Quarterfinal win at Perth Amboy Tech ends drought
By: Shawn Tyrrell
MIDDLESEX All good things must come to an end.
For the Manville High boys’ basketball team, the season ended on a down note as MHS was bounced from the semifinals of the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs by an impressive Middlesex team. The Blue Jays not only ended what was a great year for the Mustangs, but did so with relative ease coming away with a convincing 61-34 victory.
The victory enabled Middlesex to move on to the finals to face highly-rated Highland Park. For Manville, it was a disappointing way to finish the season. It’s a loss that will stick around for a while.
All in all it was a solid year for MHS and head coach Bill O’Hea couldn’t be any more pleased after his first year at the helm.
"A game like this is going to sting for a while," O’Hea said after Saturday night’s setback. "I wish we could have given them a better game, but it just didn’t happen. If you had told me that we would improve from a seven-win season to a record of 12-12, win a county game and make it to the section semifinals this year, I wouldn’t have believed it."
But the Mustangs were a senior-laden team and the leadership helped propel them to the next level and to earn the team’s first state win in 13 years. MHS had to come from behind to get that win, but thanks to a great second half Manville outlasted Perth Amboy Tech 57-52 in the CJ 1 quarterfinals.
The Mustangs had to overcome an early nine-point deficit and operated without senior point guard Rich Maychrich, who didn’t play for disciplinary reason. Senior forward Gregg Snyder, who hit consecutive 3-pointers early on in the fourth period to help Manville pull away from Perth Amboy, pointed to jitters as a possible reason why the team struggled early on.
"We were probably nervous early on since it was our first state game," Snyder said. "We had hoped to come out and do really well right away. But even though we got down we didn’t give up. We hung in there and kept doing the things that we had all season and we proved again that we are capable of beating anyone."
The Vo-Tech game as a whole was a sloppy affair with both teams turning the ball over. After one period MHS was down 13-5 and at one point in the second period the Mustangs trailed 17-5. But Manville outscored Tech 16-6 over the final 6:30 of the half to close within 23-21 at the break.
Snyder, who tallied 18 points, hit two threes during the run, the last coming with just 10 seconds to go. In addition to Snyder’s efforts, MHS got a big afternoon from Brad Costello. The senior forward poured in 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds . Also contributing were senior Nick Parsells (9 points), senior Scott Jurewicz (3), junior guard Orlando Rodriguez (5) and freshman Edward Gryzeski (2), who started in Maychrich’s place at the point.
It wasn’t pretty or easy but the Mustangs managed to get the win and move on to bigger and better things at Middlesex.
There was no doubt the contest against the Blue Jays would be a challenging one. Middlesex was highly rated all year and the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Just two weeks ago, the Blue Jays had upset a very good Sayreville team.
It turned out to be Manville’s most difficult night of the season. The Middlesex defense kept the Mustangs off balance all game. The Mustangs were crushed on the boards as the Blue Jays used their size advantage, getting most rebounds and numerous second and third shots.
While Middlesex was making good on its shots, Manville was struggling to find an open man. MHS got its first two buckets from Parsells, who led the team with 13 points and five rebounds.
Manville never got any closer than an early 6-4 deficit. The Blue Jays went on a 9-3 run and led 15-7 after one quarter. From there on, the home team was never threatened. The Middlesex defense was the difference and Blue Jays head coach George Rauh pointed to his team’s defense as the key element.
"Our defensive play was outstanding," Rauh said. "Everything we were able to do tonight started with our defense. After being in this position four years straight and losing, our kids would not be denied. We finally got over the hump and made it to the finals."
The Blue Jays never gave MHS any chance to make a run. It was a night were nothing went well for the Mustangs.
"They’re no doubt a good team," Maychrich said. "They kept us off balance all night and they were the best team we played defensively all year. Their deep bench and rebounding definitely were the difference."
Costello, Manville’s leading scorer who averages over 18 points per game, was contained even more and managed only three points.
"This was a tough way to end the season," Costello said. "We weren’t surprised at how good they were. We knew they were a good team. We just hoped to play a better game."
The Mustangs still accomplished everything they set out to do before the start of the season. The better team won Saturday’s game and Manville can only hope the younger kids in the program can maintain the winning tradition in the future.