EAGLES DOWN REBELS DESPITE DEPLETED ROSTER

The Eagles pulled out another A-North victory to improve to 15-4 with a win over Howell. Brian Clabby led the scoring with a career-high 13 points for South, who was without starters Kyle Cancilleiri and Matt Callori, as well as key role player Rob Callori.

The Eagles got out to an early lead, but once again played a slow-paced, methodical game. Howell was in the game, with the score 11-5 at the end of the first, but the second quarter would belong to South’s defense.

The Rebels were only able to score 1 point in the second because of a strong team zone defense by the Eagles. Garret Thiel helped hold Howell to one opportunity per possession with a strong rebounding effort, finishing with 16 boards to go along with 10 points, picking up his second double double in row.

Ten points on the offensive end of the floor gave the Eagles a 15 point lead at halftime, with the score 21-6.

A 15-9 advantage in third quarter scoring extended South’s lead to 21 at the end of the period.

With the game in hand, head coach Kevin Cullen was able to get his starters, who played most of the game, off the floor with a little less than two minutes to go and preserve the victory.

Will Low picked up his presence in the post in the absence of Matt Callori, scoring a career-high 10 points. Peter Clabby picked up 9 points of his own, by knocking down three three-pointers, the same amount younger brother Brian had.

The Rebels were led by Tom Martino, who netted 8 points. Brandon Patterson and Ryan Keegan both contributed 6 points in the loss.

The Eagles hope to have their roster healthy again as the final weeks of the season continue. Their seed in the Shore Conference and Central Jersey Group III Tournaments will be decided by key games against Raritan, Colts Neck, Mater Dei and Toms River North.

On the girl's side Howell earned a sweep of Middletown South on the season with a 54-44
victory on the Eagle's home floor. Densie Crudup led the Rebels with 16 points, while Michele Blum added 11. Danielle Pankey scored a game-high 19 points for South.

EAGLES GET REVENGE OVER 'STANGS

A double double by Garret Thiel and outstanding team defense helped the Eagles get revenge against Marlboro with a 47-34 win.

South dominated on the defensive end of the floor, holding the Mustangs to four points in each of the first two quarters. They worked the ball around slowly, however, and were up by only 11 at the half, with a score of 19-8.

The pace of the game picked up in the third quarter and the Eagles extended their lead to 13 as the final period began.

While Marlboro made attempted to make a run late, the Eagles turned them away to avenge a 56-51 loss at Marlboro on January 3.

Thiel recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds for his second double double of the season, the first of which came against Marlboro. Pete Clabby continued his senior season with another solid performance, scoring 10 points, including two three-pointers. Matt Callori and Will Low both added 6 points. The Eagles were able to hold the leading scorers for Marlboro, Zach Kutner and Cory Piskin, both to six points apiece.

EAGLES END SLIDE WITH WIN OVER SOUTHERN

The Eagles led early and held on late to snap a two game losing streak with a win over Southern Regional 37-33.

The game was slow and sluggish from the beginning with the score only 9-4 at the end of the first quarter. Nevertheless, in the second quarter the Eagles picked it up and extended their lead to 9 points, as the score was 24-15 at halftime.

The Eagles struggled in the second half for the second straight game and Southern took advantage of South’s mistakes. After leading by eight at the end of the third, the Eagles saw the Rams cut the lead to three with less than two minutes to go in the game.

Pete Clabby hit three free throws in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles just enough breathing room to put the game away. Clabby finished with 5 points.

Garret Thiel led the team with 12 points and six rebounds, both team highs. Matt Callori added another solid offensive night, netting 9 points while grabbing 4 boards.

Joe Tomczuk scored a game high 15 for the Rams in the loss.

The Eagles will be out for revenge as the Marlboro Mustangs come to South for a game on Monday. The last time the two teams matched up at Marlboro, the Mustangs upset the Eagles 56-51. Unfortunately, for the Eagles, they will be heading into this game just as they did the last one, without Kyle Cancilleiri, who will most likely not play.

SOUTH DROPS ONE TO CBA AT HOME

CBA avenged a loss against Middletown South earlier in the year by beating the Eagles 54-37 on their home floor. Brian Neller led the way by knocking down a game high 16 points.

The Colts started off strong out of the gate, going on an 8-0 run to start the game, which forced the Eagles to take a quick timeout very early in the game. South responded well after the timeout, holding CBA to only 2 more points in the quarter while getting on the board with 4 points.

The Eagles took off in the second quarter, by outscoring the Colts 17-13 in the period to go into half down by 2 with a score of 23-21 CBA.

