Tag: Donte Tyler

Friday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 02/14/20

Today’s games are listed below.

Boys Basketball
Canton, 48 @ Milford, 68 – Final – Milford used a strong second half to pull away from Canton to get the win, clinching a share of the Davenport division title along with Foxboro and Stoughton. Milford held a 34-30 lead at halftime and pushed that advantage to nine, up 49-38, heading into the fourth. The Scarlet Hawks poured in 20 points in the final quarter to secure the win. Ben Blanchard hit four threes and went 6-for-7 from the free throw line for 18 points while senior Colby Pires had a pair of threes and was 8-for-8 from the line to also record 18 points for the Hawks. Ralph Franklin Jr. chipped in with 13 points in the win. Canton’s Nick Cushman scored a team-high 14 points while Robbie Gallery added 10 points.

Foxboro, 68 @ North Attleboro, 57 – Final – Click here for a recap and photo gallery of this game.

King Philip, 62 @ Oliver Ames, 74 – Final – Oliver Ames’ offense was hot from the start, scoring 19 or more in each of the first three quarters, building a 20-point lead entering the fourth quarter. After 19 points in the first, the Tigers dropped 20 points in the second to take a double-digit halftime lead (39-25) and scored 19 more in the third to seize a 58-38 edge. Senior Jay Spillane scored 11 of his team-high 18 points in the second while Adam Cann sank two of his three triples in the frame to help OA build its lead. Amari Brown added 10 of his 16 points in the third while Evan Craig scored half of his 16 points in the fourth. Ryan Burkett added 12 points for OA, scoring in each quarter. King Philip’s Alex Fritz scored a game-high 28 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Stoughton, 56 @ Sharon, 51 – Final – A close game throughout, Stoughton made the plays down the stretch to pull out the win and clinch a share of the Davenport division title along with Foxboro and Milford. Tied at 48-48 with 3:33 to go, the Black Knights used a 7-0 surge over two and a half minutes to close out the win. Obinna Ugwuakazi (10 points) hit two of three free throws, Donte Tyler drained a three, his first bucket of the game, and Myles Grigalunas-Powell (17 points) drove to the basket for two to give Stoughton a 55-48 lead with just under a minute to go. Tahkwan Gates Brown added 14 points for Stoughton, which led 14-12 after one, 29-25 at half, and 42-38 going into the final quarter. Andrew Burton scored a team-high 14 points for Sharon, Matt Baskin added 12 points, and Aidan Kane chipped in with 10 points.

Mansfield, 75 @ Taunton, 69 – Final (OT) – Mansfield used a three-point play to tie the game and got a stop on the final play of regulation, and then used a 6-0 surge in overtime to grab a win over the Tigers. Taunton had a 63-60 lead but couldn’t pad the lead with free throws and Mansfield junior TJ Guy (10 points) came down the other end and completed a three-point play to tie it 63-63. The Tigers had a chance with 12 seconds let but the Hornets defense locked in prevented Taunton from getting a look. Taunton’s Josh Lopes put the hosts ahead early in the overtime but Sam Stevens (23 points) brought the visitors level. After a Tiger miss, junior Matt Boen (28 points) sank two free throws, came up with a steal, and sank two more free throws to push the lead to 72-68. Taunton made it a one possession game but Stevens iced the game from the line. Taunton sophomore Trent Santos had a team-high 23 points while Tyler Stewart added 17 points for the Tigers, who trailed at the end of the first (11-7) and halftime (30-27), but took a 50-46 lead into the fourth quarter.










Girls Basketball
Milford, 33 @ Canton, 54 – Final

North Attleboro, 55 @ Foxboro, 73 – Final – Foxboro completed its league campaign with an eighth straight win, and its second win in as many nights. Lizzy Davis scored 24 points, a season-high, to lead the Warriors to the victory. Katelyn Mollica also had a big night, finishing with 23, and Yara Fawaz got into double digits with 12. The Rocketeers cut a 16-point halftime lead down to eight going into the fourth quarter, but the Warriors exploded for 24 points in the final eight minutes to pull out the win. “I told the girls at halftime we need to come out strong make a quick few baskets and get them to call a timeout,” said North coach Nikki Correia. “We did that and locked down on the defensive end but we just couldn’t sustain it.” Regan Fein led North with 12 points and Olivia Forbes scored 11 in the loss. Ava McKeon and Amanda Kaiser both scored nine for the visitors. North Attleboro goes into the final game of the regular season against Attleboro with both teams needing a win to qualify for the tournament.

