Tag: Weymouth
Allen Ignites Franklin In Playoff Win Over Weymouth
FRANKLIN, Mass. — As Franklin prepared all week to go against Weymouth’s aggressive zone defense, the Panthers knew they’d have some looks from outside.
Senior Justin Allen certainly took advantage of that opportunity.
Allen was nearly flawless as poured in a career-high 25 points on 8-for-9 shooting from three-point land, leading the third-seeded Panthers to a hard-fought 61-49 win over #30 Weymouth in a Division 1 Round of 32 game.
“I just hit the open shots, my teammates found me and once I see a couple go in, that basket just gets bigger,” Allen said. “With them in a zone, it just opens things up for us and we have great creators like Ben Harvey and Bradley [Herndon], and everyone else too. They were finding me and I was just knocking down shots.
“We have a bunch of great shooters on this team and that helps me out because they can’t just focus on me. We’ve got guys like Geino [Scaringello], Andrew O’Neill, and Caden Sullivan who can really just knock down threes so you can’t focus on one guy, that’s what is so special about this team.”
Allen and the Panthers wasted little time finding the range against the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 zone. He sank a pair of threes in the opening eight minutes — the first bucket of the game off of a pass from O’Neill (eight points, seven rebounds, four assists) and another from the corner that gave the hosts their first double-digit advantage of the game.
Junior Sean O’Leary (20 points, six rebounds) also dropped in a pair of threes while O’Neill had another for a total of five in the first quarter to help Franklin set the tone, and take the lead (19-10).
Franklin went scoreless for nearly three minutes to start the second quarter but Allen ignited the offense when he hit a three with five minutes to go in the half. His second three of the quarter came just 30 seconds later after Ben Harvey (six points, three rebounds) sliced into the zone before kicking it back out. Allen assisted O’Leary the next trip and then O’Leary returned the favor one trip later, finding Allen open in the corner.
“We’ve really been clicking recently,” Allen said, “That Mansfield loss was a wake-up call for us. We’ve been going really hard in practice and guys know what time of year it is and nothing is guaranteed, no one is going to hand it to us. Weymouth is the 30-seed but that was a tough game, that was a full 32 minutes of competing.”
After hitting his first five threes, Allen went up for a heat check as he quickly launched a deep three off a pass from Harvey and it was pure to extend the lead to 33-21 with two minutes left in the first half. A putback from Harvey inside the final minute gave Franklin a 35-26 halftime lead.
“Three hard days of working against aggressive zone defense,” said Franklin head coach CJ Neely on preparing for the game. “We spent so much time focusing on the 1-3-1 or diamond-and-one, whatever you want to call it. We thought we’d see a lot of zone and then we did a good job getting Justin a lot of good looks. Even other guys got really good looks but just didn’t hit like they usually do. That was a full team win because they gave an unbelievable effort in practice this week simulating their defense.”
The three-point barrage slowed some in the second half but the four triples that the Panthers did hit were timely. O’Neill opened the second half with one and the Panthers were able to attack the basket against Weymouth’s defense, which switched to man-to-man.
Harvey had four straight, including a traditional three-point play, and O’Leary cleaned up his own miss plus the foul. With success getting to the rim, Allen found himself open in the corner and his quick release hit nothing but net, his seventh straight make.
“When they got up on us, and they started denying Justin the ball, we have guys like Ben, O’Leary, and [Bradley] Herndon that can really get downhill and find themselves in the paint, and not only do they get in there, they are willing passers,” Neely said. “Even if you don’t score in there, the ability to get downhill and make the defense rotate. Credit to [Weymouth], they play really hard and made us battle the whole second half.”
Although Allen missed his next three on a heat check, the Panthers carried a 48-36 lead into the final quarter. Sophomore Caden Sullivan drained a three off a pass from Herndon (six rebounds, four assists) off of a set play and the Panthers had their biggest lead at 51-38. The Wildcats clawed back within eight twice but Allen’s eighth and final triple of the game midway through the fourth restored the double-digit advantage and Franklin stayed in front down the stretch.
