Team eliminated from states, counties
By: Shawn Tyrrell
It has been anything but an easy road for the Manville High School boys’ basketball team during the 2003-04 season.
That road got even rougher last week when the Mustangs lost all four scheduled games, and were officially eliminated from obtaining a berth in the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs.
Losses to New Providence (66-56), Dayton (68-46), Ridge (72-41) and Union Catholic (66-37) pushed the Manville losing streak to five straight and dropped the team’s overall record to 4-12.
The biggest problem for the Mustangs has been holding onto the ball. During the recent losing streak, the Mustangs are averaging more than 25 turnovers per game. With that generosity, it is not surprising that Manville is struggling.
Mustang head coach Larry Blasi put into perspective how the miscues hurt his team Thursday against Ridge in the Somerset County Tournament first round game.
"We worked on handling the press all week in practice," Blasi said. "They (Ridge) put pressure on us and we turned it over 27 times. It isn’t difficult for teams to make easy layups. We have to stay focused. What we do in practice we need to follow through with in the game."
The Mustangs played a solid first half two nights against Jonathan Dayton in Springfield but fell apart in the third quarter.
"We played a great first half," Blasi said. "We were mixing it up on both sides of the court and getting good ball movement. We had kept the turnovers down to five. I told the kids this is what they had to do in the second half for us to have a chance to win."
Give credit to the Bulldogs, who stepped it up defensively and forced Manville to commit 17 turnovers in the third quarter alone resulting in a 30-6 run for Dayton. That turned a good first half and close game into a rout, continuing a string of easy wins for Manville’s opponents.
Despite some of the final scores, MHS truly felt it could be competitive last week.
"We felt even though we were playing some upper level teams we had a chance," Blasi said. "At times we were. But we just couldn’t sustain it. It has been frustrating, but the kids have refused to give up."
Blasi’s team has battled just about every illness and has had very few games that have featured the same starting five. Mike Knitowski again found himself on the sidelines, as the freshman came down with the chicken pox. His status is day-to-day.
"It has been frustrating year considering all that has happened," Blasi said. "The kids continue to show up at practice and nobody has quit. Every time out you try your best and hopefully it will be enough."
Manville entered the week with four games remaining on its schedule. After Tuesday night’s road game at Roselle Park, the Mustangs host David Brearley tonight and Wardlaw-Hartridge next Tuesday. MHS finishes the campaign at Newark Tech.
MHS should be competitive in all the games except for the Brearley battle. Blasi expects at least that much.