Girls Basketball: No. 7 Trenton Catholic coasts past Montclair Immaculate

Twenty-one seconds was all the time Trenton Catholic needed to introduce itself Saturday afternoon.

In those 21 seconds, Trenton Catholic flashed its offensive versatility and defensive prowess and sent a stern message: the Iron Mikes are here to play — and certainly not going away anytime soon.

Four players finished in double figures and Trenton Catholic, ranked No. 7 in the NJ.com Top 20, rode that tone-setting start to a dominant 70-36 win over Montclair Immaculate at Roselle Catholic High School for its second win in as many days to kick off the season.

Fittingly, it was Maniya Custis and Naomi Shorts, Trenton Catholic's two transfers from Paul VI, that knocked in a lay-up and booked a corner 3-pointer in those opening 21 seconds that prompted new Montclair Immaculate coach Joe Whalen to burn a time out.

But nothing was going to stop Trenton Catholic Saturday.

Shorts finished with 13 points, while Giana Boulden, Leianya Massenat and Habbiba Elgizawy all had 12 points for a Trenton Catholic team that hopes to build off last season’s run to the South Jersey, Non-Public B final.

"I'm very happy with our outcome," Trenton Catholic second-year coach Bob Fusik said. "Our starters stepped up right off the bat. Our seniors took leadership off the bat. We just came out right off the get go and played hard."

Trenton Catholic opened the game on a 21-2 run and never looked back, leading 37-19 at halftime before pushing its lead over 30 points in the fourth quarter.

"Our coaches really stress in practice to go after it and go hard and play like this is our last game," Shorts said. "We have to go for every rebound and every loose ball. If we do that we can come out here and win."

Trenton Catholic's ability to score was impressive Saturday, but it was the defensive work that stood out more than anything else. Montclair Immaculate, which has a few good players of its own, had a hard time even inbounding the ball against Trenton Catholic's press. And when it did, TCA was quick to the double team to force one turnover after another.

It's that type of defensive play that could set Trenton Catholic apart from the field this season.

"That's been my motto since we got here," Fusik said. "Our defense leads to easy offensive buckets. We have to play defense. If you play defense, you get easy points."

Montclair Immaculate, which opened the season with a double-digit win over Columbia Friday night, struggled against Trenton Catholic's pressure, but did get some more consistent offense later in the game.

Nathalie Arroyave led Montclair Immaculate with 12 points, while Toni Renee Blanford have seven points and six rebounds.

Trenton Catholic dominated the glass, out-rebounding Montclair Immaculate, 32-21: another key ingredient to its success.

And for a program that put its name into the conversation last season as one of N.J.'s best team, there's no question this team can contend for a Tournament of Champions title, especially with its new pieces in the fold and soon returning to full strength.

"We have leadership this year and we can definitely score the ball," Fusik said. "Today shows that we can play defense. This is where we want to be."

Brian Deakyne may be reached at bdeakyne@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianDeakyne. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.