Monthly Archives: March 2013

March 5, 2013 · 4:28 pm

Fenway routs Shawsheen 71-45 to advance to Division 4 North finals

Tajaynay Veiga (24 points) fires a three over Emily Irwin

Tajaynay Veiga drives past Emily Knoops

(Malden) Fenway blew out Shawsheen Tech, 71-45, with amazing segments of points/defense in each half and now move on to the Division 4 North finals on Friday at Emmanuel College.

The Panthers (13-7) are the reigning Division Four champs and I would expect them to be holding MIAA championship hardware again early next week at the TD North Garden after two more wins.

I thought that #3 seed Shawsheen Tech (18-4) might be able to compete with #10 seed Fenway based on last year’s D4 North finals. Shawsheen only trailed Fenway by three (29-26) after three quarters a year ago before losing, 49-34.

In the 2012-13 rematch, the Rams for 1 ½ quarters looked capable of holding their own. The team from Billerica took care of the ball and made shots. The result was that with four minutes left in the second quarter Shawsheen was in front, 19-13. During the great early going, Emily Irwin contributed seven points and Ari Medeiros five points.

Then the first segment of amazing points/defense kicked in for Fenway. Over the next five minutes of playing time, stretching into the start of the second half, the Panthers outscored Shawsheen, 22-1. (That is not a typo!)

Emily Irwin (13 points) gets caught in Fenway trap

The Rams fell victim to Panther full-court pressure (ten turnovers) and went out of synch on possession after possession. That eruption and disruption put Fenway ahead, 35-20, with most of the second half left to play.

Five of the Fenway baskets, during the first surge, were directly off of steals deep in the Shawsheen backcourt.

The hardest pill for the Ram fans was the eight points tallied by the Panthers in the last fifty seconds of the first half. Blame Tajaynay Veiga (24 points). The talented senior had four free throws, a steal that led to a layup, and a layup in that last fifty seconds.

Tajaynay was right back at it to start the second half with a three and a converted rebound.

Ari Medeiros (15 points) tries for three

The Rams were able to chip four points off that 15-point deficit and trail by eleven (48-37) with 1:42 left in the third quarter. Two three’s by Ari Medeiros (15 points) and one by Stephanie Champoux (9 points) keyed Shawsheen.

I mentioned earlier that there were two segments of amazing points/defense by Fenway. The second one lasted 6+ minutes stretching into the final quarter and was a 20-1 run.

The twenty Fenway points were spread among eight players, many seeing their first action of the night. The Panther shots were certainly falling.

So Shawsheen took a 68-37 deficit into the final 3 ½ minutes of the game. It makes me wonder why they don’t have a mercy rule in basketball the way they do in softball.

Trying to wrap my brain around the stat that for 11 ½ minutes of this game, Fenway outscored the Rams, 42-2!
A little math tells me that Shawsheen outscored the Panthers, 43-29, in the other minutes.

Jaqualah Holliman gets in for two

Fenway will face either #1 seed Whittier or Mystic Valley in the D4 North finals on Friday. Whittier coach Kevin Bradley was in the house and I suspect that Mystic Valley was on hand to get a preview also. Two things they had better be prepared for: Tajaynay and turnovers.

Freshman Takora McIntyre had thirteen points for Fenway. She was also a big part of the Fenway pressure.

The Fenway pressure seemed at its best on the second pass. Shawsheen could enter the ball but when the double-team came at them they either dribbled or passed into a turnover.

Small/quiet crowd at Malden High School for a semi-final game, I thought. It went library quiet on some of the free throws.

The Fenway record (13-7) would be 17-3 if not for the forfeiting of four games (according to a story in the Lowell Sun) because of using JV players in varsity games for too long, violating MIAA rules. In the case of Fenway, I suspect that the JV players were being used because the score was so lopsided in Fenway’s favor. But rules are rules!

Fenway Boxscore

Shawsheen Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Stephanie Champoux gets fouled

ball on the floor

Takora McIntyre (13 points)

Jalissa Ross and Stephanie Champoux

Emily Irwin gets two

rebound battle

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Filed under Fenway, Shawsheen

Tagged as Ari Medeiros, Emily Irwin, Stephanie Champoux, Tajaynay Veiga, Takora McIntyre

March 4, 2013 · 1:01 am

Brewster Academy defeats St. Thomas More School 77-75 in overtime to win NEPSAC Class AAA title

Brewster Academy – NEPSAC Class AAA 2012-13 champs

(Beverly) This one stretched the legal limits for excitement. Ask anyone watching at packed Endicott College on Sunday afternoon.

Brewster Academy rallied in overtime and defeated St. Thomas More School, 77-75, to win the NEPSAC Class AAA championship.