The second half belonged to the Colts, though, as they forced the Eagles to make costly mistakes. After South tied the game at 27, CBA scored a couple of quick baskets and never looked back winning the third quarter 14-9 to extend their lead to 37-30.

In the fourth quarter, CBA put the game away for good by holding South to only 7 points.

Along, with Neller, Mike Kuhn scored 12 while Patrick Light and Roy Mabry added 8 apiece. Garret Thiel led the Eagles with 13 points, while Matt Callori continued on his recent hotstreak, scoring 9. Rob Callori added 8, including a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter to keep the game close.

EAGLES FALL TO TOWNSHIP IN OT

Last night the Eagles lost 53-52 in overtime to Freehold Township. You can check here for a Scott Stump's story and videos, including a controversial jump ball call at the end of regulation.

The girls team also took on Township and won 46-35.

The boys team takes on CBA tomorrow night at 6:30 at home.

CANCILLEIRI, EAGLES TAKE DOWN HOLMDEL IN OCEAN COUNTY CHALLENGE

A double double by game MVP Kyle Cancilleiri helped the Eagles improve to 12-2 with a 48-31 win over Holmdel in the Ocean County Challenge.

Cancilleiri got off to a fast start, scoring 9 points in the first quarter, helping South to a 15-6 advantage at the end of the first.

The Eagles extended their lead over the Hornets by four because of the play of Garret Thiel, who spread the ball around and hit a few key jump shots to make the score 27-14 at halftime.

The Hornets attempted to battle their way back into the game by winning the third quarter and pulling within 34-22 but Thiel, Cancilleiri, and South would not give the game away.

Six more points from Cancilleiri and tough defense by Thiel before fouling out helped the Eagles put the game away despite an impressive effort from Holmdel.

Cancilleiri finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including 8 on the offensive glass. Thiel contributed 13 points and 6 rebounds. Matt Callori netted 7 points and brought down 4 boards.

The Eagles defense held all of Holmdel’s scorers under ten points, with Mike Kelly leading the Hornets with 9 while Erik Shirvanian chipping in 8 points.

Middletown South has a tough week ahead of them with a slate of games that could very well decide the A-North title, with an away game at Freehold Township on 5:30 Tuesday evening, before playing CBA at home on Thursday.

EAGLES HOLD IN FOURTH TO BEAT LIONS

A huge fourth quarter rally by Middletown North could not stop Middletown South (10-2, 6-2) from winning their fifth straight game and helping their position for the Class A-North divisional race.

The Eagles led the entire game, starting out on fire, and went up 16-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Lions came back fighting in the second quarter, but the Eagles matched them and extended their lead to 12 points, 28-16, at the half.

South appeared to be in the drivers seat as Kyle Cancilleiri and Garret Thiel helped the Eagles extend their lead even further, to 41-27 going into the final period.

Middletown North, however, would not go away quietly on their home floor. They forced a lot of Eagles mistakes and turnover while winning the quarter 20-12. However, in the end it was not enough to beat the experienced Eagles team, who hit clutch free throws down the stretch, with Cancilleiri going 3-3 from the charity stripe after a bad streak at the free throw line in the last week.

Cancilleiri paced the Eagles while recording his second double double of the year by scoring a game-high 19 points and bringing down 11 rebounds. Thiel added 17 points of his own while Matt Callori continued his current hot streak by scoring 11 and grabbing 5 boards. Callori is averaging 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game over the course of South’s current five game win streak.

Shilique Calhoun scored a team high 16 points in the losing effort. Thiel did a good job slowing down John Nardini and holding him to 12 points.

The Eagles will welcome the Manalapan Braves onto their home court on Thursday for another tough A-North divisional match up.

EAGLES FLYING HIGH AFTER FOURTH STRAIGHT VICTORY

Garret Thiel led the Eagles with 18 points to win over Manchester 55-36 in a slow, methodical match up on the day after a big Middletown South win over Colts Neck.

Kyle Cancilleiri sat out most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls in the first minute and a half, but still came back in the second with 12 points and 3 rebounds.

With both teams running zone defenses, the game was extremely slow paced. A buzzer beater lay up from the Hawks brought the score within 13 at 25-12 at halftime.

The Eagles picked up in the second half, especially the fourth quarter where the scored 16 points, and were able to rest their starters after a tiring week.

Matt Callori had another productive night with 10 points and 5 rebounds while Pete Clabby continued with his consistent season by adding 6 points and 5 rebounds for the Eagles.

Jermaine Jackson and Matt Vaughn set the pace for Manchester, who was without leading scorer Marvin Brodie, with 10 points apiece. Darnell Williams chipped 7 points of his own.

