No. 1 Manasquan has looked unstoppable through the first eight games of the year.
With just under six minutes left on Thursday night, Manasquan coach Lisa Kukoda emptied the bench with her team up a sizable margin.
This has become seemingly commonplace for a team that regularly holds double-digit leads against its opponents.
Such was the case of Thursday, when Manasquan, No. 1 in the NJ.com Top 20, held a 20-plus point lead for much of the game on its way to a 73-46 win against No. 9 Middletown South, a feat that turned more than a few heads.
The outcome was never in question, as the Warriors zipped out to a 19-4 first-quarter lead and led by as much as 31 points in the second half before cruising to the 27-point victory.
Manasquan is now 8-0 and has won six of those games by at least 25 points.
With the meat of its schedule still very much in front of them, it's not too early to ask: can any team beat Manasquan this season? This is a program that has been built on success, reaching three straight Tournament of Champions finals, but getting to that point without a loss would be an unheralded accomplishment (Manasquan went 31-2 in 2014-15 when it beat St. Rose, 59-55, in the ToC final).
Widely regarded as one of the top girls basketball programs in the country, Manasquan has already played an out-of-state schedule that would resemble that. During the holiday break, the Warriors travelled to Orlando, Fla. where it beat Seneca Valley (Pa.), Nease (Fla.) and Harrison (Ga.).
This weekend, Mansasquan will venture to New York to play Long Island Lutheran, ranked No. 17 nationally, on Sunday. For Kukoda and her team, everything they do is about embracing the concept of being challenged.
Within New Jersey, Manasquan's schedule is just a tough. Aside from being locked in to divisional meetings with Red Bank Catholic and Middletown South, the Warriors will also face No. 3 Rutgers Prep on Jan. 29, No. 4 Rumson-Fair Haven on Feb. 4, and No. 2 St. Rose on Feb. 11 before beginning play in the Shore Conference Tournament.
Manasquan employed a number of different defensive looks on Thursday, and each of them hampered Middletown South's offense. The Eagles mustered just 10 points of offense in the first half and never had a real chance to hang with the top team in the state.
"I'm fortunate to have the girls that we have with that basketball IQ. It does take a lot," Kukoda said. "We analyze a lot of different things, we talk about a lot of different things. We put in a defense early in the year, and yesterday, we were talking about certain situations where we would use it."
That high basketball IQ from all over the floor has enabled Kukoda, the 2015-16 NJ.com Coach of the Year, and Manasquan to rise to another level this season.
"A lot of our defenses are based off of their IQ and their reads they can make off of it," Kukoda said. "There isn't always a set rule in the defense. I'm fortunate to have that little bit of freedom to play with their strengths in that way. I know at times at time it could be a little bit overwhelming, but I think by challenging them here early on, we only become comfortable in thinking in the moment as we progress through the season."
Even more impressive: Manasquan starts just two seniors, with two juniors, and one sophomore. These players aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Junior Dara Mabrey, who scored 21 points in the win on Thursday and is averaging a team-best 19.8 points-per-game so far this season has the ability to take over any game as evidenced by her 33-point performance in Manasquan's tight 66-62 win against No. 7 Red Bank Catholic on Dec. 20. But she isn't the only contributor.
Stella Clark, who is 15 points away from 1,000 for her career has been a major catalyst for Manasquan this season with 11.5 points-per-game, and sophomore Faith Masonius has been a force inside the paint all year. Lola Mullaney, a Colts Neck transfer and Victoria Galvan, who missed last season with a knee injury, have been major components off the bench.
Simply put: there is no way to stop everything Manasquan can throw at any given team on any given night. Playing in the loaded Shore Conference and B-North division, the Warriors could theoretically get caught somewhere down the line, but it's hard to imagine at this point.
The only teams to finish within 25 points of Manasquan so far this year have been Red Bank Catholic (66-62 on Dec. 20) and Harrison (Ga.) (68-61 on Dec. 30.
And for a team this good, Manasquan still believes it has something to prove after going 1-2 in the last three T of C finals.
"It was our first big home game with a big atmosphere," Mabrey said after Thursday's win. "But we definitely knew we wanted to come out on top and keep proving that statement that we're back this year."
Brian Deakyne may be reached at bdeakyne@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianDeakyne. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.