MHS Basketball in Shape to Content For CCC South Title at 6-3

Middletown basketball improved its season record to 6-3 after taking down Bristol Central 57-55 on the road Friday.

Junior center Taji Owens scored a game-high 17 points and was one of four Blue Dragons in double figures. Jerry Robinson (13 points, nine assists), Mikie Rhodes (11) and Andrew Campbell (10) also reached the mark.

The Blue Dragons are now second place in the Central Connecticut Conference South division with a 4-1 record, behind only Maloney of Meriden, who Middletown lost to 75-64 at home last Tuesday. MHS has big wins over fellow division mates Berlin, Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central but also possesses confounding losses against New Britain and Tolland.

With injuries having kept star junior guard Shawn Strickland off the floor for a good stretch of the season, the team has been led by Rhodes, a senior forward who was a CCC South All-star last season. Rhodes has been a force inside every game and already earned four double-doubles. Owens has broken out with a couple of strong offensive games and MHS Head Coach Dave Sytulek praised him for his rebounding. Complementary players like junior forward Andrew Campbell and senior guard Jalen Manzie have made up for the absence of Strickland and other injured players to some extent with great efforts on the defensive end and in skills like ball-handling. While different players have stepped up to fill the void, the lack of depth Middletown has featured due to injuries has hurt the team performance wise.

“I would have liked to be better then 5-3,” said Sytulek on Friday afternoon before the Bristol Central victory. “Losing Shawn for a couple of games definitely hurt our depth. When we were minus him and a couple of other players against Maloney, we couldn’t quite stay with them and got outscored 27-11 in the third quarter.”

Sytulek knows his team has talent and has been pleased with their performance in a number of areas. But he wants to see a more consistent effort from the Blue Dragons.

“Our defensive effort of late has been a strength,” said Sytulek, later praising players like Rhodes and Campbell for their work on that end. “But we have to improve in putting together a full game and displaying intensity all four quarters.”

Middletown will certainly need to play every contest with complete focus and intensity to win the CCC South. Only two of the squad’s remaining games are outside the division. MHS will have to take down Bulkeley and again beat Berlin and Bristol Eastern to even have a shot at beating out Maloney for first place in the division. Maloney is currently 2.5 games in front of MHS. A division championship is a tall order, but Sytulek could see it happening for the Blue Dragons, who have won four of their past five.

“If we keep improving we have an opportunity to contend for the CCC South title.” He said. “I can see our team winning 15 games in the regular season.”

Middletown Loses Home Opener to Tolland

If there’s one lesson a fan can take away from Middletown’s 63-59 loss to Tolland in the Blue Dragons home opener Tuesday night, it’s that a team can’t win if it doesn’t play with superior fundamentals. It’s awesome if your team to controls the boards with ease. It’s even better if your top player, senior Mikie Rhodes, supplies 24 points and 17 rebounds and leave his all on the court. But an advantage in one or two areas of the game doesn’t make up for a lack of perimeter defense, offensive execution or composure. The winning formula was absent for Middletown in a defeat that dropped the team to 2-2 on the season. Tolland is now 1-1.

The inconsistent play of the Blue Dragons was on display from the opening tip. They were only trailing by one point at the end of the first quarter but quickly fell further behind as the first half continued and outside shots weren’t falling. Meanwhile, Tolland players repeatedly scored on open layups off of beautifully executed cuts, and made the same outside shots Middletown was missing. It didn’t matter that Middletown was grabbing rebounds left and right if the squad couldn’t take full advantage of them.

After going into halftime down six, the Blue Dragons put together a strong comeback effort throughout the second half. Middletown’s superior speed and strength slowly but surely wore down their opponent and caused them to have a number of poor offensive series. All the momentum was going Middletown’s way, and when they pulled to within one at 56-66 with three minutes remaining in the fourth a win seemed inevitable.

However, Tolland kept going back to the same style of play that had worked for them all game in the closing minutes, and that style continued to pay off. Tolland executed a few backbreaking layups as the clock ticked down and put pressure on the Blue Dragons with their crisp passing and smooth flowing offense. They frequently coaxed Middletown into fouling and made their shots at the line. Tolland gave Middletown little room for error as it made its comeback, and ultimately there just wasn’t enough of it.

Middletown did not execute well enough in the closing five minutes to ever grab the land and completely establish control. The squad failed to deny penetration to Tolland on offense and was forced into committing reckless fouls as a last resort. Even as the Blue Dragons grabbed nearly every rebound in site, they were unable to convert a significant amount of their second-shot opportunities. Most glaringly, Middletown struggled at the line down the stretch and shot just 5-10 from the charity stripe for the contest. After closing to within one, the Blue Dragons allowed Tolland to convert on a three-point layup, and would only score one more field goal, going on to lose by four.

Shawn Strickland had 12 points and five assists, and Taji Owens pulled down 16 rebounds for Middletown. Overall, the Blue Dragons committed 19 turnovers while only earning 9 assists.

Taylor Fortin scored a team-high 19 points for Tolland. Teammate Brad Smith added 16, and Matt Grospitch scored 15.

