Tag Archives: Max McKenzie

January 15, 2019 · 11:46 pm

Amebury catches Triton and wins 61-58 in overtime

Max McKenzie contested by Blake Bennett

Luke Martin (5) had eighteen points after the first half.

(Amesbury MA) Luke Martin was part of Amesbury’s problem in the first half.

The second half? He was a big part of the solution.

Amesbury rallied after a half of subpar defense/offense to reach overtime with Triton and then dominated overtime to scratch out a, 61-58, win on Tuesday night.

“We played a zone early and Triton made a bunch of three’s,” said Coach Tom Comeau afterwards.

The solution? Change to a man-to-man and apply ¾ court pressure after baskets.

“That pressure had an effect,” said Triton coach Ted Schruender. “We had chances to score and didn’t.”

TJ Overbaugh (12 points) had three 3’s in the first quarter

The Indians (3-5) trailed by fourteen (31-17) at the half and the way Triton was shooting made you think that the lead might get bigger in the second half.

“I challenged the team at halftime to play better and protect the homecourt,” said Coach Comeau. It worked for certain.

But the Vikings (5-6) didn’t go away despite the improved play of the home team.

However, the Triton lead started to shrink in the second half and when Jimmy Gjikopulli hit a runner in the lane with two minutes left in regulation, Amesbury was ahead for the first time, 48-47.

Those expecting Triton to now quit were disappointed. Led by Max McKenzie (22 points), Triton regained the lead, 52-48 with thirty-six seconds left.

Enter Luke Martin. Actually, Luke had already entered (finally) in the second half and had accumulated ten points in Amesbury’s second half revival.

Luke Martin from the corner over Max McKenzie

But now down four with time running out, Luke nailed his third triple of the second half to get AHS within one. Triton’s Kyle Odoy followed with one-of-two free throws. Junior Jimmy Gjikoupulli finished the Amesbury comeback with a layup just before the buzzer sounded and the game reached overtime – 53-53.

Amesbury continued their defensive pressure in the four-minute overtime and Triton struggled against it. The Vikings had three turnovers to show for the first two minutes.

Meanwhile the Indians had a fallaway from Jaden Keliher and two free throws from Luke Martin. Then it was Luke again with 1:51 left hitting a large three. AHS now had a seven-point lead (60-53).

Credit Triton. Game over? Not by the way they answered. Max McKenzie went to the hoop twice getting layups, and on the second one he was fouled. Max made the shot and now Triton was within two (60-58) with forty seconds left.

Max McKenzie guarded by Ethan Catania

Plenty of time. Amesbury opted to use as much clock as possible before shooting. Jaden Keliher took the shot, missed, and it looked as if Triton might have fifteen seconds to get an ending they liked.

Looking for a hero for Amesbury? It was Kyle Donovan getting the offensive rebound off Jaden’s miss. That extended the possession and Triton was forced to foul. Jimmy Gjikopulli made one-of-two to give the Indians a 3-point lead. Triton struggled on their final possession and were unable to get off a three to possibly tie the game. Amesbury had an exciting 61-58 victory.

Luke Martin: “We got things going in the second half. We heated up. Even after I missed a few I had to keep shooting. It was a good idea by Coach to put pressure on them because they didn’t handle it too well.”

Camden Keliher (16 points) puts up a floater in the lane

Coach Schruender: “It was a good competitive game that we let get away from us. It’s a learning experience. We’ll work on things and make it better.”

TJ Overbaugh of Triton made four three’s including three in the Vikings breakaway first period.

Triton defeated Amesbury 42-41 in December. Neither Nick Everett nor Luke Martin played for Amesbury in that one. TJ did and he made three triples.

Triton ended up with twenty turnovers (by my count) while Amesbury had only ten.

Luke Martin (18), Camden Keliher (16), and Jimmy Gjikopulli (13) reached double figures for Amesbury.

Max McKenzie (22) led all scorers.

Amesbury box

Triton box

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

Max McKenzie (22 points) to the rim

Blake Bennett

Jaden Keliher (15) guarded by Quintin McHale (14)

Kyle Odoy (15) between Oliver Hogg (14) and Kyle Donovan (20)

Kyle Odoy free throw

Luke Martin (5) on the move defended by Kyle Odoy (15)

Luke Martin shoots a free throw

Pentucket still undefeated after 60-45 win over Triton

Gus Flaherty tries to control a loose ball with Max McKenzie in pursuit

Nick Doring (20) in the air looking for someone to pass to

(West Newbury MA) The wait for the first loss continues.

Pentucket (9-0) had a big first half and continued with their winning ways defeating Triton, 60-45, on Friday night in Cape Ann League action.

The Sachems are one of only two Division 3 North teams to still carry an unblemished record. The other is St. Mary’s (Lynn).

“We’ve had good team play at both ends of the court,” was how Pentucket coach Ed Hickey explained the Sachems terrific start.

I saw what he was talking about tonight against the Vikings. The Sachems played an active zone that gave Triton few open looks, especially in close. On the other end, against the Triton zone, Pentucket was patient and willing to pass the ball until a good shot showed up. Call them unselfish.

Sam Stys breaks in

Junior Jake Etter led Pentucket with seventeen points, collecting thirteen of them in the breakaway first half.

Senior Spencer Pacy had 16 points including four straight free throws in the 4^th quarter when Triton had cut their deficit inside of double digits.

