Historic win for Marlboro in Kuhnert tourney
Salomon is tournament’s
most valuable player
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

PHOTO BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above, Marlboro center Rodney Salomon battles for a rebound with Manasquan’s Jason Westrol during the Kuhnert final in Freehold on Thursday. At left, guard Mike Viggiano gets a step on two Big Blue defenders as he drives to the hoop.

Marlboro did more than just win the Jack Kuhnert Holiday Basketball Tournament. The Mustangs may well have saved their season in making history on Thursday night, winning the Kuhnert for the first time in school history, 71-63, over defending champion Manasquan.

"As a team we’ve never done anything like this before," said forward Harris Feibischoff. "This is the year of boys basketball [at Marlboro]."

Marlboro (3-2) began the season with very high expectations based on their strong finish to the 2004 season and the return of four starters and most of the key reserves. But an 0-2 start put all the good vibes in jeopardy. Enough so that coach Matt Murphy thought his club could come away with nothing less than a tournament championship last week at Freehold Borough High School.

"I felt the season was on the line," he said. "We had so many expectations. It was time to put up or shut up."

His Mustangs put up. First, they righted the ship with a first-round win over Freehold Borough, 55-52.

It was on to the semifinals for the second-seeded Mustangs and they played their best basketball of the young season in beating a good Freehold Township team, 78-65, setting up their date with the top seed and defending champion Manasquan (which beat Howell, 62-43, and Hightstown, 73-37, en route to its fourth straight final).

The Mustangs pounded the Big Blue (4-2) with their balance. Forward Rodney Salomon became the decoy he enjoys being when he forced Manasquan’s defensive hand early.

Marlboro got the ball inside to its irresistible force in the first quarter, and Salomon responded with eight quick points that let Manasquan know that it had no one player who could contain him, as they fell behind 20-14 after one quarter (it took a 4-0 run in the last minute to cut the lead to six from 20-10).

"When all of the focus is on me in the paint, when they are double-teaming me, it opens things up for everyone else," said Salomon, the tournament’s most valuable player. "We worked on using me as a decoy."

With Manasquan concerned about controlling Salomon inside, the rest of the Mustangs took turns slicing the Big Blue up. Chris Valdes and Mike Viggiano each hit a three in the second quarter and Feibischoff netted a team-high six in that quarter as Marlboro extended its lead to 40-33 at the half.

The lead would have been far more comfortable had Manasquan not gotten a brilliant shooting performance from Keith Bradley. He single-handedly kept the champions in the game, coming up with 21 points in the first half and connecting on five three-pointers.

Even with Bradley’s shooting, Marlboro was doing what it wanted to do defensively, not getting into a track meet with Manasquan.

"They like to run," said Salomon. "We knew if we could get back on defense we’d slow them down."

Bradley finally got some help in the third quarter as Bradford Newman began to make his presence felt in the paint, coming up with seven points. Manasquan took a bite out of the lead, knocking it down to four, 52-48, after three quarters, and was very much back in the game.

But it was Marlboro that answered the bell for the fourth quarter. The ’Stangs went back to their ace in the paint, and he dropped in the first bucket of the period. Drew Rothstein followed with a three and the lead was nine, 57-48.

Kurt Fenchel hit a pair of free throws for Manasquan to bring the lead down to 57-50.

Salomon upped it to double-figures with a three-pointer the old-fashioned way, scoring a basket while getting fouled and sinking the free throw.

Right after Salomon’s 3-pointer, Feibischoff hit a pair of free throws to make it 62-50 with 3:14 remaining in the game, and Manasquan’s hopes were sinking.

The Mustangs took care of business from the foul line with Viggiano, Rothstein, Feibischoff, Salomon and Valdes all making foul shots in the final 1:09 of the game to keep Manasquan from making up much ground despite 3-pointers from Jason Westrol and Bradley.

Marlboro’s balance more than overcame Bradley’s 28-point night. Salomon led the Mustangs with 14 points. Feibischoff and Rothstein had 13 each, and Joe Visicaro added 11 as Marlboro had four players in double-figures.

"We are very well-balanced," Murphy pointed out.

Salomon noted that he didn’t mind all the attention paid to him by the Manasquan defense, which kept him scoreless from the end of the first quarter to the fourth.

"Winning is all that counts," he remarked.

It was a well-earned victory for the Mustangs, made more satisfying by their 0-2 start.

"This is a very resilient group, it’s what I’m most proud of," said Murphy. "We had to regroup, and they did. This was our first goal of the season."

Salomon and Feibischoff both said that the 0-2 start had not destroyed the team’s confidence.

"We knew that we could bounce back," said Salomon. "Now, we have to keep in going."

Thanks to the comeback at the Kuhnert tournament, this may yet be the year of boys basketball at Marlboro. They have the hardware now to make a case for themselves.

For the seniors, like Salomon, Feibischoff, Rothstein and Visicaro, this championship is a reward for perseverance. When they were freshmen, the varsity was 0-22 and the butt of a lot of jokes. They were in the shadows of the highly successful girl’s program that won a Group IV state championship two years ago. Those stars have gone on to college, and now the school is following the boys.

Freehold Township won the third-place consolation game edging Hightstown, 58-53. Marcus Roberson led the 3-3 Patriots with 18 points.

The News Transcript sponsored the All-Tournament Team that included MVP Salomon, his teammates Visicaro, Rothstein and Feibischoff, and Manasquan’s Bradley.