| Boys Basketball SCT Final - Second Wind: CBA 60, Midd. South 44 | ||||
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*Click Here for Video Highlights (Members Only)* Click Here for a Photo Gallery by Bill Normile BRICK - The Middletown South boys basketball team might have been the more dominant team for the first three rounds of the Shore Conference Tournament, but Christian Brothers Academy needed only 16 minutes to prove what it had already established over the past year of conference play. Junior J.P. Koury scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to spark a big second half for the CBA, as the Colts defeated Middletown South 60-44 to win their second straight Shore Conference Tournament championship and 16th in school history. The win extends CBA's winning streak against Shore Conference opponents to 42 games while ending Middletown South's seven game winning streak, all of which were games decided by 10 points or more.
CBA, the top seed in the tournament, outscored the No. 2 Eagles 38-18 in the second half. The Colts pulled away thanks to a 14-0 run from the end of the second quarter to the early stages of the fourth to turn a slim, 35-34 lead into a sizeable 49-34 advantage. "They're a good team, but we're a lot better than how we played in the first half," senior point guard Roy Mabrey said. "We just kind of let them do whatever they wanted and when we came out in the second half, we knew we had to pick up the pace." Four players accounted for CBA's scoring, with junior Matt McMullen, and seniors R.J. Hobbie and Mabrey all joining Koury in double-figures. McMullen scored 16 points, Hobbie added 15 and Mabrey chipped in 12 to go with four assists and three steals. "We have confidence in all of the guys," Mabrey said. "If it's four guys who do the scoring, then that's great. However we get our points is how we get our points. We just trust one another and try to get good shots and whoever scores it, scores. The stats are secondary and that's the way we've always looked at it." Kyle Cancillieri led Middletown South with 13 points and seven rebounds, while senior point guard Pat O'Connell added 11 points. Cancillieri scored 11 of his points before CBA's big run, two of which came on a one-handed dunk that gave Middletown South a 22-16 lead early in the second quarter. The Eagles took a 26-22 lead in the locker room behind seven points from Cancillieri and six each from O'Connell and junior forward Will Siegfried, who finished with 10. Middletown South was playing in its first final since 1979 and has never won an SCT championship. Saturday's game was the third meeting between the teams, with all three going to CBA. The Colts won 50-47 at Middletown South on Jan. 5 and 49-39 at CBA on Jan. 29. "They were a much better team than when we played them the first two times," McMullen said. "The main thing is we had to account for (Jake) Brodsky and Siegfried. They're not the same players now that they were the first time we played them. They're a lot more dangerous, so we couldn't just worry about Cancillieri and O'Connell. Those guys can beat you to, so we had to be aware of that." Cancillieri had success against McMullen in the first meeting of the season between the team, when he scored 19 point and forced McMullen into foul trouble for a good deal of the game. He also had his moments against McMullen on Saturday, but the Colts' second-half surge was too much for Cancillieri to overcome. "Cancillieri is such a good player and he's a guy that I'm going to miss playing against," McMullen said. "I always measured myself playing against him and I think that made me a better player." One question for CBA heading into the season was "Who would replace the production of Pat Light and Brian Neller in the starting lineup," however both Koury and Hobbie have filled in on the scoring end. Koury has enjoyed a breakout-season as a junior, while Hobbie has realized his potential after suffering a season-ending back injury last year. "I cried when the told me I was going to miss (last) season," said Hobbie, who figured to be a key member in the rotation as a junior after seeing some time as a sophomore in 2007-08. "I was devastated. So to be here and be part of something like this is absolutely a dream come true. I couldn't have pictured anything better. This is amazing right now." CBA has been dominant in the SCT over the past two decades, winning 12 of its titles in the past 20 years. However, for the seniors like Mabrey, it wasn't long ago that they were on a team that did not live up to the expectation of playing for a SCT title. As a sophomore in 2007-08, Mabrey and CBA failed to reach the semifinals, losing to Monmouth in the quarterfinals at Brookdale, which is also the last loss the Colts suffered against a Shore Conference opponent. "I won a lot when I was in eighth grade, and I used to watch CBA when they were winning those SCT titles and I would always think that was going to be me," Mabrey said. "Two years ago, I got to feel what it was like to lose, and I didn't want to feel that again." That drive to never feel the pain of losing is what makes the win on Saturday mean slightly less to Mabrey and McMullen that it does to first-timers Koury and Hobbie. Last season, after entering the Non-Public A final against Immaculata with a 27-2 record as the favorite, but fell to the Iron Mikes, pushing CBA's run without a group title drought to 14 years. "This is one of our goals, but we haven't won a group title since 1995," Mabrey said. "That's what I want. The Shore Conference would just be icing on the cake. We want to make history here." "When we walked into the Ritacco Center (on Wednesday for the semifinals), all those bad memories started coming back to me," McMullen said, referring to the Immaculata game, which took place at the Toms River arena. "That was a tough way to end that season. Ever since then, we're been wanting to get back. It's going to be tough playing with teams like Seton Hall and St. Peter's Prep, but we feel like this is the first step. One of our toughest games last year was against St. Joe's at their place and we're going to have to get through them again. (Winning the SCT) is great, but we're already thinking about that next challenge." Box Score CBA 60, Middletown South 44 Midd. South (44): Pat O'Connell 5 0-0 11, Kyle Cancillieri 5 3-6 13, Jake Brodsky 2 0-0 5, Will Siegfried 5 0-1 10, Rob Callori 2 0-0 5, Steve Gisondi 0 0-0 0, Jordan Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Rob Benedetto 0 0-0 0, Mike Straub 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 3-7 44 Three-Pointers: O'Connell, Callori, Brodsky CBA (60): Roy Mabrey 4 1-2 12, Matt McMullen 7 2-3 16, J.P. Koury 6 5-8 17, R.J. Hobbie 5 3-5 15, Nick McMahon 0 0-0 0, Sean O'Connor 0 0-0 0, Eric Shaw 0 0-0 0, Jim Yaccabonis 0 0-0 0, Chris Cali 0 0-2 0. Totals: 22 11-20 60 Three-Pointers: Mabrey 3, Hobbie 2
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