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MARLBORO – Each workforce encounters its well being woes in the course of the course of a highschool basketball season, however few coaches within the space are as well-versed in coping with a brief bench resulting from sickness and harm as Marlboro coach Mike Nausedas.
Because it seems, Nausedas and his Mustangs are getting fairly good at enjoying with a restricted roster.
With starters Alex Ratner and Jon Spatola coming off the flu earlier within the week and common contributors Jay Ratner and Nick Malucelli out with their very own illnesses, Marlboro – the No. 6 seed within the Shore Convention Match – discovered a option to pull via Thursday in opposition to No. 11 Manalapan, 76-73, in extra time.
“All season, we have been via rather a lot,” sophomore Jack Seidler stated. “We’ve been down in so many video games and we’ve got come again nearly each time. We simply do not quit, it doesn’t matter what the state of affairs is.”
With the win, Marlboro is again within the Shore Convention Match quarterfinals for the second time in 4 years after making a run to the championship sport again in 2017.
“It appears like we’re having the harm dialog yearly,” Nausedas stated. “However we’re used to it. We’ve had guys damage or sick for the previous few weeks now and for many of the season, we’ve got been counting on 5 or 6 guys at a given time.”
Marlboro’s 5 starters – Alex Ratner, Spatola, Seidler, junior Aleksy Friedman and sophomore Zack Molod – had been on the ground collectively for all however two seconds of the 36-minute sport. Ratner picked up his second foul within the remaining seconds of the third quarter and went to the bench whereas Marlboro performed protection for the final two seconds of the quarter.
“It is loopy, truthfully – it actually has been,” Seidler stated. “With individuals being sick, individuals being out, injured, but it surely’s actually subsequent man up. Zack Molod did not actually get a lot time to start with of the season and he has stepped up massive within the final two video games. It is simply all people figuring out their position and selecting up the items.”
Ratner returned to start out the fourth and scored 10 of his team-high 26 factors from that time on to assist the Mustangs rally after trailing for almost your complete second half. Manalapan scored the final six factors of the primary half to tie the sport, 33-33, heading to the break and made it an 11-Zero run with the primary 5 factors of the third quarter.
The Mustangs took their first lead of the second half with 1:32 to go, when Friedman stole the ball within the again court docket and hit a left-handed floater to make it 60-59.
“That was memorable,” Friedman stated. “As soon as I received it, I simply took it proper at him (the defender).”
After a miss, Manalapan pressured a turnover and junior Chris Frontera supplied a solution within the type of a go-ahead three-pointer to make it 62-60 in favor of Manalapan with 45 seconds left.
Friedman got here via once more for Marlboro by drawing a foul within the lane and hitting a pair of game-tying free throws with 32 seconds left. Manalapan had a pair of possibilities to tie the sport and had another inbounds alternative below the basket, however turned the ball over with 1.9 seconds left. Ratner missed a three-quarter-court shot and the sport superior into extra time.
Friedman scored 9 of his 19 factors within the fourth quarter to assist the Mustangs push the sport into extra time. Seidler added 15 factors and 12 rebounds, Molod scored 9 factors and Spatola completed with seven.
“We simply belief one another,” Friedman stated. “Everyone knows Alex can go get a bucket once we want it. I can get a bucket, Jack can get a bucket, Spatola can get a bucket, and Nick Molod has been stepping up and making massive performs for us.”
Transferring into extra time, Manalapan senior Ryan Knorr opened the scoring, however Spatola answered with a three-point play that catapulted Marlboro in entrance, 65-64. Ratner then scored on a pull-up and Seidler knocked down a pair of free throws to cap a 7-Zero run that put the Mustangs forward, 69-64.
Knorr discovered senior Blake Henis for a layup and hit a three-pointer, with a lay-in by Ratner in between to make it 71-69 in favor of Marlboro. After Molod made one in every of two foul photographs for Marlboro, sophomore Gabe Blackwell hit a pair of free throws to tug Manalapan inside one at 72-71.
Ratner and Knorr traded factors, with Ratner hitting two free throws and Knorr driving for a layup to get the deficit again right down to 74-73. Spatola then got here via with a pair of free throws with eight.6 seconds left and Knorr’s lengthy, contested three-pointer with the seconds ticking down got here up brief.
