EAGLES TAKE HOME HARDWARE

Thirteen points by Tournament MVP Garret Thiel helped the Middletown South Eagles take home the Bayshore Holiday Tournament Championship for the first time since 1996. To put that in perspective, in 1996 current head coach Kevin Cullen was a freshman at Middletown South.

After a very slow first quarter, the score was just 4-2. No, that is not a typo. Taking a 14-10 lead into half, the Eagles picked up in the second half and extended their lead to 24-18 after the third quarter.

South used its experience and poise to put the game away in the fourth, eventually winning by a score of 34-26.

Kyle Cancillieri contributed 12 points of his own, while being named to the All-Tournament team along with Peter Clabby.

BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYS IN TITLE GAME

The Eagles are looking for their first Bayshore Holiday Tournament Championship since 1996. They will take on Shore Regional tonight at 7:00 PM at St. John Vianney High School.

EAGLES FLY PAST RFH TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

With a 52-43 win over Rumson-Fair Haven, the Eagles advanced to the championship game of the Bayshore Holiday Tournament against Shore.

South and RFH played an evenly-matched 1st half, with the Eagles lead only 3 with the score 23-20.

The teams came out of half and played another tough quarter of basketball, with RFH taking the quarter 10-9 to pull within 2.

The Eagles, behind Garret Thiel's 6 points in the fourth quarter, started to pull away. South scored 20 team points and Thiel and Rob Callori knocked down clutch free throws to put the game away.

Peter Clabby's 14 points set the bar high for the Eagles. Thiel finished with 13, while Matt Callori contributed 10 and one block.

Thiel's defense was key for the Eagles as he spent the majority of the night guarding RFH star Matt Blumel, who scored 28 in the opening round against Middletown North, and held him to only 7 points.

Holiday tournaments

I hope everyone had a very Merry/Happy (insert holiday here). The Middletown South sports teams have continued playing over the holiday break in annual holiday tournaments.

The girls basketball team defeated Monroe Township in the first round of the Mustang Invitational on Saturday by a score of 66-41.

The wrestling team will host the Walter Woods Holiday Tournament starting tomorrow.

Boys Basketball:

A strong second half from Middletown South gave them a 62-34 win over Jackson Liberty and an impressive start in the Bayshore Holiday Basketball Tournament as the number 1 seed.

Jackson Liberty stayed in the game early, trailing by only 10 points at half, but in the third the Eagles came out and put the game away by outscoring the Lions 19-3. South’s defense, led by strong play by Kyle Cancillieri, did not allow a field goal in the third.

By the end of the third, the South lead had grown to 26 points, 48-22, and the Eagles went to the bench to finish off the game.

Cancillieri set the pace with a game-high 17 points, his second strong performance in a row after coming off a 23 point effort in a loss to Freehold Township. Garret Thiel contributed 14 points of his own while Rob Callori scored 11, including three 3-point shots.

Middletown South takes on Rumson-Fair Haven, the number 4 seed who beat Middletown North 53-48, at 7:00 PM tomorrow night at St. John Vianney High School in the semi-final match up.

Freehold Township squeezes out victory over South

Max Lit scored 20 and the Patriots knocked down 22 free throws as a team to give Freehold Township a win in a nail biter over Middletown South by a score of 62-59.

The game was a see-saw affair between the two teams, with the lead changing hands too many times to count.

Township led 15-10 after the first quarter, but the Eagles went on a quick 5-0 run to tie the game at the start of the second period.

South fought hard in the second, with the help of strong play by Steve Gisondi, to take a 4 point advantage, 32-28, into halftime. The teams played close in the third quarter, but the Patriots led 45-43 at the end of the period.

As the fourth quarter began, Freehold started to pull away, eventually extending their lead to 8 with three minutes left.

A 3-point shot got the Eagles back into the game with 1:45 with the score 59-52.

With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Garret Theil was fouled as he scored on a layup. After hitting the free throw, he cut Freehold's lead to two.

After knocking down one free throw, Will Low picked up the rebound when the second shot missed and passed off to Theil.

