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February 11, 2021 · 11:54 pm

Great start, strong finish earns Ipswich 52-48 win over Pentucket

James Davis (Pentucket) and Charlie Henderson (Ipswich) were part of a very close game

Kenny Lee covered by Will Wertz

(West Newbury MA) The Ipswich Tigers started with shutout defense and ended with consecutive offense.

That combo was enough to defeat Pentucket, 52-48, on Thursday night at Pentucket.

The Tigers (5-4) scored the first nine points of the game while the Sachems (2-6) had eight turnovers. Nick Daly (20 points) got a layup four minutes into the opening quarter to get Pentucket on the board.

“We gave the ball away too much,” explained Pentucket coach Ed Hickey afterwards. “It’s our Achilles Heel right now.”

Despite the lousy start, and later in the third period trailing by ten (36-26), the Sachems were far from finished.

Silas Bucco (10 points) eludes Evan Stein

Senior Silas Bucco and junior Nick Daly took the home team on their collective backs after their team went down ten. They led the Sachems on an impressive 15-3 segment.

During the exciting comeback, Silas had six points while Nick had seven including a three that put Pentucket on top, 41-39, with 4 ½ minutes left in the game.

“I think we lost that ten-point lead because we got too rushed on offense, while defensively our rotations broke down a little bit,” explained Ipswich coach Alan Laroche.

For the next two minutes there were ties and lead changes with no indication of the final outcome.

The Sachems’ Kenny Lee set up teammate Ryan Tedeschi for a three from the left corner and then made a layup himself in traffic to boost the Pentucket margin to three (48-45) with 2 ½ minutes left.

Those would be the last points the Sachems would score.

“We had opportunities down the stretch to make shots and win the game,” said Coach Hickey. “We just didn’t get it done tonight.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers put consecutive offense together scoring the last eight points of the game to get the win, 52-48.

Aidan O’Flynn

“We had a nice run down the stretch,” recalled senior Aidan O’Flynn. “We came through thanks to Ray’s clutch performance.”

Sophomore Ray Cuevas (26 points) had a 12-point final quarter.

In the 2 ½ minute, run to victory, Ray set up teammate Nikhil Walker for a layup, made a three, and blocked a shot.

Ray Cuevas (26 points) puts up a three

“Ray had a nice game,” said Coach Laroche. “He’s really starting to come into his own offensively. He’s finding where he can get his shot.”

Nikhil Walker made two free throws, with thirteen seconds left, out of a tense one-and-one situation.

Nikhil Walker about to make the 2nd of two free throws with thirteen seconds left

“His two made free throws took some of the pressure off us in the final thirteen seconds,” added Coach Laroache.

I asked Aidan O’Flynn if he was surprised that Nikhil made the two shots: “Not at all, he’s a clutch free throw shooter. He practices them a lot. I wasn’t surprised he made both.”

Nick Daly (20 points)

It certainly dampened Pentucket’s chances when high-scorer Nick Daly fouled out with 1:22 left.

“Nick had a big game,” said Coach Hickey. “Losing him hurt us.”

Coach Hickey: “The kids competed. They played hard. It just didn’t work out for us.”

Coach Laroche: “It’s been a nice season. I told these kids that I wish I had them for twenty games because I think we could have done something in the real tournament.”

Silas Bucco had ten points for Pentucket and Will Wertz had the same amount for Ipswich.

I saw both teams defeat Triton by a point.

Coach Laroche: “We’re making the best of what we’re allowed to do. It’s awesome that we’re allowed to be here right now.”

Ipswich box

Pentucket box

The story will be linked on Twitter (McclellandPeter). It will also be posted on Mascores. Tomorrow some of the pictures will show up on Instagram (mcclellandmiscellanea).

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

Michael Perlitch guards Nikhil Walker

Ray Cuevas (26 points) in for two in the last quarter

Nikhil Walker hustles for a rebound

Nikhil Walker (9 points) elevates to get an inside shot

Fighting for a rebound

CJ Condon guards Will Wertz (10 points)

Nick Daly puts up a shot in close

Reilly Dillon

Nick Daly shoots in the lane

Paul Wertz (23) challenges Chase Dwight’s layup try

CJ Condon defends

Aidan Tierney

Owen Tedeschi

Ipswich holds off Triton 53-52 in OT

Ipswich celebrates after edging Triton

(Byfield MA) “I was afraid that they might call a foul, but I got all ball.”

That was how freshman Will Wertz explained it after his last-second block preserved Ipswich’s, 53-52, win over the Triton on Friday night.

The Vikings (1-3) had just three seconds to work with but perfectly executed an inbounds play to give Dylan Wilkinson (17 points) a look from the right corner.

Dylan Wilkinson (17 points) to the hoop

Despite the loss, Triton coach Ted Schruender wasn’t totally surprised by the way things went. “You had two evenly matched teams so it could have gone either way. We were hot and then they were hot.”

There were nine lead changes early into the second half.

Then the Vikings, led by Dylan Wilkinson and Kyle Odoy (16 points) turned up the heat defensively (four Ipswich turnovers) and strung twelve straight points together in a 3 ½ minute segment of the third quarter.

The showcase performance sent the home team up, 36-26, with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Ipswich wasn’t done, however.

Kyle Odoy (16 points) splits two Tigers

“We really showed resilience tonight,” explained Ipswich coach Alan Laroche. “We were down ten and didn’t stop believing that we could come back.”

And back the visitors came.

Triton’s, 42-32, lead vanished as Ipswich heated up. The Tigers (2-2) had three’s from Charlie Henderson and Aidan O’Flynn putting twelve straight points together and regained the lead, 44-42, with four minutes left.

Ipswich took a two-point lead with twenty seconds remaining in regulation (Ray Cuevas layup) but senior Kyle Odoy (16 points) had a tying layup with eight seconds left to force OT.

Nikhil Walker (11 points) looks to convert a rebound

The Vikings built up a four-point lead in the first minute of overtime and still had that margin (52-48) in the last minute and had the ball.

Ipswich, however, did everything right in that last minute and pulled out the exciting win.

Charlie Henderson (14 points) started things for the Tigers in that pivotal last minute getting a steal and a layup. Then it was solid Ipswich team defense that forced a 5-second violation as Triton tried to inbounds the ball. Still trailing by two (52-50) Ipswich was able to get Ray Cuevas (13 points) a 3-point shot which he cashed to get the Tigers in front.

Ray Cuevas stops Kyle Odoy on the baseline

“Ray is a great player,” said Coach Laroche. “We try to get him as many looks as we can. Screens were set for him and he used them.”

“All game long I was struggling for downtown,” said Ray Cuevas afterwards. “You keep shooting and sooner or later they fall. I knew that last shot was going in.”

In it went and then Will Wertz’s block sealed it for the Tigers.

“Will didn’t shoot very well tonight but he came up big for us at the end,” said Coach Laroche.

Nikhil Walker excelled on defense and added eleven points for Ipswich.

Charlie Henderson double-teamed

Despite the loss Coach Schruender was optimistic: “These guys work hard and we’re going to get better. I’m just happy that we’re out here playing. We’re hoping for no interruptions in the future.”

This was the second overtime loss for the Vikings this week.

Triton box

Ipswich box

The link to this coverage will be on Twitter (@mcclellandpeter). I also expect to post pictures on Instagram (mcclellandmiscellanea). The story/pictures should appear on Mascores too.

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