Tag: Kevin Harper

January 31, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

No. 10 Middlesex gets career high from Aguilar on Senior Night to sweep No. 8 North Plainfield, take second in GMC White

Senior Night is always a special evening, but it got the exclamation point Tuesday from Neysa Aguilar, who scored a career-high 34 points – including a career-best seven triples – to power her Middlesex Blue Jays past North Plainfield 60-56, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The win will allow Middlesex (14-4) to finish second in the GMC White behind Edison, at 12-3 currently in the division. North Plainfield (13-5) drops to 11-4 in the White.

It was a back-ad-forth affair all night in a game that saw nine lead changes, and which was tied at 46 with under six minutes to go in the game.

Devine – all-GMC a year ago and averaging 19.9 points a game coming in – had a balanced game: nine points in the first quarter on a trio of treys, ten in the second quarter, eight in the third, and seven in the final eight minutes.

North Plainfield gave it all they had, literally and figuratively, as Aguilar wasn’t the only player on the floor having a career night. Nyla Felton had 30 for the Canucks surpassing her previous best of 22. And she had 17 of those in the second half of a game where neither team led by more than six all evening.

Middlesex girls don’t run deep, but can run up and down the floor and put it in the hoop

The rotation employed by Middlesex girls’ basketball coach Kevin Harper in his sixth season with the Blue Jays isn’t deep. It never really has been at such a small school, which seemingly teeters every year on the edge between Group 1 and Group 2.

But it hasn’t kept Middlesex from having success moving up to the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division.

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Nor has the graduation of a slew of players who contributed significantly a season ago, namely Mackenzie Marsh, Madison Robel, and Kaylin Nepton, among others.

And despite having a 50-game divisional winning streak snapped with a loss to Edison back on January 3rd (with 47 of those coming in GMC Blue play over the past several years), the Blue Jays just keep on keepin’ on.

The vast majority of the offense has come from two players who average a combined 38.1 points per game, on a team scoring just under 63 per contest, and they nearly split it down the middle.

One is a senior Neysa Aguilar, who’s averaging 19.9 points per game, and gets to the foul line a lot, for a team-leading 55 attempts. the other bodes well for the future: sophomore Jess Devine. She contributed as a freshman last year, but has been asked to pick up her scoring this year, and obliged to the tune of 18.2 points per game. But she can also dish it out, and take it – as in the following two team-leading stats: 109 assists, and 111 steals.

That leaves Middlesex ranked No. 10 this week, with an overall record of 14-3, 11-3 in the GMC White, tied for second place with No. 8 North Plainfield, which has identical records, and which they will play tonight in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Tuesday’s tip-off time is 5:30 pm , with pregame set for 5:15. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action. Click here to listen.

A win will determine the second-place team behind Edison in the White Division, an Eagles team which the Lady Canucks beat earlier this year, handing Edison its only division loss this season.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Middlesex head coach Kevin Harper:

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex girls win 43rd straight GMC Blue Division game, a 62-45 home win over South River

Spotswood almost ended the Middlesex girls’ basketball team’s long Blue Division winning streak the other night.

If only close counted outside of horseshoes and hand grenades.

The Blue Jays got contributions from all eight players head coach Kevin Harper put in the game, and – led by junior point guard Neysa Aguilar’s 18 points – beat South River Friday night at home 62-45, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Middlesex jumped out to a 6-0 lead early, and never trailed, with the Rams trying to play catch up the rest of the way. Despite senior Tiffany Fischer notching 16 points for South River – right about at her 16.2 points per game season average – the supporting cast couldn’t complement her enough, while the Rams turned the ball over too much.

Middlesex improved to 11-2 on the season, 9-0 in the Blue Division. They haven’t lost a division game since falling to Spotswood, 46-41 on January 31, 2018. South River dropped to 9-5, 8-2 in the Blue.

Click below to hear postgame interviews after the Middlesex win:

Junior point guard Neysa Aguilar

Middlesex head coach Kevin Harper

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Two of the GMC Blue’s best tussle when South River girls visit Middlesex

The Middlesex Blue Jays have been the epitome of small school dominance in the GMC for several years now.

In fact, you’d have to go back to January 31, 2018 to find the last time they lost a Blue Division game. It’s been 42 straight wins for Kevin Harper’s ballclub in divisional play, even if it almost ended Wednesday night against Spotswood, which incidentally, was the last team the beat them in a division game.

Friday evening, the Blue Jays (10-2) will face South River (9-4), the team that has been solid enough, but consistently played second-fiddle to Middlesex long enough, that it’s prompted eleventh-season head coach Mike Feaster – a former basketball and football standout for the Rams – to use it as motivation for tonight’s matchup.

You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday night, with tip-off at 6:00 from Middlesex. Mike Pavlichko has the call, with pregame starting at approximately 5:45 pm. Click here to listen.

The Lady Rams lost the first meeting between the teams on January 7th, 49-37 in South River. That’s the only divisional loss by either team this season.

Click below to hear from both head coaches, as they talk about their seasons, most recent game, and tonight’s matchup: