MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
When February began, the Manville High girls were sitting alone atop the Sky Division girls’ basketball standings. Things have changed dramatically in the past two weeks.
Ever since the Lady Mustangs posted a lopsided 49-20 triumph over St. Mary’s of Elizabeth on Senior Night in Manville, they haven’t won a divisional game. They’ve dropped three consecutive Sky games, none more costly than last week’s 39-25 meltdown at Johnson Regional of Clark.
Once 9-0 in the Sky and in control of their own destiny, the MHS girls are now 9-3 with two divisional games remaining. Clark jumped two full games in front with last week’s victory, all but assuring a second-place finish for Manville.
The Lady Mustangs previously lost rematches at David Brearley and Hillside, two teams they defeated in overtime at home in January. All three losses in the division have come on the road, where Manville has lost six straight and managed to win only three times in 11 games.
Lack of offense has been the common element in all three Sky setbacks. Manville hasn’t surpassed the 40-point mark in any and reached a new season-low in last week’s 39-25 loss in Clark.
Manville, which was held scoreless in the second quarter of Thursday night’s Somerset County Tournament game at Somerville, managed only two points in the first quarter at Clark. The home team started with an 18-2 burst and never looked back.
Sophomore guard Dana Delesky led Manville with 11 points. Delesky hit the team’s only 3-point shot of the night. Jenna Breslow (6 points) and Delesky each hit three 2-point field goals. The rest of the team combined for only two.
The Lady Mustangs are averaging only 31.3 points in their last three Sky Division games. With the state playoffs coming up, the team needs to pick up the offense considerably.
MHS should be able to defeat St. Mary’s and Newark Central in its final two Sky contests, but Johnson Regional only needs to win one more to clinch the title.
Wrestlers drop
final home match
The Manville wrestlers fell to 3-11 on the season after last Saturday’s 69-12 loss to David Brearley.
Senior 189-pounder Joe Zuza was the only Mustang to win on the mat. Zuza pinned Derek Seigal at 1:35 to break the shutout. Senior 103-pounder Mark Gregor accepted a forfeit for the team’s other points.
Only eight Mustangs were in uniform and five of the remaining six were pinned. Junior Jason Lebedz stayed off his back but dropped an 8-3 decision to Ryan McMenamin at 152 pounds.
Nick Williams (112), Nghi Nguyen (125), Greg Fabian (140), Ed Ferraro (171) and Kile Galasso (Hwt) were all flattened in the first period.
Manville was scheduled to end the regular season in a quad-meet at The Pingry School in Martinsville on Saturday. Head coach Brett Stibitz feels his club has a shot to win two of three with Pingry, Montville and Millburn providing the opposition.
Boys lose two
straight on road
The MHS boys’ basketball team lost two road games within less than 24 hours last week, but neither did any damage to its Sky Division title hopes.
On the afternoon after a Somerset County Tournament elimination loss at Montgomery, the Mustangs fell flat at Union Catholic in Scotch Plains. MHS had defeated New Providence, which owned a victory over UC, so the Mustangs expected to win this one.
However, they couldn’t recover from a tough, physical game at Montgomery the prior evening and weren’t able to sustain the pace after taking a 12-8 lead in the first period. Union Catholic took charge with a 22-9 spurt in the second quarter and Manville never caught up.
The teams played evenly in the third quarter but MHS lost more ground in the fourth and lost the game by 17 points.
Eddie Gryzeski led the Mustangs with 17 points, while Brian Teryek followed with 13. Teryek nailed a team-high three 3-point shots, while Gryzeski buried a pair.
Manville was scheduled to play at Newark Tech this afternoon in hopes of gaining a possible share of the Sky Division title. The team gets one final tune-up for the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs at Dunellen on Feb. 27.

