Lions overcome deficit, history to knock off CBA
By doug mckenzie
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI Middletown North’s Mike Niesz tries to get off a shot in front of CBA’s Kyle Olesko during the Lions’ comeback win in Middletown of Friday.

The Middletown North boys’ basketball team needed a big win. After getting off to a frustrating 1-3 start, which included a pair of close losses to quality teams from Franklin and Freehold Township, the Lions needed something to get them back to believing they were one of the Shore Conference’s better teams.

Enter Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, a team that has traditionally dashed the Lions’ hopes on the basketball court. This time the Lions fought back and found a way to beat the Colts for the first time, 44-39. That may be just the spark this team needed.

North head coach Will Mayer recognized how important Friday night’s win could be to his team, which is playing without its top inside presence, Matt Kroll, who tore his ACL during the football season.

"We’ve had some tough losses early on," Mayer said. "Hopefully this will really set us on a run. We needed a win like this to get us excited and get some confidence."

FARRAH MAFFAI CBA’s Kyle Olesko tries to score over North’s Mike Niesz during Friday’s thriller in Middletown.

The game started as so many North-CBA games have in the past. The Lions came out tentative and were struggling to get open looks against the swarming CBA defense.

On the other end of the court, CBA’s disciplined offense was creating layups and open jumpers, allowing the Colts to jump out to an early 8-3 lead. North managed to settle down a bit before the quarter ended, and kept the game close at 13-8.

The second quarter was all CBA. The Lions were overly patient on offense, and were held scoreless following a pair of free throws from senior guard Mike Niesz (which came at the 5:27 mark). Meanwhile, CBA continued to run its offense effectively, mixing layups and open jumpers en route to a 23-10 halftime lead.

The Colts’ balanced offensive attack was overpowering the undersized Lions as they scrambled to stay in the game.

Then something changed, and it started with Mayer challenging his team in the locker room.

"I was very upset with them," he said. "But there were no x’s and o’s to go over. It was just a question of whether they believed they could win. I challenged them, and they responded."

Niesz said that Mayer’s speech had an impact on the team.

"He wasn’t happy with our intensity on both ends of the floor," he said. "We were really struggling in the early going, and he wanted us to step up our play."

Niesz and his backcourt mate, senior Cody Chalmers, did just that in the second half, leading the Lions in an inspired comeback.

Chalmers set the tone immediately with a basket to cut the lead to 23-12. Two possessions later, North’s Dom Fone hit a three-point basket off a feed from Chalmers to cut the lead to 25-16 and give the hometown fans something to cheer about for the first time.

CBA responded with a fast-break basket to get the lead back up to 11, but then something very uncharacteristic happened — CBA started missing layups.

The Lions took advantage of the Colt miscues, as Chalmers hit a free throw and then followed that with a three-point play and a three-point shot from the corner to cut the lead to 32-24.

CBA stemmed the momentum a bit when Kyle Olesko hit a jumper just before the buzzer to get the lead back to 10, but the Lions were officially back in the game.

The fourth quarter was all Middletown North. Niesz started the scoring with a pair of free throws, and then added two more on the next possession following a CBA free throw.

Chalmers then hit a layup off a pass from senior forward Mike Colford before CBA’s Matt White responded with a layup to get the lead to 38-30.

On the ensuing possession, Niesz fed Chalmers for a layup, only to have Chalmers return the favor following a CBA turnover, and the lead was cut to 38-34.

Following a CBA time-out, North got a defensive stop and Niesz hit a big three-pointer to cut the lead to one, then drew an offensive foul from Olesko. After he hit both foul shots to give the Lions their first lead of the game, CBA’s Lew Thompson was fouled, but could only make one of two free throws.

Chalmers was then fouled, and he calmly hit both free throws to give North a 41-38 lead. CBA missed two wide-open three-pointers with less than a minute on the clock, and North got clutch foul shooting from Colford (1-2) and Niesz (2-2) to secure the 44-39 win.

Following the game, Niesz reflected on the importance of the win.

"This was a huge victory for us after coming so close to beating top teams this year," he said. "This means everything for this team right now. We needed this big time."

Mayer credited both Niesz, who finished with a game-high 18 points, and Chalmers (16 points) for their play in the second half.

"We’ve been waiting for someone to step up for us all year, and nobody had done it yet," he said. "They did a great job of stepping up when we needed it on Friday."

Mayer said that the team has struggled to overcome the loss of Kroll in the early going, but has had some players fill in nicely.

"Matt was our biggest, strongest player," he said. "He’s not really that big at 6-2, but he is a real inside presence. Dan Baldassarre had done a nice job of taking over that role, and did a great job on Thompson on Friday, holding him to just five points."

The Lions will look to build on the momentum they gained on Friday this week when they take on Manalapan, Howell and Middletown South.

As for CBA, the loss was a disappointing one, though head coach Ed Wicelinski said the team has no one to blame but itself.

"We missed layups and open threes," he said. "We had two wide-open threes right at the end there and couldn’t make them. You’ve got to make those shots in games like this.

"To their credit, they made some threes and they made their foul shots. We’re just not doing that very well right now," he said.

CBA entered the game coming off a strong third-place showing at the Red Cross/Rotary Roundball Classic at McAlister Field house on the campus of the Citadel. After dropping their semifinal game to Loyola High School, 70-59, the Colts came back to beat Stratford, 36-33, in the consolation game. Lew Thompson was named to the all-tournament team.

The Colts also have a busy week, as they faced Marlboro yesterday and will take on Manalapan tomorrow.