In a typical high school basketball season winning the first and last games would be a good thing. And for the Middletown Blue Raiders it was.
"It was nice to bookend the season with winning efforts," said first year head coach Chris Bradford.
Unfortunately for Bradford, and the Blue Raider faithful, this year's extremely young team experienced a very bumpy season in between those two wins. That road included just one other victory leaving the Blue Raiders 3-18 on the year. The February 2 win over West Perry snapped a 15-game slide but Middletown tumbled into a smaller three game snap before taking out Pequea Valley to close the season.
"We could have caved with a double-digit losing streak. Young teams do that," said Bradford. "But we didn't. We fought. We got game experience that can't be substituted with anything else. If we are to improve, move forward and build off of this season, it will be with each and every one of the tough losses, double digit defeats, overtime losses, playing up in the 4th, fighting back in the second half...game experience has no substitute."
The 64-28 season ending win over Pequea Valley took place on February 13 after a few rounds with Mother Nature had pushed the game back three different times. The Blue Raiders took their frustrations over the multiple postponements out on the Braves, holding the visitors to single digits point totals in three of the four quarters. That included a stifling first half where Middletown allowed a measly nine points, just three of which came in the opening quarter.
While Bradford's bunch was busy locking down the defensive end, they were also busy scoring. Behind Tyler Petroski, the lone senior, Middletown managed 23 points in the first quarter and jumped out to a 23-3 lead. Petroski fueled the first quarter surge, collecting 11 of his 17 points in the frame with nine of them coming from his only made three pointer of the contest.
Middletown continued their strong start through the remainder of the opening half, outscoring Pequea Valley 21-6 in the second quarter and enjoying a 44-9 lead at the break. The Blue Raiders cooled off in the second half, so much so that the Braves were able to post a 12-8 edge in the third quarter but that only served to shrink the lead a mere four points. Middletown regained control in the final frame but not on the same level as their first half dominance, leading to a 12-7 advantage that set the 64-28 final.
Julian Nester nipped Petroski by one point for game high honors, finishing with 18 points in the win. Tony Powell added 10 points to give the Blue Raiders three double digit scorers.
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