Oliver Ames, 50 @ King Philip, 65 – Final – King Philip split the season series with Oliver Ames and won its third game in four days to close out the regular season. Brianna James scored 21 to power the Warriors to the win. Faye Veilleux added 10 points, Faith Roy scored nine, and Emma Glaser had a great all-around game with six points, eight rebounds, six steals, and six assists. Tori Harney led OA with 10 points while Caroline Flynn and Anna Murphy each chipped in with nine.

Taunton, 36 @ Mansfield, 45 – Final – Becca Hottleman scored a career-high 16 points to celebrate her senior night with a win. Ashley Santos chipped in with eight for the Hornets, who trailed 8-7 after one quarter but jumped in front by three by halftime. A 14-8 third quarter, thanks in part to a trio of three-pointers from Hottleman, extended the Mansfield lead to nine and that was how the game finished. Sonya Fernandez was the top scorer for the Tigers with 13, while Sam Lincoln added 10 and Kameron St. Pierre had eight.

Sharon, 22 @ Stoughton, 37 – Final – Click here for a Recap and Photo Gallery from this game.

Boys Hockey
North Attleboro, 0 vs. Bishop Feehan, 3 – Final

Stoughton Outlasts Milford In Overtime Thriller

Stoughton boys basketball Myles Grigalunas-PowellByRyanLanigan_2016FollowRyanLanigan_2016
 
 
 
STOUGHTON, Mass. – Stoughton head coach John Gallivan has seen a lot in his 16 years patrolling the sideline as the head coach of the Black Knights, and even he had trouble trying to put Tuesday night’s game into words.

A wild back-and-forth contest between Stoughton and Davenport foe Milford, a battle for first place in the division that saw a handful of momentum swings with the biggest one coming in the final seconds of overtime.

Trailing 74-73 with under a minute to go in overtime, Stoughton senior Myles Grigalunas-Powell (20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, five steals) made a move to the basket before pulling up at the free-throw line.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

The shot was off the mark but the senior forward alertly followed his shot, the rebound tipped right to him. He pulled the ball back to the corner, took a quick look around the court before pulling up and sinking a contested three-pointer for a 76-74 lead with 10 seconds left in the overtime period.

The Scarlet Hawks beat the buzzer in regulation to force the extra period but Stoughton’s full-court press prevented the visitors from getting a look at the tying or winning basket. A trap in the backcourt led to a turnover and an emphatic slam from senior Obinna Ugwuakazi (15 points, five rebounds) just before time expired to seal a 78-74 win for Stoughton.

“Everyone was crashing the boards on the left side, I followed my shot and it came back to me on the right side, I grabbed it and went to the corner,” Grigalunas-Powell said. “At first I hesitated to see if anyone else was open but then I just pulled it.”

With the win, Stoughton pulls into a first-place tie with Milford and Foxboro with one game to go. None of the three teams are playing each other, meaning there could be anywhere from one to three Davenport champions. It also marks Gallivan’s 175th career win.

“We’ve had a couple of games like that, we’ve had some comebacks like that,” Gallivan said, citing close losses to Franklin and Randolph. “The first half didn’t go our way. They smashed us so early that we kept saying we had time.”

Long before Stoughton’s mini-comeback in overtime, the Black Knights had to erase a much larger deficit.

Milford came out on fire, with five players hitting a three-pointer in the opening eight minutes of play. Ben Blanchard (13 points, four rebounds), Colby Pires (20 points, five rebounds), Matty Varteresian, Jordan Darling (14 points, six rebounds), and Tyler Wetherbee (eight points, seven assists, three steals) all connected from downtown as the Hawks seized a 23-11 lead.

The momentum carried into the second quarter as the Hawks’ offense continued to find success and its’ defense, using a full-court press, forced Stoughton into 12 first half turnovers.

Just beyond the halfway point of the quarter, Milford used a quick 9-4 surge to push their lead to its peak, a 19-point advantage, 41-22, following a triple from Pires with 1:45 left in the second quarter.