While Allen was red-hot from three-point, the Panthers had some inconsistencies in the offense throughout the night. But old reliable — Franklin’s defense — stayed steady all night and held the Wildcats under 50 points.
“That’s the beauty of what we’ve done here for a while is the ability to get stops and weather those storms of poor shooting or lack of finishing, we can get through those when we have guys like Harvey playing defense on [Edric Louissaint] and O’Neill on [Gill] Dolan, who had 33 points in a game earlier this year. To be able to shut those primary options down and make other guys score, that’s a great job by those two and everyone else too.”
Franklin boys basketball (19-1) will host #14 Brockton, who took down Methuen, 66-49, in the Round of 16 on Tuesday at 6:00.
Canton Seals Return to Postseason with Overtime Win
WEYMOUTH, Mass. – Just four days after being four seconds away from clinching a playoff spot at Stoughton, Canton was forced to play an extra four minutes on Tuesday night at Weymouth to try and extend its season and end a seven-year wait for a return to the postseason.
The Bulldogs watched a buzzer beater fall short at the end of the fourth quarter, regrouped in the huddle, and outscored the Wildcats 13-7 in the extra period to pull out a 65-59 road victory that means Canton (10-10) will be playing playoff basketball for the first time since 2011 and first time under head coach Jim Choquette.
“I thought Friday night (against Stoughton) might help us in the future,” said Choquette, “being on the road in a hostile environment where we have to come up with a win, and it did help us. I don’t think the girls panicked for a minute. The girls really stayed steady. Just staying positive through all of it was the most important part.”
Senior forward Hannah Jerrier, who saw the team jump from only two wins her freshman season to 10 wins this year, added, “Ever since the first day of tryouts my freshman year, the goal has always been get to the playoffs, get to the playoffs. Each year we got closer and closer but never got it, but now that we’re finally there it’s kind of amazing.”
Jerrier finished the game with 15 points and 14 rebounds, including nine points in the fourth quarter and overtime, but it was not her typical dominant performance in the paint. Instead, Canton turned to an unlikely hero. Sophomore Lilah Milton came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points and pull down 10 rebounds in the biggest game of Canton’s season.
“For a sophomore who never even played JV, for her to step in during the two biggest games of the season for us and have that success and that much confidence shows a lot of how far she’s come,” said Choquette of Milton.
Things did not start well for the Bulldogs. They fell behind by as many as 11 in the first quarter, trailing 15-4 to the Wildcats, who also won the first meeting between the teams back in January. Molly Ludwig scored on an offensive rebound and then Maggie Connolly scored off an assist by Jerrier to cut the lead to six at the end of one.
Connolly scored only four points on Tuesday, but was the most aggressive player on the floor, willing Canton back into the game in the early going. She finished with 12 rebounds and seven assists, as well as being a pest defensively.
“A few games ago, Maggie turned a light switch on and just refused to lose,” said Choquette. “She was going to, in her mind, do anything possible to get us to the playoffs. I told the girls in a timeout, she can’t do it alone; we have to step up.”
In the second, Canton started to clamp down on defense with Erin Devine getting a pair of blocks to fire up the traveling fans, which included the boys’ basketball team. Devine (12 points) also chipped in with six points in the quarter, as Canton started to get the ball into the paint.
Milton also started to get going in the second with a three-point play off a Devine assist and then a jumper off a pass from Julia Hamilton. Connolly fought for an offensive rebound in traffic and fed Milton for another layup to tie the game at 25-25. Hamilton drilled a three to give Canton its first lead since the opening basket.
“When we were down by a lot, we kept getting slow, everyone’s spirits were down,” Jerrier explained. “Once we started hustling that’s when we started scoring all of our points and going on those good runs.”
