By BRIAN CUNNIFF

Staff Writer

Thursday’s Middle Township-Ocean City high school girls basketball game will essentially decide the Cape-Atlantic National Conference championship.

Middle, which beat the Raiders at home earlier this season, can clinch the conference title and, at the very least, a first-round home game in the inaugural six-team CAL playoff later this month.

An Ocean City win, however, would place the teams in a tie for first place in the conference in the loss column, but the Raiders would hold all tiebreakers over Middle should the teams remain tied at the conclusion of the conference slate.

Middle enters the game at 15-3 overall, 10-0 in conference games, while Ocean City is 16-3, 10-1.

Middle won the first matchup, 42-37, helping itself by going 13 for 15 from the foul line in the final quarter. Meanwhile, Ocean City only shot 6 for 15 from the foul line for the game.

“This is going to be a very difficult game,” Middle coach John Leahy said. “They’re certainly going to be prepared for us. We’re going to have to play even better than we did in our gym. They missed some open looks that I would expect them to make in their gym.”

Middle Township is expected to be without one of its key players in senior Kristina Startare, who averages better than nine points and 10 rebounds per game. She suffered a sprained ankle early last week and isn’t expected back until this weekend.

Middle, however, will have the services of sophomore point guard Lauryn Fields, who didn’t play in the first matchup after having to sit out 30 days under NJSIAA transfer rules. Fields is averaging nearly 15 points per game since joining the lineup.

“It’s been a very frustrating year from a coaching standpoint,” Leahy said, “because we’ve only played four of our (18) games with our whole lineup, whether it’s been injuries or eligibility. But when people get hurt others have to step up. We’re going to need people to step up and rebound and get the loose ball and do a lot of the little things Kristina does for us.

“When you have big games, you want to be at full strength because you want to test your team to see how good you are. We’ll have to make the best of it.”

Ocean City, which also suffered through some injury issues early in the season, is led by junior forward Julia Duggan, who recently scored her 1,000^th career point.

In its latest game, Middle rolled past Bridgeton, 65-34, outscoring the Bulldogs by 20 after the half. Fields led the Lady Panthers with 22 points, knocking down six three-pointers. Holly McKaig added 17 points.