02/09/2017

Law, Vendrell Help Taunton Bounce Back At Stoughton

Taunton boys basketball — Taunton freshman Dante Law puts up a shot in the second half at Stoughton. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

STOUGHTON, Mass. – Taunton sophomore Luis Vendrell kept his team afloat in the first half and freshman Dante Law took control in the second half to lead the Tigers to an 80-61 win at Stoughton.

Vendrell scored 11 big his career-high 17 points in the first half as the Tigers took a 32-29 lead into half. Law – who drained a three before the halftime buzzer to give the Tigers that slim lead – went on to score 15 of his career-high 22 points in the second half.

It was a stark comparison in performances for Taunton, who were limited to just 36 points on Monday in a game at Franklin.

“It was better [than Monday] but we are just not doing a good job rebounding,” said Taunton head coach Charlie Dacey. “With our size, OK that’s an issue but still you have to lay a body on someone and keep them off the boards. It’s almost like they saw our game on Monday, decided to sell out on the boards and send six, seven guys on the boards.”

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After a back and forth first quarter – a period that featured five lead changes and three ties – the Tigers held 14-11 lead. A three from Tommy MacLean (nine points, eight assists, four steals, four rebounds) stretched Taunton’s to six but Stoughton rattled off a quick 6-0 run to tie the game again.

The teams traded baskets until the final seconds, when Law drained his free throw just before the buzzer off an inbounds play.

The teams stayed within possession or two of each other for the first half of the third quarter and Colin Sanda’s (career-high 13 points, five rebounds) bucket brought Stoughton within three, 40-37 with just under fourth minutes to go.

But that’s when Taunton was able to gain some separation, rattling off a 14-4 run to conclude the quarter. Freshman Naz Kenian (11 points) got the run going, Law drained a three and Vendrell drove the lane for a quick 7-0 spurt. Stoughton freshman Ajahn Rue converted a three point play for the Black Knights but Vendrell got back to back baskets inside the final minute and Law beat the buzzer once again with another three to hand Taunton a 54-41 lead through three.

“The threes loosened it up a bit for us,” Dacey said. “But our gym is such a comfort zone for us. We play so differently. This gym and Attleboro are the two bugaboos for us.” Taunton shot just 6/22 from three (26/45 from 2PT).

The Tigers had their best offensive quarter of the game in the fourth, dropping 26 points.

Stoughton cut the lead to nine with three minutes to play but Taunton responded with a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach. Kenian drained a three, Lens Esquil (14 points, 10 rebounds) converted a layup and a pair of three throws and Vendrell his a pair of free throws to put the Tigers up 73-55.

Matt Valle added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Black Knights while sophomore Josh Cocchi chipped in with a career-high 10 points. Cam Gomes had eight points and eight rebounds.

Taunton boys basketball (12-6 overall, 7-6 Hockomock) is scheduled to be back in action on Friday when they host King Philip. The Warriors won the first matchup 70-51. Stoughton (3-12, 2-11) will host North Attleboro on the same night.

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02/06/2017

Macchi, Panthers Land Big Win Over Visiting Taunton

Franklin boys basketball — Franklin’s Connor Peterson goes for a layup in the first half against Taunton. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

FRANKLIN, Mass. – Before Franklin hosts Mansfield this coming Friday in a game that will likely decide the Kelley-Rex title, the Panthers had a big test against a visiting Taunton squad on Monday night.

The Panthers passed with flying colors.

Franklin took a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter and blew the game wide open with dominant second quarter, eventually walking away with a 78-36 win over Taunton.

While Franklin got nearly everything it wanted inside in the first quarter (7/9 from 2PT) and put up 16 points, Taunton freshman Dante Law had 10 points to help the Tigers keep pace.

Leading 16-14 to start the second quarter, Franklin senior Josh Macchi completely took over on the offensive end. The Panthers defense forced nine turnovers alone in the second quarter and Macchi dominated the boards to help Franklin build a big lead.