Weymouth took back the lead in the third quarter when it caught fire from beyond the arc. The Wildcats made four three-pointers, including a trio from Kerin McCarthy (18 points). Devine scored four points in the third and Hamilton (11 points) hit her second three, but the Wildcats led by one heading to the fourth.
The hosts scored the first four points of the fourth but Jerrier answered with banked three from the left wing to cut the lead back to two points. After another McCarthy three, Milton scored on an offensive rebound and knocked down a short jumper. Following a pair of free throws by Jerrier, Milton hit a turnaround off glass from the right box to give the Bulldogs a one-point edge with a minute to play.
“It’s amazing to have some of these underclassmen who haven’t had that much varsity experience come into these big games like this and take over,” said Jerrier.
Twice Canton appeared to have a steal that could have iced the game. Connolly was unable to get her feet set when she lunged to pick off an inbound pass and was called for traveling and then Jerrier had the ball knocked away after another inbound mistake by the Wildcats, but the officials ruled that she touched it last. On its third attempt, Weymouth got the ball to Delaney Spinney and she knocked down a jumper for a 52-52 tie.
On the other end, with under 10 seconds to play, a pass to Jerrier appeared to get knocked away by a Weymouth defender, but again the call went against the Bulldogs. The Wildcats would get one last chance and had a decent look but the shot did not fall and Canton stayed alive.
“We all knew that we were capable of winning,” said Jerrier of the conversation in the huddle, “but we just didn’t have our heads in the right place. We all had to focus on our goal, which was winning the game. When we all came together to do that, we got it.”
Twice Canton took the lead in the overtime only to have Weymouth answer back. Milton gave the Bulldogs the lead for good when she scooped up a loose ball and knocked down another mid-range shot. Jerrier added a jumper of her own and then Milton scored off a feed from Connolly for a six-point edge with 1:14 left.
A three cut the lead in half, but the players never looked as nervous as the people in the stands. Hamilton made 5-of-6 from the line in the final minute and Canton was finally playoff-bound.
“Ultimately, the one that we needed to have a win in, the girls came through,” said Choquette. “So many game we rely on Hannah to do everything. We need 30 points; we need 18 rebounds and thank God she can actually play that well. But tonight, I was so proud of the rest of the girls stepping up.
“The girls just decided tonight was our night and they got it done.”
Hornets Celebrate Senior Night With Pair of Wins
MANSFIELD, Mass. – The Mansfield boys’ and girls’ basketball teams both celebrated senior nights with victories on Monday night in the Albertini Gym and both advanced to the finals of the 2016 Round Ball Classic. The boys pulled away in the second half to roll past Weymouth 69-42, while the girls used a strong finish to get past Walpole 51-39.
Although Weymouth came into the game with just one win on the season, Mansfield could expect to be challenged, as the Wildcats are led by former Franklin coach Dean O’Connor and even just one year in have already taken on some of his trademark intensity.
“You can already see Dean’s effect in terms of his kids’ knowledge of where they need be and the challenges they presented on their defensive end,” said Mansfield coach Mike Vaughan. “There were a lot of possessions we didn’t look real comfortable.”
He added, “The biggest difference is that we have guys who can score they don’t.”
The Hornets mixed and matched the lineup with junior Sam Goldberg sidelined with injury and with Vaughan making sure that his seniors got plenty of time on the court. Kyle Swansburg scored five of his team-high 14 points in the opening quarter and junior Christian Weber scored six, all on drives to the basket.
“When he’s going to the hoop and Matt [Ehrlich] complements him going to the hoop and we can score inside out then I think it makes a big difference,” said Vaughan about Weber’s contributions.
Weymouth shocked the Hornets by hanging around through the first quarter. The Wildcats scored 15 points, led by Adrian Quinn’s five. The problem for Weymouth was trying to keep that output going over four quarters.
Mansfield scored another 16 points in the second with Phil Vigeant scoring five points including a put back on a missed free throw that extended the lead to 22-17. Matt Ehrlich added five in the quarter as well, three on a layup plus the foul and another bucket that pushed the Hornets lead to its largest of the first half, 11.