But Stoughton had arguably its most important stretch of the game to close the first half. Reserve Eddie St. Hilaire drove to the basket for two, Donte Tyler came off the bench to grab back-to-back steals, the latter resulting in two free throws. Ahmad Jahed (14 points, four rebounds) came up with a steal and went in for a dunk, and then got back on defense to get a steal that led to a three from Grigalunas-Powell that beat the buzzer, an 8-0 surge that gave Stoughton life.

“What Ahmad did in the last 30 seconds was unbelievable,” Gallivan said. “To steal it, go the length of the court and dunk it, and be the first guy back to steal the next one, that’s amazing. The kids needed something and that was huge right before halftime.

“And [Milford] kept coming each time. I wasn’t there the first time, video does not do them justice, they are really good. It’s a hard 32 minutes and tonight it was a hard 36 minutes.”

This time the momentum stayed with the hosts as Stoughton opened the third quarter on a 16-4 run with five straight from Jahed, a three from Tyler, two from Tahkwan Gates Brown (18 points, seven rebounds), and back-to-back threes from Grigalunas-Powell tied the game at 46-46 with four minutes left in the third.

Tyler sank his second triple of the game and Stoughton had its first lead of the contest.

“He was a spark for us,” Gallivan said. “He hasn’t had a ton of minutes for us this year but talk about seizing the opportunity. Both ends of the court, gave us something on defense and offense.”

Buckets from Darling and Pires helped Milford keep pace but a baseline jumper from Ugwuakazi gave Stoughton a 53-50 lead after three.










“We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game but we’re confident in each other and we knew we could pull through,” Grigalunas-Powell said of the turnaround. “We’re all confident that anyone on the team can make a shot, can make a play.

“We just told each other it’s not over, we weren’t going to give up.”

Stoughton pushed its lead to seven early in the fourth but Pires buried a three, Dom Schofield (11 points) beat the shot clock with a baseline jumper and then crashed the boards for a tip in to bring the Hawks within two. Jahed converted off a steal for Stoughton but Pires scored off a nice feed from Wetherbee and Darling had a strong take to make it 61-61 with 2:50 to play.

Ugwuakazi responded for Stoughton with back-to-back buckets but Wetherbee hit a three from the corner to keep Milford close. After a pair of empty possessions from each side, Jahed hit one of two from the line with 12 seconds to go to make it 66-64 but Pires came down and sank a jumper from the free throw line to beat the buzzer and send the game to overtime.

“It’s a new game [to start] overtime,” is what Gallivan told his team before the extra period. “Just take a deep breath, whatever happened that was great, whatever happened that was bad…put it away. Let’s just play four minutes.”

Ugwuakazi and Wetherbee traded baskets before the Hawks got a stop and Blanchard converted in transition to give Milford its first lead since the third quarter. Grigalunas-Powell collapsed the defense when he started to the basket but dumped it off for an easy two from Gates Brown to tie it again.

Blanchard put Milford back up with a pair of free throws and Stoughton threw the inbounds play away, giving the Hawks the ball back. Ralph Franklin Jr. had a strong take through the heart of the defense and Milford took a 74-70 lead with a minute to go.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Milford even got a stop on Stoughton’s ensuing possession but the Black Knights forced a quick turnover to get the ball back and Grigalunas-Powell found Gates Brown for two, plus the foul. After hitting the free throw, Stoughton’s full-court press paid off as Milford was whistled for a backcourt violation, the Hawks’ 17th turnover of the second half/overtime, leading to Grigalunas-Powell’s go-ahead three.

“In the last two games, when we’ve needed [Grigalunas-Powell] at his best, he’s been almost perfect in terms of knowing when to pass, when to shoot,” Gallivan said. “And [Tahkwan] had a good game too, we talked about how he did well the first game against them. We tried to run stuff to Obinna’s side so it’d end up with Tahkwan at the end but [Milford] does such a good job mixing up their defenses that when you finally get the guys where you want then, they aren’t in the defense you wanted them in.”

Stoughton boys basketball (8-7 Hockomock, 11-8 overall) has a chance to clinch a share of the division title when it hosts Sharon on Friday night. Milford (8-7, 10-7) has the chance to do the same when it entertains Canton on the same night.

Stewart Powers Taunton Past Visiting Black Knights

Taunton boys basketball Tyler Stewart
Taunton junior Tyler Stewart goes up for a shot between Stoughton’s Donte Tyler and Jake Queeney (11) on Tuesday night. (Jakob Thorpe/Taunton High)
ByRyanLanigan_2016FollowRyanLanigan_2016
 
 
TAUNTON, Mass. – Each time the Taunton boys basketball team hits the court, the first option in the offensive game plan is to get junior Tyler Stewart the ball.

