NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. — Milford’s CJ Farrell might only be a freshman, but 18 games into his very young career, he’s starting to play like a seasoned veteran.
Farrell dropped a career-high 26 points to go along with eight rebounds, seven steals, and four assists to lead the Scarlet Hawks to a 63-56 win on the road over North Attleboro.
The win pulls Milford’s record to an even 9-9 (8-9 for MIAA tournament purposes) with five games to go.
“There’s an adjustment for everyone when you get to the varsity level, much less a freshman and he’s come right in and asserted himself as a leader on this team both vocally and how he plays on the floor,” said Milford interim head coach Chris Trafecante, who is filling in while head coach Paul Seaver is on medical leave. Seaver is set to return in the coming week.
“[CJ’s] a special kid and he wants to win in Milford. He backs it up with how hard he works and we’re very fortunate to have him.”
Farrell came out of the gates flying, putting up 11 points in the opening quarter and his three steals helped spark an 11-0 run to close the quarter that put Milford ahead 17-11. The Scarlet Hawks never trailed the rest of the way.
Although the visitors held the lead throughout the final three quarters, the Rocketeers refused to go quietly and used a late rally to make a game of it.
The Hawks staked a 51-38 lead going into the fourth quarter but North had its best quarter of the game offensively and cut the deficit all the way down to one possession, 59-56, with a minute to go.
Sophomore Ryan Bannon hauled in an offensive board and found senior Givany Carney (career-high 21 points) for three at the midway point of the fourth to bring the hosts within single digits at 56-48. North freshman Jake Peckham (nine points, four assists) and Milford sophomore Andrew Rivera (15 points) traded free throws, North sophomore Austin Clemente sank two from the free throw line, and then Carney turned a steal at halfcourt into a layup to make it 57-54.
Milford sophomore Tyler Ballard answered seconds later off a good feed from Rivera but Peckham used a nice fake on the other end to create space for a layup to make it 59-56 with a minute to go.
“Defensively I think we were a little tighter, a little better in the fourth quarter,” said North Attleboro head coach Sean Mulkerrins said of the fourth quarter comeback. “At halftime, we talked about how they had made some baskets but we were also breaking some of our defensive rules. That combined with some good shooting from Milford was a recipe for giving up too many points. I thought in the fourth we locked in and offensively, we saw the ball go in and felt better about ourselves.”
Sophomore Jack Buckley hit two from the line for the Hawks and then hauled in a defensive board after North was off the mark from three-point territory. Buckley added one more free throw, and after North was off the mark on two chances from deep, Rivera tacked on one more free throw to seal the win.
“When this group gets stops, they are tough to beat,” Trafecante said, “It’s the lapses defensively that kind of give us some problems. And when there are lapses defensively, there are lapses offensively as well. We were able to get some stops and rebound the ball at the end.
Chris Hanewich (nine points) and Derek Maceda had early buckets to give North an 11-6 lead but Farrell turned a steal into a traditional three-point play and then tied the game on a contested shot in close. Another Farrell steal resulted in a three from Luca Testa and then Jake Soares hauled in an offensive rebound and dished to Farrell for a three just before the buzzer to give Milford a 17-11 lead after one.
North made a push to start the second as Carney had five straight but Farrell also had five early on to cancel it out. Ayden Delaney drove to the rim for two and Chase Frisoli (eight points, five rebounds) drained a three to get North within a bucket at 27-24 but Milford closed the second strong. Soares converted a tough layup, Rivera had a steal and layup, Nick Araujo came up with a steal and found Rivera for a traditional three-point play, and Wyatt Zagami finished at the rim after another forced turnover from Farrell.
Milford forced 13 first half turnovers and five more in the third while the Rocketeers had just one turnover in the fourth quarter.
“Anytime you can get easy baskets, you’ll take them,” Trafecante said. “We just have to continue to play disciplined on the defensive end and stay in front of guys. We play a pretty quick pace and we try to speed teams up, and when you can do that you can cause teams to make mistakes.”
“Those live ball turnovers kill us,” Mulkerrins said. “It’s so hard to get back and then your defense has to be perfect. And that leaks into the offense, we tend to play a little tighter. It’s a credit to our kids that we are able to get back into these games but we just dug ourselves too big of a hole. These kids don’t quit and I’m proud of them for that.”
After a bucket from Rivera with five minutes to go in the third, Farrell scored eight straight as Milford’s lead peaked at 49-33. Peckham had a key three for North to snap the run and keep the Rocketeers within striking distance going into the fourth.
Milford boys basketball is back on the road on Friday with a trip to King Philip while North Attleboro is on the road for a pair of games to end the week, first at Bishop Feehan and then at Franklin.