Tag Archives: Cam MacRae

February 17, 2017 · 11:40 pm

Newburyport stuns Lynnfield 67-55

Billy Arseneault (16 points) tries to get past Cam MacRae (14 points)

Casey McLaren (18 points) eyes the hoop

(Newburyport MA) Newburyport turned in an impressive win on Senior Night as they took down Lynnfield, 67-55.

The Pioneers (15-2) had a twelve-game winning streak snapped.

The Clippers (14-3) took the lead in the first two minutes and never gave it back.

The Pioneers went down by thirteen (34-21) three minutes into the second half but battled back to within three points (39-36) in the final two minutes of the third quarter.

Nick Rogers (18 points) ends the third quarter with a three. (Ball is above the scoreboard)

Nick Rogers (18 points) pushed the NHS lead back to nine (47-38) with a pair of three’s.

Cam MacRae and Zack Shone (14 points)

Later, Cam MacRae (14 points) strung five points in a row to boost the advantage to double digits (57-44) with 3:35 to go and sealed Lynnfield’s fate.

Lynnfield hadn’t lost since December (non-league Melrose) but were in trouble early versus Newburyport because top scorer Louis Ellis was a foul magnet. Two minutes into this game he had two fouls. LHS coach Scott McKenzie had to bench him for the rest of the quarter. Two minutes into the second quarter Louis picked up his third foul. Again, he was benched for the rest of the quarter.

Did it affect Lynnfield? For sure! The Pioneers tallied just eighteen points TOTAL in the first half. Louis played only four of the sixteen minutes.

Over a year ago, in the MIAA tournament, Louis collected a career-high thirty-four points against Newburyport to help oust the Clippers from the post-season.

What I’m trying to tell you is that when Louis Ellis is on the bench for twelve minutes of the sixteen-minute first half, and then is held to two points in the second half, Lynnfield is in trouble.

Brendan Powers gets off a shot in the lane

Credit Newburyport for much of the Lynnfield trouble. They constantly took the ball to the basket.

After halftime, Louis Ellis was back on the court but another starter, Dan Jameson, wasn’t. He was sick.

And then there was the Lynnfield foul shooting. A very unfortunate six-for-eighteen. I swear that I saw the Pioneers’ terrific point guard (Billy Arseneault) put a free throw in off the backboard. Things didn’t make sense for Lynnfield on this night.

Again, credit Newburyport for taking advantage despite a dreadful first half shooting-wise of their own. Casey McLaren ended up with eighteen points but fourteen of them came in the second half after an apparent lid was removed that gave him trouble in the first half.

Casey McLaren (18 points) takes the last shot of the first half

Despite tough shooting the Clippers had a 23-15 halftime lead.

Consecutive three’s starting the second half, by Casey McLaren and Nick Rogers from in front of the NHS bench, put the visitors down by eleven (29-18).

The best moments for Lynnfield were in an 11-2 run later in the 3^rd quarter that included several spin moves down the lane by Billy Arseneault (16 points). That collection of good offense narrowed the NHS advantage to three (39-36) with plenty of game left.

Nick Rogers ended that third quarter with a three and added another one (he had four in the game) early in the final quarter. LHS fell back away from one-possession territory and never got that close again.

Lynnfield had defeated Newburyport 67-48 on December 23^rd. The Pioneers raced off to a 20-5 first quarter lead. Billy Arseneault had twenty points in that game.

Newburyport made seven of its eight triples in the second half.

Good crowd with many there to honor the Clippers seven seniors.

Luis Ellis - Long night for a talented player

Louis Ellis – Long night for a talented player

Both teams used zones and man-to-man’s.

There were plenty of drives to the basket and attempted three’s.

Newburyport has now won fourteen of the last fifteen games.

In contrast to the Pioneers’ weak free throw shooting, Newburyport cashed thirteen of sixteen FT attempts.

