WORCESTER — While Henry Bickford’s two hand slam was simply one other two factors in his spectacular stat line, it signified the beginning of a Needham celebration.
Bickford poured in 23 factors to go together with 9 rebounds and two blocks to guide No. 5 Needham to a powerful 60-43 win over No. 9 North Andover in a Division 1 state semifinal on Wednesday night time at Worcester State.
Needham (22-2) will play for its first state championship in program historical past versus No. 6 Worcester North this weekend.
“Henry really stepped up tonight, you can’t ask for anything more from a senior. He had a different look in his eye pregame,” Needham coach Paul Liner stated. “Our guys have just been so locked in. They’re coachable, they respect the game, and they know what it takes.”
Throughout the night time, Needham dominated at each ends of the ground, executing their actions on offense to close perfection whereas stopping the Scarlet Knights from garnering any kind of dribble penetration. After Jackson Shaw completed a layup off a lower by the paint, the Rockets grabbed a 27-16 lead with 4:07 to play and by no means as soon as led by fewer than double digits.
“This is very exciting for our school, our town, our community,” Liner stated. “We’ve been going at this and trying to get here for a few years now and checked off a handful of boxes along the way, but now it’s finally here and this team deserves the chance.”
Zach Wolinski and Cam Bethel opened the night time with three-pointers for North Andover, however the Rockets countered with a 9-0 run to go in entrance 11-6. A Brian Cloonan triple put Needham up 18-8 after one and within the second the Rockets stretched their lead on the heels of Bickford. The senior ahead completed by contact and drilled a mid-range pull up as a part of Needham’s second 9-0 run of the half that put them on prime by 20.
The Rockets’ lead hovered round 20 for a lot of the second half, and obtained as massive as 22 on a basket by CJ Hutchison and a trey from Bickford. Two three-pointers from Zach DesRochers attemped to present this event’s Cinderella a spark because it obtained North Andover inside 56-39 with six minutes left. Bickford, nonetheless, threw down his two hand slam off the press break that began the celebration for the Rockets’ fan part
Source: www.bostonherald.com
