Manville girls fall short at buzzer

Delesky nets 18 points in opener

By: John E. Powers
   
   WATCHUNG — The ball was in the hands of the right player.
   Down 32-29 Friday night to Mount St. Mary Academy in Watchung, Manville High School’s senior guard Dana Delesky, who had scored 18 points with two 3-pointers, stood with the basketball as time ran down.
   Delesky let the ball go and for a moment it appeared the shot would fall through the hoop and force overtime.
   But the ball hit the back rim, time expired and the Lady Mustangs had dropped their season-opening game in a Mountain Valley Conference Valley Division matchup.
   "We played very hard," said Manville second-year coach Kyle Rehrig, whose team was scheduled to play at New Providence this past Tuesday night and open the Dunellen Christmas Tournament Monday afternoon at Faber School against the host school at 3 p.m.
   "I told the girls that I thought it was the hardest we played since I’ve been here. Everyone who got into the game played hard. So that is one positive I took out of it."
   What hurt Manville the most was a scoreless second quarter. The Lady Mustangs took a 6-4 lead after one quarter, but didn’t score a point in the second.
   "It was just trying to make too much happen on our own and they were a very physical defense and that took us out of our rhythm," Rehrig said. "It seems we always have a quarter like that. We have to stop those lapses."
   Delesky agreed.
   "I know we’re better than that team – we just have that one quarter where we can’t hit anything," Delesky said.
   Fortunately for Manville, the Mount Lions scored just nine points, but did take a 13-9 halftime lead.
   "The first half was really crucial – they (Mount St. Mary) didn’t have a lot of momentum, but they had some and they felt good about themselves," Rehrig said. "If we would have executed defensively the way we should have – I mean it’s weird to say that when you only give up 13 points in a half – but we just didn’t do the things we worked on in practice and if we do those things we’ll take them out of their game and it changes the entire complexion of the game."
   Delesky ignited the comeback in the third quarter. After being fouled by Jeana Greco, Delesky hit two free throws to open the second half. Hyacnith Dyogi hit a layup to make it 15-11 before Delesky answered again to cut the lead to two. Freshman Julia Kennedy made it 17-13 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Those were the last points the Mountain Lions would score in the period.
   Amy Walinchus put back a Delesky miss and Delesky nailed a three to give the visitors a 18-17 lead. Theresa Campbell fouled Christine Bradley and Bradley hit the first of a one-and-one to boost the lead to 19-17. That’s how the third quarter ended.
   "Defensively in the second half when we went to a zone, I thought we played really well there," Rehrig said. "But we gave up a couple of shots, so we have to get away from that."
   Personal fouls mounted, however, in the fourth quarter and the Lady Mustangs quickly found themselves in a penalty situation. Delesky hit a jumper to give Manville a 21-19 lead with 4:46 left in regulation. But Camille Mammolite connected to tie the score. Delesky hit two free throws to give Manville its last lead at 23-21 with 4:02 left.
   Mammolite then hit Mount St. Mary’s lone three of the night that put the home team up 24-23. That’s when the parade to the foul line began for Mount St. Mary’s, which scored 15 points in the final period – 10 from the foul line. Senior center Megan Pyle made two free throws to make it 26-23 with 2:51 left. The Mount took 15 free throws in the final period.
   "We were being aggressive," Rehrig said.
   Delesky scored off a miss to pull the Mustangs to within 26-25. But Katy Walinchus fouled Greco, who went back to the foul line and hit two more free throws for a 28-25 advantage. Delesky hit a layup and was fouled by Greco with a chance to tie the game with 50 seconds left, but missed the foul shot. Delesky then fouled Dyogi off the rebound and Dyogi went to the other end and made two free throws to push the lead to 30-27.
   Manville freshman Rhianna Lebedz, who played well at point guard in her first high school game, hit a long two and Manville was back to within one with 34 seconds left. Dyogi hit another foul shot to make it 31-29 and hit one of two with 12 seconds left to give Mount St. Mary’s its 32-29 lead. That gave Manville the chance.
   "I should have taken it when I had it and I waited, looking for somebody to get open, but I forced it at the end," Delesky said. "It might have looked good, but it didn’t feel good when it left my hand."
   Rehrig said that he planned to get the Lady Mustangs back to fundamentals, working on getting more players involved in the offense. Lebedz was the second leading scorer with four points, while senior forward Ashely Davey and Katy and Amy Walinchus had two points apiece. Bradley had a third period free throw.
   "The one thing I was disappointed in was that we didn’t get enough looks inside," Rehrig said. "Amy and Katy can score inside. I always tell the guards that the easiest shot to make is a pass from the inside out. We need to get more touches inside to get the defense off Dana. They’re all over Dana.
   "We need to get some inside touches and we need to get some points in the paint so we can get that kick out. It has to be emphasized over and over. Last year we were really a frontcourt team and this year Amy and Katy and Ashley (Davey) have really developed inside."