Boys Basketball – No. 10 Marlboro Clamps Down on No. 3 Central In Opening-Night Statement

BAYVILLE -- Marlboro senior Steve Scimone recalls the bus ride to the first game of his junior season with the Mustangs boys basketball team in 2022-23. According to Scimone, the ride from Marlboro to Middletown South was a tense one for him and his teammates, who had almost no varsity experience between them. Even their head coach, James Reuter, was about to coach his first game as a varsity head coach at the time.

Thursday's bus ride was much different for a Marlboro squad that has grown up over the past 12 months and the performance on the court Thursday showed it. The Mustangs -- ranked No. 10 in the preseason Shore Sports Network Shore 16 -- walked into the gym at Central Regional High School a confident bunch and sent a message the rest of the Shore Conference against its No. 3 ranked team.

Scimone led the way with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists and Marlboro bottled up the high-powered Golden Eagles, 43-38, in Thursday's season-opener to get its season off on the right foot.

Scimone and classmate Dan Elmasri, who added 11 points in the win, led a defensive effort that held Central's two All-Shore guards from a year ago -- junior Jayce Santucci and senior Miles Chevalier -- to a combined 18 points.

"That's an amazing team," Reuter said of Central. "Super athletic, two top-fight players, a transfer (Jayson King) who is a knock-down shooter. We knew they had good players. The game plan was just rebound the basketball, make it tough on those guys and they are going to get their points, but if they miss, we need to rebound the ball and be patient on offense."

Marlboro also won its opener at Middletown South a year ago, but the month that followed was a struggle for the inexperienced Mustangs. They finished the season strong, however, winning eight in a row before losing to South Brunswick in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals.

PHOTO GALLERY: Marlboro at Central by Ray Rich Photography

The late-season success fed their confidence heading into the offseason and with Reuter and more of his players now established within the program, that offseason was far better than the previous one.

"I was still working my way back from an injury, but I saw those guys out on the track every day, running miles at a time and then going in the gym to lift and get shots up," said Marlboro senior forward Brave Haugh, who contributed four points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in the win. "Working on all that stuff built up that camaraderie that you saw out there today. Everyone knew what to do, where to go. We switched up our defenses a lot and everything was working on that end for us."

While Marlboro showed it was ready to beat a quality opponent on Thursday, its offense was not sharp, particularly in the first half. Scimone gave his team a lift by knocking down a three-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer for an 8-6 lead and answered a Santucci dunk with 10 seconds left in the second quarter with a drive to the basket that again beat the second quarter buzzer and sent the teams into the halftime locker room tied, 17-17.

"I have been telling these guys in that first game, there are no sets run, no real offense," Reuter said. "It is nerves all over the place, bad turnovers, mistakes and that's okay. We've got to just play basketball. We had a great inbounds play: I called a set, they (Central) were all over it, the guys broke off of the play and got a layup out of it. That's the freedom we get because they have worked so hard."

Freshman Nolan Gong also provided the Mustangs with a spark off the bench. He poured in eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.

"Nolan is going to be a big-time player here," Reuter said. "The older guys already have a lot of trust in him. They pass him the ball because they want him shooting it and he hit some big ones today."

Elmasri, meanwhile, did most of his offensive damage during a six-point third quarter, after which Marlboro led, 32-25.

PHOTO GALLERY: Marlboro at Central by Ray Rich Photography

Central trimmed Marlboro's lead to 32-29 with a little more than five minutes to go, but Gong answered with his second three-pointer to stretch Marlboro's lead back to six.

Central twice pulled back within three, but Marlboro answered each time. Elmasri drove the baseline and found Gong with a wraparound pass for a layup to make it 39-34 with a minute left and Scimone knocked down two free throws with 42 seconds left to push the Mustangs lead to 41-36.

Santucci shot 4-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from the free throw Thursday with Elmasri guarding him for most of the game, but he contributed across the board for Central with seven rebounds, three assists and five steals. Scimone took Chevalier and held him to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.

PHOTO GALLERY: Marlboro at Central by Ray Rich Photography

"We knew that Santucci and Chevalier were high, three-level scorers who are All-Shore players," Elmasri said. "We watched film, we learned what moves they like. We saw Santucci was more of a driver, so we tried to wall up on him and force him to take tough shots. Chevalier, we wanted to run him off the line because when his shot is going, it's going in. We just threw different defenses at them and hoped it would throw off their offensive game plan."

Marlboro and Central are two of the 16 teams entered in this year's WOBM Christmas Classic, so a rematch is possible once the tournament gets underway on Dec. 26 at RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River. On its own, Thursday's game was validation for the Mustangs that last year's late-season surge was real and the offseason program paid off.

PHOTO GALLERY: Marlboro at Central by Ray Rich Photography

"As soon as the season ended last year, we were back up in the spring, entering showcase tournaments," Elmasri said. "We entered the summer showcases, we were in the Hoop Group Fall League and Summer League and we basically brought the same kids we had there to this team. Us playing together every day, going through the grind helped with this win."

"We want to play hard games," Reuter said. "We might drop a game here or there, but it's going to help you in February in the Shore Conference and State Tournaments. It's a respect thing. When good teams want to play you, it shows your program has the respect of good teams and great coaches, and that's what Central and (head coach) Mike (Clemente) are. So this game was a great way to start our season and it's even better to get a win."