NEEDHAM — Last season’s Division 1 boys basketball runner-up bought its quest for a return journey to Lowell off to a superb begin Thursday night time.
Facing a harmful Taunton squad, Needham turned to its depth to overwhelm the Tigers. Nine totally different gamers bought on the scoresheet, led by 18 factors from Chris Morrison, because the Rockets turned a detailed sport into a reasonably comfy 71-53 win.
“That’s one of my favorite parts about coaching this team,” Needham coach Paul Liner mentioned about his group’s steadiness. “Anyone can step up on a given night.”
On Thursday, it was a troika of Rockets who got here to the fore.
Johnson had 12 of his 18 factors within the first quarter, serving to the Rockets to a 19-7 lead as they by no means trailed within the sport.
Taunton saved inside shouting distance partly because of the taking pictures of Troy Santos, who had 11 first-half factors because the Tigers have been down 31-21 on the break.
Santos was hounded all around the flooring by senior guard Devin Dellamarggio, whose job it was to make him work for all the pieces. And for probably the most half, he succeeded as Santos needed to grind for all of his game-high 27 factors.
Dellamarggio additionally got here up big from the ground within the third quarter when Taunton threatened to make it fascinating by reducing the hole to 39-31.
Dellamarggio rattled off seven straight factors to provide the Rockets again management due to a 11-2 run that blew the sport open on the finish of the third.
Brian Cloonan had the capping blow when his three-pointer beat the buzzer to make it a 17-point sport. The Bay State Conference MVP completed with 13 factors on the night time.
The Rockets’ run ultimately reached 23-7 as they opened a 24-point lead early within the fourth and have been in a position to cruise house from there.
“We knew coming in that they could really shoot it and we had to defend on every play,” Liner mentioned. “We did a great job of that and it’s a good way to begin the tournament.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com