Boys basketball
By: Jim Green
Understandably, the Lawrence High School boys basketball team wasn’t prepared to play in a sectional quarterfinal game March 4.
The Cardinals still were coming to terms with the tragic death of John Molinelli the former Lawrence resident and father of Hopewell Valley star Jeff Molinelli, who suffered a fatal heart attack March 2 while photographing the Lawrence-Hopewell state tournament first-round game when they traveled to Red Bank to play for a trip to the Central Jersey Group III semifinals.
The heavy-hearted Cardinals, who reached the sectional quarterfinals because Hopewell chose to forfeit the first-round game rather than replay it March 3, clearly were not ready to focus on basketball so soon after the tragedy. Lawrence lost 61-32 to the 20-5 Red Bank squad.
"We just weren’t ready to play a game yet," Lawrence coach Pat Tarrant said. "We were still stunned. The guys went out and played hard physically, but emotionally they were all over the place."
Senior guard John Calvo finished his career by netting a team-high nine points, while sophomore center Brett Brackett added eight, as the Cardinals ended the year at 12-14. Lawrence fell behind 29-13 by halftime and never recovered.
"Our thoughts were elsewhere," Tarrant admitted. "We felt we had to play the game, and we did. It was just a very difficult situation.
"Something like that (John Molinelli’s death) does put the game in perspective. He was a great guy, and it was a tragic loss."
After witnessing the death of such a beloved husband, father and neighbor, the Cardinals were not ready for Red Bank, the second-seeded team in the CJ III section.
"They were very good," Tarrant said of Red Bank. "There were some things I saw that, maybe in different circumstances, we would have done different things against them. But they were very quick, good shooters a tough opponent."
Despite the difficult circumstances under which the season ended, Tarrant feels he will look back proudly on his club’s 2003-04 campaign.
"I really enjoyed working with our team," he said. "We had some really good guys. At times it was really a struggle. There was a lot of pressure early. We were a good defensive team that sometimes struggled to score points offensively.
"I really like our team, and I’ll have some really good memories of the year we got out of our seniors."
Calvo led the way, coming up with a breakthrough year as a senior. Calvo scored at least 10 points 18 times and averaged a team-high 13.2 points per game. He also led the Colonial Valley Conference with 64 3-pointers.
"He (Calvo) really worked at his game, and he really improved every year from 5th grade on," Tarrant said. "It was really nice to see all his hard work pay off."
Forward Garrett Santoro also stepped up as a valuable team leader on both ends of the floor.
"He (Santoro) was a great competitor and tough defender," Tarrant said. "He led by example with his tough work."
While Lawrence will be losing five valuable seniors to graduation (Calvo, Santoro, Josh Green, Cordero Tolbert and Teddy Gilbert), the future seems bright. With Brackett and point guard Matt Stein returning, the Cardinals have a solid foundation to build around.
As for the present, Tarrant and his players will focus on coming to grips with the tragedy they witnessed last week.
"I went to the (John Molinelli’s) funeral yesterday (Sunday)," Tarrant said. "It still hasn’t settled in. Something like that becomes life affirming. It makes you appreciate what you have."