The Tigers didn’t need to look for a second or third option many times on Tuesday night as Stewart, a 6’5 center, delivered a career-high 34 points to lead the hosts to a 73-63 win over visiting Stoughton. With the win, Taunton punched its ticket for the postseason.

Stewart, who also hauled in 13 rebounds and had a pair of blocks, shot 16-of-24 from two-point range and came away with points after each of his nine offensive rebounds to lead the way for the Tigers.

“What a night,” said Taunton head coach Charlie Dacey about Stewart’s performance. “When we’re practicing, there are all sorts of convolutions we expect people to do to him, and we were expecting doubles from all over the place and it just didn’t happen tonight. If you leave him alone down low, obviously he can do some business. He’s used to waiting for the double and he’s able to finish when he’s close to the rim like that.”

Taunton wasted little time getting Stewart the ball as he scored the first two buckets for the home team, including a three-point play on the first possession of the game.

Only five times in the game did a possession that included a shot from Stewart not result in points for Taunton. He had back-to-back misses early in the first quarter, and another one later that resulted in a missed putback from a teammate. He converted his only other miss of the first with a putback of his own.

He did the same with his lone miss of the second quarter and shot 5-for-7 in the third quarter, but one miss was a full-court heave to try and beat the buzzer. And in the fourth, he had just three shots but the one time he missed, he gathered the offensive rebound and scored himself.

“That’s always going to be the first look, getting Tyler a touch,” Dacey said. “If the double comes, we can kick it out but he’s our go-to guy. And the rest of the league has smartened up on Trent [Santos], Canton was denying him the ball and Mansfield is just Mansfield, they can deny anyone. But if they deny those guys, that leaves Tyler down low. And Danny [MacDougall] and Faisal [Mass] are doing a good job recognizing the double team.”

Stewart’s early success (14 points in the opening quarter) resulted in a big lead for the Tigers after eight minutes (18-6). Taunton added 19 more points in the second quarter, getting four apiece from sophomore Faisal Mass (14 points, seven rebounds) and junior Josh Lopes (eight points, four assists), and a pair of layups from sophomore Tristan Herry (nine points, six rebounds, four assists) and junior Nigel Choate.

But Stoughton’s offense showed signs of life as well, with senior guard Ahmad Jahed (eight rebounds, five assists) scoring half of his 16 points in the second quarter and Myles Grigalunas-Powell (16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) and Donte Tyler hitting three-pointers to get the Black Knights within 11, down 37-26, at halftime.

Stewart scored eight points early in the third with Trent Santos (from Danny MacDougall), Mass, and Choate also chipping in as the Tigers stretched the lead to 17 points, up 49-32 with 3:30 to play in the third quarter.

Stoughton turned to the three-point line to get back into the game and found success, closing the third quarter on a 12-4 run. Grigalunas-Powell, Brett Pendenza, Jake Queeney, and Obinna Ugwuakazi (12 points, eight rebounds) all connected down downtown to cut the deficit to 53-44 entering the fourth.










Queeney and Ugwuakazi sandwiched three-pointers around a make from Stewart to open the fourth quarter and suddenly Stoughton was down just five with seven minutes to play. After Taunton missed on back-to-back three-point chances, they got the ball back down low to Stewart, who ended up grabbing his own miss and putting it off the glass.

Another stop preceded a free throw from Lopes to make it 58-50 with 5:26 to play and Mass drove the baseline with a strong take to push the advantage back to double figures, 60-50, with 4:39 left.

“He’s really improved over the course of the season,” Dacey said of Mass. “He was in football shape at the beginning of the year and now he’s got a little bit of quickness, he has the toughness…and he’s just a sophomore too. It was just important for us to get into a flow because we didn’t on Friday night.”

Mass scored twice more in crunch time with Herry and Lopes each adding buckets as Taunton increased its lead to 68-54. Queeney sank another three late to make it an 11-point game but Stoughton was unable to get the deficit within single digits again.

“We started to relax,” Dacey said. “And we’re not young anymore, that’s no longer an excuse. The sophomores have had a ton of experience now. There’s no such thing as relaxing in this league, especially against that team. They play on emotion and I didn’t want them to get going, because when they get going they are tough. They are so athletic, they can obviously hit the three, so they can get back into a game pretty quickly.”

Taunton boys basketball (7-4 Hockomock, 11-4 overall) will visit Oliver Ames on Friday. OA nipped Taunton with a three-pointer in the final seconds in the first meeting on December 18th. Stoughton (4-7 Hockomock, 7-8 overall) will travel to North Attleboro on the same night. The Black Knights handed Big Red a loss in the first meeting.

Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 01/06/20

Today’s games are listed below.

Boys Basketball
Mansfield, 50 @ Foxboro, 42 – Final – Click here for a recap and photo gallery of this game.

King Philip, 80 vs. Plymouth North, 68 – Final – King Philip senior Alex Fritz was nearly unstoppable on Monday night, pouring in a career-high 42 points to lead the Warriors to a win over Plymouth North. Without Fritz in the lineup a couple of weeks ago, the Warriors suffered a loss on the road to Plymouth North but the senior guard made his presence known in the second meeting. He hit three three-pointers and finished with 15 points in the opening quarter as KP built a 20-15 lead. He sank two more triples in the second while Cole Breen and Robbie Jarest also hit from downtown to give the Warriors a 40-30 edge at halftime. Fritz went back to work in the third with 11 more points and Tommy Donahue scored seven of his 13 points in the third as the hosts extended the lead to 64-52. KP hit 12 free throws in the final quarter, going 27-for-42 from the line in the game total, to help ice the win.

Stoughton, 78 @ Fenway, 50 – Final – Stoughton senior Obinna Ugwuakazi scored all of his team-high 23 points in the first half as the Black Knights built a big lead and never looked back. After seven points in an opening quarter that featured a pair of threes from Myles Grigalunas-Powell (11 points) and one more from Brett Pendenza, Stoughton held a 24-19 lead. Ugwuakazi scored 16 points in the second quarter, Grigalunas-Powell added five more, and Donte Tyler hit a three as Stoughton’s advantage ballooned to 48-28 by half. Jake Queeney hit a three in the third and Tahkwan Gates Brown scored twice as Stoughton pushed its lead to 60-34 through three quarters. Pendenza, Ahmad Jahed, and KC Ugwuakazi each finished with seven points for Stoughton.

Girls Basketball
Stoughton, 55 @ Milton, 43 – Final – Stoughton swept the season series with Milton to earn its third win in a row and fourth in the last five games. Aliyah Wright got things going for the Black Knights on the offensive end with 19 points and Shyanne Trinh added 14. Jess Maddalena gave Stoughton a presence on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds.

Boys Hockey
Stoughton, 1 vs. Rockland, 4 – Final

Boys Swimming
Canton, 80 @ Dedham, 85 – Final
Sharon, 90 @ Oliver Ames, 66 – Final

Girls Swimming
Canton, 81 @ Dedham, 94 – Final
Sharon, 69 @ Oliver Ames, 96 – Final

Girls Gymnastics
Taunton @ North Attleboro, 7:30

Oliver Ames Spoils Stoughton’s First Game In New Gym

Oliver Ames boys basketball Amari Brown
Oliver Ames junior Amari Brown goes up for a layup in the second half against Stoughton. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
ByRyanLanigan_2016FollowRyanLanigan_2016
 
 
STOUGHTON, Mass. – With a couple of Hockomock League schools in the process of either planning or building a new high school, here’s a small bit of advice: don’t schedule the Oliver Ames boys basketball team for your first game.

For the second time in five years, the Tigers played spoiler inside a brand new gymnasium. After beating Franklin in its first game of its new gym in 2014, Oliver Ames used a suffocating second half defensive effort to earn a win over Stoughton in the Black Knights’ first game in their brand new school.

The excitement of the first basketball game in the new gym carried onto the court as the Black Knights raced out to a 14-5 lead, holding the visitors to just a pair of field goals over the first eight minutes.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

But that momentum did not carry over to the second quarter as the Tigers clawed their way back into the game, and it all but disappeared in the second half as Oliver Ames poured in over 20 points in each the third and fourth quarters to pull away.

Not only did Oliver Ames’ active zone defense limit the hosts to 15 total second half points, but it also led to easy baskets in transition that seemed to spark the OA offense.

