Cavaliers hang on to beat Spartans

Friday, January 27, 2012

Joe Marchilena photo Hollis Brookline's Shea Whalen grabs a rebound during Tuesday's game against Milford. The Cavaliers defeated the Spartans 51-45.

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Joe Marchilena photo Hollis Brookline's Nick Noval defends against Milford's Zach O'Neil during Tuesday's game.

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Joe Marchilena photo Hollis Brookline's Shea Whalen grabs a rebound during Tuesday's game against Milford. The Cavaliers defeated the Spartans 51-45.

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MILFORD – The Hollis Brookline and Milford high school boys basketball teams played three solid quarters Tuesday night, and the Cavaliers held on for a 51-45 win on the road.

That other quarter? Well, both sides might want to forget about the way they played in a first quarter that ended with HB holding a 7-3 lead.

Milford coach Dan Murray called it a “slow start.” HB coach Mike Soucy went a little further.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Soucy said. “Actually pretty ugly, both ways.”

The Cavs got out to a blistering start, at least blistering for this game, and led 4-0 midway through the first quarter. That was when Murray took a timeout.

“We talked about it during the timeout they called,” Soucy said. “I said we’re halfway through the first quarter and we have four points on the board. That’s not going to get it done and they know that.”

For Milford, it was a matter of shots not falling. The Spartans didn’t get their first field goal of the game until two minutes into the second quarter.

“I liked the way we played,” he said. “We were getting good shots, we just couldn’t get the ball in the basket.”

The pace picked up considerably in the second quarter, and each team experienced ups and downs throughout the remainder of the game. Take away the first eight minutes, and it was a 44-42 game, in HB’s favor.

“Obviously would have liked to see a better basketball game being played, really by both sides, but it is what it is,” Soucy said. “We gave them chances to come back and take the lead, but we held strong. I’m proud of the way we competed.”

James Wilson led all scorers by putting in 15 points for the Cavs (2-6 in Division II) while Connor Walsh and Mike Chase each had eight.

Richie Moore had 11 points and Ben Smith added 10, as both came off the bench to lead Milford in scoring. After snapping a five-game losing streak last Thursday at Sanborn, Murray looked at Tuesday’s game as a chance to start over for the Spartans.

“We looked at it like a new beginning,” he said. “We wanted to come out with a fresh attitude and play hard, and I think we did that all night long. We battled back.”

HB held an 11-point lead midway through the second quarter when Murray called a timeout. Out of the break, the Spartans went on an 8-2 run and had the lead down to five with 1:55 to go before halftime.

But the Cavs responded with a 3-pointer and a jump shot by PJ Flaum to take a 25-17 lead into the locker room. HB extended the lead to as many as 12 early in the third quarter, but an 8-3 run, which included 3s by Jared Asselin and Moore, allowed Milford to close to within five going into the fourth quarter.

After the teams traded baskets to open the fourth, Moore hit another 3 that cut the HB lead to 40-38 with five minutes left in the game.

“We had that stretch where they got every rebound and got back in the game,” Soucy said of the fourth quarter. “We shored up our defense and rebounding the last two-and-a-half minutes and that was huge.

“They know they can do it. It’s not just about playing hard. Every team can play hard. It’s about competing. There is a huge difference between playing hard and competing. I thought we competed.”

Neither team could hold on to the ball over the next few possessions, until Chase created a turnover under his own basket and turned it into a layup to put HB up 42-38. That started the Cavs on a 7-0 run that all but put the game away.

Milford cut the lead to five with a minute to play, but couldn’t get any closer.

“We played much better,” Murray said. “The defensive effort was good, just certain breakdowns at certain times. We’d make a comeback and then they’d make a 3 or a layup.

“We have to get that execution and make the simple plays. A couple times we had breakaways where people threw the ball out of bounds. Both teams played the same way, with ups and downs.”