BeantownHoops Blog

by beantownhoops.com (2/5/10)

Senior Colleen Hooper’s runner with 16 seconds gave Mansfield the one point win 55-54 in a match-up of power teams in the Hockomock.  It wasn’t quite Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals, but after injuring her ankle in the first half, Hooper had 11 points in the second half, none more important than her last two while she was being hounded by two Franklin defenders.
“I was just under pressure and I knew I had to score for the team,” said Hooper on her late quarter heroics.  “This is awesome.  We’ve been fighting hard as a team and I’m just really happy right now.”
It looked like early on that Mansfield would run away with this game leading by eight 24-16 going into the break.  Franklin could never find a groove and almost had as many turnovers (15) than points in the half.  Mansfield would extend the lead to as many as eleven points halfway through the third quarter, but that is when Franklin Junior Meghan Shaw put on a shooting display.
On five straight possessions Shaw took a three, hitting four of them and Franklin found themselves down only four points 39-35 at the end of three.  To start the fourth, Franklin scored four straight and all of a sudden they had outscored the Hornets 19-10 and had tied the game, 39-39, for the first time since it was 9-9 with 2:30 left in the first.
“In the second half we just started playing and believing in what we were doing.  It was just a matter of confidence for us,” said Franklin Head Coach John Leighton.
The fourth quarter was one of the best quarters of high school basketball I have witnessed in awhile.  The teams would answer each others runs and the game would be tied six times in the period.  The last deadlock with 42 seconds left was broken by Franklin’s Sara Doherty’s free-throw putting the Panthers up 54-53.  After the time-out, Hooper drove across the lane from left to right and shot her runner right over two Franklin defenders to give the Hornets the lead and the win.
“They’re athletic (Franklin) and they play great D and we knew it was going to be a battle.  What I liked is that we had a game slip away Tuesday and today it looked like it might get away from us again, but we kept our composure and stuck together and just found a way to win,” said Mansfield Head Coach Mike Redding.
Franklin was led by Shaw’s four threes and 12 points and Senior Taylor Kale added 10.  Hooper led Mansfield with 17 points and Senior Jess Eason pitched in 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Notes:  The teams could face each other again in the DI South playoffs.  As Coach Redding said, “I sure hope we don’t have to play them again.”…..Franklin won the JV game…..Coach Redding is also the head football coach at Mansfield…..Considering that the Mansfield/Franklin boys were playing at Franklin in a game for first place, it was a nice sized crowd for the game…..Don’t think this game has league implications? #1 Oliver Ames sat right in the front row observing this one on their night off…..Photographer Phil Grove will have pictures of the game tonight at FHS.Smugmug.com…..I wish every school had youth teams play at halftime, it is a great way to pass the time and keep the community involved in the program.

Scoring:
Franklin:  Shaw 12, Grove 4, Doherty 8, Kale 10, Heiser 4, Irvine 4, Phelan 9, Meredith 3
Mansfield: McPherson 5, Davis 2, Shannon 6, Walker 4, Copley 4, Hooper 17, Trombetta 2, Campbell 3, Eason 11

Scoring by quarters:
Franklin:     9  7  19  19 = 54
Mansfield: 13 11 16  15 = 55

Rebounds:
Franklin: 32
Mansfield: 30
Turnovers:
Franklin: 23
Mansfield: 11

3 pt. Shooting:
Franklin: 7/21 .333
Mansfield: 4/8  .500
Free-throws:
Franklin:  11/15  .733
Mansfield: 13/30  .433

by beantownhoops.com (2/1/10)

As the saying goes in basketball, “Live by the three, die by the three.”  When the Watertown Red Raiders are shooting the ball well, they are a tough team to beat, but when they are missing and playing against a bigger team, the task becomes a daunting one.  Lexington used its size down low all night while Watertown shot 22% from behind the arc in the #25 Minutemen’s 57-49 win at Watertown.