“Tolland is a very patient team. They run their offense and don’t take bad shots,” said Head Coach Dave Sytulek. “We tried to pick up our defensive intensity in the second half but just ran out of time. I hope this loss taught us that we need to come out with that intensity at the very start of every game.”

Middletown will host Pomperaug Thursday.

Middletown and Xavier Basketball Looking to Win With Different Styles

MIDDLETOWN

Middletown returns two stalwarts in junior point guard Shawn Strickland and senior forward Mikie Rhodes. Both were selected to the CCC South All-Star Team last season and Rhodes was Honorable Mention All-State. Strickland, a smooth and intelligent point guard and Rhodes, a bulldog inside who totaled 13 double-doubles last season, will be the go-to-guys in every contest. But the pair will receive a lot of support from their talented and versatile teammates.

Head Coach Dave Sytulek says the Blue Dragons strengths should be their team defense, speed and especially their depth. Four of five starters are returning for Middletown after a disappointing 10-10 season, and according to Sytulek, his team can go 10 deep.

One key returnee will be 6-4 junior center Taji Owens. Owens gives his squad much needed height and has to be Middletown’s ace rebounder to help the team neutralize what Sytulek declares its biggest weakness.

The Blue Dragons will be tested early in the competitive Central Connecticut Conference. Middletown opens on Wednesday at New Britain, followed by road games versus Prince Tech of Hartford and CCC south rival Berlin. The schedule in December is not an early one, but it will immediately give Middletown a chance to prove their goals for the season are realistic ones.

“Our goals are to have a winning record and contend in the CCC South,” said Sytulek. “We expect to be able to compete every game. By the end of the season, we hope to get a solid tournament seed and make a good run in the postseason. But it all depends on tourney matchups.”

XAVIER

The Falcons are loaded inside. Xavier has five key players who are 6-2 or taller. All are seniors. Needless to say, Xavier should be a strong rebounding team and have an advantage on the board in almost every game.

Jovan Santos-Knox will be the main man in the middle for the Falcons. The 6-3 senior forward earned All-SCC Quinnipiac honors last season after racking up 12.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg. He is supported in the frontcourt by 6-6 senior Michael Mannion, who grabbed just over seven rebounds per contest.

The backcourt is another matter. As experienced and reliable as the frontcourt should be, the Falcon’s lack of experience at the guard position outside of senior Pat D’Amato stands out. The team’s success this season will be determined by how quickly those guards develop.

“We are trying to find a point guard,” Head Coach Michael Kohs told the Middletown Press. “Right now Stefan Opalacz looks to be the guy, but no question, being able to hand the ball is my biggest concern.”

Other key guards who will need to play well for Xavier to succeed are juniors James Sullivan and Lucas Haneen.

Xavier went 16-9 and won the Quinnipiac Division with a 6-2 mark before falling in the quarterfinals of the Class LL tournament. With seven seniors on this year’s squad, the Falcons are leaning on that experience to help them exceed last season’s accomplishments.

“We hope to win 12 or 13 games at least,” stated Kohs to the Press. “As usual Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross, both of which we play twice, will be very good. I expect Hamden to be good and Fairfield Prep returns Terry Tarpey, who is being courted by several colleges.”

Xavier starts play tonight at home with Sheehan of Wallingford at 7:00.

Middletown High Girls Basketball Young and Promising, Gets Off to 2-0 Start

Some coaches would temper their expectations if their team lost five seniors and featured only one senior starter. Middletown High girls basketball Head Coach Rob Smernoff is not one of those coaches.

“We can absolutely qualify for the state tournament again,” Smernoff said. “This team is young, but already their attitude and effort is a lot better than past years.”

Middletown will live or die based on how quickly its talented but raw core matures and improves. The Blue Dragons will largely rely on juniors and sophomores in 2011. More than half the squad is made up of freshmen.

Smernoff believes Middletown’s athleticism should be its biggest strength. “We can put five players out there who get up and down the court very quickly,” he stated. “We’re going to play up-tempo basketball as much as we can to make up for the fact that we don’t have much size.”

Key players for the Blue Dragons are senior Zenobia Adgers, junior DeAsia Lawrence and sophomore Rajeen Mayo. Their head coach characterized Adgers and Lawrence as phenomenal leaders and workers who younger players looked up to and followed the example of.

Middletown barely qualified for the state tournament last season at 8-12, but already in 2011 the Blue Dragons are off to a very strong start in reaching their ultimate goal to improve and get a higher tournament seeding.

Middletown cruised past Fermi in its season opener last Wednesday, defeating the Falcons 51-38 at home. The Blue Dragons raced out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back.

Rajeen Mayo had 12 points and seven assists for Middletown. The team received very balanced scoring, as five players had at least seven points.

In its first road contest Middletown eked out a huge road victory over Platt 52-50 to begin the season 2-0.

The Blue Dragons just held on at the end of the game. Leading 48-36 with three minutes left, Middletown allowed Platt to go on a 14-4 run before their opponent ran out of time.

“This was a great win for our team,”Smernoff said. “We kept played hard and kept our focus and composure when Platt was making their comeback at the end.”

The Blue Angel’s DeAsia Lawrence led all scorers with 15 points. Rajeen Mayo chipped in with 10 and Breona Watford had seven.

Middletown will host New Britain tomorrow night.