“Tonight’s game wasn’t as pretty as we wanted it to be,” said senior Gus Flaherty afterwards, “because Triton is a good team.”

The Sachems have been winning by large margins so far this season. “We needed a competitive game because we will be in those kinds of games in the future,” explained Gus.

The Vikings (5-5) were looking at a 50-30 deficit 1 ½ minutes into the final quarter. But then, sparked by junior Michael Farago, the visitors put good defense and point-producing offense together and made things interesting.

Rejected

The result was a 12-1 run tightening things to 51-42 with 3 ½ minutes left. Pentucket coach Ed Hickey saw where things were headed and called a timeout.

Out of that timeout it was the home team’s turn to shine at both ends of the court. In the next minute the Sachems regained control of the direction of the game and pushed on to their 9^th win.

Spencer Pacy (four free throws), Peter Cleary (two free throws), and Gus Flaherty (layup assisted by Sam Stys) were involved in Pentucket’s good minute of offense/defense.

Max McKenzie (15 points) paced Triton. Max lost quite of few minutes because of foul trouble.

Mason Ferrick tallied ten points for the Vikings getting all of them in the second half.

Max McKenzie (15 points) drives past Pat Dillon

The Sachems broke a 9-6 game open with a 14-2 segment that stretched into the second quarter. Jake Etter had a big part in the breakaway notching eight points. He had a triple and added three straight free throws when he was fouled on an attempted three.

Triton trailed by sixteen (32-16) at the half. The deficit climbed to twenty (50-30) in the final quarter before they cut the lead to nine.

“We had the opportunity to put them (Triton) away,” said Coach Hickey, “but they didn’t give up.”

Triton struggled to make shots most of the night, but their defense turned up scoring chances in the last period.

Jack Tummino converts a steal in the second half

Triton actually “won” the second half (29-28) but their sixteen-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.

Coach Hickey: “I have not seen (undefeated) St. Mary’s play but I’ve heard a lot of good things about them.”

The Sachems will face two Division 3 Cape Ann League teams with only one loss over the next ten days; Hamilton-Wenham and Newburyport. “Both teams have been strong over the last couple of years,” said Coach Hickey.

“Playing Newburyport will be fun,” said Gus. “I am really excited about that one.”

Pentucket was 16-7 last season. They reached the state semifinals at the end of the 2014-15 season.

Kyle Odoy blocks out

There will be a rematch between Triton and Pentucket at Triton on February 1^st.

Good teams have multiple scoring threats. Pentucket fits that bill having had five different players (Jake Etter, Pat Dillon, Spencer Pacy, Peter Lopata, Gus Flaherty) be top scorers in their nine wins.

Pentucket box

Triton box

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

Gus Flaherty

Tie-up

Spencer Pacy

TJ Overbaugh covered by Pat Dillon

Gus Flaherty chases a loose ball

Max McKenzie down the lane

Rally in regulation sets Triton up for 54-51 win in OT against Rockport

Kyle Odoy (16 points) sends the game into OT with this last-second triple

Max McKenzie (16 points) and Jake Knowlton (14 points)

(Byfield MA) You hear it all the time, but how often does it mean anything?

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over.”

Triton’s Kyle Odoy (16 points) dropped that line into our post-game interview tonight after his team rallied late in regulation and then went on to defeat Rockport, 54-51 in overtime.

Triton (5-2) certainly needed a miracle finish to get this one into overtime and they pulled it off.

Three straight free throws by Jake Knowlton (14 points) put Rockport (2-6) up, 48-43, with only twenty-three seconds left in regulation. Comfortable lead…….or so it seemed.

“We had really good shots the whole entire game and we just missed them,” recalled Triton coach Ted Schruender. “We figured that they would eventually start falling.”

And fall they did as Kyle Odoy drained two straight from long range in the closing 23 seconds.

The first last-minute triple was on an inbounds play from in front of the Triton bench with eleven seconds remaining. The second was of the “Hail Mary” variety from straight away.

“I just got it and chucked it,” said Kyle describing the buzzer-beating second one.

Noah Rawson at the line in the closing seconds of regulation

In between the two Kyle triples, Noah Rawson (10 points) made one of two free throws for Rockport. Noah missed the second and there was a tie-up. The possession arrow favored Triton and gave them time to come down for the final shot.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably saying something like, “The game wasn’t won in regulation so what happened in the four-minute OT?”

“Not much,” would be the answer!

Noah Rawson tied the game (51-51) with a layup halfway through OT. Kyle Odoy then put Triton in front for good with 1:45 left on a jump shot.

Triton defense

After that the Triton man-to-man defense kept Rockport away from the basket. The visitors didn’t turn the ball over, they just couldn’t get their outside shots to fall.

On the other end, Triton took the ball to the basket and forced fouls. That “it’s not over ‘til it’s over” thing was still in play because Triton missed four of five free-throw attempts. Rockport had three possessions to catch up but not on this night.

“We had just enough to win,” said Coach Schruender.

Tonight’s game was tied ten different times.

TJ Overbaugh (8 points) hit a three in the closing seconds of the first period. Max McKenzie (16 points) drove the length of the court to end the third period with a layup. I guess we should have expected that something could happen at the end of regulation!

Triton had a 28-20 lead a minute into the third quarter. Ezra Mendoza, Gavyn Hillier (14 points), and Austin Matus put points together and knotted the score at 30-30.