By Jeff Appelblatt
Marlboro High School’s boys’ basketball team didn’t have the busiest week on the court aside from practice. The Mustangs played only two games last week, but they were both wins and came against Shore Conference A North Division rivals, Colts Neck High School and Howell High School.
The first of those wins came Jan. 24 in Marlboro against Colts Neck. The Cougars stayed close with the Mustangs through the first half, trailing by only one at halftime, 27-26. But Marlboro upped its lead to five points after three quarters before pulling away and winning the game, 57-45.
“I was worried about this great, well-coached team. They’re disciplined, so we knew anything we’re going to throw at them, they’re going to come right back at us,” Marlboro coach Mike Nausedas said about the Cougars after beating them for the second time this season. “We came back in the second half and started playing with defense.
“We had the lead pretty much the whole game, [but] we had a bad first half, in my mind, defensively.”
Marlboro improved defensively in the second half, holding Colts Neck — regularly a high-scoring team — to fewer than 20 points in the final two quarters.
Colts Neck had a lead in the third, and Cougars coach Lou Piccola wished his team was able to hold onto it. But there were numerous things he blamed on the turnaround.
“We had a three-point lead, [but] they made a couple of steals, we missed a couple of layups and that was basically it,” the Cougars’ coach said after the game.
No steals stuck in Piccola’s mind more than those taken by P.J. Ringel. Officially, Ringel had four, but his quick arms and wandering eyes undoubtedly helped generate other steals for Marlboro.
“Ringel is a winner. That kid’s a winner,” Piccola said, clearly remembering the takeaways Ringel was responsible for and the 18 points and 14 boards he led the Mustangs with.
In all, with Ringel back on the court, it’s become common knowledge that the senior has the ability to lead Marlboro in all aspects of the game. He even tied a career best with three blocks against the Cougars.
The play of Ringel wasn’t the only reason Colts Neck lost, however.
“We didn’t get any charges. We didn’t get any 50-50 balls. You can’t beat a team like that without any charges or any 50-50 balls,” Colts Neck’s coach said.
Ringel wasn’t the only reason Marlboro was victorious, though he obviously played a major role.
“Everybody played well. It may look like it’s just P.J., but P.J. creates for everybody else. And everybody else steps up,” Nausedas said. “He just makes everybody else better.”
With Ringel leading the way, Marlboro won again when it defeated Howell Jan. 27, 66-60. Ringel scored a team-high 25 points. Daniel Weiss also chipped in with 21.
The Mustangs (11-4) continued facing division foes. They hosted Manalapan High School Jan. 30 and will go to Freehold High School to take on the Colonials Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m.
Each Marlboro opponent entered the matchup with only two wins, but Nausedas didn’t want to think of that beforehand.
“We cannot overlook anybody,” the coach said. “We’re definitely going one game at a time.”
Colts Neck (9-6) meanwhile, faced only Manalapan after losing to Marlboro. Danny Gaines, the Cougars’ usual leading scorer, only managed seven points. Behind 23 points from Brendan Clarke and 13 from Rob Hill, though, Colts Neck got its offense back on track and dominated Manalapan, 66-39.
The Cougars hoped to keep the offense flowing Jan. 30 against Freehold Township High School, which was coming off its first loss of the season. Colts Neck next plays Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. against Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) — the team that defeated Freehold Township.
“We’ll see how the next game goes,” Piccola said. “To be determined.”
