12/22 Microupdate: Middletown South wins an OT thriller

There was a packed schedule of games in New Jersey high school girls basketball on Wednesday and there were some absolutely wild results. The main game we wanted to focus on was an overtime classic between Middletown South and Toms River East, a battle of winless teams in the Shore Conference. This was the first matchup between the Eagles and Raiders in nearly four years, with Middletown South winning the last matchup 58-49 on December 23, 2017. Unfortunately for Toms River East, their losing streak against the Eagles was extended, losing 50-48 in overtime. The Raiders (0-3) had a 35-30 lead entering the fourth quarter and looked primed to finally add a win to their record this season. However, an 18-point fourth quarter from Middletown South (1-1) sent the game to overtime, where senior forward Renee Wells scored four-straight points to give the Eagles the win. Credit also goes to teammates Lara Brennan and Amanda MacGregor for late fourth-quarter steals that helped send the game to overtime. Isabella Orlando led the Eagles with 13 points in the win and Wells had 10 points. Toms River East had three players with 10+ point games, including sophomore Yana Shupak, who led all scorers with 15 points. Let’s recap some of the rest of Wednesday’s action across New Jersey. Trenton Catholic (1-1) scored a game-winning layup with roughly 30 seconds left to defeat Northern Burlington (0-3), 34-33. The Iron Mikes held the fort at home behind three double-digit scoring performances, including a team-high 12 points from Kayla Olihpant. Angie Binns scored 12 points for the Greyhounds in a losing effort. Sussex Tech (2-1) behind a Riley Feichtl’s third-straight double-double, defeated Vernon (0-2) in a close 33-30 game. Feichtl scored 15 points and hauled in 22 rebounds in the win while Jonnah Castillo led Vernon with 11 points in a losing effort. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="155467" first="Christy" last="Brennan"] scored a career-high 40 points for Hopatcong (3-0) in a 51-50 win over Morris Tech (1-2). Three players finished in double figures in scoring for Morris Tech, including a team-high 18 points for Harper Felch, and Emma Lipsky had a team-high 10 rebounds in the loss as well. Zionna Short hit a game-winning three-pointer with just over a minute left to play as Manchester Township (1-1) fended off a massive final possession from Allentown (1-2) to win, 57-55. The Hawks had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double from [player_tooltip player_id="325192" first="Devyn" last="Quigley"] in the win, along with 16 points from Amyah Bray and 13 points from Myah Hourigan. Molly McCrea led all scorers with 23 points for Allentown in a losing effort and her sister, Kayla, also had 10 points in the loss. The final game we’ll be talking about is an entertaining finale between Kingsway and Vineland as freshman Ava Valente scored a go-ahead field goal with 20 seconds left to give the Dragons (2-1) a 32-30 win. McKenzie Racobaldo and Savannah Crowding each had 10 points in the win for Kingsway while Skylar Fowlkes had 16 rebounds for Vineland (2-2) in the loss.