Avon 86, South Shore 79 Akeem Williams goes off for 56
Junior guard Akeem Williams went off for 56 points for Avon, which improved to 9-2 overall and 8-2 in the league. Senior captain Jay Sullivan and guard Jeff Tripp each had 19 points for the Titans, who dropped to 6-7 overall and 5-5 in the league.
Gerry saves the day for Brockton
Boston Herald
Anyone who wasn’t at the Brockton-Catholic Memorial contest missed one heck of a game with an even better finish.
Kyle Gerry went coast-to-coast and hit a jumper from the right side with 2.1 seconds left to give Brockton a wild 91-90 victory over Catholic Memorial in a nonleague battle of top-five programs. CM had one final shot to win the game but Julian Colarusso’s desperation jumper from the right baseline bounced off the rim as time expired.
Give Brockton some serious credit for battling back in the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10 against an undefeated team in one of the toughest gym in the state to play in, the Boxers clawed their way back behind the brilliant shooting of Jarrod DeVaughn.
He tends to get overlooked because his frontcourt partner is All-Scholastic Louis Montes, but DeVaughn saved Brockton’s bacon in the final stanza. He hit three huge trifectas, one of them seemingly launched from the nearby Dunkin Donuts parking lot, to get the Boxers back in the game. DeVaughn finished with a team-high 27 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter.
DeVaughn gave the Boxers a 87-84 lead with two free throws with 1:17 left, but Colarusso (31 points) carried the Knights down the stretch. He trimmed the margin to one with a bucket from close range, then drew an offensive foul at the other end. Allen Harris gave the Knights an 88-87 lead with a layup off an inbounds play.
The aforementioned Montes (16 points, 11 rebounds) showed some of his strength on the ensuing possession. With a Knight defender slapping at the ball, Montes managed to muscle in a jumpshot from the left of the foul line to make it 89-88 Brockton. But Colarusso responded with a monster jumper with 6.8 seconds left to set the stage for Gerry’s heroics
Brackett gives support
Senior propels Watertown over Catholic Memorial in faced-paced second half
While the Stockmal twins and Benyam Kerman draw the bulk of attention from opposing defenses, Watertown senior Jesse Brackett showed the Red Raiders are more than simply a three-man team.
Brackett, who boasts a stocky, small forward-type body, delivered when his squad needed him most. With Kyle Stockmal and Kerman having already fouled out, Brackett scored seven of his 19 points in the final 2:30 yesterday, helping Watertown hold off Catholic Memorial in a thrilling, 73-69, contest at Northeastern University that had the feeling of a track meet for much of the second half. In addition, Brackett added 11 rebounds and had to run the point in the final minutes.“Charges, rebounds, just taking over as a captain down the stretch,” Watertown coach Steve Harrington said of where Brackett excelled. “I thought he did a terrific job on defense on (Julian) Colarusso (15 points), who’s a heck of a player.”Twice down the stretch with his team holding a three-point lead and two of its top players out, Brackett was allowed to drive the ball straight to the rim with the Knights letting him go for a pair of key baskets. He also made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 36 seconds that each time gave the Red Raiders (15-0) a two-possession cushion.“We don’t get to play those Div. 1 teams so we don’t get to know how we compare against them, but we’re a good team, a very good team,” said Brackett.
Brendan Monteiro paced the Knights (11-2) with 19 points while Jeff Tagger and Lincoln Wright each had 10 points.
MIDDLESEX 71 ROXBURY LATIN 46:The boys started out the game on a tear, jumping out to an early double-digit lead. The team got great early energy from Captains Dave Lawson '09 and Scott Anderson '09, with Kevin Lubin '10 doing a fine job pacing the offense. Despite this early flurry, Roxbury Latin refused to lie down. They made a nice run towards the end of the half cutting the lead down to 11 at halftime. In the second half, Middlesex provided more of the same energy, defensive focus, and offensive execution from the first half. The team had an excellent day and cruised to an important win. Anderson led the team in scoring and rebounding with 29 points and 18 rebounds. Scott worked very hard all game, and achieved great results. Other major contributors on the day were Rod Odom '10 (15 points and 10 rebounds), Mike Hurnyowicz '09 (8 points and 7 rebounds) and Dave Lawson '09 (10 points and 5 rebounds).
GROTON 64 THAYER 49: First halves have not been kind to the Groton basketball team this year. After 8 minutes, Groton looked up at the scoreboard to find themselves in a 10 to 15 point hole. Groton stormed back to pull within one at halftime, its defense putting on the clamps all over the floor. Andrew Daigneault scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead Groton. Junior guard Tom Raymen added 13 points and 5 assists.
NASHOBA TECH 81, HUDSON CATHOLIC 59: Junior guard Mike Condon had 21 points for Hudson Catholic, but the Green Wave fell to the Colonial Athletic League's top team - host Nashoba Tech.Sophomore forward Robbie Cato had 13 points for Hudson Catholic (5-8, 2-6), and Charlie Tocci put in 10 points.
LINCOLN-SUDBURY 75 WESTON 62: Senior co-captain guard Paul Antion was perfect from the free-throw line for host Lincoln-Sudbury as it topped Dual County League opponent Weston.Antion finished with a team-high 22 points for the Warriors (4-9, 3-9 DCL), senior guard Jeff Walsh had 10 points and five steals, and senior co-captain Ryan Sanford had nine points and four steals.
TC boys reach state tourney
Sophomore John Lopes had 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and nine assists as the Trinity Catholic boys basketball team qualified for the state tournament with a 74-48 victory over Maimonides. Senior Uche Egesionu had 18 points and nine rebounds, senior Sterling McDowell-Ashe had 13 points, senior Gregory Raye had eight points and five rebounds..
Dartmouth gets back at Brockton
Forget about calling the Dartmouth boys basketball team the Indians for once, and call them the Avengers. Because that's just what they did against Brockton on Friday night with an 80-78 overtime win that avenged the Indians' only loss of the season.Jordan Todman led the Indians with 24 points, including three clutch free throws in overtime.While the Indians came out and surprised Brockton with a 22-12 first quarter, the Boxers exploded in the second quarter, adjusting to the half-court trap and outscoring Dartmouth, 20-6.After the Boxers forced overtime with a late fourth-quarter surge, Higham came out and gave the Indians a four-point lead with two free throws and a seeing-eye pass to Toole. The Boxers came right back on the shoulders of Gerrard DeVaughn and Corey Cooper.
Kyle Gerry lead Brockton with 21 Points and Cooper had 20.
Bedford 91 Concord-Carlisle 81
Terrance Favors and Joshua Kalenderian scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, as Bedford improved to 11-3. Bedford hit 30 of 37 free throws, including Favors making 15 of 16. Concord-Carlisle was 22 of 27 from the line. Concord-Carlisle hit three consecutive 3-pointers to cut Bedford's lead to 2 points with four minutes to play. Bedford senior forward Jerry Cohen (9 points), the two-time MVP of the Dual County League, went down with an ankle injury at this point and did not return. Bedford's Ray Bowen (8 points) then stole a C-C pass and went coast-to-coast to ignite a 5-0 run that put the Buccaneers back in control. Ryan Tillman scored 18 points for Bedford. Tony Lania (19 points), Eric Beaulieu (16), Harry Scales (16) and Matt Cheever (12) scored in double-figures for Concord-Carlisle.
Watertown 74 Burlington 53
Kyle Stockmal 27 points lead Watertown to the win. Benyam Kerman added 17 points and 12 assists. Kyle Pierce scored 16 points for Burlington. Brendan Farley and Matt Trahan scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Burlington.
Newton South 81 Westford 69
After leading 20-13 in the first quarter and 53-51 at the end of the third, Westford (10-4, 4-2 DCL Large) was outscored 30-16 by explosive host South in the final 8 minutes. T.J. Jann led the Grey Ghosts with a season-high 22 points and 6 rebounds. Marc Napolitana added 13 points and 6 boards, Peter Lynch 12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and Colin Royal 11 points, 5 caroms. For the Lions (8-3, 3-3 DCL Large), Willie Lyons pumped in 18 points and Tyrone Wynder 17.
Boston Latin 62 Acton-Boxboro 43
The Colonials (7-5, 1-4 DCL Large) continued their Jekyll-and-Hyde season with this loss to a strong Latin crew (11-3, 5-0 DCL Large). Andre Tongo, Mike Berlied and Kyle Curry scored 11 points each for two-time Bedford conqueror A-B, which hit only 13-of-49 floor shots, went 3-for-22 from 3-point range and got outrebounded, 32-20.
Beverly puts on big finish to defeat Saugus
By Matthew Roy / For The Item
Evidently Beverly coach Scott Lewis pushed the right buttons with his Panther team at halftime in Saugus on Friday.
The Panthers trailed 36-35 at the break, but outscored Saugus 21-9 in the third quarter to take the lead and eventually a 69-55 victory.
"We came out strong in the third quarter and then had to hold on at the end," Lewis said.
Curtis Manuel and Matt Tobin were the big reasons for the Panthers second half surge. Manuel scored all 11 of his points in the final 16 minutes while Tobin caught fire, finishing with a team high 21.
Classical 62, Danvers 35
At Danvers, the Rams (9-5) bounced back from Tuesday's loss at Everett with a solid performance on the road, that saw nine different players score points. Chad Quintana had 12 points to lead the balanced Classical offense. Jarell Byrd also reached double figures, finishing with 11. Tony Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds.
Winthrop 56, Revere 51
At Winthrop, the Vikings (8-3) struggled early in shaking off the rust following a week off, but took a 36-28 halftime lead and then hung on down the stretch.
Dino Mallios led Winthrop with 21 points and Jonathan Murdock added 13 for the victors. Mike Visco pulled down 13 rebounds for the Vikings.
Williams 67, Fenwick 51
At Braintree, Nolan DiPanfilo had 15 points and Phil Eagan added 12 for the Crusaders (4-7), who trailed 33-23 at halftime and never got even.
