Marlboro Mustangs and Toms River North Mariners went head to head yesterday in a big game for both teams as they were coming in at a record under 500. Mustangs had a 2-15 record while Toms River North was at 9-10 coming into this matchup. Vicki Gillen who is the head coach for Toms River North has been a successful leader over the past few years but she has a younger team this year with only two seniors on her roster. Marlboro is a young team with two seniors also and growing as a group. Mustangs needed this game more then Toms River North but still high stakes for each of them.
The first quarter was crazy with fouls, turnovers, early up tempo, struggling with three pointers and rushing some shots. Mustangs did a great job of forcing turnovers early against the Mariners which they took advantage of points of their mistakes. Then Elizabeth Stellato for Marlboro started to get going with a three pointer which helped set the tone a bit more. Mustangs also did a fantastic job of going to the basket drawing fouls against Mariners defense. Marlboro had a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter in a close battle where Mariners kept the game close even with that many turnovers.
Marlboro started to heat up from the three point line in second quarter with other players getting involved to help Elizabeth. Lia Villa, Brooke Gordon, Nariah Henderson and Hayden Sario stepped up huge for the Mustangs. They outscored Mariners 14-11 in second quarter as the Mustangs had a 26-21 lead heading into halftime. Mariners were still struggling with turnovers but were able to keep this game where they wanted it to be in first half but still needed to make adjustments. Megan Sias, Jordyn Brown and Angelina DeCesare all had good performances for Toms River North.
The Mustangs dominated second with defense only giving up 10 points to Mariners while they scored 25. This is what separated their lead big time causing more mistakes, getting turnovers, making it tough for the Mariners offense and getting transition buckets off those turnovers. Marlboro was lights out shooting the ball in third and fourth quarters as they didn't let Toms River North get back into it. Marlboro extended it to 20 point lead, never looked back and got a huge road victory 51-31 over the Mariners improving to 3-15 while Toms River North falls to 9-11. Marlboro played inspired basketball yesterday as a team and were more focused then the Mariners.
Marlboro Mustangs next game is tomorrow against Middletown North at 4:00 Pm Eastern.
Leading scorers for Marlboro Mustangs
Elizabeth Stellato 13 points
Lia Villa 12 points
Nariah Henderson 8 points
Hayden Sario 6 points
Brooke Gordon 6 points
Leading scorers for Toms River North Mariners
Megan Sias 10 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block and 3 steals
Jordyn Brown 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals
Angelina DeCesare 6 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
Photo Credit 📹 Mike Franco
Photo credit 📸 Mike Franco/Franco Photography follow link below to view more photos from the game and support our photographer
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