Sports Roundup: Boys Hoops Rallies To Beat Nauset
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the boys basketball team after they came from behind to beat the Nauset Warriors with a dominant fourth quarter, the girls swim team following the MIAA sectional meet, and the girls basketball team following another road win that extended their win streak to three game.
Boys Hoops Rallies From Behind To Beat Nauset
The boys basketball team pulled off a thrilling 78-65 victory Friday evening, but it didn't materialize without some adversity and drama. The Whalers fell behind quickly at home against their Cape & Island rival – the Nauset Warriors – 15-6 just three minutes into the game, prompting a timeout from head coach Willis Ferreira.
"I wasn't happy because we knew they were going to shoot the three and they shot the three and made threes," Ferreira said of the early timeout. "That's what they do. That's why they're so good. I didn't think they could come into our building, having to do the traveling they do to get here, and just make shots, and they did. But they made them because we weren't guarding anybody. So the timeout was to try to tell them to start guarding people. I got to give all the credit to my players because at halftime, I had nothing. I had no answers. We were getting outplayed in every facet of the game whether it was on the defensive end, the offensive end, rebounding, hustling, they beat us everywhere. I didn't have an answer. I had nothing for them. I just said, 'Unless you play harder, we're going to lose.'"
Nantucket trailed 24-15 after one quarter and 37-29 at halftime. Their play slowly began to improve but everytime the Whalers would cut the deficit to one or two scores, Nauset would seemingly find a way to hit a key basket to put any Whaler comeback on hold.
In the third quarter, Nantucket rode the hot hand of senior point guard Gaven Smith – who finished the game with 19 points – including nine points on three three-pointers in the third quarter. Sophomore guard and leading scorer Burke Lombardi made a three in the final seconds of the third quarter to draw the Whalers within one point – trailing 51-50 entering the fourth and final quarter.
Lombardi finished the game with 23 points but was equally as effective and dominant on the defensive end of the court – compiling one of, if not the best two-way performance of his young varsity basketball career in a game his team desperately needed to win. Lombardi scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and was a perfect six for six from the free throw line (eight for eight in the game).
“Burke was awesome and then he made foul shots when he needed to,” Ferreira said. “It is just good to have a guy like that who knows how to play in those moments and to finish in those moments. It isn’t always easy making those foul shots under that kind of pressure.”
The Whalers outscored Nauset 28-14 in the fourth, and did so despite one of their best offensive players – Vallon Jeanty, picking up a fourth foul with two and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Vallon didn’t check in until midway through the fourth quarter, in large part because he told Ferreira he didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm his teammates were in.
"With about four minutes left in the fourth I was trying to get him back in the game, but he said, 'They're playing good without me. Just leave those guys in there,’" Ferreira said. "You love hearing that, especially from him because he's a stat guy. He wants to score and be kind of the focal point a lot of the times, which that's okay because he's a good player. But I thought him doing that was really cool. He cared about winning. That's important. It's not always about me. Sometimes on this team, it's about me. What did I get? What did I do? How many shots did I make."
Nantucket is now 9-5 and have a busy final 10 days of regular season play after two games were cancelled over the weekend due to weather. The Whalers will be back in action on Tuesday, February 10th when they host Bourne High School at 5 p.m.
Girls Swim Competes In Sectionals
The girls swim team competed in the MIAA Sectional Meet on Friday and placed sixth overall. While the official times were not immediately available, some of the placements were available without the times – which we will include in our Wednesday sports roundup alongside the boys swim team results from their sectional meet, which took place on Sunday.
Myah Johnson, Sara Dussault, Zoli Day, and Evie Phelps placed 3rd overall in the 200-yard medley relay.
Myah Johnson placed 2nd overall in the 50-yard freestyle.
Myah Johnson, Sara Dussault, Zoli Day, and Evie Phelps placed 3rd overall in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Zoli Day placed 6th overall in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Evie Phelps placed 7th overall in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Myah Johnson placed 7th overall in the 100-yard freestyle.
Girls Hoops Beats Cape Cod Academy
The girls basketball team picked up another win and extended their win streak to three games with a 58-23 victory over the Cape Cod Academy Seahawks Friday afternoon on the road.
The Whalers are now 7-9 this season with four games to go. They will need to win at least three of those final four games in order to make the MIAA state tournament.
They will be back in action on Monday, February 9th when they travel to Hyannis to play the St. John Paul II Lions at 3:30 p.m.
Current MIAA Power Ranking Positions (Top 32 make the state tournament + any teams with a record of .500 or better):
Boys basketball is at #28 in the Division 3 bracket and has a 9-5 record.
Boys hockey is at #29 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 3-7 record.
Girls hockey is at #34 in the Division 2 bracket and has an 0-7 record.
Girls basketball is at #47 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 7-9 record.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Monday, February 9th:
The boys hockey team will be on the road playing Bourne High School at 2 p.m.
The girls basketball team will be on the road playing St. John Paul II at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 10th:
The boys basketball team will host Bourne High School at 5 p.m.