Thanks to a standout effort by senior forward Garret Mazur, Steinert High School was able to handily defeat Hamilton West.
Steinert senior forward Garret Mazur, left, led the Spartans to a dominant 65-52 victory over Hamilton West on February 9. (Andrew Miller | For NJ Advance Media)HAMILTON -- Thanks to a standout effort by senior forward Garret Mazur, Steinert High School was able to handily defeat Hamilton West 65-52 on Feb. 9, one of the Spartans' toughest rivals.
Mazur, who often towers over his competition at 6-feet 5-inches, notched a game-high 18 points, getting to the rim at will thanks to his size and strength.
In addition to his impressive offensive output, the talented senior also had four rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. Mazur dominated the Hornets in every phase of the game, which is why the Spartans were able to come out on top.
"It was a pretty big win for us tonight," Mazur told NJ Advance Media after the victory. "Now we don't have to play in the Mercer County Tournament play-in game."
"We are getting a little bit of confidence right now with the couple of wins in a row. I think honestly our whole team is confident; I think we can win some games and surprise some teams," he said. "We have to control the tempo of the game to the way we want it and not turn the ball over, and we can play with anybody."
Mazur lauded his team's outstanding defensive effort after the contest.
"The defense started it off in the third quarter for us," Mazur said. "We got a lot of stops in a row. They weren't scoring and we were putting up a basket at least every two possessions, and they weren't scoring anything. That really helped us build our lead."
It certainly did.
Thanks to the Spartans' staunch defensive effort, the Hornets were barely able to break 50 points on the night.
Most of that credit goes to Mazur, whose presence in the paint provided a valuable backbone to the Spartan D. Thanks to Mazur, Hamilton West was unable to penetrate the paint or get a rhythm going on offense.
"We have an advantage with most teams with our size," said Mazur. "We can give some teams trouble."
They certainly can.
Rich Cuccagna may be reached at rcuccagna@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichCuccagna. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.