By Kyle Schroeder (@kyschroeder81)
Dorchester Mass. - There is a narrative in basketball that, during postseason play at any level, the game slows down and becomes more defensive oriented.
In Tuesday's MIAA Division 1 South first round matchup between eighth-seeded BC High and ninth-seeded Wellesley, the results proved that narrative correct. There were a handful of scoring droughts throughout the game, particularly in the third quarter, where the two teams scored six points apiece. Ultimately, BC High was the team to break through scoring-wise in the fourth quarter, leading the Eagles to a 54-42 victory over Wellesley.
The Eagles will take on either Mansfield or Newton South in the next round.
The man who helped keep BC High’s offense afloat was senior point guard Travis Evee. Evee finished with a game high 25 points using his jump shot, the ability to finish at the rim, and knack for drawing fouls. Evee scored nine points in the fourth quarter including four free throws late to help seal the victory.
“He’s been doing that all year for us, thank goodness. We look towards him, the other kids on the floor look towards him to make some plays, he hit a couple nice threes, a couple nice layups, and free throws so that was good,” said BC High head coach Bill Loughnane.
In addition to the scoring punch from Evee, the lockdown defense played by the Eagles most of the game was a critical part of the BC High victory. With tremendous ball pressure, lead by Evee (four steals), it forced Wellesley into tough shots and turnovers. Wellesley ended up scoring 22 points fewer than their season average.
“It’s tournament time, everyone is playing real good defense at this stage of the year and the game slows down,” said Loughnane.
However, Wellesley had to deal with unique circumstances as sharpshooting senior guard Ryen Murrey dealt with foul trouble. Murrey was taken out of the game early in third quarter with 11 points after recording his fourth foul. The offense sputtered without him as they scored one field goal the rest of the quarter.
Even after scoring only two baskets in the third, the Raiders were still only down three headed into the fourth quarter. BC High went on mini 7-2 run to start the quarter pushing the lead to eight, but Wellesley responded with an Alex Stoddard three pointer. The Eagles subsequently went on a 6-1 run, which included a pull-up jumper from Evee and an offensive put back by Spencer Riley to give themselves a comfortable 46-36 lead. With the lack of scoring punch from Wellesley, the 10-point lead essentially iced it for BC High.
Eagles senior guard Matt Thompson was vital in getting the offense rolling for BC High early as he scored 9 of his 12 points in the first quarter. Thompson’s scoring aided the Eagles in building a 14-8 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter was the only time Wellesley was able to get something going offensively as they scored 16 points in the quarter to make it a 27-24 deficit at halftime.
After a win against a good opponent, coach Loughnane and his team are looking forward to the next challenge.
“It’s going to be a good game and we’ll look at some film tomorrow and we’ll get a work out in. Whoever we play it is going to be this type of game, a grind.”
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