Both teams are in Division 3. No doubt both teams will have home games in the MIAA tournament. There is also the possibility that they will meet for the 3^rd time this season in the tourney.

Lynnfield box

Newburyport box

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

Robbie Shay

Louis Ellis

Dan Jameson tries to shoot over Casey McLaren

Nick Roger’s step-back three gives Newburyport a 37-25 lead

Newburyport was thirteen for sixteen from the foul line

Zack Shone (14 points)

Bryant Dana in the lane

Tussle on the floor

Second half eruption sends Newburyport past Triton 83-68

Triton’s Jack McCarthy shoots a free throw facing the active Newburyport student section

Brendan Powers (guarded by Liam Spillane) had an 18-point third quarter

(Newburyport MA) You knew going in that something had to give. It would either be Triton’s perfect road record (6-0) or Newburyport’s lengthy win streak (eleven).

Turned out it was Triton’s road record that took a hit as Newburyport erupted in the second half to down the Vikings, 83-68, on Friday night before a full house.

The Newburyport (12-2) winning streak now reaches twelve. They have not lost a game in 2017.

Who saw the amazing Clippers second half coming? Not anyone crowded into the NHS gym in the first half. Newburyport averages 65 points per game and they had twenty-six in the first half. A little more offense and the Clippers would reach their game scoring average in the second half.

But what we saw was a point-adding barrage by Newburyport. Twenty-nine in the 3^rd. Twenty-eight in the 4^th. That’s NBA level!

Will Parsons in the lane with Casey McLaren

It is fair to say that in a normal high school game a team could well have one big quarter. Two quarters like that…..not so likely.

For those who haven’t seen Newburyport, and this was my first look, they can score in a hurry. Looking for some long-range offense? The Clippers made thirteen 3’s. Want some layups? The Clippers spread the floor and penetrated off the dribble often.

The most noticeable thing about Newburyport, in my opinion, was their ability to break after baskets and long rebounds. They caught Triton (10-5) frequently this way.

At the money end of many of the breakouts was Brendan Powers (22 points). You talk about going wild in a quarter: Brendan had eighteen points in just the third quarter.

Triton did not go quietly in this one. Will Parsons (27 points) and Jack McCarthy (20 points) wouldn’t let it happen.

Jack McCarthy drives baseline

The Vikings were still standing after the Clippers 29-point 3^rd quarter because they had nineteen points of their own.

In fact, three minutes into the final quarter, the visitors only trailed by four (60-56) after a Will Parsons triple.

The Clippers had put ten unanswered together in the 3^rd quarter. With a four-point lead in the final quarter they created a second run of the same size. There was no recovery for the Vikings this time.

The decisive run of ten points included an arc-three by Casey McLaren (14 points), an old-fashioned three by Nick Rogers (17 points), and layups by Cam MacRae (12 points) and Robbie Shay (16 points). That run took just under two minutes to put together.

Now down, 70-56, Triton did not have the time or energy to cut into the lead the rest of the way.

Terrific crowd. Plenty of support for both teams. I am a fan of chanting as long as it doesn’t get personal. The Triton side was quick to reference football while those on the NHS end referenced the scoreboard. Good clean fun, I thought.

Nick Rogers and Chris Trotta

The moment in this game that made me laugh was in the final two minutes and Newburyport in command with a 75-64 spread. There had been a timeout and I’m sure that NHS coach Tom L’Italien stressed taking time off the clock. Ten seconds into the next possession Nick Rogers, who had made a three just thirty seconds earlier, could not resist launching a three from in front of the NHS bench. On this night, Nick hit that shot (his 4^th three of the game) and that left Coach L’Italien with his hands on his head wondering why the shot was even taken.

The Clippers lost to Lynnfield, 67-48, at LHS in December. The rematch will be in two weeks. The Pioneers are undefeated in the Cape Ann League.

Both Triton and Newburyport are in Division 3 and have qualified for the post-season tournament.

Colin Brennan (11 points) and Liam Spillane (10 points) reached double figures for Triton.