Lexington got off to a great start and four minutes into the game they had reeled off eleven straight points.  Ironically, Lexington hit its first and only three of the game when Senior David Miller drained one from the wing. It wasn’t until Watertown Junior Marco Coppola’s two free-throws at 3:54 that the Red Raiders finally got on the scoreboard.  The Minutemen continued to extend its lead in the first half and stretched it to as many as seventeen points in the second quarter before going into the break with a 31-16 lead.

The second half saw the Red Raiders battle back and on two separate occasions they got the lead down to four with 1:40 left in the third and then down to five with 5:39 left in the 4th.  But Lexington always had an answer and Junior big man Matt Sharma’s four consecutive points bumped the lead back to nine and Watertown could never recover.

“In the first half we really didn’t play with the same effort as we did in the second half. We spotted them that lead and didn’t play with much energy, ” said Watertown Head Coach Steve Harrington.

Despite outscoring Lexington 33 to 25 in the second half, it was the poor shooting that hurt Watertown’s chances.  They finished the game shooting 6/27 from the 3-point line and Coppola, who is the leading scorer in the Middlesex, did not hit one of this seven attempts.  The only Red Raider to shoot well was Senior captain Tim Barba who made four of the six threes, but that wasn’t enough to take the sting out of this loss.

“We consider them (Lexington) one of our biggest rivals and it is always a tough loss or a very good win.  They just hit all their shots and we didn’t have an answer.  We didn’t play well in the first half, but we did much better in the second half which was good to see.  We’ll just get right back after it on Wednesday,” said Barba.

Lexington was led by Sophomore Chris Lee’s 14 points and Sharma’s 12.  Coppola finished the game with 23 points on 7/21 shooting and Barba had 14.  Both teams will be back in action Wednesday with Lexington traveling to Reading while Watertown hosts Woburn.

Notes:  In the game preceding, the Watertown Girls defeated Lexington 53-36…..Nice to see a couple of our members at the game tonight, plus Danny V of the Herald and Justin Rice of Bpssports.com covering the game as well…..Great job again by Watertown local TV announcer Al DiTullio who I sat behind during the game…..This is a rare three game week for the Middlesex league…..Despite the loss, Watertown has already qualified for the state playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive year.

Scoring:
Lexington:  Moss 8, Monvoukas 10, Lee 14, Morrison 1, Miller 6, Sharma 12, Simmons 2, Boeglin 4
Watertown:  Barba 14, Romanelli 6, Coppola 23, Kelly 2, Stockdale 4

Scoring by quarters:
Lexington:    17  14  14  11 = 57
Watertown:  10  6  16  17 = 49

Rebounds:
Lexington:  36
Watertown:  26
Turnovers:
Lexington: 19
Watertown:  11

3 pt. Shooting:
Lexington: 1/3  .333
Watertown:  6/27  .222
Free-throws:
Lexington: 10/12  .833
Watertown: 9/11   .818

by beantownhoops.com (1/29/10)

After the 2008-09 campaign where they went winless in the GBL, the Medford Boys had nowhere to go but up.  Coming into tonight’s game against Somerville, the Mustangs were 4-2 in the league and only one game back of league leader Cambridge.  Energized by the play of Tevin Moore and Jimmy Richardson, Medford continued its transformation defeating the Highlanders 49-45 at Brune Field House.

The game was a low scoring affair with both teams focused on preventing the other team’s star from scoring.  Medford  star Andrew White had only four points in the half, while his fellow All-GBL performer from last year, Franklin Salvador had six.  With the stars being hounded all night, someone else had to fill the void.  Medford’s Tevin Moore obliged by scoring all seven of his team’s points in the first quarter and ended up with 10 pts. and 5 rebounds at the break.  Somerville’s Ricky Arisme kept pace with Moore scoring six points as the Highlanders found themselves down 25-23.

“It was a big game and I just went out and did what I had to do for the team,” said Moore.

The second half saw more of the same defensive focus on White and Salvador, but Salvador was able to get free for consecutive jump shots and gave Somerville the lead 27-25 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.  That would be the last lead the Highlanders would have as Medford went on a 9-1 run behind the play of Jimmy Richardson.  Richardson scored on a put back, had a steal, and had two rebounds during the run to give Medford a 36-28 lead.

“This was a huge game for Jimmy.  It was definitely his best game of the year.  They (Somerville) did a real good job on Andrew and denying our sets, so other guys had to step up and they did,” said Medford Head Coach Anthony Faradie.

Medford would get the lead to as high as nine points in the fourth quarter, but Somerville was able to battle back and found themselves only down two with thirty seconds left.  On the ensuing Medford possession, it was close on whether or not there was a backcourt violation, but it was not called.  Andrew White was fouled and made both of his free-throws to give the Mustangs the four point win.

White finished with only 12 points (plus 10 rebounds), well below his average of 21 ppg., but after enduring three sub par seasons, the senior is just happy to be in this position.

“It feels real good making that big transition to the next step after winning three games each year to winning eight already.  I’m so happy and my teammates did a great job tonight,” said White.

Somerville was led by Arisme’s 15 points and Salvador and Skerby Odivin’s 10 points a piece.  Somerville falls to 5-8 overall and 1-5 in the league while Medford improves to 8-4 and 4-2 in the GBL.

Notes:  Next up for Medford will be league leader Cambridge on Tuesday…..In the JV game Somerville won 41-39……I think it should be a state requirement for all schools to give out a game program like Somerville’s.  It had a preview of tonight’s games, the starting line-ups for the Highlanders, News and Notes, a Did You Know section and the rosters for both teams, good stuff……Medford’s only three came during the decisive third quarter run……White was 5 of 11 from the field while Salvador was 4 of 18……On the lighter side, all through the fourth quarter the P.A. announcer kept calling off the winning 50/50 numbers, finally with 30 seconds left in the game and a fourth winning ticket being picked somebody won.

Scoring:
Medford:  Smith 4, Sanders 4, Moore 13, Pitterson 2, White 12, Willingham 2, Keating 3, Richardson 9
Somerville:  Salvador 10, Arisme 15, Che 4, Odivin 10, Thomas 6

Scoring by quarters:
Medford:        7  18  13  11 = 49
Somerville:  10  13  13  9 = 45

Rebounds:
Medford:  39
Somerville:  30
Turnovers:
Medford:  21
Somerville:  17

3 pt. Shooting:
Medford:  1/4  .250
Somerville:  2/13  .153
Free-throws:
Medford:  10/17  .588
Somerville: 5/8  .625

by beantownhoops.com (1/26/10)

With star post player Monet Lowe nursing a leg injury, someone had to step up for #14 Newton North if they wanted to keep their undefeated record alive in the Bay State.  Fortunately for the Tigers, not one, but four players did just that to lead them to a 56-47 win over visiting Braintree.  Junior guards Ella Scheuerell (9 pts.), Djaidah Wynn (10 pts. 8 rebs. 5 steals), and Briana Hunt (18 points) all had solid games and Junior center Megan Gentile chipped in as well with 8 points and 8 rebounds to improve the Tigers record in the league to 12-0 and 13-1 overall.
Defense has been the calling card for the Tigers who have been holding opponents to 37 pts. a game all season. When Braintree jumped out to an early 4-0 lead because of lack of effort, Head Coach Hank DeSantis was not very pleased.
“Our goal is to always keep teams under 40 pts.  Our help defense and ball pressure just needed to get better, it’s been good all year, we just needed to do a better job,” said Coach Desantis.
North responded to their coach’s wishes and one minute later they had a 6-4 lead that it would not relinquish the rest of the game.  The lead was extended to eight, 26-18 going into the break, and with four minutes left in the third, the lead would get to eleven 35-24.  The Wamps would not give in and behind the scoring of Junior Amanda McKenney (17 points) and Freshmen Rachel Norton (8 points), Braintree would get the lead down to four to end the third 38-34.
The four point difference is the closest Braintree would get and after Briana Hunt made her fourth three of the game with 4:40 remaining, Newton North had a 13 point lead and had closed the door on any chance of a comeback.
“We upped our intensity in the second half and took a ‘one possession at a time’ mentality to get back in the game, but Newton North is just a very good team.  It was definitely a challenge for us, but I was happy with the effort my team put in tonight,” said Braintree Head Coach Kristen McDonnell.
Depending on tonight’s game, Newton North will have at least a three game lead in the Bay State Carey division and Coach DeSantis knows what looms in a tough DI South, that includes #3 Wellesley, #8 New Bedford, and #9 Brockton.
“We know what to expect, but we’re doing what we need to do to win basketball games.  We just need to fine tune some things and come together and we’ll be fine.”

Braintree was led by McKenney’s 17 points and Norton and Junior Ann Donahue’s 8 points a piece.

Notes: 5:15 p.m. start for the game because there was a wrestling match that followed…….Add Freshmen Rachel Norton of Braintree to the list of impressive underclassmen this season…..Monet Lowe’s injury has no timetable for a return right now according to Coach DeSantis…..In the JV game, Newton North hit a three with two seconds left to win 42-41.

Scoring:
Braintree:   Marshall 4, Beach 2, Bernasconi 2, Kennedy 6, McKenney 17, Donahue 8, Norton 8
Newton North:  Wynn 10, Scheuerell 9, Hunt 18, Abbot 7, Gentile 8, Rolfe 4

Scoring by quarters:
Braintree:            8  10  16  13 = 47
Newton North:  12  14  12  18 = 56

Rebounds:
Braintree: 23
Newton North:  36
Turnovers:
Braintree: 13
Newton North:  9

3 pt. Shooting:
Braintree: 1/6  .166
Newton North:  5/14  .357
Free-throws:
Braintree: 6/9  .666
Newton North: 5/9  .555

by beantownhoops.com (1/24/10)

Senior Elijah Chislohm scored 8 pts (12 for the game) in the third quarter and Junior Jeff Amazan had 10 points in the last four minutes to lead East Boston over New Mission 68- 66 in a battle of city powers.

The first half was a low scoring affair with both teams feeling each other out and applying different defensive schemes.  New Mission forward Samir McDaniels had 9 points in the two quarters to give the Titans a slim 26-23 lead.

The second half was a different story as both teams increased their defensive pressure, most notably East Boston.  Down 36-29 with 2:43 left in the third, the Jets went on a 13-2 run to end the period.  New Mission turned the ball over in the press on five straight possessions and after Sophomore Dimitry Coronel’s corner three the Jets had a four point lead 42-38.

“We have been lacking aggressiveness the last couple of games and I just let them know that we’re going to be sticking with this press.  They finally decided to buy into it because we had to do something to get the intensity going,” said East Boston Head Coach Malcolm Smith.

“The third quarter just came down to who wanted it more and we came out an pressured the basketball, it was a complete team effort and we just left it all out there,” said Chislohm.

East Boston extended their lead early in the 4th on Coronel’s steal and dunk and it looked and felt like the Jets were going to pull away.  After Junior Jeff Amazan hit a three with 4:20 left, Eastie had a five point lead 57-52, but New Mission would battle back.  The Titans rallied to tie the game at 60 with 1:48 left and that is when Amazan took over.  Regarded as one of the top players in the city, Amazan struggled all game only scoring one point going into the fourth.

He was fouled on a three point attempt and made all three free-throws.  After a New Mission miss, Amazan hit another three from the corner and just like that East Boston led 66-60 with  28 seconds left in the game.

“I just kept my confidence up and kept going and kept shooting,” said Amazan.

New Mission was led in scoring by McDaniels and Kachi Nzerem who both had 17 points.  The loss is New Mission’s first of the year, but Head Coach Cory McCarthy is confident about the rest of the season.

“Are execution wasn’t very good down the stretch, but once we get our execution down we will be New Mission again.  We’ll learn from this.  At this point, the loss actually benefits us more than the win does.  Once we get towards the end of the season, we’ll be way better off than we are today.  I guarantee you that New Mission will be there at the end,” said Coach McCarthy.

Notes: The game was part of the Public v. Catholic Roundball Classic.  In the first game, Madison Park defeated St. Raphael Academy (RI) 66-35.  In the final game Winthrop beat Cathedral, 52-50…..Elijah Chislohm was named the game’s MVP…..New Mission starting point guard Osmel Odena missed the game due to personal matters……The game was held at Emmanuel College…..For more on Boston City athletics check out BPSsports.com.

Scoring:
New Mission:  McDaniels 17, Davis 6, Morgan-Thames 2, Drame 8, Gunter 2, Basile 5, Nzerem 17, Banks 9
East Boston:  Flakes 11, Winn 2, Lewis 6, Green 5, Amazan 11, Chislohm 12, Williams 4, Coronel 13, Ornella 4

Scoring by quarters:
New Mission:    8   18  12  28 = 66
East Boston:    10  13  19  26 = 68

Rebounds:
New Mission:  21
East Boston:    24
Turnovers:
New Mission:  28
East Boston:    27

3 pt. Shooting:
New Mission:  7/16  .437
East Boston:   4/12  .333
Free-throws:
New Mission: 12/22 .545
East Boston: 14/33   .424

by beantownhoops.com (1/22/10)

It’s not often that a 9-2 team is considered struggling, but after losing two straight games in the DCL last week, #17 Acton-Boxborough needed a strong performance on the road tonight at Bedford.   Junior Sam Longwell answered the call for a  game high 18 points and four other Colonials scored in double figures to lead A-B over the host Buccaneers 66-52.

It was a raining threes in the first quarter as the two teams combined to make seven.  It was especially gratifying for A-B Senior Kevin McGovern who hit two of the threes, but was struggling with his shot coming into the game.

“It was great to get off to a good start (shooting) and I was just trying to help us get a lead early.  This is a tough place to play so getting that lead was real helpful,” said McGovern who led A-B with 8 points in the quarter.

The teams would play even in the second quarter, scoring thirteen points a piece, and Bedford would take a two point lead 31-29 into the break.  The third quarter belonged to Longwell who scored 13 points in the quarter and missed only one attempt on a buzzer beater to end the period.  Longwell’s outburst coupled with fellow Junior Wes Schroll’s five points (12 for the game) gave A-B a ten point lead, 52-42 heading into the final frame.

“I thought that it was the best quarter (3rd) we played all year.  Sam has been struggling with his shooting and I just think he relaxed and stopped thinking too much,” said A-B Head Coach Rick Kilpatrick.

Besides the offensive performance in the quarter, it was the defensive adjustments by the Colonials that slowed down Bedford.  Bedford’s leading scorer Mike Ingram-Rubin was held to two points in the period and if it wasn’t for Senior Kevin Cangiano’s 7 points, Bedford would have been in a deeper hole.

“We were just trying to get stops.  We started sagging off some of their other players and focusing more on Mike (Ingram-Rubin).  We had to stop him from making plays and it worked,” said McGovern.

A-B would extend their lead to sixteen in the fourth quarter on Sophomore Kevin LaFrancis’ three-point play with 3:52 left and Bedford would go without a field goal in the final period until the three minute mark.  After making five threes in the first half, Bedford was held to only two in the second half on eleven attempts.

Bedford was led by Cangiano and Ingram-Rubin’s 13 points a piece.  Bedford drops to 9-4 overall while A-B improves to 10-2 and is still one game back in the DCL Large.

Notes:  A-B will be honored at an upcoming Celtics game for their charity donation to the Jimmy V foundation…..In the JV game it was A-B winning 57-44…..Give me some credit for my prediction on this one, I posted in the preview that A-B would win 62-54.  It’s the closest I’ve been all year so I have to brag about it!….It was wrongly reported last night that Chelmsford beat A-B 100-77, all the sites that posted scores, including us, soon changed it since they didn’t play each other…..More fun halftime entertainment as 4th and 5th graders from Bedford’s recreational department squared off.  The final score was…wait they really didn’t keep score.  It was just fun to watch the youngsters play in front of the crowd.

Scoring:
Acton-Boxborough:  Schroll 12, McGovern 11, Held 2, Longwell 18, LaFrancis 10, Duffy 13
Bedford:  Watson 5, Cusack 3, Reubenstein 2, Thorsen 4, Nocera 8, McAfee 4, Cangiano 13, Ingram-Rubin 13

Scoring by quarters:
Acton-Boxborough:  16  13  23  14 = 66
Bedford:                     18  13  11  10 = 52

Rebounds:
Acton-Boxborough: 30
Bedford:  29
Turnovers:
Acton-Boxborough:  17
Bedford:  11

3 pt. Shooting:
Acton-Boxborough: 7/14  .500
Bedford:  7/23  .304
Free-throws:
Acton-Boxborough:  14/16  .875
Bedford:  7/13  .538

by beantownhoops.com (1/18/10)

New Bedford Juniors Alyssa Roach and Arielle Gomes led a furious 4th quarter rally to defeat league rival Brockton 53-52 Tuesday night.  It wasn’t looking too good early for New Bedford as Brockton jumped out to a 14-2 lead behind the play of Sophomore Tianna Johnson.  She was impressive most of the game finishing with 16 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals and carried the load for the Lady Boxers when star center Morgan Thatcher picked up her second foul only two minutes into the game.  New Bedford would be able to weather the storm, however, and found themselves only down five going into the break.

“We just had to relax.  It was the first time we let a press bother us in a game.  As the game went on, I think we handled it very well,” said New Bedford Head Coach Mickey Gonsalves.

The Whalers would tie the game in the third quarter at 29, but Brockton responded behind Johnson and Junior Vanessa Suarez who combined for nine points in the period and put the Lady Boxers up three 40-37.  Brockton maintained their lead extending it to 51-43 with 3:33 left behind the play of Junior Nephie Marsh who scored 9 points in the quarter. But then Roach and Gomes took over in the final three.  The Juniors combined for 21 second half points and 12 points in the last few minutes to give the Whalers their first lead of the game with 1:20 left, 53-51.

Brockton would get one last opportunity and with three seconds remaining Suarez was fouled on a jump shot that nearly went in.  She would make the first and then miss the second, giving New Bedford their first league win of the year and keeping their record unblemished at 12-0.

“We were down, but we’ve been down before.  We never wanted to give up and we just wanted to keep our intensity and we knew we could come back,” said New Bedford’s Alyssa Roach.

“I’m just so excited, I still can’t believe that it happened,” said Arielle Gomes about the Whalers comeback.

Brockton was led by Johnson’s 16 points and Marsh’s 13.  Brockton is now 11-1, 1-1.

Notes:  Nice crowd for the game tonight…..the Brockton parents get my vote for best parents rooting section, very supportive of the Lady Boxers…..In the JV game, Brockton won on two last second free-throws…..So much for my predictions, “The team’s that have dominated the first quarter have won” (not tonight), “the team that shoots better from the 3-point line will win (not tonight), and finally “Brockton will make the last run to seal the deal in the 4th quarter” (wrong again), I was two points from being right on……A couple of college coaches and high school coaches on hand tonight for this one……New Bedford was without Seniors Katherine Maguire and Brittany Mello who were nursing injuries….The rematch:  February 9th at New Bedford.

Scoring:
New Bedford:  Barros 9, Roach 19, Raposo 2, Gomes 16, Manny 6, #5 1
Brockton:  Johnson 16, Marsh 13, Lemos 6, Rafuse 8, Suarez 5, Thatcher 4

Scoring by quarters:
New Bedford:  6  16  15  16  = 53
Brockton:        14 13  13  12  = 52

Rebounds:
New Bedford:  32
Brockton:  23
Turnovers:
New Bedford:  18
Brockton:  25

3 pt. Shooting:
New Bedford:  1/7  .142
Brockton:  2/6  .333
Free-throws:
New Bedford:  10/17  .588
Brockton:  5/11 .454

Special to beantownhoops.com (1/18/10)

After a lay-up gave Medford a one point lead with four seconds left, Malden was fouled on the ensuing play down court with only 1.6 seconds remaining.  The first free-throw was missed, but the second was made, tying the game at 45.  Without calling a timeout, Medford’s Jack Forcier through a bullet pass to a streaking Andrew White (21 points) who laid it up in stride as time expired to give Medford the win on the road.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys tonight.  We picked each other up all game and just kept fighting.  I am extremely proud of them,” said Medford Head Coach Anthony Faradie.

Medford improves to 6-4, 2-2 with the win, while Malden falls to 3-6, 2-2.

by beantownhoops.com (1/15/10)

Franklin Senior captains Matt Dean and Matt Palazini led an offensive barrage in the first half to handily defeat league rival and #11 ranked Oliver Ames 69-50.  Franklin came into the contest with a one game lead in the Hockomock league over the Tigers and after Dean and Palazini combined for 26 points and Junior big man Kyle Gibson added another 12 of his own, Oliver Ames found themselves down eighteen at the intermission.  Palazini had three timely dunks in the half that demoralized Oliver Ames:  #1 gave Franklin an 8-1 lead, #2 ended the 1st quarter with a seventeen point lead, and #3 pushed the lead back to fifteen after O.A. made a small run in the second quarter.

A key moment in the game came just after Palazini’s third dunk.  With O.A. trailing 35-19, they scored six straight points to cut the lead to ten.  On the very next possession, the Tigers rebounded a Franklin miss and Senior Ethan Miller had two of his teammates streaking down court for an easy two.  As he tried to pass it ahead, Dean deflected and stole the ball and was able to get it to a teammate who was fouled.  The possible lay-up would have cut the lead to eight and would have given Oliver Ames some nice momentum.  Franklin would go on a 9-1 run after that play, capped by Junior Jared Kuzio’s rebound and buzzer beater and all hopes of a comeback were finished.

“These past few games we really wanted our identity to be relentless, putting pressure on our opponents the whole game.  That’s what we tried to do at the start and once we did that it made us a tough team to beat,” said Palazini.

It was clear that Franklin’s experience was a big factor in the game.  O.A. Sophomore star Nick Bruha (10 points)  could never get it going against the Franklin guards and the Panthers just looked like a team that was clicking on all cylinders tonight.

“Matt (Palazini) and I have been playing together since the 4th grade and we have a nice chemistry going.  It seems that everyone on the team just follows our example and that’s really what we want.  We were just able to use that chemistry tonight and pull away,” said Matt Dean about the teams cohesiveness.

“We’ve had a lot of experience in big games here at home and they are (Oliver Ames) are a little younger, but they have been playing great.  To get out to the start that we did in the 1st quarter with our defense was huge, we just wanted to set the tone early,” added Franklin Head Coach Dean O’Connor.

The win puts Franklin in sole possession of first place in the Hockomock and a league title now looks within their reach.  When asked about what lies ahead come playoff time (Franklin moves up to DI this year), the Panthers were quick to keep their minds focused on one thing.

“We always focus on the league championship.  Our main focus is to win the league and nothing else at this point,” said Coach O’Connor.

“The league title is our priority, it’s the first thing that we want to get as a team,” added Matt Dean.

The loss is a tough one for Oliver Ames as they drop their second in a row and are facing an uphill battle in the conference.

“We’re going to lick our wounds tonight and come back for a big week.  We’re still 8-2 and we’ll get ready for the next one,” said Oliver Ames assistant coach John Gonsalves.

The Tigers were led by Bruha’s 10 points followed by Eric MacKinnon, Ethan Miller, and Dave Peretti who all contributed 8 points.

Notes:  Packed house for this one, stands were full by the start of the 4th quarter of the JV game which Franklin won 81-69…..With North Attleboro’s defeat of Mansfield tonight, N.Attleboro is one game back in second, while O.A. and Mansfield fall to two games back in the Hock…..Props to “Beano” Kook of Emasssports.com who watched most of the game with me……Matt Palazini added five assists and two steals to his 18 points…..All of Palazini’s dunks were one handed left-handers……Franklin has a huge match-up next Friday when they host #6 East Boston.

Scoring:
Oliver Ames:  Bruha 10, Tepper 2, MacKinnon 8, Miller 8, Picardi 3, Pernock 3, Meyer 4, Pires 4, Peretti 8
Franklin:  Pellegri 4, Colson 9, Dean 15, Palazini 18, Gibson 19, Kuzio 2, Price 2

Scoring by quarters:
Oliver Ames:  9  17   8  16 = 50
Franklin:       26  18  17  8 = 69

Rebounds:
Oliver Ames:  27
Franklin:  31
Turnovers:
Oliver Ames:  21
Franklin:  14

3 pt. Shooting:
Oliver Ames:  1/9  .111
Franklin:  4/15  .266
Free-throws:
Oliver Ames:  10/18  .555
Franklin:  13/14  .928

by beantownhoops.com (1/14/10)
To say that #6 Lynn English played great defense in their win over #12 Somerville would be an understatement.  The Lady Bulldogs held the Highlanders to ten field goals for the game and did not give up a single basket in the 4th quarter en route to an easy twenty-five point win, 56-31.  Lynn English was able to turn Somerville over 28 times and scored 16 points off of them while also holding Somerville to 1 for 21 from the 3-point line.
Offensively for Lynn English, star guard Jenicia Duggins provided plenty by scoring a game high 25 points.  At the end of the first half she had 17 of the team’s 21 points, but it was clear someone else had to step up for Lynn English as they only led by six, 21-15.  Junior Miranda Hogan would oblige by scoring 7 pts. in the third quarter on two threes and a free-throw.
“Well everyone always says that when I start hitting three’s, I’m the engine because I start the car, ” said Hogan.
Start the car she did as her two back-to-back threes gave Lynn English a 31-20 lead in the third quarter that they would only increase from that point forward.
“Miranda hit those three’s right off the bat and it just jump started us.  When are other girls are playing well, we can be a pretty dangerous team,” said Lynn English Head Coach Fred Hogan.
The fourth quarter saw much of the same defensive dominance and Junior Lashaunda Hogan added 8 pts. in the quarter to break the game wide open.  The Lady Bulldogs would go on 17-4 run to end the game and also end a two game losing streak to Somerville.
The Highlanders were led by Kelsey Garrity’s 11 points and the 7 points by both Indira Evora and Lindsey Rimpel.  Lynn English improves their record to 9-1, 7-0 while Somerville goes to 6-2, 2-0.

Notes:  Somverville’s Keisha Jean-Louis did not play due to an injury to her leg…..Duggins stat line:  25 pts., 6 assists, 7 steals, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 4 turnovers, but only 6/17 from the free-throw line…..Lynn English’s Olivia Dupree had a game high 12 rebounds……The loss ended Somerville’s six game winning streak, while the win extended Lynn English’s current winning streak to four……I can’t remember the last time I saw a team not score a field goal in the fourth quarter.  All of Somerville’s points came from the free-throw line where they were 4 of 6……This was the first game of the week that I sent twitter updates throughout.  I will continue to do this for the rest of the games this season.  You can follow each game by looking up “beantownhoops” on twitter.

Scoring:
Somerville: Evora 7, Rimpel 7, Garrity 11, Auciello 1, Miles 2, Haley 3
Lynn English:  Duggins 25, Vaughn 2, L. Hogan 8, Dupree 6, Murkison 6, Calnan 2, M. Hogan 7

Scoring by quarters:
Somerville:     8   7   12  4 = 31
Lynn English:12  9  18  17 = 56

Rebounds:
Somerville:  46
Lynn English: 26
Turnovers:
Somerville: 28
Lynn English: 8

3 pt. Shooting:
Somerville:      1/21  .047
Lynn English: 5/20  .250
Free-throws:
Somerville: 10/15  .666
Lynn English:  7/20  .350