Tag Archives: James Gomes

February 7, 2011 · 10:00 pm

Shooting Woes Doom Governor’s Versus Rivers 64-57

Plenty of excitement in the last minute of the Governor’s/Rivers game.

James Gomes defends Kyle Reardon.

(Byfield) Governor’s Academy shot poorly and lost to Rivers School (Weston), 64-57, on Monday night in ISL action.

The final seven-point margin suggests a close game but a lot of that “closeness” was a result of Rivers’ coach Andrew Mirken pulling all of his starters at once with a 61-42 lead with 1 ½ minutes left.

Let’s just say that there was a significant dropoff in playing ability and the Gov starters swarmed the newbies relentlessly wracking up fifteen points in the frenzy that was the end of the game. However, that nineteen point margin was more than they could overcome.

The Govs (5-8) started hot (making four of their first five shots) and led 9-4 early. After that, the looks were there but the consistent accuracy wasn’t.

That poor shooting led to a couple of ten-point runs by the Red Wings.

Frank Barba (14 points) and Nick Lund (13 points)

The first run featured a two-handed dunk by Nick Lund on an inbounds play and ended with the Red Wings leading, 20-13, with 7 ½ to play.

The second run had Kyle Reardon nailing his third 3 of the half and dart-like Carlin Haymon drawing six free throws.

Rivers (9-7) led at the half, 35-21.

Playing at home, the Govs started fast (again) in the second half with the first eight points to close to 35-29. A steal and layin by Carlin Haymon ended the run but the Govs were still around 39-35 with ten minutes left.

A Rivers timeout was followed by a 9-1 Red Wing stretch over two minutes. Kyle Reardon had two more 3’s in this segment which put Rivers in front, 48-36, with 7:50 to go.

That cold shooting I referenced before kicked in big-time over the next six minutes. The Govs could manage just two free throws and two layups while Rivers built their lead to a seemingly comfortable, 61-42, before the end game scramble began.

Freshman Carlin Haymon – Drew fouls and scored 17 points.

Freshman Carlin Haymon and junior Kyle Reardon led all scorers with seventeen each. Carlin slashed against any defense he saw while Kyle shot over any defense he saw.

Junior Nick Lund ended with thirteen points, several blocks, and plenty of rebounds. I’m guessing that the junior is at least 6’7”. He earned plenty of attention from the Gov’s defense. I did get a shot of one of his pregame dunks.

James Gomes topped the Gov’s with fifteen followed by Frank Barba (14) and Stephen Basden (12).

Last time at GA I saw them lose to Lawrence Academy getting few good looks and very few second chances. Not so against Rivers. GA had sixteen more shots than Rivers did. However, they ended up missing 41 shots from the outside (22-for-63) and 10 from the foul line (10-for-20). Their usually effective long-range game slumped to 2-for-12.

The game was not without its adventures.
(1)It didn’t start on time (5:15PM). I figured that out when the Rivers bus arrived when I did at 4:55PM.
(2)The 35-second clock wasn’t working so attempts were made to fix the clock before hand to no avail. So a system was set up so that the referees would be alerted to when the time was getting close. All that planning was unnecessary as there never was a situation where the 35-second clock would have been a factor.
(3)Rivers had a player who wasn’t listed in the scorebook. It might not have made a difference except he got called for a foul. That recognition earned Rivers a technical and added to the excitement in the end game scramble I described earlier.

Lawrence Academy Beats Governor’s Academy 71-47 With a Strong Second Half

Colin Smith (#30) feels some of the tight Lawrence Academy second half defense.

(Byfield) A rousing second half by the visiting Lawrence Academy Spartans sent them past Governor’s Academy, 71-47, on Monday evening.

LA (5-6) had an 18-2 run over six minutes late in the second half and turned a competitive game (53-41) into a blowout (71-43) with 2:15 left. GA (3-4) scored the last four points of the game but this one, by then, was in the bag for the Spartans.

The last time I saw Lawrence Academy was on March 7th at Endicott College when they, led by Shabazz Napier (now at Uconn), completed a 29-0 season with a win over St. Mark’s in the Class C New England championships. I learned before today’s game that the stars from that team had moved on.