#1 seed St. Thomas dominated the first half leading, 36-28, after twenty minutes. It only took #3 seed Brewster 3 ½ minutes of second half action to catch the Chancellors, 37-37, on a Chris McCullough jam.

During the rest of the second half, there were eight lead changes and plenty for the fans from both teams to get revved up about. In fact, four of the lead changes were in the last 1 ½ minutes of regulation!

Martez Harrison shoots a second free throw with 2.6 seconds left in regulation

Brewster’s Martez Harrison drew a foul with 2.6 seconds left in regulation and the Bobcats down, 68-67. He made the first and missed the second forcing a five minute overtime.

In OT, STM pushed ahead by three on three occasions (71-68, 73-70, and 75-72 with 1:15 left). But Brewster rallied back each time.

After Chris McCullough drained two free throws, the Bobcats were down by one, 75-74. STM’s next two possessions were turnovers and cost them the championship. In the first one, the Chancellors held the ball for a while and then couldn’t even get a shot getting whistled for a shot-clock violation.

Ron Patterson answered with the shot that won him the MVP trophy afterwards. He drove in from the right and hit a jump shot in the lane to give BA a one-point lead (76-75) with fourteen seconds left.

Plenty of time for TMS to respond but miscue #2 (travel by Amadi Udenyi) messed up that chance.

John Edwards made one-of-two free throws for BA with 3.2 seconds remaining.

Chris Walters fires the last STM shot in overtime

Chris Walters heave at the buzzer was wide right and BA had the championship.

Gabe Levin (20 points) led all scorers. If you’re looking for a quick reason why St. Thomas More lost, Gabe’s foul trouble comes to mind. Gabe picked up his 4th foul with 11 ½ minutes left in regulation and lost minutes there. Then he fouled out at the very end of regulation setting up Martez Harrison’s two free throws. To say that STM could have used 6-7 Gabe in OT is an understatement for sure.

Martez Harrison (13 points) tallied all his points after halftime. He went to the basket twice in the last thirty-five seconds of regulation and came away with a layup on the first and the foul shot that tied the score in regulation in the second.

Jared Terrell (18 points)

Jared Terrell (18 points) was BA’s top scorer followed by Elijah Macon and Martez Harrison with 13 points each.

Guards Duane Notice (19 points) and Marquis Moore (18 points) had only three three’s between them. They got their points on drives in traffic and foul shots.

Brewster had six dunks during the game and plenty of highlight dunks before the game.

The Chancellors missed nine free throws and the Bobcats eight.

St. Thomas was down, 8-6, before putting a 14-1 segment together and getting up, 20-9, with 9:42 left. Duane Notice and Marquis Moore had long ones during this run.

The Chancellor margin increased to, 29-18, with Dylan Haines and Marquis sinking consecutive 3’s.

The Bobcats came all the way back early in the second half and excitement enveloped the attendees the rest of the way.

MVP Ron Patterson (11 points) defended by Dylan Haines

The partisans on both sides were active from beginning to end. Good job by the Endicott staff to keep things from getting out of hand.

Brewster Academy (30-5) is located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. I saw the Bobcats lose to Noah Vonleh and his New Hampton Prep team at BA in December.

St. Thomas More School is in Oakdale, Connecticut. It’s north of New London.

Brewster Boxscore

St. Thomas More Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Martez Harrison

Marquis Moore goes in where shots are blocked

MVP Ron Patterson afterwards

Duane Notice (19 points) gets in for two

water containers exit

Chris McCullough pushes Gabe Levin (20 points)

Marquis Moore (18 points)

St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn

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Filed under Brewster, St. Thomas More

Tagged as Chris McCullough, Coach Jere Quinn, Duane Notice, Elijah Macon, Gabe Levin, Jared Terrell, Marquis Moore, Martez Harrison, Ron Patterson

March 2, 2013 · 10:42 pm

Billerica ousts Masconomet 64-42 in Division 1 North quarterfinals

Joslyn King (14 points) scores from in close

Nicole Femino (17 points) gets down the lane

(Billerica) Billerica won their thirteenth straight home game as they defeated Masconomet, 64-42, in Division 1 North quarterfinals action on Saturday afternoon.

The #2 seed Indians (20-2) move on to the semifinals on Wednesday (7PM) at Woburn HS against the Lexington/Westford winner.

The Chieftains (16-6) struggled to score after a nice (14-12) first quarter. Billerica’s half-court defense caused few turnovers but it did limit where Masco could shoot from (mostly outside) and also limited second shots.

The outcome of this game was still in doubt with two minutes left in the third quarter with Billerica holding a, 40-33, lead. 5 ½ minutes of playing time later, stretching into the final quarter, the outcome mystery had been solved.

Shannon Hayes (12 points)

The Indians rolled up a remarkable sixteen straight unanswered points during those 5 ½ minutes and #7 seed Masco was down and out, 56-33, with 4 ½ minutes to play.