“We’re always emphasizing defense but we felt like the past few games, leading up to this we got a little sloppy,” said Franklin head coach CJ Neely.”We’ve been really focusing on it in practice and really focused on protecting the paint. In terms of rebounding, we have a lot of long bodies, a lot of athletic guys that can get int he paint and make things happen and we have to start doing it. We hadn’t been creating second opportunities until tonight.”

Macchi started a 10-2 run with an easy putback and senior Connor Goldstein drained a three on the following possession. Connor Peterson (20 points) grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a quick layup and Macchi hit a free throw the next trip down after hauling in an offensive rebound.

Macchi (17 points, 12 rebounds) pulled in one of his seven offensive rebounds on the next trip, but it was the only time that the Panthers didn’t score on a second opportunity. On the defensive end, Macchi came away with a steal and then found junior Alex Klowan for a three. A free throw from Jack Rodgers capped Franklin’s 10-2 run over the first five minutes.

“I thought Josh had a tremendous game again for us tonight,” Neely said of Macchi He’s been playing out of his mind. The past seven or eight games, he’s been in double-digits each time and he’s just killing it on the boards. He’s our one senior starter, and he’s really stepped up.

The Panthers weren’t done there though, scoring 13 points over the final three minutes of the quarter. Macchi was responsible for six himself – four from putbacks – and assisted on another three from Klowan. Sophomore Jalen Samuels (nine points) converted a putback and hit a layup in the final moments to give Franklin a commanding 43-18 lead at halftime. Franklin outscored Taunton 27-4 in the quarter.

“Just a disaster,” relayed Taunton head coach Charlie Dacey regarding the second quarter. “The transitions…the complete and utter failure to block out killed us. They weren’t running spectacular sets, but they just cleaned up every time. It seemed like a lot more offensive rebounds in that quarter than eight.”

Even more impressive for the Panthers was their dominate quarter came without junior captain Paul Mahon. Mahon, who entered the game tied for the team lead in scoring, picked up his second foul early in the quarter and was forced to the bench.

“I thought Klowan came in and gave us some good minutes, Matt Elias does a good job in there,” Neely said. “Sometimes Paul is done for the half when he gets the two fouls, sometimes he isn’t. I told him we’ll see how it goes. The guys stepped up and did a great job without him. I’m pretty proud of the guys for stepping up and extending the lead.”

Franklin quickly put to bed any thought of a super comeback, rattling off a 9-2 run in less than three minutes.

The Panthers went to work down low with Peterson converting a three point play to begin the half, Macchi driving for two and Peterson getting two more field goals in the paint.

“We thought we had a mismatch inside with CP,” Neely said. “Sometimes they were doubling, sometimes they weren’t. We wanted to get him the ball to see what would happen. If he had single coverage, just go at them. If they brought the double, guys had to be ready to shoot and guys hit some shots.”

After surrendering 14 points in the opening quarter, Franklin’s defense allowed 10 or less points in the final three quarters. Taunton scored just 22 points over the final three quarters. Law finished with a team-high 12 points, junior Tyler Medeiros had 11 rebounds and freshman Naz Kenian added seven points.

Franklin boys basketball (14-3 overall, 12-1 Hockomock) hosts rival Mansfield (15-2, 12-1) on Friday night at 6:30. The Panthers and the Hornets are the lone two teams left that can win the division and Friday’s contest will determine who’s in the driver’s seat. Taunton (11-6, 6-6) is back in action on Wednesday at Stoughton.

“Obviously it’s a big rivalry and we know what it’s about,” Neely said. “But we have to treat it like every other game. Their a good team so hopefully we can execute as well as we did tonight and come out on top.”

12/27/2016

Tuesday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 12/27/16

Today’s games are listed below.

Boys Basketball
Attleboro, 76 vs. Bishop Feehan, 47 – Final – A pair of freshmen made an impact as Attleboro swept the season series against Feehan. Qualeem Charles had 10 points and seven rebounds and Bryant Ciccio had 12 points and five rebounds. Senior Jake Dunkley led the Bombardiers with 19 points and six rebounds.

