HOWELL -- When the word "streak" is mentioned concerning Middletown South most fans will first think of the Eagles' football team and its Shore Conference-record 43-game winning streak. As it turns out, however, the Eagles' girls basketball team headed into Monday's showdown with Howell with an impressive streak of its own, as it had not lost to a Class A North opponent in 29 games.
Like their pigskin counterpart, though, their streak had to end sometime.
Rebels sophomore guard Jacquie Ward scored a game-high 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while senior Michelle Blum rode her hot hand from behind the arc to a 16-point effort as host Howell topped Middletown South, 54-38, in a Shore Conference Class A North game. The Rebels led by double-digits for most of the second half, and at one point in the fourth quarter stretched their lead to 17 points. Howell already owns a victory over Colts Neck, and with Monday's win pulls into sole possession of first place in the division.
"Stopping their streak and also knowing that if we won we would be in control of A North was a big motivator," Ward said.
With the Eagles' inside presence of Shawna Hagen and Vanessa Ward making life tough for Howell forwards Margaux Pickell and Lauren Lucey, the Rebels used a highly-efficient outside shooting game to open up a first quarter lead and then pour it on in the fourth quarter. Blum connected on three three-pointers while Ward knocked down a three and hit a few long-range jump shots. While the Eagles had an off night shooting, outside of solid fourth-quarter performances from Jill Gannon and Megan McGuinness, and needed to work the ball inside to get points, Howell's players took any shot that was given to them whether it be from five feet or 15. That was a big reason why the Rebels never trailed and led for all but one possession in the first quarter when the game was tied at two.
"We want them to take them, we're OK with that," said Rebels head coach Bill Gallacher. "Against a team like (Middletown South) it's tough to get it down low so we were fortunate to be able to hit shots from the outside. If we don't, all of the sudden it's a different game."
"They (Middletown South) make it tough to score inside so we definitely made it a lot easier on ourselves by being able to hit outside shots," Ward said.
Another area the Rebels had a clear advantage in was at the free-throw line. The Eagles were just 1-for-5 while the Rebels got to the line 18 times and drained 12 of their attempts.
"Confidence is a big thing when your taking threes and also on free throws," Blum said. "Those were big points for us."
Howell built an 11-7 lead after the first quarter thanks to an active opening eight minutes by Blum. She dropped in a three to give the Rebels the lead for good at 5-2 and finished the quarter with seven points, three rebounds and an assist. Blum and Ward scored all of Howell's points in the second quarter as the Rebels extended their lead to 22-15 at the break. Ward began to find her shooting touch with two field goals while Blum hit another three, sank two free throws and also ripped down five rebounds. Hagen got her inside game going with six of the Eagles' eight points to keep her team within striking distance.
"Getting out there early and having the run like we did was definitely a motivator," Ward said.
Gannon traded three pointers with Blum and Ward to begin the third quarter to initially keep the Rebels from extending their lead past seven, but Howell slowly pushed its lead into double-digits with a layup here and couple of free throws there to eventually take a 35-35 lead on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Pickell had all four of her points in the final quarter, while Sarah Olsen also had a pair of baskets. But it was Ward who helped the Rebels put up 21 fourth-quarter points by hitting for 11 of her season-high 24 points. She knocked down two shots from the floor and went 7-for-8 from the foul line. It was Ward's third 20-point game of the season and sixth consecutive in which she has scored in double digits.
"They (Middletown South) isolated Denise (Crudup) and had somebody trailing her so we put Jacquie at the point," Gallacher said. "That was her first time playing there for an extensive period and she handled it well. That was probably the biggest key."
"I felt really comfortable," Ward said. "In the first half I didn't shoot the ball a lot but in the second half I kept hitting them."
After their win on Monday, the Rebels now own Class A North's longest in-division winning streak at a modest four games. Right now they are in position to end the Eagles' stranglehold on the division title, but Gallacher knows it is way to early to have that kind of mindset.
"The win gives us sole possession and hopefully we can hold on," Gallacher said. "We still have another run through the division, so it's going to be tough."
Box Score
Howell 54, Middletown South 38
Middletown South (38)
Danielle Pankey 3 1-3 7, Vanessa Ward 1 0-0 2, Shawna Hagen 4 0-0 8, Jill Gannon 5 0-2 13, Taylor McFarland 0 0-0 0, Megan McGuinness 4 0-0 8, Kerry Healy 0 0-0 0, Kelly Haspel 0 0-0 0, Kelly Sheurer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 1-5 38.
Howell (54)
Margaux Pickell 2 0-2 4, Denise Crudup 1 0-0 2, Lauren Lucey 0 0-0 0, Michelle Blum 5 2-5 16, Jacquie Ward 8 7-8 24, Sarah Olsen 3 2-3 8, Shea Klusewicz 0 0-0 0, Sabrina Jarmolinski 0 0-0 0, Maggie Gilbertson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 12-18 54.
Three-point field goals: (M) Gannon 3; (H) Blum 3, Ward.
Middletown South (5-2, 4-1) 7 8 10 13 - 38
Howell (7-1, 4-0) 13 9 11 21 - 54
E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com