Newburyport box

Triton box

(All pictures will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

End of game

Nick Rogers

Robbie Shay blocks Liam Spillane

Cam MacRae

Brendan Powers gets two of his eighteen third quarter points

Colin Brennan

George Coryell defends Dylan Shute

Colin Brennan looks to get away from Robbie Shay

Jack McCarthy (21) tries to get a shot off against Casey McLaren

George Coryell

Will Parsons launches a three

Danny Baribeault (42 points) takes Newburyport past Pentucket 71-59

Danny Baribeault (42 points) had a night of high-percentage shots like this one.

Danny Baribeault among four Sachems

(Haverhill MA) Newburyport outscored Pentucket 15-3 over the final six minutes to break a tie and go on to a 71-59 win in Round 1 of the D3 North at Whittier on Tuesday night.

And then there was Danny. Senior Danny Baribeault, that is. Forty-two points in as smooth a performance as you’ll see in such a big scoring night.

Only two three-point shots in Danny’s night. No need for low-percentage three-pointers when the inside had openings galore. Five times Danny was able to score off of offensive rebounds.

Danny Baribeault looks for two

I knew Danny was accumulating points but what distracted me from noticing his totals was that undersized Pentucket was very much in this one until the final six minutes.

There were six lead changes and six ties before things went south at the end for the team from West Newbury.

The Sachems (9-10) hadn’t played in nineteen days but there certainly wasn’t any evidence of it in the early going. Pentucket put eleven unanswered points together (a three by Jimmy Cleary included) and were ahead 16-4 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

It took an 11-2 run in the second period for the Clippers (11-10) to get all the way back, 25-25, with 2:24 left until halftime.

Robbie Shays had a three in that sequence and Cam MacRae made a marvelous save of a ball going out of bounds (right in front of me) and set up teammate Brendan Powers for the tying score.

Jacob Dickson’s trey at the buzzer gave Pentucket a 32-27 advantage.

Jimmy Cleary in the corner

The Sachems only lost a point off their lead in the third quarter despite Danny Baribeault’s remarkable seventeen points. Danny put eight of those scores in a package to send NHS ahead, 39-35, but later Pentucket answered with nine in a row (another three from Jimmy Cleary in the mix) to lead 48-43. The quarter ended, 50-46.

The outcome was still very much in doubt into the final period. The Sachems, however, had players in foul trouble. Those are the players who hurt you on defense and on this night Danny Baribeault saw plenty of openings.

Conor O’Neil’s three knotted things at 56-56. But right after that came a layup by Danny (on a nice feed from Cam MacRae), two free throws by Robbie Shay, and a drive by Cam MacRae. This small run gave Newburyport separation (62-56) with four minutes left. Pentucket needed the long-range fix but in the end game dialing long-distance got no answers. All three of the Sachems’ points in the final four minutes were from the foul line.

Conor O’Neil

Junior Conor O’Neil (18 points), and Nate McGrail (10 points) paced the Sachems.

Robbie Shay had thirteen points including seven in the final quarter. Cam MacRae added ten points.

Newburyport moves on to face Cape Ann League opponent Lynnfield on Friday night (7PM) at Lynnfield. The Clippers lost twice to the Pioneers during the regular season.

Plenty of support on hand for both teams.

Pentucket reached the D3 state semifinals at the Garden last year. The Sachems were wiped out by graduation and the transfer of Pat Friermuth but scrapped and scrambled their way to enough wins to qualify for the tournament this year.

One things that didn’t impress me about Pentucket was their free throw shooting. In the OT win over Newburyport to start the season they made only 9 of 29 attempts. Tonight it was 12-for-23.

In Newburyport’s win over Pentucket (48-32) freshman Casey McLaren had twenty-seven. This time around Casey had only two but teammate Danny made up plenty of slack with his 42 points.

After six turnovers in a tough first quarter the Clippers had only four miscues the rest of the way.