Knitowski, Palovick lead way
By: Shawn Tyrrell
As the final few weeks of the 2005-06 basketball season go by, the Manville High boys continue trying to be as competitive as possible. Last week, the Mustangs had games against Sussex Tech, Belvidere and Bound Brook, all opponents against which MHS had a chance to earn victories.
Unfortunately, Manville was unable to cash in on all three, but the team did post a convincing 71-50 win against Sussex Tech, the squad’s fourth of the season. Manville head coach Larry Blasi will take a win when he gets it and was happy the Mustangs prevailed on their home floor for the first time this winter.
"It was a good win for us," Blasi said. "We had some confidence going in since we had beaten Tech before. We played well as a team and spread the ball around. We felt going in to the week that all three games were winnable. To get one and play competitive in the other two was encouraging."
The Mustangs opened the game with a 22-8 spurt and never looked back, building an ever bigger lead at the end of the half.
"We started out right from the beginning and played with confidence and under control," Blasi said. "When we do that, we are in games."
The Mustangs got scoring from just about everyone, as Mike Knitowski led all players with 25 points, while Anthony Palovick (19 points), Rob Wood (10 points) and Kyle Sopko (8 points) all contributed to make the victory possible.
Next up for MHS was Belvidere, a team that the Mustangs could have beaten, but 40 turnovers later the reality was Manville was its own worst enemy.
They (Belvidere) were a good athletic team," Blasi said. "We played well at times and knew they would pressure us. In practice we did a fine job breaking their press. But poor decision making with passes and ball handling really hurt us."
With just a few minutes left in the game, MHS only trailed by single digits. But down the stretch the team was unable to convert any of its shots. Manville as unable to convert its final four shots, while the County Seaters made theirs.
"We were still in the game towards the end," Blasi said. "But we turned it over and missed too many shots down the stretch. They ran a nice man-to-man offense and beat us. Turnovers just killed us."
The final game of the week had the Mustangs going up against a much improved Bound Brook team that was looking to go 11-7 on the season. Manville gave it all it could but in the end the Crusaders came away with the 54-40 win.
MHS got another strong scoring effort from Knitowski, who paced the team with 18 points, while Palovick added eight points and 12 rebounds. Again the Achilles heel for the Mustangs was putting the ball in the bucket.
"They (Bound Brook) are playing very well," Blasi said. "Our goal was to shut down their leading scorers, and for the most part we did. What hurt us was our shooting, as we shot poorly."
The Mustangs played well for a while but the game got away from them at the end. The Crusaders had already qualified for the state playoffs and were looking to improve their seeding position with another victory over Manville.
"We didn’t want to get into a running game and wanted to keep the score low. It was nip and tuck till the last few minutes," Blasi said. "They made their foul shots while we struggled to make our shots."
It doesn’t get much easier for Manville in the final three games of the season, as contests against Newark Technology, Roselle Park and Dayton will be difficult. All the team can do is keep trying and work on improving.