MHS boys fall short in comeback bid

Rutgers Prep holds off Mustangs in thriller

By: Shawn Tyrrell
   
   There are basketball games and there are great basketball games.
   Last Wednesday night, the Manville High boys’ basketball team played host to visiting Rutgers Prep and nearly pulled out a win with an almost improbable comeback. Twice the Mustangs rallied from double-digit deficits only to eventually fall 66-59 to a talented Prep team. Manville demonstrated again how well this team can play when motivated properly. This group of kids never gave up and treated the fans to an entertaining and exciting basketball game.
   Coming into the contest, MHS had been struggling having lost two out of the last four contests. Even in the loss, the Mustangs probably played one of their best halves of the year in the second half.
   Early on Manville did have an 11-5 lead as the team was playing good defense and getting some turnovers. Two baskets by Mark Maychrich, a lay-up and 3-pointer from Brian Teryek along with a short jump shot by Glen Liszczak gave Manville a six-point advantage. From there on, it was all Rutgers Prep as the team went on a 14-2 run to take a 19-13 first quarter lead. During that span MHS committed three turnovers and missed three shots.
   Things didn’t improve much with the start of the second quarter as Manville couldn’t convert on its first three possessions while Prep continued to turn it on. With 5:30 to go in the second quarter and the Mustangs down 28-14, MHS head coach Larry Blasi pulled an ineffective Maychrich and senior forward Chris Wass.
   "We just had no intensity in the first half," Blasi said afterward. "They definitely had a size advantage on us and that hurt us. We just couldn’t get things going early on."
   At one point in the second period the Mustangs trailed 31-14 but over the remaining 3:43 MHS went on an 8-0 run that cut the lead to 31-22. During that stretch, Manville got some big play from senior Joe Adamcik, who was great on both ends of the court as he had four points and two rebounds in Maychrich’s absence.
   That inspired play carried over in the second half as MHS began to make things happen off their defense. Maychrich and Wass both picked things up and Manville chipped away at the Prep lead. Maychrich found new life in the second half with seven rebounds and three blocked shots to go along with 11 points the rest of the way.
   "We definitely played better in the second half," Maychrich said. "We have to learn to play with the same intensity for the whole game."
   Maychrich took some of the blame on his own shoulders.
   "Coach "T" woke me up. Our bench, especially Joe Adamcik, did a great job for us tonight. We were able to stay in the game because of him," he said.
   With just over four minutes to go in the third, Manville cut the Prep lead to 36-32 as Teryek made a great pass down low to Maychrich. But that was as close as the Mustangs would get as Rutgers Prep made good on three more 3-point shots the rest of the quarter and had a 48-35 lead with six seconds to go. But Adamcik hit a huge three at the buzzer and things began to get interesting.
   MHS opened the final period by hitting back-to-back three point shots as point guard Eddie Gryzeski and Teryek both made big baskets from downtown. Two baskets by Maychrich and a steal by Wass that he took the length of the floor gave the Mustangs their first lead since early in the first quarter at 50-49.
   At this point, every possession had the feel of a playoff game. A Gryzeski steal and a great pass to Maychrich, who finished the play, gave the Mustangs a 52-49 advantage.
   But Prep was hardly done and with the Mustangs over the limit on fouls to give, the squad went to the line. Over the final five minutes, the Argonauts converted 9-of-12 free throws. Manville struggled under the pressure, and the team’s three-point lead eventually became a six-point deficit. The final three times down the floor the Mustangs turned the ball over twice and took an errant 3-point shot.
   "We didn’t protect the ball well after we came back," Blasi said. "I told the kids to be smart and be patient, but we didn’t. Rutgers Prep played well and the players maintained their cool when we were pressing them. In the end, we beat ourselves."
   Despite suffering another loss, a game like this has to be encouraging because of the way the team turned it on in spurts. If the Mustangs can put forth this kind of effort on a consistent basis in the remaining contests, more often than not they will come out with a victory.