Boys basketball: Manville bows to state-ranked powerhouse in sectional final

MIDDLETOWN- The town turned out for the Manville High School boys basketball team Saturday night. Two bus loads worth stayed from start to finish in a gymnasium at the defunct Mater Dei Prep to see the Central Group I final.

As expected, it was a tough night for their team, but they did their best to help in a game against a very big favorite.

The Mustangs, a No. 5 seed, made the title game with the reward of getting to play No. 3 seed and state-ranked College Achieve Public Charter School-Asbury Park/Neptune and fell 74-33. The Knights built a 22-2 first quarter lead, ran it to 41-14 at half on the way to the win.

College Achieve will play South champ Pitman on Wednesday night in the state semifinal. Maybe Pitman can find a way to slow down this extremely talented club that has won its four state tournament games by an average of about 45 points. The team is loaded with experienced players from around the state, as Manville was reminded frequently as the Knights were finishing dunks and even missing them.

“They are a talented team, don't get me wrong, I just hope people understand what really happened here,” said Manville coach Bill Rooney, whose team finished 16-13. “Manville is one square mile. We have 17 guys here and we had 19 at tryouts and we only cut two. They have 13 transfers from all over the state, it’s hard to compete with that.”

More: Boys basketball: Colonia shakes off slow start to capture third straight sectional title

More: Boys basketball: Colonia shakes off slow start to capture third straight sectional title

Senior and Lasalle-commit Deuce Jones is one of those transfers. He came over from St. Thomas Aquinas where he helped the Trojans win a Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title last year. He transferred to play for Knights’ coach Dave Boff, the former successful longtime Roselle Catholic coach. Jones had 22 points with four of the team’s nine 3-pointers.

“They didn’t miss,” said Rooney.

Manville senior Tyler Kesolitz who reached the 1,000-career point mark earlier in the season, was given a spirited tribute by the big Mustangs crowd when he left with under a minute to play. He finished with nine points. Junior Edryn Morales led the Mustangs with 15.

“We weren’t knocking down shots like they did,” said Kesolitz, who finished his career with 1,066 points in three seasons. “We knew they would pressure us. Coach said we had to have real long possessions and take really good shots.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Boys basketball: Manville bows to state-ranked powerhouse in final