THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Middletown High School South Athletics

Middletown, N.J. - The Middletown South boys basketball team earned its first trip back to the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament since 2010 with an impressive 63-49 win over fellow A-North Division rival Marlboro on Thursday night. Middletown South had three players in double figures on the night, including sophomore guard Luke Albrecht who scored a team-high 17 points in the victory. “We’re so fortunate that we have seven guys that can step up into different roles to help us win,” said Middletown South boys basketball coach Jim Anderson. “Most games we have seven guys scoring from a range of 5-13 points, making it hard for teams to guard us.” Junior Mike Dabas was a beast in the paint for Middletown South in the first half, helping the Eagles get out to a 9-2 run to start the contest with his second basket of the quarter off a nice pass from Albrecht on the fastbreak. Dabas scored seven of his nine first half points in the first quarter to help the Eagles take a 16-8 lead going into the second quarter. He also had seven rebounds in the first half. Albrecht took over in the second quarter for Middletown South. After Marlboro cut the Middletown South lead to 16-13, the sophomore led the Eagles on a 16-7 run to finish the first half. Connecting through contact to hit the layup, Albrecht completed the three-point play at the free-throw line to put the Eagles up 21-15 with five minutes to play in the half. In the final minute of the first half, Albrecht couldn’t be stopped at the rim. The sophomore barreled his way in for a circus right handed layup to put Middletown South up 30-20 with 35 seconds to play in the first half. On the next possession, Albrecht went coast to coast through two Marlboro defenders for a layup with seven seconds left in the half to help give Middletown South a 32-20 lead going into halftime. Albrecht scored 10 of his 14 first half points in the second quarter. “I had a good matchup in the first half and was able to get to the rim,” Albrecht said. “Our team did a good job moving the ball around in the first half.” Middletown South built a 40-25 lead in the third quarter before Alex Ratner cut the lead to 12 with 3:43 after banging in his third three-pointer of the game and then hitting a nice jumper from the left corner for Marlboro. Ratner scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter and knocked down four three-pointers in the contest. Marlboro got the Middletown South lead down to 44-36 with under a minute left in the third quarter, but Richie Boyko helped get the Eagles back rolling to finish the quarter. After missing a three-pointer, Boyko got a second chance to score after James Anderson secured the offensive rebound for the Eagles and knocked in a layup to put Middletown South back up 10. Boyko went on to knock down another layup in the final seconds of the quarter to give Middletown South a 48-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The junior scored six of his eight points in the third quarter. Bobby Pirie helped Middletown South close out the win with six points in the fourth quarter. Pirie scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half for Middletown South The Eagles were 5-6 from the free-throw line in the final quarter to seal its 14th win of the season. “Bobby Pirie had a terrific second half for us,” Coach Anderson said. “We felt we can get the ball inside a lot on them and our guys did a great job getting offensive rebounds. Our defense did a good following scouting reports and making things tough for Alex (Ratner) at times.” Dabas finished with 13 points points in the win, putting him in double figures in back-to-back games and in three of the last four games for Middletown South. “My teammates set me up great down in the paint with nice handoff passes,” Dabas said. “I try my best to get good position down in the paint to get rebounds. I just go out there and play hard.” Middletown South is now 14-10 on the season and will face nationally ranked Ranney in the quarterfinals on Sunday. The Eagles are very excited to go up against Ranney and to experience playing in the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament. “I love the Shore Conference Tournament and always have,” Coach Anderson said. “We love the challenge of playing Ranney. Playing in the quarterfinals will be a great experience for our kids.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Middletown High School South Athletics

NEWS

MIDDLETOWN SOUTH ROLLS PAST MARLBORO INTO THE QUARTERFINALS OF THE SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT