Attleboro Advances With Prelim Win Over Everett

 
 
 ATTLEBORO, Mass. — In a Division 1 preliminary round clash centered around transition basketball, 18th-seeded Attleboro ran away with a win over #47 Everett.

The Bombardiers took advantage of an aggressive Crimson Tide offense to leak out for some transition buckets in the first half, building a lead that it never gave up on their way to a 67-55 win.

“The transition game was the key for both of us,” said Attleboro head coach Mark Houle. “We had some really good transition opportunities that gave us the advantage and that lead. Every time they had a long rebound or got a steal, they were going the other way in transition.

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“I thought we moved the ball really well tonight. They threw pretty much everything we were expecting at us 1-2-2, 1-3-1, full court, half court, quarter court…and our guys responded really well. I was really proud they were able to dig in, they did a nice job of stepping up. Everett is big, they are physical and ran some really good sets. I thought our guys really stepped up tonight and showed some toughness against a really good team.”

While Everett found success turning long rebounds and turnovers into quick buckets on the other end, Attleboro took advantage of all 94 feet of its new court by using full-court length passes for some easy points.

The Bombardiers jumped ahead in the first quarter and stayed in front for the remainder of the game even though the Crimson Tide made a couple of pushes to stay within striking distance.

Attleboro opened up a 14-point lead with a big run in the middle of the second quarter that started with a three-pointer from Jaiden Outland (15 points, five assists), featured some precision passing from junior Neo Franco (12 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five blocks) to both Michael Beverly (15 points) and Outland, and finished with a three from sophomore Hayden Crowley (12 points) after the Bombardiers forced a turnover.

A quick 7-0 spurt from Everett closed the half, and two quick buckets from the visitors on the other side of halftime cut the lead all the way down to one possession, 34-31. Attleboro had the perfect response as the hosts rattled off a 14-1 burst that nearly put the game away in the third quarter.

Justin Hanrahan and Franco started it all with points on back-to-back possessions, and Hanrahan took a nice feed from Beverly for two more. Beverly and Outland splashed in threes on consecutive trips down the court and suddenly Attleboro had a 46-32 lead.

“They were crashing the boards [on offense], that was something we saw on film,” Houle said of being able to get out and run. “They are aggressive and have a lot of guys coming into the paint so we thought we could get some guys out running. I thought Michael Beverly was outstanding in that. The length of our court was a benefit for us. I think there were a couple of times they thought the court was going to end and Michael caught it over the top and scored. Neo had several of those good passes. It’s taken us some time to get used to our new court and it was definitely a benefit for us.”

Attleboro looked comfortably ahead going into the fourth (51-37) and pushed the lead to 15 points after freshman Connor Houle took a charge on one end, and Beverly converted a layup off a feed from Hanrahan against Everett’s full-court press.

But Everett scored on four straight possessions, including a three-pointer from senior Steven Cordero, who had a game-high 22 points. The quick run suddenly cut it to six (58-52) with three minutes to go.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Houle dropped in a mid-range jumper after finding some space against the zone, Franco drove to the rim for two, and Crowley sank a straightaway three with 90 seconds left to ice the win.

Attleboro boys basketball (14-9) will take on a much more familiar foe in the Division 1 Round of 32 as the Bombardiers will travel to play Hock rival Taunton. The two teams split the season series with the Tigers winning at home (64-57) in early January, and the Bombardiers winning on their own court (60-58) a month later.

“They’re very good, we both know each other,” Houle said. “We have to play hard, play together, and try and win every possession. Round three, it just seems like we’ve been running into them quite often in the tournament. It’s a check mark for the Hockomock League that you have two good teams playing each other in the tournament.”