Knorr poured in a game-high 28 factors to guide Manalapan, whereas Frontera added 14 on 4 three-pointers and Blackwell got here off the bench to attain 13 with Henis battling foul hassle all through the sport. Henis completed with eight factors earlier than fouling out with 1:14 left in extra time.
“We simply needed to maintain Knorr out of the paint,” Nausedas stated. “Knorr is wonderful. We could not cease that child. To lose a sport like this sucks for him. He performed his coronary heart out. He can rating. I am not going to overlook enjoying him.”
Manalapan confronted considerably extra foul hassle than Marlboro, with starters Henis and Dan Kamen each fouling out. Marlboro, in the meantime, stayed out of great foul hassle till Ratner picked up his fourth in extra time – a major issue contemplating the Mustangs had been enjoying with an inexperienced bench.
“On offense, we had been attacking the rim,” Friedman stated. “We had been taking good photographs, we weren’t actually settling for jumpers and that received us some foul photographs. We performed good assist protection, we tried to not let Knorr go to the center and tried to make him go baseline. We all know any person is at all times prepared to assist.”
“We knew wanted to get Henis in foul hassle,” Seidler stated of the 6-foot-5 Manalapan heart. “We’re type of a smaller workforce, so having him within the sport was a giant issue for them. We knew if we may get him into foul hassle early, that will be massive for us.”
With a manageable foul state of affairs, Marlboro went to its press protection within the fourth quarter and turned the sport frantic on the precise proper second.
“We did not need to press to start with as a result of we knew we weren’t very deep,” Nausedas stated. “We waited for some spots, we tried to double Knorr within the press and after some time, we simply stated, ‘Screw it, let’s go our method.’ We did the press the best way we do it and we gave up some layups, but it surely labored. It sped up the sport once we wanted to hurry it up.”
Not solely did Marlboro should get via an extra time scare Thursday; the Mustangs needed to do it in opposition to a workforce it beat twice in the course of the common season by a mixed 11 factors. After Thursday’s win, make that three wins by a mixed 14 factors – together with three-point margins to determined every of the final two conferences.
“Actually, I used to be fairly scared about immediately,” Friedman stated. “The primary two instances, I felt like we had it within the bag. At present, I knew they had been going to provide it their all and I knew we had been going to have to determine how you can cease him.”
Subsequent up for Marlboro is No. three Toms River North within the SCT quarterfinals Sunday at RWJ Barnabas Well being Area – the house fitness center of Toms River North. Sunday will mark the second time the groups have met in a match this season, with Toms River North defeated the Mustangs, 94-81, within the WOBM Christmas Traditional semifinals in December.
“It is not going to be simple,” Seidler stated of enjoying Toms River North. “They’ve Jakari (Spence) who can rating at will. They’ve Najae (Hallenbeck) who’s a giant risk inside. Additionally they have (Colin) Baker, who’s a knockdown shooter, so we’re actually going to have to observe the movie from final sport and see what we did unsuitable.”
Nausedas stated he expects Alex Ratner and Spatola to be a lot nearer to 100 p.c by Sunday, if not all the best way again to full energy after pushing via. The Mustangs coach additionally stated he’s optimistic Jay Ratner shall be able to play by Sunday as nicely.
“Jay goes via the tail-end of one thing and he must be okay by Sunday,” Nausedas stated. “He performed via it early within the week as a result of that is simply the type of workforce we’re. Guys do not need to miss a sport however typically you have to take a step again and get wholesome.”
Marlboro has misplaced solely 5 instances this season and three of these losses are to Middletown South, which was upset by Mater Dei Prep on Thursday. Meaning the winner of the Marlboro-Toms River North sport would be the higher seed within the semifinal in opposition to the winner of Mater Dei and Crimson Financial institution Catholic. If the Mustangs can discover a well beyond the Mariners, the trail might be laid out for a second journey to the ultimate in 4 years – each of which might be because the No. 6 seed.
“It is undoubtedly not a simple street, however we’re going to make a run at it,” Nausedas stated. “These guys actually need it, particularly Alex. He’s our senior, he was right here the final time we received to the ultimate and received to skilled that run and I do know he would like to get again there.”
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