Caroline Gillis started the big run of points with a three and later on Lexie Mattar stuck a jump shot. The rest of it was free throws and what free throw shooting the packed house at BHS saw. The Indians missed their first attempt (Danielle Nickerson) but never missed again in the fifteen attempts covering the rest of the game.

The Indians had eleven free throws in the sixteen-point outburst that decided this game.

The Indians had four players in double figures. Joslyn King (14 points) paced Billerica. The 6-1 senior also had plenty to do with preventing Masco from gaining easy access to close-in shots.

Danielle Nickerson (13), Shannon Hayes (12), and Kayla Leverone (10) were the other Indians in double figures.

Junior Nicole Femino (17 points) led the Masco scorers. Nicole had twelve of those points in the first half. Claudia Marsh closed out her Masco basketball career with eleven points getting nine of them in the first half.

Claudia Marsh (11 points)

The Chieftains had a great start zipping ahead, 8-2, as Claudia tallied a layup and converted a rebound. She had another layup later in the quarter and Masco led, 14-12, when it was over.

The visitors from the Cape Ann League fell behind in the second quarter but a three by Nicole Femino had Masco one possession away (25-24) with two minutes until the half.

Billerica answered with two layups by speedy Shannon Hayes and a three by Kayla Leverone. Meghan Collins hit a free throw to stop the bleeding before halftime but the Indians started the second half with two more baskets (Danielle Nickerson and Joslyn King) and led by eleven (36-25).

The reality of the end of the season sets in for Masconomet

On this day, Masco just could not get the stops needed to give them space to catch up. And then when they were hit with the sixteen point run their season was over.

I had seen both teams lose to Division 3 Pentucket. What the Sachems were able to do was to disrupt both teams into costly turnovers.

In the Billerica/Masconomet game, the solid defense of the Indians and their amazing free throw shooting carried the day.

Masconomet made six-of-seventeen free throws.

Continuing with free throws, I saw Billerica lose at Andover last season to Nicole Boudreau’s team by a point in a game where the Indians missed four free throws in the last 1 ½ minutes of that game. And today they made 15 straight! Go figure.

The Billerica gymnasium was just the right size for the crowd that showed up. BHS Athletic Director Dave Lezenski did a wonderful job of monitoring the behavior of the Indians student section. Several students were informed that their comments should only be directed at the home team.

Billerica Boxscore

Masconomet Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Joslyn King shoots from outside

Danielle Nickerson (13 points)

Meghan Collins defends Brittany Lomanno

Abi Rose

Hannah Kiernan drives right

Kayla Leverone (10 points) dribbles

tight Masco defense

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Tagged as Claudia Marsh, Danielle Nickerson, Joslyn King, Kayla Leverone, Nicole Femino, Shannon Hayes

March 2, 2013 · 12:46 am

Strong second half sends Brighton by Salem 82-61 in Division 2 North quarterfinals

Malik James (25 points) tries to get between two Salem defenders

Chris Dunston (13 points) reached 1000 career points

(Salem) Chris Dunston reached 1000 points but that was the only good news Salem got out of their, 82-61, loss to Brighton in the Division 2 North quarterfinals on Friday night.

The Brighton Bengals (17-6) face the winner of undefeated Melrose versus New Mission. In February, Brighton defeated New Mission to win their first ever Boston city championship.

Very misleading final score. The first half saw seven lead changes, and an eleven-point (28-17) Salem lead early in the second quarter. Brighton was only ahead by three (42-39) at the half.

With that paragraph of information you can now imagine what a disaster the second half was for the Witches. The home team put their trust in the perimeter game and paid for it when serious cold shooting set in.

Nick Simpson (29 points including two dunks and three 3-pointers)

The visitors ran eight straight to start the second half and suddenly after three minutes Salem trailed by double figures (50-39). Nick Simpson (29 points) had an old-fashioned three and a tip in while Daivon Edwards (17 points) drained a three in this surge.

The Witches cut the deficit to six (50-44) and later nine (55-46) with 3 ½ minutes left in the third quarter. A layup by Jamie Dominguez (12 points) and a three and a jump shot by Billy Muse (15 points) provided the offense.

But the Bengals had all the points (six) during the rest of the quarter and they ended up ahead, 61-46. Malik James (25 points) and Nick Simpson had layups and Mark Mojica took a Salem turnover in for two.

The Witches did not have the accurate shooting to respond in the fourth quarter. When Chris Dunston (13 points) went out with his 5th foul with 4 ½ minutes left, Salem was down, 68-54, and now minus their best shooter.

Brighton celebrated the end game with layups and two dunks by junior Nick Simpson.

Salem played a zone defense and Brighton connected nine times from long range. Senior Daivon Edwards had five long ones and Nick Simpson had three.

