In a rematch of final 12 months’s Boston City League Final, Burke used their resilience to come back again towards a proficient and bodily Latin Academy squad.
Coming again from 10 down on the half, the Bulldogs used a pair sizzling fingers together with a tricky defensive effort to take down the Dragons on the street 70-61.
“I loved our fight in the second half,” stated Burke coach Sean Ryan. “It was the first time all year that we had to deal with foul trouble, so we had to deal with something we haven’t had to deal with in the past. We didn’t make shots early on, but we kind of grinded it out. Credit to (Latin Academy), they really put us on our heels early.”
With a 39-29 deficit after 16 minutes, Burke (9-2) started to chip away within the third to make it 52-47 heading into the ultimate interval.
From there, the Bulldogs took the sport over with a 23-9 benefit thanks primarily to a protection that allowed 2-of-12 taking pictures from the sphere earlier than the ultimate minute of play.
“We tried a special defense on (Latin Academy) early and we fouled in that defense too much,” Ryan stated in regards to the protection within the second half. “We just got back to grinding out a hard, full-court man-to-man and I thought that wore them out (in the fourth).”
Sophomore sensation Jaeden Roberts netted a game-high 22 factors. He added 9 rebounds and 5 assists on the night.
“I thought (Roberts) pressed early,” Ryan stated. “I thought (in the second half), he finally settled down and some good things happened and the game opened up.”
Senior Matt Drayton additionally got here up with 5 of 9 factors throughout a 9-2 run that noticed a 52-49 gap flip right into a 58-54 lead after a steal and right-handed layup.
“(Drayton) has been inconsistent, but has had a few games where he has hit four threes,” stated Ryan. “Eventually, if it is a good shot, I feel like it will go in. That was a huge one in the corner (to tie the game in the fourth).”
Drayton completed with 10 of his 14 factors within the second half for Burke, together with a 3 to knot the rating 52-52 within the fourth.
For Latin Academy (9-2), 6’7” senior Brennan Shapiro (10 rebounds) was an enormous a part of the offense as he scored 11 of his team-high 21 within the second quarter because the Dragons ballooned a 17-15 result in a 39-29 benefit. Senior Michael Corriea Johnson added 17 factors, seven boards and 7 assists. Senior Osman Aden was held to simply 5 factors.
Source: www.bostonherald.com