RallyNorth.net

Thu, Feb 07, 2008 07:00 PM @ Pope John XXIII

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Manchester Essex	0	35	0	33	68
Pope John XXIII	0	23	0	26	49

Hornets score impressive win without injured head coach

Friday, February, 08 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

Back on Dec. 11, in its first game of the season, the Manchester Essex boys basketball team lost at non-conference foe Pope John, 79-63.

As if the revenge factor wasn't enough going into the rematch, the Hornets (6-12) were playing with their head coach on their minds since Bill Cahill couldn't make the game due to a concussion suffered on duty as a Gloucester policeman earlier in the day.

Manchester Essex played an inspired game from start to finish, taking a complete 68-49 win over Pope John (6-10).

"We just wanted to come out and play hard," said Hornets senior forward Andrew Willwerth. "Coach Cahill usually motivates us pretty well but Coach Mateo did a good job. We came out with fire and outworked them overall."

Senior point guard James Settipane (14 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) and freshman forward Joe Mussachia (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) paced the Hornets offense while senior shooting guard Marty Nally (12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) was the other high-scorer.

"I didn't find out until a half hour into my JV game that I was going to take over tonight," recalled Manchester Essex assistant coach Mike Mateo. "I told the players something happened at work so Cahill's not going to be here tonight, I didn't get into too much detail. I said 'play this game like you have something to prove.' Redeem yourself from the first game of the season. It was a shock, a punch in the mouth telling us this was going to be a tough year."

The Hornets began the game on a 13-5 run and never really looked back from there. Manchester Essex took the first quarter, 20-13 as seven different players scored for the home team. Tigers senior forward Darren Rogers (14 points, 6 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to cut the lead to seven. Settipane had a highlight in the quarter as he hit an NBA-style fade-away jumper from the corner.

Said Mussachia about Manchester Essex's explosive first quarter, "we came out more intense than usual."

In the second quarter, Pope John could never find a rhythm on offense as Manchester Essex increased its lead to as much as 18 (35-17) before settling for a 35-23 halftime lead.

"We've had an up and down year," noted Mateo. "To come out tonight and play the way we did is a great thing to see. As a coach, you're watching them grow through the season. It was best effort I've seen, this is what we practice like. I've said, 'you need to play like you practice.' This is how they can play, we have everyone back healthy. They played with so much heart and so much pride."

Manchester Essex used another strong defensive quarter to create an insurmountable lead. The Hornets outscored the Tigers 17-10 in the third. If it wasn't for Pope John junior center Brian Niedzwiecki (game-high 18 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks), who scored eight in the quarter, the game would have been over much earlier.

Pope John made a valiant comeback try in the fourth, shrinking Manchester Essex's advantage to 10 points but the Tigers would get no closer. Other Hornets who starred in the win included sophomore center Brian Ciccone (8 points, 10 rebounds) and Willwerth (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks).

"Settipane, Mussachia and Nally are the go-to scorers, when we need a bucket, we're going to go to one of those three," Mateo said, "but the guy that stood out the most to me was Willwerth."

Nally acknowledged the great passing his team displayed and team defense. "We had a lot of good ball movement and our defense was good. We were getting over and playing nice help defense."

Georgetown is next on the schedule on Tuesday for Manchester Essex and the Royals already own a narrow two-point win over the Hornets (69-67 on Dec. 14) so it should be a tight Cape Ann League contest in Georgetown.