LOWELL — In Sunday’s Div. 4 boys basketball state closing, Wareham was in all places it wished to be, from begin to end, towards Springfield International Charter.
The Vikings (22-3) by no means trailed, dominating on offense, protection, and the boards all through a 66-40 victory.
“Their energy and effort, they just fly around on defense,” Wareham coach Steve Faniel mentioned. “But really our key for today was rebounding. (Springfield) had a big size advantage. … we haven’t had a problem getting stops and getting people to miss shots all season long. We have had a problem sometimes rebounding and getting out on the break. The most important part of our defense was getting on the glass.”
No one for Wareham was larger than junior Antoine Crosson, who pulled down 16 rebounds and scored 14 factors. The main scorer was Ajay Lopes, with 20 factors. Aaron Cote added eight factors, and Jayce Travers had six factors on two 3-pointers.
Springfield (23-3) was led by Kenny Rogers with 12 factors, and London Denson with 11.
But the Bulldogs by no means received in a rhythm on offense, and that was as a result of swarming Wareham protection.
“They’re not used to pressure,” Lopes mentioned. “We created turnovers that turned into fast breaks, so we got our fast break going.”
In the fourth, Wareham received two extra baskets from Crosson, plus a Diego Mello layup because the Vikings pushed their result in 55-33.
Faniel pulled his starters and common rotation members with two minutes left, and reserve Taj Lewin-Pina’s 3-pointer lit up the group and signaled the tip of the road.
“They’ve been dreaming about this since the fourth grade,” Faniel mentioned. “They’ve been playing together since fourth grade. … I thought last year, the experience they had going to the Elite Eight, that hardened them, gave them the experience they needed to make this run this year.”
And don’t assume it ends this season. Wareham had only one senior on this yr’s crew. Getting again to a state closing shouldn’t be out of the query.
Source: www.bostonherald.com