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MANVILLE: Boys improved but could have been better

Pierrot, Zangara led cagers

by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
   The Manville High boys’ basketball team showed considerable improvement, but second-year head coach Marty Geiger still wasn’t satisfied at the end of the season.
   While he acknowledged his boys played better basketball and won four more games than the previous year, Geiger felt the Mustangs should have sported a much better record. The 6-17 mark was a big improvement over the 2-20 record in his first season at the helm, but Geiger had good reason to want more.
   Manville lost several games by fewer than five points, including many in which the team was not playing at full strength. The Mustangs were hit hard by injuries and illness this season and a few key absences hurt the team in certain games.
   Senior swingman Matt Zangara, who was second on the team with an 11.8 scoring average, missed seven games, including the last three due to illness. The Mustangs also missed starting power forward Karol Blicharz in four games, starting point guard Matias Gualtieri in three games and junior forward Doug Bradley was plagued by back problems for a good part of the season.
   ”It really hurt when we lost players,” Geiger said. “It shortened our rotation and made things tough.”
   Zangara’s absence hurt the team in some close games. The Mustangs lost by one point to Hackettstown and Roselle Park, by two against South Hunterdon and by four to North Warren without him. Zangara could be an explosive force, like the night he scored a career-high 29 points in a home loss to Bound Brook. That turned out to be his last game.
   The Mustangs left it all the court that night. They weren’t the same team in the last 10 days, suffering road losses at South Hunterdon, Roselle Park and Perth Amboy Tech.
   ”The practices weren’t great at the end of the year,” Geiger said. “We didn’t execute on offense or defense. We knew every game was going to be a close game and we don’t have the natural ability to overcome that. If we slip or don’t play a complete game, we’ll lose.”
   Geiger had hoped to finish the season on a winning streak. The Mustangs were looking to avenge a two-point loss to South Hunterdon and they had already beaten Roselle Park by a double-digit margin earlier in the season.
   The loss to Roselle Park was most disturbing. The Mustangs had a lead in the final minute but didn’t play smart and lost the game on a 3-point shot in the waning seconds.
   Although the season didn’t end well, it had many bright spots. The Mustangs set the tone with a solid victory on opening night in Belvidere. They completed a sweep of their division rivals with an exciting win at home in a hotly contested game. Geiger called that victory one of the season’s highlights.
   ”That was a real good showing,” Geiger said. “We had a big lead and they came back, but then we put them away at the end.”
   Geiger also enjoyed the victory over Somerset Tech, a game in which the Mustangs trailed before rallying in the fourth period. Somerset Tech was hoping to prove the Somerset County coaches wrong by awarding Manville a higher seed in the county tournament, but the Mustangs prevailed.
   Overall, the Mustangs showed great improvement over the previous season. They suffered a few lopsided losses but were much more competitive on a regular basis.
   ”We learned our offense and ran our offense,” Geiger said. “The kids felt comfortable running it against teams of our caliber. We had trouble with bigger teams. We had less turnovers and better shots this year.”
   Senior swingman Dan Pierrot was the most consistent player on the team. Pierrot played all 23 games and led the Mustangs with a 14.4 average. When Pierrot and Zangara were rolling, the Mustangs were tough to beat.
   ”We could rely on them to give us points,” Geiger said. “They took good shots. Even when they were off their game, they were pretty confident.”
   The Mustangs didn’t merely improve their offense. They did a better job defensively, especially with a press that slowed many teams. The MHS boys used their quickness to execute the press and it helped turn around their first game vs. Sussex Tech. Trailing early and giving up way too many points on offensive rebounds, the Mustangs changed the pace of the game with their press.
   ”It worked real well in some of our games,” Geiger said. “We created a lot of turnovers. The kids know it and did a good job with it. When we scored, we got a little momentum with the press.”
   Manville will lose Pierrot, Zangara and guard Eric Hall (6.8 points per game) to graduation but seven varsity players who played in at least 10 games will return. Bradley will be a senior leader next winter on a team with many juniors.
   This year’s sophomore class saw much varsity action. Point guard Gualtieri, big man Blicharz and classmates Richie Kloskowski and Mike Hopkins were a big part of the team and will make an even larger impact the next two years. Geiger also expects junior Angelo Bell and sophomore Victor Roskowski to play key roles next winter.
   While new players will be asked to provide the points, Geiger is confident that next year’s squad will play good defense.
   ”We’ll be stronger defensively next year,” he said. “We have enough quickness. They’ve got to work hard over the summer. They’re becoming basketball players but they’ve got to work at it. We’ll get in a summer league and run open gyms.”