Franklin, 64 vs. Malden Catholic, 70 – Final

Milford, 69 vs. Tantasqua, 46 – Final – Anthony Arcudi dropped a career-high 22 points to pace the Scarlet Hawks to a win. Zack Tamagni added 13 points while Shane Cosquete finished with nine points. Junior Kayden Kelley scored 10 points and hauled in a career-high 21 rebounds. Milford will face Waltham in the final of the Scarlet Hawks Classic on Thursday at 7 p.m.

King Philip, 59 @ Bridgewater-Raynham, 58 – Final – King Philip overcame a seven point deficit in the first half to take a five point lead by half. The Trojans came back to seize a three point advantage after three quarters. KP was able to build a four point lead late and hold on. Sophomore Kyle Layman had 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks to lead the Warriors while Justin Vine added 17 points and Will Weir had 12 points.

North Attleboro, 57 vs. Reading, 42 – Final – The Rocketeers jumped out to an 18-9 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Up 33-21, Big Red used another dominate quarter, outscoring the Rockets 17-4 in the third. Junior Chad Peterson led the way with a career-high 15 points while Jonny Friberg added 14 points and Kyle McCarthy finished with 13 points.

Oliver Ames, 58 vs. East Boston, 36 – Final – Oliver Ames deployed a zone defense and then pounced with a press in the second quarter to pull away from East Boston. The Tigers outscored East Boston 21-4 in the second quarter and 13-5 in the third quarter. “We used the press and we played zone,” OA head coach Don Byron said. “We got pretty active – tops on that list was probably Welch, he gets his hands on a lot of stuff in the zone. We ran out on that pretty well and we were able to compound things a little bit by jumping into the press once we scored.” Jack Spillane led OA with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Mahoney had 12 points and five rebounds and Matt Muir finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

Sharon, 52 vs. Arlington Catholic, 33 – Final – Senior Ricardo Ripley scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half to lead Sharon to the win on the road at Wilmington. The Eagles only allowed 13 points in the second half and won the fourth quarter 17-6. Jimmy Fitzhenry also had 14 points in the win while Jayvon Monteiro scored 11 points.

Taunton, 73 vs. Hope (RI), 49 – Final – Freshman Naz Kenian scored a career-high 16 points as Taunton rolled past Hope. Junior Malik Charles chipped in with 14 points for the Tigers.

Girls Basketball
Attleboro, 60 vs. Cranston West 35 – Final – Sarah Deyo led the way for the Bombardiers with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Julia Strachan, Sam Pierce, and Jordyn Lako each added 10 points for Attleboro.

Mansfield, 52 vs. Marshfield, 47 – Final – Jen Peel had 18 points and five assists to pace the Hornets. Meg Hill added 12 points, 12 rebounds, and eight blocks and Ann Maher had 10 points for Mansfield. The Hornets will play Duxbury in the final of the Holiday Tournament on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.

Milford, 60 @ Hudson, 31 – Final – Kate Irwin was the top scorer for the Hawks with 23 points and Jess Tomaso chipped in with eight points.

Oliver Ames, 48 vs. Needham, 42 – Final – Oliver Ames rallied from a halftime deficit to tie the game but the Rockets reestablished a lead (31-26) at the end of the third. The Tigers seized the lead early in the fourth quarter and held on. Kayla Raymond led the Tigers with 18 points while Niyera Mitchell had nine points and a career-high 19 rebounds. The Tigers will host Walpole in the final of the Sure Rivard Tournament.

Hockey
Attleboro, 3 vs. Ludlow 5 – Final

King Philip, 4 @ Quincy, 6 – Final

Wrestling
Lowell Holiday Tournament (Canton, Foxboro, Franklin, Stoughton) – After the first day, Foxboro is in eighth place with 79 points and Franklin is in 11th with 69.5 points. Wrestlers that made the quarterfinals include Foxboro’s Adam Lanctot (106), Canton’s Justin Dickie (113), Franklin’s TJ Remillard and Foxboro’s Phil Dure (126) and Foxboro’s Matt Kelley (132).