In this game, the visitors from Groton allowed GA to hang around in the first half (38-32) by being long-range happy (fifteen 3-point attempts). The Spartans had the slashers and inside presence to do better and they did in the second half. Their inside game earned them a steady flow of high percentage shots or free throws. On the other end, the Spartans forced GA into low percentage shots and dominated the boards.

GA had no more easy shots after halftime warm-ups. They were defensed into a lot of one-and-done’s and were a dismal 6-for-35 on shots attempted (17%) in the second half.

In thirty-four second half possessions the home team had only five second chances. LA was obviously great on the glass.

James Gomes of Governor’s Academy

Senior James Gomes paced the Govs, as he usually does, with eighteen points. It is no mystery that he is their main scoring threat. The 5-11 senior creates his own offense. He appeared to have some sort of thigh problem in the second half. He was the only Gov to reach double figures.

The Spartans were led by Johnnie Vassar and Clay Horne. Both had fifteen points. Johnnie was a fearless slasher despite his guard size. Clay was a finisher near the basket.

Clay Horne – two straight dunks in the second half

Clay had consecutive highlight dunks late in the second half. The first was a one-stepper when a teammate penetrating found him alone in close. The second was a putback on a missed shot. I had my camera. If I’d only known!

The Spartans also had double digit scoring from Marcus Grant (12) and Dan Giovacchini (11).

This game was a far cry from the no-students, Hebron game I last saw at Governor‘s. Plenty of students around this time.

On-the-scene tidbits: Before the game started a GA authority figure moved a collection of male students from behind the Lawrence bench probably to prevent some unkind verbal exchanges. Later a collection of female GA students sat behind the Lawrence bench and, doing my eavesdropping best, I heard that one of the Gov players had lost his girlfriend!

(I keep my own stats and take my own pictures. I avoid interviewing participants. All conclusions and statistics are subject to unintentional error as a result on my part.)

Governor’s Academy Buries Visiting Hebron Academy 85-27

James Gomes paced Governor’s Academy with twenty points.

(Byfield) Governor’s Academy beat the daylights out of Hebron Academy, 85-27, at GA on Friday afternoon in a non-league game.

The Govs (2-2) had way too much firepower on both ends of the court for the visitors from Paris, Maine.

The Govs’ defense was solid all game. Here sophomore Colin Smith (Ipswich MA) prevents Hebron’s Jerimee Moses from getting the ball.

The Lumberjacks (2-2) committed 34 turnovers, many of which led to breakaway layups for the speedy Govs.

On the other end, the Govs had second chance opportunities galore. They ended up with 41 more shots than Hebron did.

The Govs ran points together often. In the first half, Stephen Basden (Lynn MA) got them off to a 7-3 start. The next four minutes GA went on a 12-2 run as James Gomes (South Dennis MA) led with a three and a layup to give GA a 19-5 lead.

Things worsened for Hebron when freshman Kameron Nobles (Roxbury MA) tallied thirteen of GA’s nineteen straight in a run that stretched into the second half. That made it 52-18.

For Hebron, the longer this game went the more they probably wished they’d jumped into the bus at halftime!

With 13 minutes to go, a free throw by Hebron’s Jerimee Moses set the score at 57-25. Jerimee didn’t score again until there was a minute left. In the meantime GA collected an amazing 28 straight. Governor’s coach Mike Williams kept reminding his players to use the clock but he couldn’t slow the barrage much.

Jerimee Moses held off by Grant O’Brien (North Andover MA).

Jerimee earned some tight defense with his ability to get to the rim. He ended up with 16 points anyhow.

The Govs had five players in double figures and plenty of playing-time minutes spread around their roster.

GA feasted on the many layups their defense and quickness opened up for them. The long shot wasn’t there (3/17) and their free throw shooting (6/16) could haunt them in a future close game.

Hebron had only three players score. Besides Jerimee’s sixteen, Levi Lincoln had nine, and Christian Gumbs added two.

(I collect my own stats. Take my own pictures. The commentary is my own opinion. Any miscues are unintentional.)