Tag: Zakiya Beckles

by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex defense again powers Jays in 42-32 GMC-Union crossover win against Dayton

When you lose someone the caliber of Jess Divine – who scored 2,135 points in a four-year varsity career at Middlesex – who’s going to pick up the points?

For the Blue Jays, though, it’s always been the defense fueling the offense, and that was on full display Saturday as they picked up a 42-32 win over visiting Dayton in a GMC-Union County crossover.

Senior Alyssa Young scored nine points, including a pair of treys, one of which was a four-point play in the first quarter. But the more impressive part of her stat line was the fact that she had a dozen steals.

No matter who the coach is – Kevin Harper, Stew Lester, and now first-year skipper and 2016 MHS grad Zakiya Beckles – that’s the program, the consistency: defense and pressure.

And it works.

The game was a tight one until the Jays (12-7) pulled away in the fourth quarter. No one led by more than five throughout the first half, not until the final period, in fact, when Middlesex built as big as a ten-point advantage.

Sophomore Kaylee Devine, Jess’s younger sister, led all scorers with 13 – including three from downtown – while Avery Iskra had 12.

Sophomore Aria Molinelli had 12 for Dayton, which was highly competitive, despite falling to 2-13 with the loss. Junior Madison Tarrant – the only junior to dress, with no healthy seniors on the squad, added six, while sophomore Maggie Hildebrand added five.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with Middlesex senior Alyssa Young and head coach Zakiya Beckles:


by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex, Dayton to meet Saturday morning in small school GMC-Union County crossover

They are two teams with some definite similarities: short rosters, short benches, as well as some inexperience and youth.

And that’s not just the players on the floor, it’s the two head coaches.

Middlesex is led by 2016 grad Zakiya Beckles, who was here under Stew Lester, who left after last season to coach the boys at Middletown North. Marissa Liberato is the head coach at Jonathan Dayton in Springfield; she’s a 2015 Toms River North grad, and spent the past six years under longtime head coach Dave Rennie.

The two teams will square off Saturday morning at 11:30 in Middlesex, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will be on the call; pregame starts at 11:15; click here to listen.

For Middlesex, it’s getting used to life after Jess Devine, even if her sister, Kaylee, could be her doppelganger. Devine graduated in June as the all-time leading scorer at the school, girls’ or boys.

Middlesex is scrappy defensively. Ball control against the Blue Jays is an absolute must. That’s one big reason they’re 11-7, playing as a Group 1 school in the GMC’s Red National Division.

Another big reason is Sophomore Avery Iskra, who’s taken baton as the team’s scoring leader this season, averaging 11.8 points a game, while senior Alyssa Young – the team’s only 12th grader – is leading the squad with 30 treys.

But a senior is something Dayton won’t even have this year. Their only one – Bella Pintardo, with two years’ varsity experience – is out due to injury. That leaves two juniors, two sophomores, and four freshmen – eight players, the same as Middlesex – in the scorebook for Saturday’s game.

The top two scorers are sophomores. Maggie Hildebrand is averaging 10.3 points per game, tied for the team lead with 4.7 rebounds per contest, and leads the squad with 15 from downtown, and 16 assists. Aria Molinelli is second with 8.8 points per game, and has been the top scorer in six of 14 games so far. Hildebrand has led in the other eight.

The schedule also hasn’t been kind to small-school Dayton, a Group 1 program which is just 2-12, but has played a brutal slate including Elizabeth – the largest high school in the state – as well as Linden. Their wins have come over Whippany Park and South Plainfield.

But in a number of games, they’ve been that close, including a four-point defeat at the hands of Oak Knoll on January 6th. They also fell three points shy at Elizabeth last Saturday, and came within seven of Summit.

Click below for interviews with both head coaches previewing Saturday’s Middlesex-Dayton game:

Middlesex head coach Zakiya Beckles with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas
Dayton head coach Marissa Liberato with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Despite different records, the similarities between Middlesex and No. 6 Colonia – who square off Tuesday night – are striking

Both programs had star players who set school scoring records. Both have had to deal with the graduation of those players, Matti Chiera and Taylor Derkack for Colonia, Jess Devine for Middlesex.

Both have relatively new coaches, and both are figuring out life after some of their program greats, even if Colonia is a little ahead in that ride, with the Patriots are two years removed from their stars, while Middlesex is in its first year since.

Jill Bachonski – a Hall of Famer at William Paterson, where Chiera now is a junior playing alongside ex-GMC standouts like Leilani Pinder of South Brunswick and Olivia Smart of Edison – took over the head job two years ago, when Matti Chiera’s mom, Sandi, stepped down.

They got through a 7-20 season last year, but that experience has turned into gold this year: a 9-0 start and the No. 6 ranking in the latest Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten. Middlesex is 6-4 after starting 0-3, then winning six straight before a 61-35 loss Monday night at Hightstown. But they’re figuring it out.

You can hear Tuesday evening’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame starting at 4:45, and tip-off at 5 pm. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action; click here to listen.

The first time around, when the two teams met five days before Christmas in Colonia, the Patriots jumped out to a 15-8 first quarter lead and were up eleven at the half.

But that was the third game of the 0-3 streak to start the season for the Blue Jays, and rookie head coach Zakiya Beckles – a 27-year-old Middlesex alum who was an assistant under previous coach Stew Lester – says that was still a period where her team was working some things out.

Beckles says it took a little longer with only eight players on the varsity squad, which makes it difficult to have live game-like action in practice.

Their top two scorers are sophomores. Avery Iskra is averaging just a shade under 14 points per game and 7.6 boards per contest, leading the team in both categories, along with 15 blocks and 32 steals, also team bests. Taylor Lawrence is averaging almost nine points a game. The Blue Jays’ scoring is more balanced this year.

The same can be said for Colonia, whose top scorer also is a sophomore. Ariana Sosa leads the team with 12.3 points per game, 16 treys, 23 steals, and 27 assists.

Middlesex has one senior, Alyssa Young, averaging 7.8 points a game, while Colonia has two, but only one in the starting five: Nashaleah Hooker, scoring at a 10.7 clip, with a team-best 13.4 rebounds per game, and five double-doubles.

Click below to hear preview interviews from both head coaches with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Colonia head coach Jill Bachonski
Middlesex head coach Zakiya Beckles