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January 28, 2014 · 12:25 am

Triton wins tight one 53-52 over Amesbury

Cam Armand (16 points) had four long ones

(Byfield MA) No one person loses a team game but you’d probably have trouble convincing Amesbury’s Pat Scanlon.

Pat had a great chance at a game winner in the last second of the Indians’ 53-52 loss to Triton on Monday night in Cape Ann League action. His shot rimmed out and the Vikings survived to put to rest a six-game losing streak.

For Amesbury (2-9) the string of losses reaches eight.

This figured to be a tight game with both teams looking for their first victory in 2014 and seeing this matchup as one they could win. It turned out to be a tense contest to say the least especially in the last minute.

Ryan Foley set up Pat Scanlon for a basket in the lane with a remarkable behind-the-back pass to pull Amesbury to within one (53-52) with thirty-nine seconds left.

Brad Whitman hit two free throws with a minute left

Triton (4-8) then turned the ball over (Ryan Foley steal) with twenty-five seconds to go. Plenty of time for Amesbury. The Indians, in fact had the ball the rest of the way. Shots in heavy traffic by Jack Fortin and Ryan Foley failed to connect. Then the inbounds play from Fred Halloran to Pat Scanlon failed to get the points needed as the game ended. Close, so very close!

The Vikings relied heavily on the 3-pointer and connected eleven times. Cam Armand and Corey Parsons both cashed in four times from long range. Nick Venora had two and Brad Whitman one.

Amesbury chose to get to the basket as often as possible. Pat Halloran (14 points) and Ryan Foley (10 points) made several successful drives with defenders all over them.

Pat Halloran (14 points) floats in the lane

The Indians ran eleven unanswered points in the first quarter to take an 11-3 lead with 3+ minutes left. The Vikings, playing in front of a vocal support group, recovered in the second quarter putting eight straight together to pull in front, 24-22, four minutes before halftime.

There were six lead changes in the exciting second half and neither team led by more than four points.

Amesbury missed three field goal attempts in the last twenty-five seconds but probably even bigger misses were the three front end’s of one-and-one’s by Fred Halloran, Pat Halloran, and Pat Scanlon earlier in that final quarter. Meanwhile, Brad Whitman made both of his free throws with a minute left. Brad’s second made free throw turned out to be the game winner.

Triton would have cringed at their final forty seconds if this game had been lost. Up by a point, they just did not take good care of the ball. If they had they probably would have been fouled and could have added to their lead. Their turnover gave Amesbury a golden chance.

Corey Parson (14 points including four long ones)

Another Vikings lapse was in Amesbury’s last possession as their defensive breakdown on the inbounds play almost gave away the game-winner to the Indians.

But it was all these near-misses and up-and-down action that made this a terrific game to watch.

And while I think of it, when a team loses by a point you have to go back to what happened to the Indians at the start of the second half. Amesbury was very late getting back after halftime. They never warmed up and came onto the floor not even knowing which end they were defending. As the Indians settled into the wrong end defensively, Triton’s Kevin Clark was left alone to dribble in for an uncontested layup to start the half. Those two points turned out to be huge.

Cam Armand (16 points) and Corey Parsons (14 points) led the Triton scorers.

Jack Fortin had two three’s for Amesbury.

Triton’s next game is Wednesday (6:30PM) hosting Rockport.

Amesbury will travel to North Reading for a 7PM game.

Amesbury box

Triton box

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

rebound battle

Triton cheerleaders exceed legal limit in fun

Ryan Foley (10 points) drives on Kevin Clark

Coaches Dave Clay and Tom Comeau

Pat Halloran and Jake Gilbert

Late points by Petey Morton send Manchester-Essex past Triton 57-53

Khalil Brito blocks a layup attempt by Petey Morton

Petey Morton (17 points) had a basket and two free throws in the last three seconds.

(Byfield MA) Petey Morton (17 points) tallied four points in the last three seconds to lead Manchester-Essex past Triton, 57-53, on Friday night in Cape Ann League play.

The Hornets (8-2) had, what looked like, a comfortable ten-point lead (53-43) with three minutes left in the game. But uncomfortable it became as the Vikings started with 3’s (Corey Parsons and Kevin Clark), added two free throws (Kevin Clark) and then had Corey Parsons convert an ME turnover into a layup. When all that excitement ended the game was tied, 53-53, with ten seconds left.

No timeout by the Hornets. Instead senior Petey Morton took the inbounds pass and raced down the floor and connected on an open floater in the lane with three seconds left to put ME up by two.

Triton had time to recover but after a timeout a pass from Khalil Brito, intended for Nick Venor, went out of bounds. ME inbounded the ball to Petey Morton. He was fouled and ended the game with two successful free throws.

This was a tough, fourth-straight loss for Triton (3-6) in a game in which they had a 10-point lead in the first half and also rallied back from a 10-point deficit in the final quarter.

Ellsworth Rogers in a double team

The Vikings Ellsworth Rogers went down with an ankle injury two minutes into the third quarter after a layup and never returned. Some on the Triton side thought that Ellsworth had been tripped but there was no foul called on the play.

Triton built up a 10-point lead (25-15) three minutes into the second quarter. Craig Carter, Sean Gutierrez, and Petey Morton, however, helped ME get back to within four (30-26) by halftime.

Will Burgess (11 points) had a nine-point third quarter to push ME in front, 43-40, by the time that quarter ended.

Khalil Brito of Triton started the scoring in the final quarter with a three to tie the score. After that was a ten-point run by Manchester-Essex (five points from Jeff Durkin, three free throws Sean Gutierrez, jump shot Petey Morton).

But that 10-point spread vanished as the Triton crowd exploded after defensive stops and made shots. And when Sean Gutierrez lost the ball to Corey Parsons for a tying layup, there was no question which side had the momentum.

Petey Morton saw plenty of defense most of the night

But somehow Petey Morton was able to dribble into open space over halfcourt and get an open look at the foul line to hit the game winner.

Petey was obviously not unknown to Triton. The senior is ME’s primary ball-handler. He was pressed hard by Kevin Clark and Khalil Brito most of the time. That’s why the open space Petey found at the end was so surprising.

ME switched from a man-to-man into a 1-3-1 trapping zone to start the second half. Triton turned the ball over four straight times trying to operate against it.

Triton played a tight man-to-man throughout the game. That defense created eleven ME miscues in the first half.

Neither Petey Morton or Sean Gutierrez (15 points) were in the game for the first four minutes of the first quarter.

Kevin Clark (10 points) sets to shoot

Kevin Clark had a buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter. Petey Morton had one of those to end the third quarter.

The Hornets have won five of their last six. Their next game is home on Monday versus Pentucket.

The Vikings will look to end their losing streak at Georgetown on Monday.

Triton was 9-11 last year while Manchester-Essex was 13-8.

Two of the CAL’s most vocal/intense coaches involved in this one. No signs of laryngitis from either Triton’s David Clay or ME’s Bryan Shields, however.

My scorebox from the game.

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