Manville girls waiting for CJ 1 game

Will long layoff affect Lady Mustangs?

By: John E. Powers
   
   For 10 years, the Manville High School girls’ basketball team has waited to play in a state basketball playoff game. They’ll just have to wait a little longer.
   The Lady Mustangs, who will take an 11-11 record into Tuesday’s first-round Central Jersey Group 1 playoff game against Dunellen in Manville, will be playing their first game in 12 days. The MHS girls finished their regular season with a 47-32 loss at North Plainfield last Thursday.
   One of things that should play in their favor is that the Mustangs are very familiar with their first-round opponents. The girls beat Dunellen 40-32 in the consolation game of the Christmas Tournament in North Plainfield on Dec. 28 then beat the Destroyers 35-34 in their very next contest, the first game of the new year on Jan. 3.
   "They’re scrappy just like us," Manville head coach Paul Lenihan said. "I think It’s going to be a toss-up. We played a great, great game the first time we played. Like us, no matter the score, they’ll battle back."
   In the first game, the Mustangs and Destroyers were tied through the half 19-19, before MHS took a 26-24 third quarter lead to win 40-32. Five days later, junior guard Rachel Rivera hit three foul shots down the stretch and sophomore Heather Mathieu had 14 points as Manville held on to win 35-34 on the road.
   Dunellen senior forward Toni Pelligrino followed freshman point guard Bernadette Rama’s last second 3-point attempt with a layup, but that’s not what the Destroyers needed.
   The Mustangs will need to contain center Veronica Bogomazova and Rama, who scored nine points in the first game the teams played and seven in the second. Bogomazova presented some size problems for the Mustangs and is scoring 11.1 points per game. Manville has improved since those games and sophomore Amy Ortman has given her team a very strong presence in the middle.
   Ortman is also scoring at 9.4 points per game and since the first two games, the Lady Mustangs have gotten big lifts from other players on offense, including Mathieu, who’s turned into the team’s most dependable long-range shooter with a season-high 14 she scored in the second Dunellen game.
   "I know those two games were pretty close," MHS junior forward Kristin Shubiak said "I know they have those two big girls (Bogomazova and Pellegrino), but they didn’t do much of the shooting. From what I remember, it was the guards that shot the ball."
   Dunellen, which is 9-9, finished play in the Greater Middlesex County Conference Gold Division with a 9-3 record. The team that wins Tuesday will play that division’s winner — CJ 1 top seed Highland Park (17-3) — in the next round. Highland Park finished 12-0 in divisional play.
   But that’s getting ahead of the story.
   Lenihan gave team off Friday and through Monday because of the holiday. But the girls got back to work this past Tuesday.
   "We’ve been taking notes on Dunellen all along because we thought we might see them again," Lenihan said. "We’re going to be working hard on conditioning. We’re going to have to be at our very best condition to win this one. Hey, every game is a new experience."
   Rivera will set the pace of the Manville defense. She’ll be matched with Rama, who does most of the Destroyers’ ball handling. Sophomore guard Renee Giraldi, who has been outstanding on defense, will also be pressuring out front. Role players Jessica Droz and Diana Weaver, who have fit so well into the team’s rotation, will likely play key minutes.
   "A lot of people on our team are stepping up their games," Shubiak said. "We’re hoping to beat Dunellen. But everybody has to contribute if we’re going to win this one. It’s home. It’ll be in front of our own crowd. Hopefully we’ll be pumped up for it. We better be.”