VIDEO: BACK TO BACK! Middle overcomes plenty to repeat as South Jersey champs

Posted: March 1st 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CINNAMINSON – It’s difficult enough to beat a very good opponent on its home floor in a championship game.

Now try doing it without much representation from your community in the stands, due to a change in the state athletic association’s playoff schedule.

The Middle Township High School girls basketball team overcame it all, winning its second straight South Jersey Group II championship with a 47-39 victory over Cinnaminson Friday.

“I’m so proud of my kids,” John Leahy said numerous times in discussions with media members following the game.

The NJSIAA’s tweak of the playoff schedule this season had boys and girls sectional title games in the same enrollment groups scheduled for the same day, rather than on back-to-back days as in the past. That had Middle playing in front of only about 50 of its supporters, most of them family members, since the rest of the Panther community was back in Cape May Court House watching the school’s boys team take on powerful Camden in the boys sectional title contest.

“My kids don’t care about that now,” Leahy said with a laugh. “But it’s a real shame. We get so much support from our community and from our school. I’m OK with everyone being at the boys game. They were live streaming this in our gym and we can feel the support. But it’s a shame the state did this. I know we’re not the only ones going through this. Manasquan and Lenape had the same thing.

“This has to change. For our community, this should have been a special weekend where our fans could have seen both games. It shouldn’t be this way.”

Sisters Madison and McKenzie Palek embrace in celebration after the Middle Township High School girls basketball team won the South Jersey Group II championship by beating Cinnaminson.

Middle got off to a slow start, trailing 12-3 and 14-7 in the first quarter. But then, the extraordinary happened.

The Lady Panthers went on an incredible 23-1 run that spanned the final couple minutes of the first quarter, all of the second quarter and almost the first six minutes of the third to turn those deficits into a 15-point advantage. Tied at 15 at the start of the third quarter, Middle took the lead for good on its first possession of the second half when Iyanna Bennett slipped a ball screen and was fed by McKenzie Palek for an easy basket in front of the rim.

“It took us a whole half just to settle in,” Leahy said. “The first half, we were kind of unsettled and we had a lot of self-inflicted turnovers. At halftime, we just talked about taking a deep breath. I was really hoping Iyanna or someone would get us an easy basket on our first possession and that’s exactly what happened.”

Middle shot 6 for 12 from the floor in the third quarter. Abbey Cappelletti’s three-point shot from the left corner gave Middle a 30-15 lead and forced the Pirates to call a timeout.

From there, Cinnaminson put forth a furious rally of its own, pulling to within three at 36-33 with 3:19 remaining with an 18-6 spurt. But Middle went on to make 9 of 10 free throws and got a key layup from sophomore Reagen Powell over the final two minutes to pull away for good.

“When you’re on the road in a big game like this, it’s all about just finding a way,” Leahy said. “At one point I felt like we couldn’t get a stop but we found a way to stay in the lead and close it out.”

Middle (23-8) received a few sparkling individual performances in the victory. Powell, continuing to make her claim as one of the region’s most improved players over the course of the season, sank a game-high 15 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Palek played a brilliant floor game, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and countless gritty plays. Bennett, usually a role player who doesn’t score much, was prominent in Middle’s massive run by scoring eight of her 10 points after halftime to go along with five rebounds. Cappelletti and her older sister, Hannah, deftly handled Cinnaminson’s pressure defense over the final eight minutes. Sarah Farrow seemed to get her hands on numerous critical loose balls.

After Powell set the final score with a pair of free throws with six seconds to play, the game ended with Middle rebounding the miss of a desperation three-pointer by Cinnaminson (24-9). When the buzzer sounded, Middle’s players on the bench joined the ones on the floor for a wild celebration at halfcourt.

The revelry was truly deserved for a team that overcame so much, not only in the title game but also over the course of the season, considering Middle won another sectional title without one of its best players in Madison Palek due to foot injuries suffered in both seasons.

“This is special, it really is,” Leahy said. “You think about the adversity we dealt with and to win two without Madison …

“Different things happen over the course of a season, but this is who we are. We don’t make excuses. We’re going to challenge ourselves and we expect to make playoff runs. I couldn’t be more proud of the kids. And for the seniors to get it back to back, I couldn’t be happier for them.”