-point halftime deficit, Greer couldn’t contain himself.

Atlantic City called a timeout, and Greer ran from the sidelines with fists pumping in euphoria before offering congratulatory hand and back slaps to his players as they ran to the bench.

“He’s usually the calm one,” Zarfati said with a laugh. “That was pretty cool to see him out there like that. That got us hyped up.”

Thanks to stifling second-half defense and a more efficient second-half offense, Middle rallied from a 30-14 halftime hole to post a 56-50 victory to check into Saturday’s title game.

“My message (at halftime) was, just stay composed,” Greer said. “We’ve been through stuff like this before. I feel like our schedule gets us ready for times like that. That was the worst half we’ve played in a long time but I know we can score in bunches. We just needed to get stops and we did. Adversity shows character and I think our character showed in the second half.”

Anthony Trombetta posted 16 points and Zarafati added 13 points for top-seeded Middle (24-2). The pair scored 23 of their combined 29 points in the second half.

Re’Ale Basquin added eight points and six blocked shots. Bubba McNeil made a jump shot from the left elbow that gave Middle the lead for good with 3:38 to play.

Zarafati also added seven rebounds. The senior forward has been a major contributor after missing his entire junior season due to a knee injury suffered during the previous football season.

“Mike’s an amazing kid,” Greer said. “Adversity builds character and he had the worst kind of adversity by missing the whole season. But now look at him. He’s having a great year for us. He works hard. He comes early and he stays late. I know he’s loving this right now.”

Middle will play in the title game for the first time since losing to Atlantic City in the final in consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014.

LATE RUN SENDS MAINLAND THROUGH

Prior to the thrilling AC-Middle game, Mainland and Ocean City battled through a back-and-forth affair that featured numerous spurts by both teams. In the end, an 8-0 Mainland run midway through the third quarter proved to be the difference as the Mustangs prevailed, 55-50.

Cohen Cook scored 18 points and made four of his last six free throws in the fourth quarter to pace Mainland (22-5). Tim Travaligne added 15 points and Stephen Ordille was also in double figures with 11 points.

“The resiliency of these guys, these seniors, is huge for us,” Mainland coach Dan Williams said.

Ocean City (22-3) led by as many as right points in the first half as Mainland struggled to make shots from the perimeter. But the Mustangs reeled off an 11-2 run to close the half.

“Of all the wins we’ve had this year, that might have been the most key stretch we’ve had all season,” Williams said. “It looked like we could have been down 12 at the half or something along those lines and then we finally started taking the right shots and they started to go down.”

Cook’s fingerprints were all over the late second-quarter spurt. He assisted on three-pointers by Travaligne and Ordille and also made one of his own.

“We weren’t hitting shots the whole first half,” Cook said. “To hit three in a row to give us the lead, it was big. It gave us the momentum going into the second half.”

Kori Segich scored a game-high 24 points for Ocean City. Dylan Shlatter added 15.

Mainland’s victory avenged a 57-52 home loss to the Raiders on Jan. 29.

UP NEXT

Top-seeded Middle Township and third-seeded Mainland will face off for the first time this season in the title game Saturday at noon. It figures to be a battle between Middle’s athleticism and speed against Mainland’s strength and toughness.

“We have all the respect in the world for Mainland,” Greer said. “They’re battle tested. They’ve won this championship before and a lot of times you have to beat a champion in order to win one for yourself. It’s going to be a war. They’re good and we’re good. It’s another good test for us. We’re looking forward to it.”

Mainland figures to get terrific community support for the game, considering its girls team is also in the final against Wildwood Catholic at 2 p.m.

“What we want for our kids is for them to play in as many big games on big stages as possible and Saturday’s going to be just that,” Williams said. “They’re awesome kids and they work their tails off every day. We just really want that for them as a crew because they’re not just great athletes but they’re good people. We were hoping for this opportunity and the kids delivered it. 

“It’s great for our school right now. We have a great group of kids doing really well in a lot of sports.”

Cohen Cook scored 18 points to help Mainland past Ocean City in a CAL semifinal game.