Marshfield Tournament (Mansfield, North Attleboro, Oliver Ames, Sharon) – North Attleboro is in third place with 111.5 points with 10 wrestlers moving onto day two. Mansfield is just outside the top 10 with 66.5 points (13th place) with six wrestlers moving on. Wrestlers that advanced to the semifinals include North Attleboro’s Brady Folan and Mansfield’s Antonios Sevastos (106), Sharon’s Yosef Ellis-Rech (126), Oliver Ames’ Liston Funai (132), Mansfield’s George Glaropoulos and North Attleboro’s Nick Gould (152), Mansfield’s Vinnie Holmes (170) and North Attleboro’s Brad White (220).

Gymnastics
Franklin @ Mansfield, 1:00
King Philip @ Mansfield, 12:30

Girls Hockey
Canton, 2 vs. Dedham, 0 – Final – Sophomores Lauren Fitzpatrick and Maggie Malloy each netted a goal in the third period to lift the Bulldogs. Junior goalie Colleen Kelleher made 24 saves for her second shutout of the season.

12/23/2016

Balanced Attack Helps Taunton Sink New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – It wasn’t a perfect game, and at times it was far from pretty but an inexperienced Taunton team still came away with a 65-46 road win at New Bedford.

With just one player back with any legitimate varsity experience this year, things have been a bit inconsistent for the Tigers through the three games thus far this season. It was more of the same on Thursday night.

“It came in spurts, it’s in our DNA – we are schizophrenic,” Taunton head coach Charlie Dacey said. “The kids are still figuring themselves out, they don’t all have a ton of confidence so they’re tentative when they should go, and they go when they should be tentative. It’s about experience and how fast can we get it? We’re just not at the level we want to be at yet.”

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

A pair of New Bedford free throws brought the Whalers within one with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter. That’s when Taunton’s offense came back to life, rattling off a 7-0 run to end the frame. Luis Vendrell hit one free throw and then freshmen Naz Kenian and Dante Law connected on three pointers in the final minute – both on on a pass from Tommy MacLean – to take a 19-11 after the first quarter.

That cushion gave the Tigers a little room for error, which they needed in the second quarter. MacLean, who had six points and three assists at the time, was whistled for his second foul, forcing him too the bench.

Dacey elected to put in 6’4 junior Tyler Medeiros and the Tigers made him the focal point of the offense. While Taunton’s defense held up its end of the bargain, holding the Whalers to just nine points in the quarter, the offense was able to come up with just 11 points. However, Medeiros was responsible for six of those, going 3/5 from the field to keep the Tigers ahead, 30-20 at the break.

“We had to get points, he was able to carry us over,” Dacey said of Medeiros. “With Tommy out of the game, points have to come from somewhere. Tyler did a nice job tonight.”

Taunton’s offense was back at it again in the third quarter, dropping 18 points in the frame. New Bedford pulled within six early in the second half at 32-26. The Tigers rattled off an 8-0 run in just over a minute, with MacLean driving to the basket on to start and finish the run.

MacLean finished with a team-high 15 points and seven assists.

“He’s the guy out there,” Dacey said of MacLean. “He has a high basketball IQ and he has to demonstrate that because with the inexperience with the other players comes a lower basketball IQ. They’re working hard, they’re playing hard but we’re making too many mistakes still.”

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Back to back threes from Kenian followed by a take from Law stretched Taunton’s lead to 48-28 in the final minute of the third quarter.

While Taunton held that lead for the majority of the final quarter, the Whalers did make a small run to get within 14 but Lens Esquil (eight points, nine rebounds) converted a put back and then took a feed from MacLean for another basket.

Kenian finished with nine points and three rebounds, Medeiros had 10 points and five rebounds and Law had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. John Martins added six points, four assists and three rebounds.

“It’s a learning experience, that’s the way we look at it,” Dacey said. “It’s a chance for us to get more experience.”

Taunton (3-1, 2-1) will be back in action after the holiday when they travel to Durfee High School for the Skip Karam Tournament to take on Hope.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.