GOVERNOR’S ACADEMY 68 GROTON 64: Five minutes into Groton's game at Governor's Academy, the outcome looked anything but doubtful: the scoreboard read 19-1, with the visiting Groton on the short end. But true to form, they roared back to outscore Governor's 32-11 and take an improbable halftime lead. Clutch free throws by Nick Hennrikus kept the game close all the way to the end, but Governor's responded with free throws of their own to seal the victory. Leading scorer Andrew Daigneault paced the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Tom Raymen added 10 points and 3 assists.
Concord-Carlisle 72 Billerica 47 Leading by just two (17-15) after one quarter, host Concord-Carlisle got its transition game going and ran past Billerica 72 – 47. Concord-Carlisle received 17 points from junior guard Harry Scales, 14 points and 5 assists from senior guard Tony Lania, and 12 points and 7 rebounds from junior forward Brad MacKaffie and 11 Points from Senior Eric Beaulieu.
Egesionu nearly triples pleasure in Falcon rout
Senior Uche Egesionu came within one assist of a triple-double as the Trinity Catholic boys basketball team rolled to within one victory of qualifying for the state tournament with a 74-31 rout of Notre Dame of Lawrence last night.
Egesionu finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Falcons (9-1) spread out the contributions.
Senior Gregory Raye had hit biggest game of the season as he scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go with five assists, and senior Sterling McDowell-Ashe had 12 points and four assists.
Medford 50, Waltham 47
The Waltham boys basketball team could not make it a season sweep of Medford as it dropped a Greater Boston League contest on the road. Junior Justin Peltier had 14 points, sophomore A.J. Prince had 13 points and junior Viondy Merisma had nine rebounds for the Hawks. Waltham hit only 13 of 27 free throws in the game and took only 13 shots in the second half.
WESTBOROUGH 49, GROTON-DUNSTABLE 44: Westborough went on a 12-0 run to start the third period after being down 27-18 at halftime en route to a tough Mid-Wach B victory over Groton-Dunstable. Center Evan Cummings recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while guard Mike Pruell and Peter Orlando added 11 points each for the Rangers (5-6, 2-3 MWB).
WORCESTER TECH 51, KEEFE TECH 48: Keefe Tech was up 48-47 with 15 seconds left until Worcester Tech hit a shot to go up by 1, than Keefe committed its 25th turnover to fall in this Colonial Athletic League matchup. Senior point guard Angel Navarro had 10 points to go with eight steals while junior forward Richie Bones had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Unicorns (6-5, 4-3 CAL).
MONTY TECH 65, HUDSON CATHOLIC 51: Guard Justin Severin and forward Mike Condon combined for 30 points for Hudson Catholic, but the Green Wave couldn't keep up with Monty Tech in this Colonial Athletic League game. Severin had a team-high 17 points for Hudson Catholic (5-7, 2-5 CAL), and Condon pitched in 13. Junior center Ryan Gilles added nine points and 11 rebounds.
HOPKINTON 62, MILLIS 51: Senior guard Matt Collins scored 14 points to lead visiting Hopkinton over winless Millis in a Tri-Valley League tilt. Mark Masucci and Kevin Cassata each notched 11 for the Hillers (8-4, 8-3 TVL) while Millis was lead by sophomore Nick Hyman's 24 points. Sophomore guard Andrew Bonzey dropped in 16 for the Mohawks (0-11, 0-11 TVL), who trailed by only two heading into the final quarter.
Catholic Memorial 80, Xaverian 58The Hawks were simply no match for the undefeated Knights on Friday.CM (10-0, 4-0) raced out to a 48-22 lead at halftime and cruised to the victory. Brendan Monteiro and Allen Harris led the Knights with 17 points apiece. The Hawks (2-7, 1-3) limited CM to just two 3’s from Jeff Tagger, but could not match their quickness of slashing to the rim.
Westford 73 Lincoln-Sudbury 64 Peter Lynch scored all 18 of his points in the second half as Westford (10-3, 4-1 DCL Large) downed Lincoln-Sudbury (3-9, 0-5 DCL Large) and qualified for the Division 2 North Tournament for the second straight year. Lynch also pulled down 12 rebounds, while senior captain Marc Napolitana added 17 points. Sophomore forward TJ Jann finished with 16 points (14 in the second half) and 8 rebounds. Senior center Alex Haines had a solid all-around game with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Senior co-captain Ryan Sanford led
Lincoln-Sudbury (3-9, 2-8 DCL) with 21 points, junior forward Alex Benoit and sophomore guard Dan Birtwell each chipped in 12 points, and senior co-captain guard Paul Antion had 10 points.
Acton Boxboro 74 Tyngsboro 46 Andre Tongo scored a team high 26 points for Acton-Boxboro as the Colonials (7-4, 1-3 league) beat the Tyngsboro Tigers (1-7). Tongo drained six 3-pointers, as A-B shot 54 percent from the floor. Kyle Curry added 9 points and Mike Berlied tallied 8 points for A-B.
Concord-Carlisle 61 Weston 55 Senior point guard Tony Lania was 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter for C-C (6-6). Lania finished with a team-high 19 points, while Matthew Cheever registered a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Senior forward Eric Beaulieau chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds.
