Boys Basketball – Marlboro Outlasts St. John Vianney in Overtime to Clinch SCT Berth

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MARLBORO – During last year’s Shore Conference Tournament, the Marlboro boys basketball team pulled off one of the surprises of the first round, and thanks to an offensive explosion by its trio of seniors on Senior Night Tuesday evening, the Mustangs will have a chance to shock the Shore again in 2015.

Seniors George Elghoul, Matt Ringel and Kenny LaRocca combined for 62 points Tuesday and Marlboro pulled away to beat St. John Vianney in overtime, 75-63, to officially clinch a spot in next week’s Shore Conference Tournament.

“Me, George and Kenny were here when the team was struggling a couple of years ago, and we’re really proud that we were able to earn some respect for the program with what we did last year and what we’ve done this year,” Ringel said. “We showed we’re a dangerous team last year, and this year, we’ve proven that we can play with anyone.”

Elghoul led all scorers with 25 points, including 12 combined in the fourth quarter and overtime. He hit a go-ahead jumper with a little under three minutes left in the fourth quarter and answered a go-ahead three by St. John Vianney junior Zach Howarth with a running bank shot to tie the game at 53.

Ringel added 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks and scored the go-ahead lay-up off one of his six offensive rebounds, giving the Mustangs a 55-53 lead with 1:50 left in regulation.

“We played some of our best basketball in the postseason last year, so getting another opportunity to play in those games was important to us,” Elghoul said.

The Mustangs had three possessions to run the clock and possibly shoot free throws to ice the game, but St. John Vianney forced them into three turnovers. The Lancers finally capitalized on the third consecutive Marlboro turnover when senior John Michael Broderick drew a foul and hit both ends of a one-and-one with 16.7 seconds left to tie the game at 55.

LaRocca had a chance to win the game in regulation with a clean look from 23 feet away, but his quick-released shot rattled around the cylinder and out as time expired in the fourth, sending the game to overtime.

“We definitely needed to slow things down on offense and, more importantly, just get stops on defense,” Elghoul said. “Stops were going to be what won us the game, and we were able to get a couple big ones in the fourth quarter and carried that into overtime.”

Marlboro dominated the final four minutes, with the senior trio scoring 18 of the 20 Mustangs points. LaRocca scored eight of his 18 points in overtime, while Elghoul scored six. Marlboro’s 12-point margin of victory was the largest lead of the game for either team, with each team laying claim to a six-point lead during regulation – Marlboro during the first quarter and St. John Vianney with just under six minutes left in the fourth.

Grant Goode led St. John Vianney with 22 points, while Broderick chipped in 19 and Howarth added 10. The Lancers missed out on an opportunity to clinch an SCT berth Tuesday, but will get another chance when they host Monmouth - which just ended a 35-game losing streak earlier in the week - on Thursday.

As the No. 25 seed in last year’s Shore Conference Tournament, Marlboro stunned No. 8 Shore Regional in the first round and were tied with No. 9 Jackson Memorial midway through the fourth before the Jaguars pulled away.

With wins over potential top-10 seeds Freehold Township and Manalapan, Marlboro figures to earn a better draw than it did last year and carries higher expectations going into this year’s postseason.

“We got off to a slow start this year, but we’ve been playing a lot better lately,” Elghoul said. “Our division (Class A North) is as competitive as any out there and we really feel like we are one of the three best teams in that group. If we play like that, we should be tough to beat.”

Box Score

Marlboro 75, St. John Vianney 63

St. John Vianney (63): John Michael Broderick 6 3-6 19, Zach Howarth 4 0-0 10, Grant Goode 9 4-7 22, Kevin Callari 2 4-9 6, Ryan Simmonds 0 1-2 1, Matt DeBrizzi 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 12-24 63

Three-pointers: Broderick 4, Howarth 2, DeBrizzi

Fouled Out: Simmonds

Marlboro (75): George Elghoul 9 7-9 25, Kenny LaRocca 5 6-6 18, Matt Ringel 7 5-9 19, Steven Johnson 1 0-0 3, P.J. Ringel 3 0-0 6, Dan Weiss 1 2-2 4, Emir Anda 0 0-0 0, Nick Valenti 0 0-0 0, Mike Jastrzebski 0 0-0 0, Noah Kiczakes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 20-26 75 75

Three-pointers: LaRocca 2, Johnson