LINCROFT – For the second time in three years, Middletown South has reached the semifinals of the Shore Conference Girls Basketball Tournament, and for the second time, it defeated Rumson-Fair Haven Regional to do it.
“We beat Rumson, 51-49, in overtime two years ago,” said South coach Tom Brennan following Saturday’s 55-48 win over the Lady Bulldogs in a quarterfinal game at Brookdale.
The Eagles played St. Rose in a semifinal game Tuesday at Brick Memorial. The Purple Roses routed Holmdel, 70-24, in another quarterfinal game.
“We wanted to challenge their three-point shooters,” said Brennan. “Rumson is very prolific at them and must have made eight in the first half.”
Leading 43-42 with three minutes remaining, South put the game away with seven straight points.
Stephanie Karcz started it with a free throw and then Julia Valkos followed with a pair of transition layups.Angela DeBartolome closed out the run with another layup for a 53-45 lead and that was the game.
“We had a dynamic game for us,” said Valkos. “Our speed and rushing to the hoop were big for us. We won as a team.”
Both teams shot well in the first half with Rumson making three-pointers while South countered with an inside game that allowed a flock of layups.
Rumson jumped out to a 6-2 lead on three-pointers by Nicole Morris and Janae Mayfield, but South came back with eight in a row for a 10-6 advantage.
The game then had nine lead changes before Grace Stant dropped in two foul shots to give the Lady Bulldogs a 31-29 halftime lead.
South, though, tightened its defense in the second half, holding Rumson to just 17 points.
“We kind of extended our zone in the second half,” said Brennan. “We sort of used a 3-2 instead of a 2-3 in order to put an extra girl out to the three-point line. The kids were focused on either getting fouled or making a layup.
“I don’t think that we substituted much in the second half because we don’t have much depth,” he said, “but we were in good shape.”
Valkos and Karcz shared scoring honors for the Eagles with 15 points. Stant topped Rumson with 16 points, but only four in the second half.
– By Jim Hintelmann
