It was a game Marlboro had been thinking about for months. And it was a rematch, but the Dukes weren’t thinking about it that way when they played Highland Friday.
Highland’s boys’ basketball team spoiled the Dukes’ chances of reaching the postseason last March when they beat them. Neither team made the playoffs, but both want to this season.

And Marlboro showed its intent Friday when they swept the Huskies off the floor in the second quarter en-route to a 60-44 victory.

Kairi Alston, who led Highland with 14 points, hit a three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the first quarter to give Highland an 8-6 lead and their last before the Dukes tied it 8-8 to end the first quarter.

From there the Dukes went on a 22-8 run in the second quarter. Marlboro’s Maxx Faircloth created a sonic hush in the Highland’s pack gym when he took a pass in the final seconds of the first half and slammed a dunk at the buzzer.

“We were just trying to get a big lead,” said Marlboro’s Frank Grimaldi, of the second quarter.

Grimaldi scored nine for the Dukes including four points in the second quarter. Marlboro’s Joel Casil hit a pair of threes in that quarter as the Dukes shut down the Huskies on the inside.

“Joel (Casil) had two big threes, which hurt, but we were trying to stay with it,” said Mike Milliman, Highland coach.

In the third quarter, Highland slowed the Dukes behind Cody Weaver’s fight inside as he scored a trio of field goals toward his 12 points for the evening.

“Cody’s a little undersized on the inside, but he works hard. He played a great game,” said Milliman.

In the fourth quarter, Marlboro took off again behind Grimaldi’s three-pointer and going 4/7 from the foul line.

“It’s a division game, so it means a lot more. We still have a shot at the league title, but we need these wins,” said Mike Koehler, who coaches the Dukes. “We played hard. We were antsy in the beginning, missing a lot of shots that you’d normally make. Everyone wants to be great because it’s a rivalry game.”

It was a rivalry game, and a big loss last spring by Marlboro added to the contentiousness. But Friday’s win was more about this season, especially after a recent divisional loss to Red Hook.

“We got ready after the loss from Red Hook. We were pumped for this game, another division game. We needed a win,” said Grimaldi.

Faircloth led the Dukes with 19 points while pulling down 13 rebounds.
Marlboro improved to 6-2, and Highland dropped to 3-4.

By Bond Brungard
sports@tcnewspapers.com