Scituate turns up the defense

Scituate’s defense held the fort long enough for the offense to arrive.

The Sailors held Acton-Boxboro to nine points over a 19-minute stretch and proceeded to roll to a 60-35 victory in the opening day of the BABC Slades Holiday Classic at Cathedral High School.

“Our defense was great and it started with our sophomore point guard Keegan Sullivan,” Scituate coach Matt Poirier said. “He did a great job of keeping the ball in front of him and force things. We knew we were going to have play great defensively because we saw Acton-Boxboro against Xaverian and knew they had some big kids who can play.”

Acton-Boxboro (1-3) started strong, making 70 percent of its shots in the opening quarter to take an early 16-8 lead. The Sailors (4-0) clamped down in the second quarter, limiting the Colonials to just two hoops as they cut the deficit to 21-19 at the half.

The game turned for good in the third quarter as Scituate held Acton-Boxboro scoreless for nearly six minutes, while All-Scholastic guard Jack Poirier caught fire. After struggling in the first half, Poirier knocked down four treys in the quarter as Scituate outscored Acton-Boxboro, 23-4, to take a commanding 42-25 lead. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

“At halftime, the guys in the locker room kept telling Jack to keep shooting,” Poirier said. “Jack has worked very hard on his game, he has a lot of confidence in himself and we have a lot of confidence in him.”

Poirier received offensive help from Nate Lopes. He tallied 11 of his 16 points in the second half including a pair of dunks as the Sailors sailed away.

In the first game of the day, Tim Minicozzi’s layup with 36 seconds left in overtime put Belmont (4-0) ahead for good as they went on to edge LaSalle (RI), 84-82. Minicozzi tallied a team-high 27 points, Preston Stephens-Jackson had a solid all-around game with 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Mac Annus added 24 points.

Jake Bender poured in a game-high 29 points for LaSalle and teammate Raphel Awa chipped in with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Shamar Browder scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as Tech Boston (3-0) held off Everett, 75-67. Browder was one of four Bears to finish in double figures the others being Jaquan Stroud (18 points, seven rebounds), Alan Nunez (15 points) and Tre Norman (12).

Everett (3-2) was paced by Johnathan Ore with 19 points, while Franky Aubourg had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Mohammed Sanogo poured in 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots as Taconic (3-2) surprised Cambridge, 61-58. Leon Williams led the way for the Falcons (3-1) with 19 points.

In other action, Adrian Quezada scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as Austin Prep (3-0) defeated Sizer, 60-39. … Junior Chris Lithgow poured in 31 points to propel Revere (1-2) to a 53-49 win over Wakefield. … Sam Stevens poured in a game-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Matt Boen and T.J. Guy chipped in with 13 points each as Mansfield (3-1) rolled to a 75-52 win over BC High.

Girls basketball

Madelyn Mueller scored 18 points and Emma Simmons added 16 as Carver (5-0) defeated Cardinal Spellman, 61-50, in nonleague action.

In the Oliver Ames Holiday Tournament, junior guard Madison Shaker tallied 16 points, powering Needham (4-0) to a 57-40 victory over Brockton.

Boys hockey

Brendan Currie scored five goals and David Saia added three assists as Everett defeated Nashoba, 6-0. … Matty Dearborn scored four goals as Hamilton-Wenham (1-2) defeated Lynn, 8-2.

T.J. Jones scored twice as Duxbury defeated Bridgewater-Raynham, 6-2, in the opening round of the Island Creeks Oyster Cup.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SySGhY