EAGLES TAKE CONTROL OF A-NORTH WITH BIG ROAD WIN OVER COLTS NECK

Kyle Cancilleiri capped off the Eagles 56-45 win at Colts Neck with a dunk, sending a message that will surely resonate throughout the Shore Conference, if not farther.

No. 3 Middletown South went into a usually hostile Colts Neck environment and came back with a win that puts them in the driver seat in the A-North.

Trailing 24-21 at halftime, South needed more defensive pressure on the Cougars. Cancilleiri and Garret Thiel stepped up big time in the second half and shut down the lethal combination of Mitchell Kates and Steve Spinella to a combined 7 points after halftime.

The Eagles took the lead and gave themselves breathing room with a huge rally at the end of the third quarter, capped off by a Thiel buzzer beater from just inside the three-point line to take a 37-30 lead.

The final quarter was very emotional and energetic, with Colts Neck applying lots of pressure to try to get back in the game. The Cougars did, pulling within 3 points with a little more than 2 minutes left in the game, but South went on an 8-0 run to pull away for good.

Cancilleiri succeeded in slowing down Spinella in the second half, allowing him only 4 points. Thiel, if at all possible, did an even better job on Kates, who scored only 3 points, all on free throws.

Thiel finished with a game high 21 points, also adding 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Cancilleiri continued his current hot streak by scoring 18 points, recording 4 steals, and 3 rebounds. Cancilleiri is now averaging 22.7 points in his last three games since sitting out with severe hydration. Matt Callori pitched in 9 points and five rebounds.

Spinella recorded a team high 16 points in the Cougars third straight loss since starting 7-0. Adam Dombrowski scored 11 off the bench, all in the second half. Kates was held to 8 points on the night.

The Eagles have a quick turnaround as they play Manchester tomorrow night at home.

LADY EAGLES FALL TO COLTS NECK

After winning 29 straight A-North games, Middletown South has now lost two straight after Lauren Clarke’s 24 points led Colts Neck to a big 60-38 win over the Eagles.

The Cougars came out strong and dominated a large part of the game. Colts Neck extended their 5 point first quarter lead with a 15-3 second quarter run.

From there, the Cougars took over the game and never looked back as they held the Eagles to only 20 points in the second half while their offense put up 25 to extend their lead.

To go along with Clarke’s game high 24, Brittany Hawes added 10 of her own for Colts Neck. Danielle Pankey and Jill Gannon scored 15 and 12 points, respectively for the Eagles in a losing effort.

CANCILLEIRI DOMINATES; LEAD EAGLES TO A-NORTH VICTORY

Kyle Cancilleiri propelled Middletown South to a 66-52 victory over the Howell Rebels by dominating the game with a career high thirty-point night for the Eagles.

The Rebels held on early in the game by staying within 6 points in the first quarter, at 17-11 Eagles. Howell’s defense helped limit South to 30 points first half points, despite 12 of them coming from Cancilleiri alone, and the score was 30-20 Eagles at halftime.

The Eagles extended their lead in the third quarter by outscoring Howell 20-14.

The Rebels never went away though, as it seemed that whenever South started to pull away, Howell would find a way back into the game.

The Eagles finally were able to pull their starters off the floor in the last two minutes when they went up by 12.

Along with his 30 points, Cancilleiri recorded a double-double by bringing down 12 rebounds. He also had 7 steals, which led to many fast break points, including two dunks.

Matt Callori and Garret Thiel also contributed in the scorebook and on the boards, with Callori netting eleven and securing six rebounds. Thiel added 10 points of his own and tracked down 5 rebounds.

Billy Kappock and Tom Martino paced the way for Howell, tying for a team-high 11 points. Tom Callahan contributed 10 points in the losing effort.

The Eagles, number three in the latest DigitalSports Top 10, take their 7-2 record into Colts Neck on Thursday to take on the number five Cougars in a huge Class A-North match up.

EAGLES WEEKEND SPORTS WRAP UP

At yesterday's Monmouth County Girls Swimming Championships, freshman Morgan Foran led the way for the Eagles eighth place finish by being named the Swimmer of the Meet. Foran won the 200 and 500 freestyle.

On Friday night the both the boys and girls track teams raced in Toms River for the Shore Conference Divisional Championships. On the boys side, Shaun McGeever, John Healy, and Dave Liepa race in the 1600 meter finals. McGeever finished fifth with a time of 4:41. Healy and Liepa ran times of 4:48 and 4:50 respectively, earning themselves a ninth and thirteenth place finish. Ryan Ure and Jay Malejki finished first and second in the Section 2 race of the 3200 meter run. For the girls, Kelly Watters and Chelsea Mak ran the 800 and finished fourth and seventh in the Section 1 race with times of 2:38 and 2:44. Megan Pierce finished sixth in the 1600 meter race with a time of 5:45.