The Witches had six 3’s including two during their 18-7 segment in the first half when they turned a 4-4 tie into a 28-17 advantage. Seven different players contributed points. It looked like a long night in the making for Brighton.

Marvin Baez (9 points) with Daivon Edwards (17 points) behind him

But the Bengals trio of shot makers turned things their way over the next three minutes by putting a streak of fourteen unanswered points together. Nick had a three, two free throws, and a layup off a Salem miscue. Malik canned a jumper and a layup down the lane. Daivon connected on one of his five 3’s. This collect of Brighton scoring gave them a 31-28 lead. They would still have that three-point lead (42-39) at halftime.

Brighton and Salem barely escaped their first round games.

This is Brighton coach Hugh Coleman’s fourth season with Brighton. His up-to-date record at BHS is 71-22.

They only used seating on one side of the Salem gymnasium.

Both teams had tremendous quickness.

Malik James hears it

Junior Malik James has a next-level game already. His dribbling, shooting, and defending are special. What does he need to work on? Ignoring the crowd. No question the boisterous Salem crowd gave him plenty to listen to.

Somewhere along the line Chris Dunston got his 1000th point. That info was announced several minutes after the talented senior had fouled out.

Brighton boxscore

Salem boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

cheerleader toss

David Kazadi tries to block the shot of Nick Simpson

Malik James defends

Brighton coach Hugh Coleman

Second Nick Simpson jam

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Tagged as Billy Muse, Chris Dunston, Coach Hugh Coleman, Daivon Edwards, Malik James, Nick Simpson

March 1, 2013 · 12:17 am

North Andover gets convincing 61-41 win over Boston Latin Academy in the First Round of D2 North

Isaiah Nelson (22 points) gets past DeVaughn Riley

Derek Collins (10 points) floats to the rim

(North Andover) #2 seed North Andover looked awfully good as they defeated Boston Latin Academy, 61-41, in the First Round of Division 2 North on Thursday night.

The Scarlet Knights will host Concord-Carlisle on Saturday at 4PM.

#15 seed Latin Academy (10-10) trailed by only three (21-18) a minute into the second period.

The Knights, however, settled the outcome of the game in the next 8 ½ minutes, stretching into the third period, by putting a, 16-3, segment together.

That collection of productive offense put NA ahead, 37-21, early in the third period. The Knights lead would expand to 44-25 midway through the third quarter and they coasted in from there.

Edwin Porro (15 points)

The undersized Dragons spent most of the night on the perimeter with an occasional one-on-one drive to the hoop. What killed the visitors from Boston was connecting only once (Edwin Porro) from long range. I’m guessing they attempted close to twenty long ones.

Down the other end, North Andover (17-4) ran organized offense and turned up high percentage shots all game long. 6-6 Isaiah Nelson (22 points) and 6-5 Chris Bardwell (14 points) feasted in close against a team whose tallest player (Alex Guerrier) was 6-2.

During the decisive 16-3 run, Isaiah had three layups and a converted rebound, Chris spun loose twice in close for layups, and Derek Collins (10 points) hit jump shots off the foul line.

When a good team like North Andover is allowed to have a nightful of high percentage shots by its key players, the other team is in trouble.

Edwin Porro had eight of his fifteen points in the first nine minutes and enabled the Dragons to only trail by three early in the second quarter.

Thereafter, the Boston City League team went cold from the outside and their deficit increased by the minute because of their defensive struggles.

Brendan Miller (10 points) shoots from the corner as BLA coach Dan Bunker watches

It intrigued me to watch Latin Academy position their players around the 3-point line and never flash anyone in from the weak-side. They were content to fire three’s or try and drive past their defender to the basket. Offensive rebounds were scarce out of such an offensive strategy. They needed to make three’s and were unable to in this game.

The lack of consistent scoring kept the Dragons from applying well-organized full-court pressure. The Knights had only six turnovers (by my count) during the first three quarters.

Edwin Porro, Rayshawn Miller, and DeVaughn Riley were Boston City League All-Stars last season.

Latin Academy lost the services of DeVaughn Riley with five minutes left in the 2nd quarter when he picked up his third foul and was benched. DeVaughn missed part of the season with a football injury.

Isaiah Nelson in close guarded by Fritz Jolivain

Isaiah Nelson collected eleven points in the third quarter including a three. He will be attending St. Anselm’s next season.

Brendan Miller (10 points) had six in the first quarter.

Latin Academy was 6-12 last year. North Andover was 21-2.

North Andover’s four losses this season were to: Andover (twice), Westford Academy, and Central Catholic. The Knights won’t be facing any of those Division 1 teams in the tournament.

I was very impressed with the NA pep band. They did a nice job on the National Anthem. They also kept playing long after the game ended………..they just enjoyed playing!

North Andover boxscore

Boston Latin Academy boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)