Boys Basketball: Considine looks to take hot shooting touch into Oakdale game

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

                       

The Middletown High School Boys Basketball team has had some excellent shooters over the years. Former Knights like Zach Fontenot, Michael Oursler, John Keimig, Paul Crone, and Todd Stanzione were all accustomed to having a scorer’s touch and being able to shoot the lights out in any gym they want in to.

The legacy of good shooters at Middletown has continued over the years and now the torch has been handed off, this time to Knights junior guard Matt Considine.

Considine has some big shoes to fill as his predecessor is not only a current college basketball player but holds the record for most 3-pointers in a career and if it wasn’t for him skipping his senior season, may be regarded as one of the best Middletown basketball players of all time.

And that man is Zach Fontenot. Fontenot currently holds the record for most 3-pointers in a career with the former Knights guard having drained 155 over just 3 years of playing basketball at a Varsity level for the Knights. Fontenot also holds the 9^th place spot for career points with Fontenot having amassed an impressive total of 828 points per year.

Fontenot could have played an even bigger part in the Knights’ success during the 2012-2013 year and further cement his position as one of the all-time Middletown greats but he decided to take the year off from playing basketball.

This left the Middletown team from the 2012-2013 season with a huge whole as Middletown would go 0-22 during the regular season and struggle to score points all season long, an area in which Fontenot could have made an impact.

This is where the story takes a turn for the better as Middletown called-up a wet under the ears kid, by the name of Matt Considine that season and from there, as they say, the rest is history.

Considine would put up double digits in the Knights first playoff game against the Catoctin High School Cougars, a game that the Knights would win 68-47 ending the Knights winless season and already starting to build the legacy of Matt Considine.

Considine would further his legacy during the 2013-2014 season when he would be an integral part in the success of that team developing an outside shot, that would help the Knights turn into a prolific offensive machine. The Knights would make it to the sectional semifinals of last year’s state tournament before losing to Oakdale. That fact brings to an interesting lesson and a quote.

George Santayana who was a Spanish philosopher remarked, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

This quote is now transcribed as, “those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.”

The 2013-2014 season and the 2014-2015 season are very similar in the fact that the playoffs started off with a commanding home win over Boonsboro and then the Knights went to Oakdale for their 2^nd playoff game.

Things didn’t go well for Middletown last year as the Knights fell by 16 to Oakdale so the Knights will look to change their fate.

Considine will have a chance to further cement his legacy in Middletown hoops history, signify that he is fit to carry the torch of a top Middletown shooter, and show that he and his teammates will learn from history and their past when they take on Oakdale in the sectional semifinal round of the 2015 Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (M.P.S.S.A.A.) 2A Boys Basketball State Tournament.

It will not be easy for Considine and company as Oakdale breezed through the region last year en route to making the state finals of the 2014 M.P.S.S.A.A. 2A Boys Basketball State tournament before bowing out just seconds away from winning a title.

Oakdale struggled to put together consistent results at the start of the season but since getting senior point guard Trevor Lecuona back from injury the Bears have gone on a run, winning 10 out of 11.

Middletown will need to limit Oakdale’s offensive production as the Bears have the firepower to outshoot the Knights. Middletown will also need a big performance from seniors Cedric Ayenu, Ian Roy, Will McClain and Middletown junior Clay Smith if they want to advance.

The Knights are coming into this game with momentum as they have won 6 of their last 8 but the Bears are just as hot as the Knights.

Middletown will need an all-out performance to take down Oakdale but with a full performance from the rest of the team and a strong shooting performance form Considine the Knights may have a shot at taking down the toughest team in the County.