The basketball teams will take on the Howell Rebels tomorrow, the boys will play at home while the girls hit the road. The ice hockey team takes on Brick while the wrestling team will wrestle Lakewood.

CANCILLEIRI AND THIEL PROPEL EAGLES TO UPSET OVER CBA

The dynamic duo of Kyle Cancilleiri and Garret Thiel helped Middletown South go on the road and beat CBA and their pair of high scorers, Mike Kuhn and Brian Neller by a score of 51-47.

The Eagles led the entire way, starting with a 9-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter. South extended their lead even further in the second quarter, but CBA battled back at the end of the half so that the teams went to the locker with the score 23-11 in South’s favor.

A key component to the Eagles halftime lead was Thiel playing tough defense on Kuhn and holding him to only 2 points.

Kuhn and the Colts would not go away quietly; however, as Kuhn netted 18 second half points. Kuhn’s huge second half kept the game close and helped get Thiel into foul trouble.

After the Eagles led 39-30 at the end of the third, CBA made a strong push, pulling it to as close as three points. The Colts had a chance to tie the game but the three-point attempt from Neller was off and South breathed a sigh of relief.

Key free throws down the stretch from Cancilleiri and Will Low helped the Eagles pull away at the end and quell a late Colts rally.

Cancilleiri finished with 20 points and four rebounds. Thiel finished with 15 points, despite sitting out for part of the third quarter because of foul trouble. Matt Callori added 8 points and 6 rebounds.

Kuhn led the way for the Colts in the losing effort with 20, but the key was Cancilleiri holding Neller to seven total points. Pat Light netted seven, while Travis Farrell chipped in six.

According to Kevin Cullen, this was the first Middletown South victory over CBA since 1981; the year South’s 26 year old coach was born.

GANNON AND PANKEY COMBINE FOR 41 IN EAGLES WIN

Holding off a late second half push by the Marlboro Mustangs, Middletown South won their fourth straight divisional game, 47-38.

Jill Gannon and Danielle Pankey powered the Eagles scoring 21 and 20 points, respectively.

South had a 23-11 lead at the half, but the Mustangs pulled within four by the end of the fourth quarter by winning the quarter 13-3 to make it a 28-24 South advantage as the final quarter started.

South started to pull away slightly at the beginning of the quarter, but Marlboro rallied late to pull within 5 points with 27 seconds left on the clock.

Pankey downed two free throws with 20 seconds left to close the door on the Mustang rally.

THIEL'S 24 CAN'T SAVE EAGLES

Marlboro upset visiting Middletown South with a 56-51 win for a big victory for the Mustangs at home with strong help from sophomore guard Zach Kutner’s team high 18 points.

Garret Thiel recorded a double double for the Eagles with a game high 24 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.

South led throughout the first half, in large part to Thiel’s 14 points before halftime, but the Mustangs went on a run to end the quarter and get within 2 points as the score was 26-24 South at half.

Marlboro played a strong third quarter and was helped by many South lapses on defense to take a 40-39 lead heading into the final period.

The Mustangs hit crucial free throws in the latter part of the fourth quarter to extend their lead further. After stopping a later try by the Eagles to come back and tie the game, Marlboro walked away with a huge upset in Class A-North.

Mike Norber scored 13 to contribute to the Mustangs victory. Pete Clabby added 9 for the Eagles who missed the contribution of sophomore Kyle Cancilleiri, who was sick and unavailable to play.

MORENO SCORES TWICE IN BULLDOG BOWL WIN

Knowshon Moreno only carried the ball 9 times in Georgia's 41-10 win over Hawaii, but made the most of his carries. Running for 61 yards, and average of almost 7 yards a carry, and punching in two touchdowns helped the Bulldogs win their 7th straight game. An ankle injury he reagravated did not seem to bother him much. With senior Thomas Brown and Kregg Lumpkin graduating, Moreno looks primed to get even more carries as the full-time starter next season. He'll look to improve on his 1,334 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Bulldogs who could open up at the top spot in the polls next season.

MORENO GOES BOWLING

As I write this post, the Nokia Sugar Bowl has already started and Georgia's offense is about to take the field. Knowshon Moreno is not starting as senior Thomas Brown will start his last career game. The Bulldogs take on Hawaii and are looking to avoid what happened to Oklahoma last year against Boise State. I'll post the results of the game and Moreno's stats sometime tomorrow.

I was about to wrap up this post until the sideline reporter said that Moreno re-injured his left ankle last week in practice but that he should be good to go.

Any one wanting to watch the game can jump to FOX.