Weymouth scored the final four points of the half to stay within single digits at the break, but Mansfield broke the game wide open in the third. Leading 37-31, the Hornets went on a 13-2 run to close out the quarter and build a comfortable edge heading to the fourth.
Ehrlich (eight points) started the run with a layup and a free throw then Swansburg scored over Weymouth’s 6-foot-9 center Julian Mincey and hit a pair from the line. Evan Christo scored to make it 46-31 and Tyler Boulter scored on an offensive rebound. After a Weymouth hoop, Vigeant (seven points) scored again to close the quarter.
Vaughan said, “Overall I was happy with the ball movement and sharing the basketball and trying to work to get the best available shot as a team and not just necessarily an individual.”
If there was any thought that the Wildcats may be able to make it a game in the fourth quarter, Mansfield ended those fears early. Boulter buried a three-pointer, followed by another shot from deep by Max Boen and then Boulter took the ball strong to the rim. After Swansburg hit a pair of free throws to make it 61-41, Mansfield emptied its bench to give debuts to younger players.
Mansfield will face Cohasset in the Round Ball Classic final on Thursday and Vaughan said that the team still has plenty to work on as it looks ahead to the tournament.
“We just keep talking about continuing to get better, to be solid as a group, and just get better each day and each game,” said Vaughan. “We want to be playing our best starting next week and we’re playing really good basketball right now, so I like where we’re at.”
Mansfield 51, Walpole 39
The final score made it seem a comfortable win, but with just fewer than three minutes remaining in the game, Kelly Fogarty’s fifth three-pointer of the game had brought Walpole back within two at 41-39.
Momentum was with the visitors but the Hornets regrouped and closed the game with 10-0 run that started with Meg Hill being left open on an inbound play under the basket for her first points of the night. Then in transition Jen Peel added her sixth assist of the night to Juliana Newell (10 points) for an easy layup and the lead was quickly back to six points.
Hill had been quiet for most of the game but she pulled down a big defensive rebound and scored in the paint to build the lead to 47-39. Peel and Anna Chiarolanza each made two from the line to seal the victory.
“We showed a little character,” said Mansfield coach Mike Redding. “We kind of held off the charge, kind of took back control, had a few good possessions to get some separation to put the game away.”
Despite starting with an unusual lineup thanks to senior night, the Hornets jumped in front early. Mansfield outscored the Rebels 16-6 in the first quarter, led by Caroline Maher’s five points. The lead grew to 11 by halftime with Peel (six points) adding four in the second and Jackie Carchedi and Jen Kemp each knocking down jumpers.
But Walpole dominated the third quarter and came all the way back to tie the game. Newell scored four of her 10 in the quarter but Fogarty nailed two threes, Melanie Weber collected an offensive rebound and scored, Emma Flynn banked home a three and Courtney Brigham scored in the paint to even things up at 31-31.
“You know, up 11 at the half and we played a lot of people and then we just fell asleep at halftime and they definitely came to play,” said Redding. “They came in needing to win two out of three to get into the tournament and they definitely played like it in the second half and Fogarty heated up.”
Mansfield scored the final four of the third to get the lead back and in the fourth quarter turned to Maher to hold off the Walpole charge. The senior guard scored six in the fourth, including a banked floater on an offensive rebound and a layup on the break.
“She wants to make shots in the end,” said Redding of Maher. She’s played for four years, Jackie has played for three, Jen is in her third year, the guard position is loaded with experience and in close games you need people who are going to put it on the floor, get it to our bigs, get to the free throw line and make free throws.”
In the end, Mansfield had enough to get the win and stay within touching distance of one of the high seeds in the upcoming Div. 1 South tournament. The Hornets will face Dartmouth on Thursday in the Round Ball Classic before taking on Attleboro on Monday to decide the winner of the Kelley-Rex division.
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.