Theil was trapped at half-court and dished the ball to Rob Callori, whose, desperation 3-point shot was off, giving the Patriots their second win of the season.

Matt Devine and Corey Csakai helped Lit on the offensive end, scoring 11 and 10 each. Kyle Cancilleiri netted a game high 23 points, while Theil and Pete Clabby added 16 and 10, respectively.

The Eagles take the 2-1 record into the St. John Vianney Holiday tournament, where they were named the unanimous number one seed.

LADY EAGLES ROUT MANALAPAN

After holding the Braves to just 11 points in the first half, Middletown South went onto blowout Manalapan 61-31.

It was also the first home game for Jill Gannon since her head injury last January. Gannon again scored the first points of the game, as she did at Middletown North last Friday, this time on two free throws.

The Eagles controlled the game from beginning to end, scoring 17 points in each of the first two quarters, taking a 34-11 lead into half, and did not look back.

South's defense held Manalapan under 10 points for every quarter except the fourth, when both teams emptied the bench.

Shawn Hagen set the pace for the Eagles with 12 points. Danielle Pankey recorded 10 points, with Gannon adding 8 of her own.

Nicole Gurrieri and Amanda McBride led the way in a losing effort for the Braves 10 points each.

With their record standing at 2-0, the Eagles travel to Freehold Township to take on the Patriots.

THIEL AND CLABBY LEAD EAGLES TO A SEASON-OPENING VICTORY AGAINST MIDDLETOWN NORTH

A second half comeback and great play down the stretch from Garret Thiel and Brian Clabby helped Middletown South win over Middletown North on opening night 50-43.

A 9-0 run in the first quarter helped them take control over the first half, taking 28-24 lead into half.

“We had a long talk at halftime.” South coach Kevin Cullen said. We had our backs against the wall and fought back hard in the fourth.”

South picked up its intensity in the third, but North still led 39-38 at the end of the third.

The Eagles took their first lead since early in the first quarter with 6:50 left in the game, and never trailed again.

Kyle Cancilleiri was in foul trouble all game and was held to 8 points before fouling out at the 3:30 mark while trying to post up on the block. Already down a player because of an injury to forward Will Low, the Eagles relied heavily on other players.

“We really picked each other up tonight,” Cullen said of his team. “And that’s the sign of a good team. I can always count on 100 percent from all my guys.”

Ahead by only 1 point with less than two minutes left in the game, Clabby scored on pullback jumper from just outside the block to extend the lead to three.

Clabby was fouled in the backcourt with 30 seconds left and sank both free throws to make it a two-possession game.

Thiel scored his ended the game with 16 points and 4 rebounds on the night when he put down a free throw to put the game out of reach of Middletown North. Clabby ended with 6 points, all in the fourth quarter, and four rebounds after a foul shot with about 10 seconds left. Matt Callori added 8 points as well as showing he can defend the middle of the paint for South.

The Eagles will take their 1-0 record into Manalapan next Monday to try to get on an early winning streak in the A-North.



The hockey team lost to Saint John Vianney 3-0 in what was described to me as a closely contested matchup beween the two teams at the Wall Sports Arena.

Basketball Teams ranked in the Top 10

When Scott Stump posted his Shore Conference Basketball Top 10, both the boys and girls Middletown South basketball teams were ranked 10th on the eve of the season opener. Also, senior Garret Thiel and junior Danielle Pankey were listed as "Players on the Rise."

Basketball opening night

Well, contrary to my previous report, both basketball games are not at home tomorrow. The boys will play against North tomorrow at home. The girls will be at Middletown North. Both games tip-off at 6:30 PM.

South athletes win post-season awards

Junior Megan Porter was named to the All-Central Jersey, Section 1 Gymnastics team as one of the five gymnasts in the vault category.

Senior soccer players Mike Roura and Ahmed Ragab both secured 1st team A-North and All-State selections.

Congratulations to those three. There will sure to be plenty more Eagles honored soon. I'll update when there are more announcements.

Vote Knowshon!

CBS Sportsline is holding an online vote for the nations best freshman, former Middletown South star Knowshon Moreno is currently second in the voting. You can vote here to help Moreno win the award.