“That looked like a first game [early on], which you worry about a little bit,” said Oliver Ames head coach Don Byron, who started his 11th year at the helm of the Tigers with a win. “We had some shots that were makable and didn’t make them, and it snowballs a little bit and it gets contagious with the five guys who are out there. But getting a couple near the end [of the half], a little spurt to get us in shouting distance. When that happened, we were able to settle them a little bit and we were okay.

“And then we just came out and played like we’re capable of playing in the second half. I think we’re going to be a pretty good shooting team and we just didn’t show it in the first half. We showed more of it in the second half.”

A three from Stoughton senior Myles Grigalunas-Powell (nine points, four assists), a strong finish from senior Obinna Ugwuakazi (12 points, 11 rebounds) off a nice feed through traffic from junior Jake Queeney, four points from senior Tahkwan Gates Brown, and a late three from Admad Jahed put the Black Knights in a great position, up 14-5, after a quarter.

Stoughton senior Donte Tyler came off the bench and got a steal and easy layup to push Stoughton’s lead to 22-9 but the Black Knights were unable to really pull away.

OA junior Will Whiteside answered with the Tigers’ lone triple of the half, senior Evan Craig scored a baseline jumper off a feed from classmate Owen Friel, senior Jay Spillane (career-high 18 points) finished off a layup after a Black Knight turnover, and Ryan Burkett (career-high 18 points, nine rebounds) had an easy two after a nice layoff from junior Drew Nickla to complete a 9-2 spurt for the Tigers, getting with six down 26-20 at the break.

“At the half, even though we were up six, we felt like we blew an opportunity because we got selfish,” said Stoughton’s John Gallivan, who is in his 16th year as head coach. We had a chance to blow it open, [OA] was struggling to score at the time, and we had four or five really bad possessions in a row. We always talk about surviving runs and when they made their run, it was like a deer in the headlights. We couldn’t punch back.”

OA came out flying in the third quarter, using its active zone to get a lot of deflections and turnovers as the Knights tried to penetrate or find Ugwuakazi or Gates Brown in the post. Spillane took advantage of a pair of offensive rebounds, first with a quick putback and then again with his first triple of the game.

OA junior Amari Brown (career-high 17 points, three steals) came up with a steal and finished on the break to put the Tigers ahead for the first time with 4:44 left in the third but Gates Brown answered for the Black Knights. Burkett continued his strong game with a nice finish at the time off of a nice pass from Friel. And another turnover from Stoughton led to another fast break finish from Brown, and OA took a 33-30 lead on the back of an 11-2 run.

“I thought it was a good defensive effort in the second half,” Byron said as the Tigers forced 10 second-half turnovers. “It’s not sexy, a lot of the top defensive teams and they are usually up in your face. But we did a good job of covering the things we need to cover. They threw a couple of different looks at us, and the first game out, you don’t know everything they run, so I thought the kids reacted well.”

Stoughton missed on two chances and Spillane made them pay on the other send, draining a high arching triple and the Tigers’ defense came up with another turnover and Brown finished off a traditional three-point play for a 40-31 advantage. Spillane made his three triple of the game to extend the lead to 43-33 but Jahed sank three free throws late to cut the deficit to seven.

The OA lead stayed at seven for the first three minutes of the final quarter before the Tigers finally pulled away. Burkett finished in close, Brown score on another fast break, and Spillane sank his fourth three on his fourth attempt of the half for a 54-39 advantage with just over three minutes to play.

“We kept throwing the same type of passes to the same exact spots, and OA…they are smart kids, they are anticipating,” Gallivan said. “Now they get a couple of easy ones, Brown got a couple of easy ones. We didn’t get anything easy in the entire second half. [OA] was the better team, they deserved to win.”

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

It was a breakout night for Burkett, who kept the Tigers afloat with his nine first half points. He was 7-for-10 from the field overall and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds against a relatively tall Stoughton team.

“He’s going to sneak up on people a little bit,” Byron said of Burkett. “He’s just got a knack in the lane. He’s a quick jumper, plays bigger and longer than he is, gets his hands on a lot of things. His game reminds me of Cedric Maxwell, everything is from eight feet in. And he’s really good around the hoop, he finishes well.”

Oliver Ames boys basketball (1-0 Hockomock, 1-0 overall) hits the road on Tuesday to take on Taunton while Stoughton (0-1, 0-1) welcomes North Attleboro to town on the same night.