Girls come back to remain undefeated in January

MUSTANG ROUNDUP

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   The Manville High girls made it five straight wins in 2003 last Friday night and they didn’t need overtime to do it.
   After winning two exciting home basketball games in overtime last week, the Lady Mustangs went on the road and completed a season sweep of Newark Central with a 51-41 victory. Although overtime wasn’t needed, the MHS girls did make a comeback to keep their perfect January record intact.
   Manville trailed by three points entering the final quarter but closed the game with a 22-9 spurt. Senior point guard Lisa Lavenia scored half of her 12 points to ignite the surge, including some key free throws down the stretch.
   Senior center Amy Ortman led the winners with 16 points. Jenna Breslow contributed eight points off the bench, while Jessica Droz and Heather Mathieu added seven and six, respectively.
   Newark Central had two players in double figures – Shatotra Stone (16) with four 3-pointers and Angela Rhymes (14).
   In other action, the MHS girls defeated David Brearley (44-37) and Hillside (58-51) in overtime to remain undefeated in Sky Division play.
   The Lady Mustangs blew a five-point lead in the fourth quarter against Brearley but came back with a 10-3 surge in overtime to win. Renee Giraldi netted four of her seven points in the extra session to outscore the visitors by herself.
   Mathieu drained four threes and led Manville with 12 points. Droz added 11 points and Lavenia chipped in with nine. Droz and Lavenia each hit one trey.
   The MHS girls won despite making only 12-of-45 free throws, including 22 misses in the first half. Ortman was plagued by foul trouble and did not score, but her teammates picked up the slack.
   Manville (6-2) was scheduled to host Newark Tech and Bound Brook this week before hitting the road at New Providence tomorrow night.
Wrestlers lose
two close ones
   
The MHS wrestlers probably feel they should be 4-2 instead of 2-4 in the middle of January. Tight losses at Bernards (48-30) and Johnson Regional of Clark (46-33) last week put Manville’s state playoff hopes in severe jeopardy.
   Wins in those matches would have given the Mustangs a little room for error, especially with powerhouse teams Roselle Park and Rahway on the upcoming schedule. Head coach Brett Stibitz said the team still hopes to finish with a .500 record, but that may not materialize until after the state qualifying cutoff.
   "That loss to Bernards was a heart-breaker," Stibitz said. "We lost that one because of lack of people. If we had Doug Semenick, we could’ve tied that match. All I needed was somebody to step on the scale and we take a forfeit there."
   Semenick, the team’s regular 160-pounder, dislocated his shoulder and is likely out for the season.
   Manville did its usual solid job in the upper weights vs. Bernards, winning three of the four bouts. Bernards star Sean McMahon scored a fall at 215 pounds as expected, but Manville’s Nick Landis (171) and Joe Zuza (189) registered pins and heavyweight Kile Galasso took a forfeit.
   The Mustangs also got points from 103-pounder Mark Gregor and 152-pounder Jason Lebedz, who won by forfeit.
   Saturday’s match in Clark was decided in the middle weights. Manville dominated up top with four wins, Johnson ruled the lower weights with four wins. The home team won the match by taking four of the six bouts in between.
   Johnson scored four first-period pins from 103 to 125, while the Mustangs produced 21 points between 171 and heavyweight. Landis (171) and Ed Zuza (215) won by fall, Joe Zuza (189) edged Chris Winter in a 7-5 decision and Galasso accepted another forfeit.
   Luis Martinez bumped to 130 and scored a big pin over Dave Juzefyk in 1:21, but Clark won the next two bouts by forfeit and pinned at 145. Lebedz got some points back with a forfeit at 152, but Scott Diaz posted an 11-3 major over Jorge Salas at 160.
   The Mustangs were scheduled to wrestle at Roselle Park last night before coming home to face Sussex Tech tomorrow night at 6 p.m. and Rahway Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.